The 2015 USL Regular Season is over and the playoffs are about to begin. Sacramento Republic FC’s postseason kicks off against LA Galaxy II on Saturday at Bonney Field, a place where both teams have felt both joy and sorrow at the hands of the other. Sacramento knocked Los Dos out of the playoffs there in 2014, while Galaxy II handed the Republic their worst ever home defeat earlier this year.

The Devil You Know

After 9 matches played against each other in both the playoffs and the USL regular season, it is safe to say that Sacramento Republic and LA Galaxy II are familiar with one another. The Republic have historically had the advantage between the two teams with a record of 6-2-1. Sacramento have an all-time goal differential of +4 over Los Dos, with a differential of 0 this season.

Many Republic fans have expressed frustration throughout the season that teams often come to Bonney Field and sit back, looking to kill the game and counter-attack. Although counter-attacking is still a part of their game plan, LA Galaxy II have always come to play against the Republic at Bonney Field. Los Dos do not shy away from the challenge of facing Sacramento at home, and although the results are not always what fans in the capital want — the 4-0 defeat earlier this season comes to mind — it is almost always an entertaining game when these teams face off.

Not only are the matches entertaining for the quality of play, but sparks tend to fly when these two teams face each other. In the 4 matches played between the Republic and Los Dos this season there were a combined total of 84 fouls, or an average of 24 fouls per game. During that same time period there were 14 yellow cards shown, for an average of 3.5 cautions per game. When expanded to the entire series, the number of cards goes up to 35 yellow cards and 1 red card, for an average of 3.89 cautions per match. We expect to see more of the same on Saturday.

Although fans and the players may already be familiar with Los Dos, Saturday’s match will be Head Coach Paul Buckle’s first run-in with them since being handed the reins earlier this season. He was, however, on hand to watch the Republic’s disappointing 4-0 defeat during Preki’s farewell match, so he has at least seen Los Dos play in person before.

The Best Offense is a Good Defense

In 2014, Sacramento Republic and Los Dos were the most prolific goalscoring teams in USL, both scoring a league-high 58 goals during the regular season. This season there has been a bit of a drop off, with both teams near the middle of the pack offensively. However, while they have dropped off in the goalscoring department, they have each elevated their play at another aspect of the game: keeping the goals out.

In 2015, both Sacramento Republic and Los Dos conceded only 31 goals in their 28 regular season matches, making them both the stingiest defense in the USL Western Conference and the third stingiest in all of USL.

With the drop in offensive production and defensive strength of both teams, it seems likely that Saturday’s match will be a low scoring affair. The back four that bends the furthest without breaking is likely to come out on top.

But an Actual Offense is Nice Too

One of the Republic’s most pressing issues heading into the playoffs is putting the ball into the back of the net, which Coach Buckle said after last weekend’s match against Arizona is “the hardest thing in the game.” Prior to the last 2 games of the season the Republic had been doing well offensively, with captain Justin Braun leading the way. But in the final week of the season things just did not come together for Sacramento.

Against Arizona United they created chance after chance, but every shot was either saved, blocked, or mishit. Although it was promising that the Republic were still creating those chances, the difficulty finishing them was, and still is, concerning. It becomes especially so when Los Dos’s co-top of the west defense is taken into consideration. Sacramento will not have as many chances against Los Dos as they did against Arizona, so the ones they do get they will have to make count.

The regular season finale against Orange County Blues was one that Republic fans and players will want to move on from quickly. In that match the offense struggled to create many quality chances and were also unable to finish the ones they did manage to create. While it is unlikely, considering the team’s strength at home, if Sacramento play against Los Dos like the did against Orange County, they might be out of the playoffs early.

Player to Watch

While we have no evidence to back this up, we’re pretty sure that Rodrigo Lopez is a recurring figure in the nightmares of LA Galaxy II coach Curt Onalfo. Lopez has scored 7 goals over the 9 meetings between the 2 teams, including a hat trick in last year’s playoff semifinals and 2 game winners at StubHub this season. With Sacramento struggling offensively in the final 2 games of the regular season, they will be looking to Lopez to write a new chapter in the story of his personal dominance over Los Dos.

How to Watch

Sacramento Republic FC kick off against LA Galaxy II on Saturday at 7:30pm PDT. It can be viewed, as every USL match can, live on YouTube.

The winner of Saturday’s match will move on in the playoffs to face Orange County Blues at Anteater Stadium.

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