Republic FC reaches the halfway point of the 2023 season this week when Rio Grande Valley FC comes to Sacramento. As the club closes a three-match home stand, they remain atop the league standings with 32 points, and enter confident after last Saturday’s strong win.
This week’s opponent enters on a strong run of form. The Toros have claimed two consecutive clean sheet wins, four straight unbeaten results, and have been on a roll in the attacking third. Sacramento will have a tough task ahead of them in the South Texas side’s only regular season visit to Heart Health Park this year.
“Difficult opponent, difficult team that’s very well coached. They’re obviously coming off the back of two really good results,” Head Coach Mark Briggs said of this week’s opponent. “So it’s going to be a really difficult game for us. We’ve just got to make sure that we’re in a good spot, and we’re ready to get another result at home.”
“They’re going to be a tough team to play against,” defender Shane Wiedt said of RGV. “They’re going to look to play in behind, counter us – it’s not going to be an easy matchup. So it comes down to us, and us willing to perform and put in the effort.”
It’ll be a hard-fought match between the two sides – as it always is. Each contest between Sacramento and Rio Grande Valley last season was decided in the final moments. The surging visitors are sure to bring their best to Heart Health Park.
“We have to bring our best performance, our best energy, the most fight,” continued Briggs. “People always want to put on their best performance, play on the front foot to make a statement against the best team.”
Maintaining the level from last week’s result will be key for the squad, as the club begins a busy July. Performing well in one of the toughest matches played all year allowed the club to learn a lot about themselves.
“I really liked last Saturday’s performance,” Briggs said of last week’s win. “The fight that the guys showed and the winning of individual battles, the intensity at which they ran showed me that we can win in different ways.”
“Continuing the momentum we have is important,” said Wiedt. “There’s a positive outlook we’re trying to keep throughout the season. We want to just keep grinding.”
