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On Sunday April 10th, Sacramento Republic FC travel to UBC Thunderbird Stadium in Vancouver to take on the Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2. Whitecaps 2 made their debut last season along with their Cascadia rivals Seattle Sounders 2 and Portland Timbers 2. The Republic were victorious in both matches against Whitecaps 2 last season.
Let's take a look back at the history between the Republic and Vancouver Whitecaps 2.
April 15, 2015
Fans at Bonney Field witnessed arguably the most dominating match of former midfielder and Republic legend Rodrigo Lopez's career. Lopez nearly scored early but was thwarted by Vancouver Whitecaps 2 goalkeeper Spencer Richey. However, Roro couldn't be denied and found the back of the net in the 32nd minute after a give-n-go at the top of the penalty box with David Estrada.
But wait folks, there was more. Lopez scored for the second time of the match on a bomb of a shot from the halfway-line past an out-of-place keeper. Besides the Miracle at Bonney, this may have been the best shot of Lopez's career. Take a look at the highlights below.
September 6, 2015
The second match up between these two clubs saw another brace for a Republic player, but this time it came from former forward Justin Braun. Braun received an assist from Tommy Thomson in the 29th minute to put the Republic up 1-0. The Whitecaps 2 would answer back in the second half as midfielder Marco Bustos went around a diving Dominik Jakubek to even the score.
Braun would take the game winner in the 71st minute off a pass from defender Emrah Klimenta to put the Republic up 2-1.
Please share with us your memories about the history between Sacramento Republic and Vancouver Whitecaps 2 in the comments below.