Following an emotional evening on Tuesday in the U.S. Open Cup, Republic FC jumps right back into league play in a regional derby match with Monterey Bay FC. The second contest between the two clubs marks the first meeting on Monterey’s home turf at Cardinale Stadium.
With tons of confidence after winning their fourth straight and extending the club’s unbeaten streak to six, the club’s expecting another result. But as the squad has preached all season, no match is easy. Sacramento knows that keeping their league form through a run in the Open Cup is paramount. And playing on the road is as difficult in 2022 as it’s ever been before.
“We just spoke about keeping momentum,” said Mark Briggs at Thursday’s training session. “Usually, teams that go on good cup runs, their league form suffers. We don’t want to be one of those teams. We want to keep our standards and make sure the levels are maintained and not dropped.”
“We’ve had some run of form in the cup, but it’s about finding that same form in the regular season in these conference matchups because each point matters,” said Duke Lacroix. “We’re going to come with the same approach, same mindset and be tactically sound.”
Monterey being at the bottom of the Western Conference isn’t changing Sacramento’s mindset as they enter the match. They know where they were challenged last time they faced off and the advantage their foes will have now playing games in their home stadium. The club’s point total doesn’t necessarily reflect how they’ve played when hanging right with some of the best teams in the league this season.
“It’s going to be a tough matchup,” Lacroix continued. “We know where we’re at in the table, we know where they are in the table. Coming off the mid-week high, it’s about taking each game as they come,” said Duke Lacroix.
“We’ll need to focus on the little details. We’ve got to get a good performance from whoever is on the field,” said Danny Vitiello.
“[Monterey] is a hard team to play against,” said Briggs. “They’ve got dangerous players in wide areas that we need to make sure we look after. They’ve got threats all over the field.”
Even with the club’s last match providing a high not many teams get to experience, the page has been turned. All the focus is now looking forward to Monterey, to Colorado Springs on July 2, and to their next home match the week after.
“We have a target on our back now. And Monterey’s a team that competes until the final whistle no matter what. So that’s something we’ll have to look out for. It won’t be an easy game.”
