For the final time in 2022, Republic FC is set to battle with Monterey Bay F.C. The two sides’ first three meetings, including a March preseason friendly, have seen Sacramento take three wins including a gritty come-from-behind effort in their last contest.
Union’s been one of the hottest clubs in the league of late, even with their mid-week loss to San Diego Loyal SC. Between their last loss on the schedule – June 25 to the Indomitable Club – and Wednesday, Monterey went over 500 minutes without conceding a score to put them in the league history books for a debut squad. Even on an unbeaten streak of their own, Mark Briggs’ men are giving their opponents a lot of respect.
“They’re flying at the moment,” said defender Josh Bauer. “They’re going to be pushing. Going into their place, we’ll have to be super disciplined and do the little things right to hopefully come out and get a result.”
“Against a much-improved Monterey team, it’s going to be a really difficult game in a really difficult atmosphere,” said Mark Briggs on Thursday.
After a week of normal rest and preparation, the contest kicks off another congested stretch that sees Sacramento play three matches in eight days. Coming in the squad is confident, but to keep its strong form intact they know more is needed if they want to take down the tough squads on the schedule.
“We’re doing some very good stuff. I think we’ve still got to be more consistent, and we can still retain the ball better than what we have done,” Briggs continued. “There’s still more in this group – we’re not done, we’re not satisfied, and there’s still a lot more to come.”
Kicking off another busy stretch isn’t worrying anyone – through the last month the club’s battled some of its toughest foes of the season and experienced some of the biggest challenges in football. Each time, they’ve been able to fight back and not let the situation get the best of them. It shows a lot about the squad and what each player is made of, as well as the results a tremendous mentality and attitude can have.
“This group always wants to be better,” said Briggs. “It’s all about mentality, everything you do is about your mentality and the attitude you have. This group is showing a fantastic attitude and they show a great mentality.”
“Everyone’s confident, everyone trusts each other and gives each other confidence to make the right pass and the right play,” Bauer continued. “[And] we have some guys with that killer mentality that do great things for us.”
