Mark Briggs’ men solidified a spot in the 2020 USL Championship playoffs without even taking the pitch on Thursday night.
Thanks to the midweek result in Reno – a 3-2 win in favor of 1868 FC – Tacoma’s loss mathematically eliminated the Pacific Northwest club from clinching a place in the postseason and ensured Reno and Sacramento would represent Group A in the playoffs come October.
Even though the Indomitable Club is a lock for a seventh straight trip to the postseason, Republic FC is still fully focused on catching first place Reno for the top spot in the group. But before the squad starts to look ahead to next weekend’s heavyweight bout in Nevada against SRFC’s regional rival, it’s time to see what the squad had on their minds heading into this weekend’s contest.
Mark Briggs’ men solidified a spot in the 2020 USL Championship playoffs without even taking the pitch on Thursday night.
Thanks to the midweek result in Reno – a 3-2 win in favor of 1868 FC – Tacoma’s loss mathematically eliminated the Pacific Northwest club from clinching a place in the postseason and ensured Reno and Sacramento would represent Group A in the playoffs come October.
Even though the Indomitable Club is a lock for a seventh straight trip to the postseason, Republic FC is still fully focused on catching first place Reno for the top spot in the group. But before the squad starts to look ahead to next weekend’s heavyweight bout in Nevada against SRFC’s regional rival, it’s time to see what the squad had on their minds heading into this weekend’s contest.
Head Coach Mark Briggs
On how the squad feels heading into Sunday’s game against Tacoma…
“We’re in a decent spot. We clinched the playoffs last night which was a goal that we all wanted but honestly, I can’t let go of last weekend and I can’t let go of last Saturday night and I want a reaction on Sunday. I want a performance, I want a reaction, I want to see how much it hurt them.”
On how it feels to have secured a spot in the 2020 USL Championship playoffs…
“It’s nice to make the postseason but that was an expectation from me, that wasn’t something that I thought we would struggle with. It was an expectation and we’ve met that expectation, but we have four games to really fine tune and really perform. We have four playoff games then another four playoff games, hopefully.”
On the race for the top spot in Group A…
“We just have to focus. We have four games left, that’s 12 points, we better get 12 points. And then we have to hope Reno slips up somewhere. The beauty of this game is now these games mean a little more, right? There’s a little more pressure, there’s a little more expectation on these games and certain things happen that you wouldn’t necessarily expect so we just have to take care of ourselves. We need to continue to put points on the board and continue to grow and get better, so we arrive at the playoffs in the right form.”
Head Coach Mark Briggs
On how the squad feels heading into Sunday’s game against Tacoma…
“We’re in a decent spot. We clinched the playoffs last night which was a goal that we all wanted but honestly, I can’t let go of last weekend and I can’t let go of last Saturday night and I want a reaction on Sunday. I want a performance, I want a reaction, I want to see how much it hurt them.”
On how it feels to have secured a spot in the 2020 USL Championship playoffs…
“It’s nice to make the postseason but that was an expectation from me, that wasn’t something that I thought we would struggle with. It was an expectation and we’ve met that expectation, but we have four games to really fine tune and really perform. We have four playoff games then another four playoff games, hopefully.”
On the race for the top spot in Group A…
“We just have to focus. We have four games left, that’s 12 points, we better get 12 points. And then we have to hope Reno slips up somewhere. The beauty of this game is now these games mean a little more, right? There’s a little more pressure, there’s a little more expectation on these games and certain things happen that you wouldn’t necessarily expect so we just have to take care of ourselves. We need to continue to put points on the board and continue to grow and get better, so we arrive at the playoffs in the right form.”
Shannon Gomez
On the team responding positively following last week’s result…
“After the game the guys felt it, they definitely felt it. Over these last couple of days have been a period of reflection. What can we do better? How can we manage games better? How can we take three big points we need? In games like that especially. You want to beat the top team in the group and a game like that was the perfect opportunity to snag those three points. The guys definitely felt it and we know we have to give a response and I think guys are working well to respond this week.”
On responding from the penalty call last weekend…
“I feel like when you’re on the field, everyone is a leader on the field and there are young guys on our team that might look up to any player and I think setting that example and the way you take it and the way you respond from it, you feel some type of responsibility. I feel like in moments like that with the experience you have, you should know that moments like that in a hostile environment, you don’t give the referee and inch to make the game. You make the game; you make that decision and ultimately the game comes down to decisions and if we’re smarter with our decisions then we wouldn’t put ourselves in these situations.”
On the race for the summit of Group A…
“We go into every match focusing on us and focusing on the task at hand. Basically [Reno is] winning but we got to do what we got to do and that’s keep winning also. We’re fine tuning for the postseason just like they are too so we’re going to be ready. As long as we keep focusing on what we have to do, I think we’ll be alright.”
Shannon Gomez
On the team responding positively following last week’s result…
“After the game the guys felt it, they definitely felt it. Over these last couple of days have been a period of reflection. What can we do better? How can we manage games better? How can we take three big points we need? In games like that especially. You want to beat the top team in the group and a game like that was the perfect opportunity to snag those three points. The guys definitely felt it and we know we have to give a response and I think guys are working well to respond this week.”
On responding from the penalty call last weekend…
“I feel like when you’re on the field, everyone is a leader on the field and there are young guys on our team that might look up to any player and I think setting that example and the way you take it and the way you respond from it, you feel some type of responsibility. I feel like in moments like that with the experience you have, you should know that moments like that in a hostile environment, you don’t give the referee and inch to make the game. You make the game; you make that decision and ultimately the game comes down to decisions and if we’re smarter with our decisions then we wouldn’t put ourselves in these situations.”
On the race for the summit of Group A…
“We go into every match focusing on us and focusing on the task at hand. Basically [Reno is] winning but we got to do what we got to do and that’s keep winning also. We’re fine tuning for the postseason just like they are too so we’re going to be ready. As long as we keep focusing on what we have to do, I think we’ll be alright.”
