In front of its home crowd for just the second time this season on Saturday night Republic FC defeated Memphis 901 FC after a late winner in dramatic fashion. The club claimed its fourth straight unbeaten result this season with the victory, staying atop the Western Conference table on eight points. After an exciting finish, have a look at three key moments from the contest:
78th minute – Vitiello Comes Up Big
In close games, one key moment can often be the deciding factor. Memphis’ most dangerous chance came with 12 minutes to go – advancing in transition, substitute Dylan Borczak heeled a pass to Bruno Lapa for an open look at the penalty spot. If not for a leaping denial by Danny Vitiello, the visitors may have taken the lead.
87th minute – Ricketts Finds a Way
After Trevor Amann earned a key foul, a set play led to the game’s deciding opportunity. A perfectly placed cross by Rodrigo Lopez and great poise in traffic by Jonathan Ricketts allowed the Tennessee native to collect his first goal in a Republic FC shirt and tally his first career game-winner. As he fought off a defender, his first attempt was denied by goalkeeper Tyler Deric, but brought him off his line to allow his second to squeak through and into the back of the net.
“We’ve got to find other avenues to attack, other ways to score goals,” said Head Coach Mark Briggs after the match. “And tonight, we found the back of the net on a set piece to get the three points for us.”
Ricketts’ goal was the club’s sixth game-winner in the final ten minutes of a match dating to the start of the 2021 season. Other notable winners in that time include Tucker Bone’s 82nd-minute winner vs. LA Galaxy 2 on April 30, 2021, Douglas Martinez’s 84th-minute score to best El Paso on opening night in 2022, and Luis Felipe’s stoppage time score to best the Locomotive last September after a scoreless stalemate through 90 minutes.
90+5th minute – Closing it Out
The hard work wasn’t over after Ricketts score – and the squad knew it. Republic FC kept pushing for a second goal to seal the game, putting Cristian Parano on the pitch to threaten Memphis with the ball at his feet. Parano tallied two shots in two minutes, forcing a save from the goalkeeper one-on-one after pushing ahead in transition.
The visitors reacted by pushing numbers forward to find an equalizer – and Sacramento was ready for the task with an all-out team defensive effort until the final whistle. With a little over a minute to go in stoppage time, 901 FC served a cross in attempt to disorganize the defense, but Republic FC stayed poised to keep its clean sheet intact. Ricketts stopped Memphis’ first attempt with a headed clearance, Lee Desmond sent away a second effort, and Rafa Jauregui cleared the ball away to mitigate the threat.
