Sacramento Republic FC enters important stretch with three games in eight days
Sacramento Republic FC prepares for a critical stretch of games as the Western Conference playoff race tightens, starting Saturday against New Mexico United.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. —
The top eight teams in the USL Championship Western Conference are separated by just 10 points. Sacramento Republic FC is in a four-way tie for fourth place and heads into an important stretch of games and can earn nine points if it can win three games in eight days.
“I don’t think I’ve seen the table so tight at this time of year ever before,” said Sacramento Republic FC defender Lee Desmond.
“This is why you play. This is what it comes down to at the end of the year. You know, you want to play the best teams,” says Sacramento Republic FC defender Ryan Spaulding.
The Republic has played to a draw in four of its last seven matches, earning just one point in each contest, but the team’s belief remains strong.
“We’ve hit the post the most times in the league. Can we start just going a couple inches the other way and then all of a sudden, we’ll be doing great. So there’s not big things that need change, small things,” said Sacramento Republic FC head coach Neill Collins.
“We’re going into the final six games with so much confidence because we’ve played so well and we just need our final bit now to put the ball in the back of the net and turn good performances into wins,” said Desmond.
Every one of the six remaining opponents on the Republic’s schedule is in the playoff chase including New Mexico United, Las Vegas Lights FC, FC Tulsa, Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC, El Paso Locomotive FC, and Oakland Roots FC.
The Republic will take on New Mexico, Las Vegas, and Tulsa in the next eight days. Republic FC last faced New Mexico United, losing at home 1-0.
“You have these rivalries, you know, you have teams that you respect, but also really want to beat and New Mexico and ourselves with some really good games. And we felt that we were on the wrong end at home recently, so the players, I don’t think they take too much motivating,” said Collins.
“You know that these are teams that you can face easily in the playoffs,” said Spaulding. “You want to go out there and play the best you can and put in a good performance.”
The Republic’s final stretch of the season begins Saturday, September 26, at 6 p.m. in New Mexico at Isotopes Park.
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