{"id":391739,"date":"2026-07-09T07:22:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T07:22:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/391739\/"},"modified":"2026-07-09T07:22:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T07:22:11","slug":"sacramento-republic-fc-wins-at-home-during-world-cup-break","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/391739\/","title":{"rendered":"Sacramento Republic FC wins at home during World Cup break"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Republic<\/p>\n

Republic FC defender Jack Gurr (2) and Rhode Island FC defender Aldair Sanchez (3) race for the ball during a match in Sacramento on Wednesday. Republic FC defeated Rhode Island 2-1.<\/p>\n

HG BIGGS<\/p>\n

hg.biggs@sacbee.com<\/p>\n

The only professional soccer game played in the western half of the United States on Wednesday night took place in Sacramento, when Republic FC hosted Rhode Island FC and won, 2-1.<\/p>\n

It was a unique scenario given it was the first night off for the World Cup since it began 28 days earlier. FIFA scheduled a day off between the Round of 16 and the Round of 8, or quarterfinals, which pick back up on Thursday when France takes on Morocco after Argentina and Switzerland advanced Tuesday.<\/p>\n

But to say the World Cup caused fans to flock to Heart Health Park to continue riding the soccer wave might be overselling it. While thousands had showed up to several World Cup watch parties that the local pro team has hosted in downtown Sacramento<\/a> in recent weeks, there were a reported 8,436 fans in attendance Wednesday at Cal Expo, notably below the 10,000 or so Republic FC usually attracts.<\/p>\n

That said, it was a much-needed victory for Republic FC, which entered the night in 10th place in the Western Conference after coming into the season with expectations of competing for a league championship. They\u2019ve been ravaged by freak injuries throughout the season and have yet to find their stride.<\/p>\n

\"Republic Republic FC teammates celebrate after a goal by forward Mayele Malango (7) during a match against Rhode Island FC in Sacramento on Wednesday. Republic FC defeated Rhode Island 2-1. HG BIGGS hg.biggs@sacbee.com <\/p>\n

But Wednesday\u2019s match that included a pair of assists from offseason acquisition Mark-Anthony Kaye, a one-time MLS All-Star in 2019 and Canadian national, gave Sacramento three points and moved them up five spots in the standings.<\/p>\n

They\u2019ll have a quick turnaround, with a USL Cup match Saturday against Athletic Club Boise, a club in the lower League One tier of the USL.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need consistency in our team selection,\u201d Republic FC manager Neill Collins said, alluding to his team\u2019s injury issues. \u201cI would say that we are two or three games behind a lot of teams, and think that\u2019s partly what makes you feel worse when you look at the standings. If we can put more points on the board in those games, we\u2019ll feel a lot better. But we\u2019ve got more than half the season left, and more performances like tonight and I think we\u2019ll be where we need to be come the end of the season.\u201d<\/p>\n

Striker Kyle Edwards scored in the 19th minute with an awkward header on the assist from Kaye, who lofted a cross from the left corner of the 18-yard box. It was Edwards\u2019 third goal of the season. Rhode Island responded with a goal in the 25th minute on a header from midfielder Hugo Bacharach.<\/p>\n

Sacramento made it 2-1 on a long strike Mayele Malango just before halftime, also assisted by Kaye. The goal was Malango\u2019s first of the season.<\/p>\n

\"Republic Republic FC defender Ryan Spaulding (3) fights for the ball during a match against Rhode Island FC in Sacramento on Wednesday. HG BIGGS hg.biggs@sacbee.com <\/p>\n

Republic FC has at least 17 games left remaining on the schedule (more are possible by advancing in the USL Cup), giving them ample time to climb back toward the top of the table, which is where they envisioned being at the start of the season.<\/p>\n

They think the opportunities have been there, but their 13 goals scored rank dead last in the 12-team Western Conference. They expect goals will be coming more consistently the rest of the way.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you look at our games, and obviously we haven\u2019t been able to pick up as many points as we\u2019ve wanted,\u201d Kaye said. \u201cWe played well, and we\u2019ve moved the ball well, and we\u2019ve created opportunities. It\u2019s just the final produce, the final decision in the final third.\u201d<\/p>\n

What\u2019s next for Republic FC?<\/p>\n

Republic FC goes on the road for three straight matches before returning to Heart Health Park on Aug. 1 to host Sporting JAX.<\/p>\n

It will be the penultimate night of the California State Fair happening next door at Cal Expo.<\/p>\n

\"Republic Republic FC goalkeeper Danny Vitiello cheers after a teammate steals the ball from a Rhode Island FC player during a match in Sacramento on Wednesday. HG BIGGS hg.biggs@sacbee.com
\n Related Stories from Sacramento Bee<\/p>\n


\n \"Profile
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Chris Biderman<\/a><\/p>\n

The Sacramento Bee<\/p>\n

Chris Biderman covers sports and local news for The Sacramento Bee since joining in August 2018 to cover the San Francisco 49ers. He previously spent time with the Associated Press and USA Today Sports Media Group, and has been published in the San Francisco Chronicle, The Athletic and on MLB.com. The Santa Rosa native graduated with a degree in journalism from the Ohio State University.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Republic FC defender Jack Gurr (2) and Rhode Island FC defender Aldair Sanchez (3) race for the ball…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":391740,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[121,123,122],"class_list":["post-391739","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sacramento","tag-sacramento","tag-sacramento-headlines","tag-sacramento-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/391739","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=391739"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/391739\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/391740"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=391739"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=391739"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=391739"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}