A win over Monterey Bay FC at Cardinale Stadium kept Republic FC’s perfect June run going on Saturday. Super-sub heroics from Maalique Foster, who netted his first career brace, brought Sacramento back from down a goal to take all three points and sweep a big week of matches across both league and Open Cup play while the squad stayed strong through the challenge of a third match in eight days.
Super Subs
Through the hour mark, Sacramento was in a good place – the club was putting constant pressure on Monterey Bay to open the second half. However, they just couldn’t find a way to break through. As the club generated a few chances in succession, Mark Briggs knew they needed a bigger threat up top and reached for Maalique Foster, Rodrigo Lopez and Damia Viader off the bench. The trio came in and flipped the match on its head, and within ten minutes, Sacramento had the lead.
Foster’s two scores represented the forward’s first career brace, his 14th and 15 career scores, and the first multi-goal performance by a Republic FC player in league play this season. Entering the club’s next match, Foster will now have scored three times in six appearances since returning from injury at the start of May.
A Perfect Pass
The club’s equalizing score was, without a doubt, a great finish from Maalique Foster. However, the play that allowed him to find position with the ball in front of him was equally as good. The ball sent forward by Rodrigo Lopez in space curled around two defenders and avoided being blocked by two Monterey midfielders stepping to him up high.
When Foster found the net again minutes later, it went just like the club drew it up on the training field. A cross in from Jack Gurr on the wing dropped right betweenMonterey’s center backs, and gave the Jamaican the perfect window to head it home.
Mental Toughness Wins Out
Coming into the match, the club knew another collective performance would be needed to take their fifth victory on the month. Saturday marked the club’s third match in eight days, and coming off of Tuesday’s Open Cup win they were likely to still be heavy-legged. But it didn’t matter, as the club rebounded from an unlucky own-goal to put them down, stayed mentally strong and didn’t let the challenge get the best of them
“I said to them at halftime that being tired is just a mental thing. You’re not tired and you have more in your body. You have more in your legs to give,” said Mark Briggs after the match. “And second half they certainly had a little bit more and they certainly pulled out that little bit of energy that we needed to gain a bit of momentum to turn the results.”
