It really should have ended in 2014, though. The American soccer system had picked Lopez up, thrown him from club to club, and spat him out. He flirted with the academy of then-MLS’s Chivas, and had a brief cameo in MLS itself, but he was otherwise the prototype of the USL journeyman. Lopez was nearly 30, living in someone else’s house, and supporting a family. That really should have been it. 

In the meantime, he worked construction. His father was a professional soccer player in Mexico, who moved the family to Southern California to work on a farm when Lopez was 11 months old. It’s a cliche, but Lopez knew the definition of sacrifice. 

That didn’t mean it suited him, though. Lopez’s first day working on a site wasn’t the best. For one, he didn’t really look the part. He pulled up in a BMW, complete with fresh sneakers, nice jeans, and a clean tee, ready for what he believed would be a calm day on his new job. His friend immediately told him to get changed – and sent him home. 

“He was like, ‘Hey, get your ass in the car. Go home, get your worst pair of jeans, go buy some boots, get the dirtiest shirt you have, and come back,’” Lopez recalled. 

Lopez spent all day wheeling dirt around from one place to another. How difficult could this be? He thought before his first shift. Well, 12 hours later, he had an answer. 

“I was like ‘wow this is hard’,” he said. 

Still, it paid the bills. There was still room for soccer, too, in the form of a Sunday league not too far from home. 

But then, the kid from Santa Barbara, California, was offered a lifeline. Graham Smith, who was building a new franchise in Sacramento, rang Lopez up. His team was getting off the ground, and he needed Lopez to bring some valuable experience. 

Lopez hesitated. The new coach, two-time MLS MVP winner “Preki”, had cut him in a previous life. The money wasn’t great. He would walk into a new locker room, making less, with a coach who, historically, didn’t rate him. Lopez thought Preki’s criticism was harsh back in the day. The Serbian-born coach questioned his defensive work rate. Lopez disagreed. Going back would require work – and swallowing a fair bit of pride. 

Those around him told him to wake up. 

“I was talking to my family, my wife, and my parents. They were like, ‘They’re offering you the chance of a lifetime, you’d be the first player signed, this could change your life, if you really put the work into it, and you go in there focused, you could prove everyone wrong, ’” Lopez said. 

What followed was something out of a movie montage. Lopez put in 13-hour days to make it all happen. It was a taxing routine: gym in the morning, work all day, run on the beach or in the mountains at night. Toss in soccer on the weekends, and Lopez showed up to his new side feeling invincible – sharp and ready to perform. 

“It was crazy how strong I felt, how good I felt. The last month or two that I was preparing to go to preseason with Sacramento, I was flying, man, and I showed up to preseason and I killed it,” Lopez said. 

The Republic were excellent in year one. And Lopez was the architect. He was an MVP finalist and an all-league selection. He made the team of the week four times and captured the playoff MVP. They also won the USL Championship – just for good measure. 

“And,” he paused. “The story changes there.”