Wednesday, Sept. 11, 5:30 pm @ Austin Bold FC Austin Bold FC Stadium TV: ESPN+ Preview: (from SRFC Website) Republic FC (11-11-4, 37 pts) climbed the Western Conference standings up to seventh place and remained unbeaten at home in the all-time series against Tacoma Defiance (8-0-0) after shutting out the Pacific Northwest club, 3-0, at Papa Murphy’s Park on Saturday night. Simon Elliott’s men took the early advantage in the 13th minute when Jordan McCrary picked out an open Thomas Enevoldsen directly in front of goal and the newly-acquired striker calmly directed his close-range shot past the Tacoma goalkeeper. The assist was McCrary’s first of the season and first with the club. The hosts doubled their lead just before halftime when Enevoldsen played a perfect pass to Cameron Iwasa, who with his first touch at the top of the box, rifled a shot into the far corner of goal for the 2-0 lead. The goal was Iwasa’s team-high 13th of the season, elevating Sacramento’s all-time leading goal scorer up to a tie for sixth place in all of the USL Championship. Enevoldsen added the finishing touches in the 75th minute when Jaime Villarreal found Iwasa with a well-weighted through ball that the Sacramento native selflessly shared with an undefended Enevoldsen. The former Denmark international, whose stellar performance earned him USL Team of the Week honors for the second time since his midseason arrival, buried his shot into the top netting to put the game out of reach and guarantee all three points were headed to Sacramento. The clean sheet was the 11th of the regular season for Republic FC, now tied for second-best in the entire USL Championship, and 13th in all competitions. This was also the fourth time over the last seven matches that Sacramento shut out the opposition. The boys in Old Glory Red now boast the fourth-best defense in the Western Conference, having only surrendered 29 goals in league play all season. What about the other guys? Austin Bold FC (11-9-7, 40 pts) came from behind over the weekend to draw 1-1 on the road with Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC. After falling behind in the first half, Gustavo Martini Rissi netted the equalizer in the 70th minute to return to Texas with a point in the standings and a firm hold on fourth place in the Western Conference. Austin has been hit or miss on the road this season but at home, the expansion side is a tough team to beat. In 14 home matches, Austin has only lost twice and the Texan club has scored eight goals over the last two matches (both wins). Spearheading the attack is forward Andre Lima who leads the team in goals with 10 and his 57 shots this season is currently tied for sixth in the conference. Another offensive threat is defender Sean McFarlane whose team-high six assists is seventh in the Western Conference and his 136 crosses ranks him 10th in all of the USL. Defensively, Austin has one of the league’s most reliable goalkeepers in Diego Restrepo between the pipes. Restrepo’s eight clean sheets is currently seventh in the USL and his 73 saves are tied for fourth-best in the entire league.
Sorry this one was posted late, I almost forgot about the game! If SRFC can grab three points, they leapfrog Austin into fourth place. It won't be easy, though, as Austin is incredibly tough at home, and Diego Restrepo (GK) always seems to have his best games against Republic.
It looks like the Austin crowd will be a little short of the avg attendance of 2,500. Good luck, Precourt.
Legit effort and a great result! Iwasa damn near collapsed at the end of the game. He definitely left it all on the field.
Solid effort and we're into fourth place by goal differential. Realistically, that's as high as we'll finish. We're 7 pts behind Reno and they have a cupcake schedule the rest of the way. Hopefully, we'll hang on and see a first-round home playoff win. For a change.