Republic FC welcomes Las Vegas Lights FC to Heart Health Park for a Sunday matinee this weekend. With three games to go in the regular season, it’s an important contest for both sides.
Las Vegas will be looking to play spoiler and close out their season on a high note. The Southern Nevada side has been in good form of late, earning results and scoring with regularity against a number of teams above the playoff line.
“It’s an extremely important match,” said Russell Cicerone at Thursday’s training session. “It’s going to be a battle [against Las Vegas], so to find our form heading into the last couple of games and Sunday’s a great place to start.”
“It’s an important game that we have to win,” said Luis Felipe. “We’ve got everything to play for – and it’s great to be back home with our fans in an important game.”
Sacramento enters following a tough result last week against Colorado Springs. After three straight games unbeaten, the club fell 2-0 at Switchbacks FC on September 23.
“We’ve got to get back to the intensity that we had every single match,” Cicerone said of what the club needs to bounce back. “I think we’re on the right step ahead.”
The final three weeks of the season are important for every club across the league. For some, it’s about closing out the season on a high note. For others, being in good form as the regular season comes to a close to establish momentum heading into knockout football.
“For teams that are in the playoffs, you want to be a little bit on a streak heading in, Cicerone continued. “You don’t want to come in with a couple of losses on your belt. It’s important that you are doing things the right way heading into playoffs.”
“For us its about taking one game at a time,” said Matt LaGrassa on The Breakaway last week. We’ve seen in this league a lot – it’s not just about being at the top of the table, but about being hot going into the playoffs.”
