Relief for Sacramento Republic in scoring goals, getting result vs. Oakland Roots

No surprise, Sacramento Republic FC were upbeat after their slump-busting 3-3 draw on Wednesday against Oakland Roots.

It’s a glass half full/glass half empty scenario. Some fans were unhappy with the result, since the teams traded the lead before finishing at a stalemate. Perhaps on a different night, the team would have been downbeat after being held to a draw at home, but after being held scoreless and losing the past two games, posting three against Oakland was a relief of sorts.

“I was really pleased with the fight, the attitude, and the mentality shown, especially towards the end of the game where we were pushing to, obviously, get the equalizer and then pushing to get the winning goal which we didn’t quite achieve,” head coach Mark Briggs told reporters after the game. “But the number of opportunities we created, and the attitude and the desire we showed was extremely pleasing. Now we’ve just got to limit our silly individual errors, and I think we’ll be in a decent spot.”

Goals on the night came from Dariusz Formella, Cameron Iwasa, and Jordan McCrary, somewhat surprising that three returning players had the goals with the team bringing in so many new players in the offseason.

Iwasa’s goal was his first of the season, and the local product was pleased to get off the mark after dealing with a hamstring strain following the season opener.

“I mean the point in the match to get the tying goal at the time was just a big moment,” Iwasa said. “And for me personally to open the account, get the first one of the year, try to get some momentum going, that’s big for me. So I mean more than anything though it was just the moment of the match, and, kind of where we were at.”

Briggs, who liberally rotated his lineup with the team on a losing run and a few players out on international duty, gave Iwasa high marks for his play in the game.

“I was really pleased with Cameron,” Briggs said. “I thought he was a threat all night. Obviously he got his goal as well, and he could have had another one. It looked like the keeper made a great save from the ball in from Nabi [Kibunguchy] on the header. Cameron came in and he had a good preseason with us and was feeling sharp, then he got a little injury that set him back a little bit. But now with Kharlton [Belmar] being away on international duty, it gives Cameron the opportunity to grab that jersey and to do what we all know he can do. I thought tonight he was a real threat all night, and that’s all we want from him. We want him to be a threat and we know that he can score goals, and he’s getting back to what we’re all used to.”

There’s not much time for Republic FC to rest on their laurels, with another big game on Saturday, at home against Orange County SC.

Iwasa hammered home the point that Sac Republic need to step up and grab wins, hopefully starting with the next clash.

“So a lot of positives [from the game against Oakland] but definitely disappointed not to come out here. Every time we play a game at home to not get three points, that’s one point in two home matches over the last four days or so, so that’s disappointing but just looking forward to OC on Saturday,” said Iwasa.

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