Sacramento Republic FC opened their 2020 USL Championship season with a battling performance against FC Tulsa on Saturday at Papa Murphy’s Park, but a late goal by the visitors meant the teams split the points following a 1-1 draw.
Sacramento was very much the better team in the first half, but the second half was far more even and the home side couldn’t find an insurance goal to wrap up the win. In the end, that loomed large as Tulsa found the equalizer.
Rookies Hayden Sargis and Mario Penagos started for Mark Briggs’ lineup, a big opportunity for the Sac Republic academy products.
Sacramento were active in the opening minutes, as they forced three saves from Tulsa goalkeeper Sean Lewis in the first three minutes. From there, good chances were hard to come by, but a dangerous diagonal in the box to Cameron Iwasa bearing down on goal in the 39th minute sailed over goal when the forward put a poke on it.
But the breakthrough came in the 42nd minute, when Drew Skundrich hit a sharp wormburner off a nice buildup to give Sacramento the lead heading into the break.
The second half slowed down quite a bit, with heavy legs seeming to hamper both teams. Rodrigo Lopez made his re-debut for Republic FC in the 68th minute, replacing Penagos.
Tulsa found a way back into the match, as Rodrigo da Costa scored the equalizer in 79th minute, beating Adam Grinwis from close range after an outstanding line-breaking pass by Lebo Moloto.
Preseason trialist Ash Apollon made his competitive debut for Sacramento in the 83rd minute, as he replaced Villyan Bijev, who was very sharp in the first half. Apollon went over in the box in the 88th minute as Marlon Santos made a shoulder barge, leaving Sac Republic fans and the team upset a penalty wasn’t called, but there was no call. Sam Werner had a great scissor kick side-volley, but Lewis was in the perfect spot and saved the shot.
The result is surely somewhat frustrating for Sac Republic, considering they held the lead for a long stretch of the game, but the goal they gave up demonstrates a momentary breakdown can be costly, and Tulsa’s set-up on that particular play was excellent. SRFC seemed to get tired in the second half, but it would seem another few games under their collective belts should help them find their fitness and hopefully, their full form, too. So it wasn’t the win they were looking for, but it was a decent performance to kick things off and build upon.
Sacramento will be back at it in a week, as they head to Nevada to take on Las Vegas Lights FC for the first time this season. Vegas are also coming off a Week 1 1-1 draw, so both sides will be eager to notch their first win this season.
What do you think? Leave a comment below!
Comments
I’m not seeing the promising start
Lots of shots we sent off target or straight at the keeper. I think our expectations were not met today. This should have been a W.
By Republic Forever on 03.07.20 11:01pm
Positives to improve upon, but a disappointing result
It was interesting seeing a lineup that seemed pretty different from what we’ve seen in preseason. I think not scoring in that crazy first 5 minutes of chances hurt us. I thought Bijev, Mahony and Andrew Wheeler Omunu put in a good shift. Even though we had a weaker second half, we were the far better team overrall and should of won. But a point is a point!
By SirHobbsalot on 03.08.20 8:33am
Sounds like injuries forced Briggs' hand
By Alicia Rodriguez on 03.08.20 7:03pm
Similar to Last Year
We had more possession, more shots, and still did not get the 3 points.
We have a depth problem. We had five 17 year olds suited up last night. They worked hard and played well for their experience, but why couldn’t we get more players with professional experience ? People were wondering if we were really going to try and be competitive by signing pros or develop our academy players. Last night seemed to answer that question.
By SRFC_Day1 on 03.08.20 1:17pm
Like I said above, sounds like there have been some injuries
But you have a point, when you have a small squad, you can’t really afford injuries to take out more than a couple key players.
By Alicia Rodriguez on 03.08.20 7:04pm
Are Formella and Belmar injured, Villarreal?
By left hand on 03.08.20 7:24pm
Yes, have heard Formella and Belmar were injured. Villarreal and Lopez battled concerns in preseason, Lopez came off the bench but Villarreal didn’t.
By Alicia Rodriguez on 03.09.20 12:57pm
Observations from an admitted amateur:
Surprised, not necessarily unpleasantly, to see two teenagers in the opening XI. Sargis is not out of his depth physically and not intimidated. The long pass that led to the goal was sweet. A lot of other decisions and passes were really questionable and potentially dangerous in terms of giveaways. Probably overall a good first effort. Penagos either couldn’t find much of a way to be impactful or wasn’t looked for enough (or I don’t know what I’m watching).
Someone mentioned good shifts. I mean, Barajona, anyone? Also, Skundrich was himself (that’s positive), but with legitimate results to show (very positive). Iwasa was his typical yeoman, doing all the pressing and hold-up. But, ouch, that missed poke.
The opposition only got a couple decent looks. One gave us "Adam’ed if you do" moment number one. The other "Adam’ed if – oh, he di’n’t". So, by the way, TBB need to shout "Adam’ed if you do!" whenever Grinwis makes a save in front of them. There’s surely a law.
I loved seeing Ash get out there, but thought Apollon for Bijev looking for a winner was a strange substitution. Maybe some explanation of the injury situation will clear that up.
I thought the boys were brave and engaged and mostly on the same page, with some missed opportunities. Not bad. But I’d rather hear them talk about two points squandered in a home opener rather than a point gained.
By left hand on 03.08.20 7:42pm
On Apollon for Bijev
I thought Bijev looked gassed in the second half. He was so sharp in the first 45 but faded after the break.
By Alicia Rodriguez on 03.09.20 12:58pm