When the dust settled in last weekend’s draw against Real Monarchs, yesterday’s match against Tulsa took on a substantial amount of importance. It was not just any old regular season game, it was as close to a must-win game as the team has faced this USL season. A win would propel the team Into a playoff spot, a loss would set them back even more and make getting to the postseason difficult.

The Republic needed a win against Tulsa on Saturday, and they got one. Goals from Danny Barrera, Tommy Thompson, and Mark Sherrod carried Sacramento to a much needed 3-1 victory, launching them into 6th place and the the right side of the red line.

Let’s take a look back at how Sacramento downed Tulsa 3-1 to get back into the playoff race with a shout.

The Match

The Republic started the match off on the front foot, putting pressure on Tulsa right away.

Despite the fact that Sacramento were the more dangerous team, the first dangerous chance went Tulsa’s way. A mistake by Republic goalkeeper Patrick McLain left the home team’s goal empty and a only Nemanja Vukovic’s good positioning kept the game scoreless.

However, the game was not destined to stay scoreless for long. Despite a dangerous chance for Sacramento Republic captain Justin Braun — one that really should have been put in the net, it was the Roughnecks who opened the scoring with a goal off a penalty kick in the 33rd minute.

Danny Barrera, one of the more consistent bright spots under new Head Coach Buckle, brought the Republic back into the game quickly with a goal in the 41st minute. Although he was not credited with the assist, Tommy Thompson, who is with Sacramento on loan from the San Jose Earthquakes, had a touch on the ball — although not a great one — that set up Barrera’s shot.

Thompson added a goal of his own, his first as a professional in a competitive match, just a few minutes later in the 45th minute. Emrah Klimenta bagged the assist after collecting a pass from Rodrigo Lopez on the right wing and sending in a hard, driven cross that Thompson put in the net with a deft touch. San Jose’s goalscoring legend Chris Wondolowski couldn’t have done any better.

The second half went similarly to the first, with Sacramento in the driver’s seat for most of the time. A third Quakes loanee, Mark Sherrod, came in for Justin Braun at the half and was very effective in his 45 minute shift.

Sherrod’s biggest contribution to the Repubic’s victory was undoubtedly his goal, the third of the night for Sacramento. After receiving a pass from Tommy Thompson, Sherrod blasted the ball past the Tulsa goalkeeper, who was surprisingly far away from his near post, and into the net to put the game away for Sacramento.

The Lineup

The starting XI for Sacramento against Real Monarchs was: Patrick McLain, Emrah Klimenta, Mickey Daly, Nemanja Vuković, James Kiffe; Tommy Thompson, Danny Barrera, JJ Koval, Rodrigo Lopez; Justin Braun and Thomas Stewart.

The substitutes for Sacramento were: Dominik Jakubek, Derek Foran, Agustin Cazarez, Gabe Gissie, Cameron Iwasa, Mark Sherrod, and Joaquin Rivas.

There were three big changes (bolded above for easy identification) to the Sacramento Republic matchday 18 when compared to the 18 that appeared against Real Monarchs. Tommy Thompson, JJ Koval, and Mark Sherrod were all loaned down to the Republic from their MLS affiliate, the San Jose Earthquakes. Midfielders Thompson and Koval, the former a creative type of player and the latter a more defensive minded midfielder, started the match, while forward Sherrod started his night on the bench.

Saturday marked the first time this season that the Republic received any loan players from the Earthquakes. The reason for that lack of loans is two-fold. First, San Jose were forced to deal with quite a few injuries early in the season that left them with no surplus players to loan. Secondly, previous loan attempts, such as when Khari Stevenson was offered to Sacramento, did not work out for both teams and were therefore not completed.

Even though the loanees came late in the season, they did not wait long to make an impact. Each of the three players played at least 45 minutes and each of them made an impact on the game.

What’s Next

Next up for the Republic is a three game road trip. They will be facing Vancouver Whitecaps 2, Portland Timbers 2, and the Orange County Blues on the road in the space of 10 days before coming back home to play Arizona United in their final regular season match of the year.

The first match of the road trip, against Vancouver Whitecaps 2, will be Sunday, September 6th and will kick off at 3:00pm.