Saturday’s Sacramento Republic FC match against Arizona United SC is not one that is likely to be forgotten by fans in the Indomitable City any time soon, and not for a particularly fun reason. The match will be memorable because for many it was 90+ minutes of incredulity, as the Republic peppered the United goal with shot after shot but could not score.

What the Republic wanted was a win to help them secure the top seed in the Western Conference. What they got was a disappointing scoreless draw that — although it guaranteed them a 4th seed and at least 1 home playoff match — was not what they wanted.

The Match

Although the result had the Republic and United share points, Sacramento had the better play of the two teams for most of the night. However, while Sacramento may have played better than their opponents, the home team struggled at converting that quality to goals, much to the growing frustration of the fans.

The first of the Republic’s chances came from Captain Justin Braun in the 11th minute, when his shot rolled just wide of the far post. Most of the fans in the stadium seemed to have been expecting Braun, who was in great goalscoring form prior to Saturday’s game, to score and put Sacramento in the lead.

However, that opener was destined to never come, although there were still some quality chances for the Republic. The best of the night came in the 27th minute when a Danny Barrera shot deflected off the crossbar and right to the feet of Tommy Stewart. Stewart did not connect well with his attempted first-time shot and the follow up was saved by Arizona United goalkeeper Carl Woszczynski, who had a fantastic game.

Sacramento Republic vs Carl Woszczynski continued in that same vein for most of the match, with the Republic getting quality opportunities and finding ways to miss them, either through poor shots or great plays by the United keeper.

“He won’t be getting a Christmas card from me, that’s for sure” said Buckle about Woszczynski’s performance. “He saved everything.”

The biggest injection of life into the Republic’s attack was Republic Head Coach Paul Buckle’s decision to bring in Gabe Gissie for Justin Braun. As he usually does when entering a game, Gissie brought life and a spark to Sacramento’s attack that had not been present prior to him stepping onto the field in the 64th minute. For the remainder of the game, Gissie tore up the right side of the field, causing problems for Arizona and almost setting up a few goals. However, despite some good chances crafted out of Gissie’s play or the second wind brought about by his substitution, Sacramento could not find an opening goal.

The final stat line for Sacramento was an astonishing 24 shots, 7 shots on goal, and 0 goals.

Man of the Match

It is difficult to pick a man of the match in a game where very little went right for the Republic. However, the performances of Dominik Jakubek and Gabe Gissie stood out as good performances in an otherwise frustrating day. Although Jakubek had little to do, he performed well enough when called upon, making 4 saves in the second half. Gissie also performed well off the bench, bringing a much needed spark and injection of speed to the Republic, sometimes taking on as many as three defenders at once.

Choose your MOTM below, choosing from Jakubek, Gissie, or Arizona’s  Woszczynski.

What’s Next?

Next up for Sacramento Republic is a trip to UC Irvine’s Anteater Stadium to face Orange County Blues in a match that was originally scheduled for Wednesday, September 16th but was rescheduled to this upcoming Tuesday due to weather conditions. It is the final match of both the Republic’s regular season and the regular USL season as a whole.

Although the question of rescheduling the game has come and gone, Republic Head Coach Paul Buckle made it known after Saturday’s match that he was not all that happy with the situation. “It was poor,” said Buckle. “To arrive there and be sent back without even a pitch inspection the next day or even a contingency was poor.”

However, despite that feeling, the team will be turning away from the disappointing draw against Arizona and looking forward to Tuesdays match, which is now a must win. If Sacramento wins on Tuesday against Orange County, they will win the Western Conference and get the top playoff seed. If they lose, they will finish in 4th place and get the 4th playoff seed.

The game against OC Blues kicks off on Tuesday, September 22 at 7:30pm PDT. Be sure to look out for a preview of that match on Monday.