Match Recap: Sacramento Republic 2, Real Monarchs 1

Sacramento Republic FC and a sizeable number of the Tower Bridge Battalion brought the party to Reno on Saturday with a 2-1 win at Greater Nevada Field. Second half goals from Cameron Iwasa and Adam Jahn earned the Republic their sixth win of the season.

The play was fairly even and competitive for much of the first half, unlike Wednesday’s match in which the Republic was the dominant team. Both teams put together some good attacking moves, with the Republic having the more dangerous opportunities, including a flurry of close shots in the 37th minute. Quite a few promising Republic attacks were killed off with the assistant referee's flag, with Adam Jahn being called offside three times himself.

While the Republic most of the quality opportunities, it was the Monarchs who got the first goal of the night with a 42nd minute goal from Ricardo Velazco. Velazco noticed that Republic goalkeeper Dominik Jakubek was cheating off his line and hit the ball over him with a left footed shot.

Octavio Guzman nearly got an equalizer for the Republic just a minute later, but his driven shot from distance went just over the crossbar.

That was the last real opportunity for the Republic to get an equalizer and the half ended with the "home" team up 1-0.

The Story at Halftime

Sacramento Republic FC stats: 0 goals, 0 assists, 1 corner, 1 save, 10 shots, 3 shots on goal.

Real Monarchs stats: 1 goal, 0 assists, 1 corner, 3 saves, 5 shots, 2 shots on target.

The got the equalizer they were looking for in the first half in the opening minutes of the second thanks to a goal from Cameron Iwasa in the 47th minute.

Iwasa’s goal was set up by a great one-two sequence on the right wing from Octavio Guzman and Emrah Klimenta. Klimenta then whipped in a nice low cross directly to the center of the penalty area for Iwasa to pounce on. It was an extremely well worked goal involving three of the Republic’s top performers so far this season. The goal was Iwasa’s third of the year, making him the Republic’s lone leading goalscorer.

The Republic got themselves another goal in the 53rd minute through a persistent play from San Jose Earthquakes player Adam Jahn, who had previously said that he was not expecting to play tonight.

The buildup on Jahn’s goal was nearly a carbon copy of Iwasa's earlier goal, with Octavio Guzman working a one-two sequence with Iwasa in nearly the exact same spot as he did on the equalizer. Jahn’s goal, however, was earned in part due to his own persistence in pouncing on the rebound of his original header. The goal was Jahn’s second goal of the season and his second game winner in just four days.

The rest of the match was largely an excercise in holding on to a lead for the Republic and as the Republic showed earlier in the week, they can hold down a lead with the best of them when playing well.

Despite a late push by the Monarchs to get an equalizer of their own, the Republic held strong and carried their lead to the final whistle to earn their second win in four days.

Reno, gracious hosts to 5182 fans at Greater Nevada Field, finished off the win with an extended barrage of fireworks.

Tonight’s win — the Republic’s second over Real Monarchs this week — took the Quails up to fifth in the Western Conference, just below LA Galaxy II and just above Saint Louis, with at least one game in hand over each.