It was not the way that anyone in Sacramento wanted the Republic’s 2015 season to end. The team’s run in the USL Playoffs came to an end as quickly as it began with a dramatic, if controversial, 1-0 loss to LA Galaxy II at Bonney Field on Saturday. The lone goal was scored by Galaxy II’s Bryan Olivera on a penalty kick.

The Match

Sacramento started the match well, with the first 10 or so minutes going mostly their way. They were sharp and seemed to be more comfortable in the attack than they had in their previous two matches. There was a dangerous chance early on for Danny Barrera when he took a long distance attempt on an empty net but ended up putting the shot wide, much to the relief of Los Dos’s goalkeeper, Clement Diop. There was also a good display of Mark Sherrod’s hold-up play when he chested he ball right in the path of Thomas Stewart.

Despite that good start, it was Los Dos who got the first and only goal of the match in the 13th minute after a poor foul from Emrah Klimenta. Jack McBean drew the penalty for Galaxy II by dropping to the floor after a little shoulder tug from Klimenta. “I think the lad’s made a meal of it, so to speak. He’s gone down, the ref’s bought it,” said Buckle after the match. “But you can’t touch somebody in the box… it was a second of madness.”

The resulting penalty kick pitted Dominik Jakubek against Los Dos’s Olivera and although Jakubek guessed the right direction, he was unable to get he the impeccably well hit shot. At the risk of sounding like everyone who ever wrote about soccer, that goal really changed Saturday’s game. Although they did not resort to outright time wasting, Los Dos made sure to take their time on dead balls and generally tried to kill of the game.

The Republic chased an equalizing goal all throughout the rest of the first half and all the while trying to deal with a Los Dos team that became increasingly disruptive. A prime example of this particular disruption occurred in the 40th minute, when  Alejandro Covarrubias obstructed a Rodrigo Lopez throw-in in like he was playing basketball. Lopez decided to return the favor by acting like he was playing dodgeball, throwing the ball in Covarrubias’s face. Although the response in the heat of the moment may have been frustrating to some, as it led to both Covarrubias  and Lopez seeing yellow, it was very popular with other Republic fans.

The second half continued on much the same as the first half, with the Republic looking for an equalizer that was destined never to come. However, as the half wore on, it became more about what Los Dos were doing, namely the ways they would try to run out the clock. They fouled relentlessly and then go to ground at the slightest possibility of a foul committed by a Sacramento player, something that greatly upset the Republic fans in the stands at Bonney Field. Boos rang out around the stadium every time a Los Dos player had to get the trainers onto the field, something that happened so often it almost appeared to be more akin to a CONCACAF Champions League match than a USL match. “I’m disappointed that they did it, the size of club they are,” said Paul Buckle after the match. “We’ll never resort to that, you’ll never see us resort to that. I was really proud of the way we conducted ourselves.”

Another unfortunate turn of events happened not even 5 minutes into the second half, when San Jose Earthquakes loanee Mark Sherrod was hit in the head during a challenge and stayed down for a fairly long time. Thankfully, the inital assessment at Bonney Field done after Sherrod had been subbed off seemed to indicated that Sherrod would be ok. A second assessment will be coming in the next few days to ensure that he is in fact ok.

Even with Los Dos making the most of a whistle-happy referee and Sherrod’s health-based substitution, Sacramento had plenty of good chances to get the equalizer they so desperately needed. The first pair of chances came in the 74th minute, when Thomas Stewart was put in behind the defense 1-on-1 with the Diop only to have his shot blocked. The resulting rebound came to the top of the box in a dangerous area but the Republic were unable to capitalize on it, as Braun and Gissie nearly collided when they both went for the ball.

The second pair of good chances for the Republic came just a few minutes later in the 77th minute. As he did many times on Saturday, the Diop parried away a Republic cross in an attempt to punch the ball clear. However, it landed near Justin Braun, whose fantastic attempt on goal was saved by an equally great goal-line clearance.

Yet another great save by Diop snuffed out the Republic’s final chance of the game in the 88th minute, pushing Justin Braun’s header just up and over the crossbar. Although there were 8 minutes of stoppage time, that was the last real chance for Sacramento to pull themselves into extra time. The match ended 1-0 with the Galaxy II moving on in the playoffs to face Orange County Blues,

However, just because the match was over does not mean that the day’s action was over. Just a little bit after the final whistle blew, there was a big scrum at midfield which cleared out both benches.

With 28 total fouls, 7 yellow cards, numerous faked (or at least extremely exaggerated) injuries, and quite a few complaints from both sides, it is safe to say that there was no love lost between Sacramento Republic and LA Galaxy II on Saturday night. It is certainly not the oldest rivalry in USL, but games between Sacramento Republic and LA Galaxy II are always entertaining in one way or another. Saturday’s game was no exception.

Man of the Match

Who played well enough to earn your vote for ICS Man of the Match award?

What’s Next?

With their loss to Los Dos, Sacramento Republic FC are knocked out of the playoffs and therefore out of the 2015 season. The Republic will now look to building for another run at the USL Championship in 2016.

For an in-depth look at Sacramento Republic’s  season and Saturday’s match against Los Dos, be sure to listen to next week’s episode of Beeman’s Republic.