With their scoreless draw against OC Blues on Tuesday, Sacramento Republic FC’s regular season campaign came to a close more with a whimper than with a bang. The defending champions needed all three points from the match to catapult them from 4th place to 1st. They needed to score. But for the second match in a row, they were unable to find the back of the net.

For Sacramento’s opponents, either a win or a draw would put them on top of the Western Conference, they simply needed no not lose the match. Although it may have been frustrating to watch for Sacramento fans, the Blues went out and did exactly that. They made the pragmatic choice to play it safe, see out the game, and complete what has been a massive 12 month turnaround. Last season the Blues were an afterthought, this season they finished on top of the Western Conference.

But enough about that, let’s dig into the match itself.

The Match

Sacramento fans were hoping to see more of the Republic team that throttled Whitecaps 2 and Timbers 2, they were instead treated to play more similar to the team’s scoreless draw against Arizona United. Sacramento’s defense did their job of limiting Orange County’s opportunities, but the Republic’s offense sputtered for the second match in a row.

Throughout the first half, Sacramento struggled more than usual at stringing together good, crisp passing sequences. While the quality — or lack thereof — of the playing surface certainly played a part in that, the team just did not look as cohesive as they have in the past.

Although there were a few shots from Sacramento in the first half, most of them were either off frame or dealt with by the Blues defense. The best chance of the first half for the Republic came in the 17th minute, when James Kiffe served in a good cross for Justin Braun, whose header went over the crossbar. Sending the ball over the crossbar was a overarching theme of the first half.

Although the overall play was better in the second half than it was in the first, Sacramento were still unable to find the back of the net.

The best chance of the second half, and of the whole match, came in the 79th minute when a poorly judged header from a Blues player fell right to San Jose Earthquakes loan player Mark Sherrod near the top of the penalty area. Sherrod was unable to put the chance away and punish Orange County’s mistake.

Sacramento ended the match having taken 8 shots, with only 2 of them on target. All in all, they failed to create quality chances against an Orange County Blues team that was compact and defended well.

Man of the Match

For the second match in a row it is a bit difficult to find players to nominate for Man of the Match, as Tuesday’s match was largely disappointing. However, despite that overall disappointing performance, there were a few individual performances that stood out.

Dominik Jakubek played well once again in his fourth start in a row. He was a bit off in the first 20 or so minutes, but played well for the rest of the match, racking up 4 saves and earning his third consecutive shutout.

One big part of that shutout was center back Nemanja Vukovic, who performed well against the Blues. Not only was he solid defensively, Vukovic showed good, composed control and passing in tight spaces quite a few times against Orange County. Quick one-twos and clever work on the ball helped him avoid pressure from Orange County’s forwards on multiple occasions.

The final nominee for MOTM is James Kiffe. Not only did Kiffe perform well defensively, he also had some good moments in the attack as well, serving in some quality crosses and beating a few players on the dribble.

Who do you think is deserving of Man of the Match? Have your say in the poll below.

What’s Next

With the USL regular season over, the Republic now turn their focus to the playoffs. Sacramento play their first postseason match this Saturday as they host LA Galaxy II at Bonney Field. It will be an opportunity for the team to avenge their 4-0 drubbing by Los Dos earlier this season in Preki’s farewell match.

The game against Los Dos kicks off at 7:30pm and will be streamed live on YouTube.

What do you think about how the Republic played against Orange County? Let us know your thoughts on that and more down in the comments.

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