After months of holding on to the top two spots in the Western Conference, Republic FC and New Mexico United will finally go toe-to-toe at Isotopes Park on Wednesday night. It’s the first of two road matches for the club this week, with a tilt against fifth-place Las Vegas Lights FC on Saturday.
Over the weekend, Republic FC earned a 2-0 win over Phoenix, scoring early on a rising FC side that hadn’t been scored on in four consecutive matches. “We’re coming out in games with energy, with confidence, and intensity,” said midfielder Luis Felipe.
“I think it has the potential to be a defining week,” said captain Lee Desmond. “We’re confident. I thought Saturday night was one of our better performances and we just have to take that momentum into Wednesday.”
New Mexico United is seeing its best season yet. Head Coach Eric Quill took over midway through the 2023 campaign and led the team to its fourth postseason in five years, and now in his first full season has the Black & Yellow closing in on hosting its first-ever playoff match.
“It’s going to be a difficult game. They’ve got a really good home record, they’ve been the best team in the conference this year and that’s why they have the points they have,” said Republic FC Head Coach Mark Briggs. “We’ve got to go in there confident. We know what we’re capable of. We know the quality that we have.”
Heading into the match, New Mexico has a seven-point lead over Sacramento, but with the two clubs meeting head-to-head twice in the next 10 days, there’s a potential six point swing at the top of the table.
“There’s no pressure on us,” continued Briggs. “To be honest, the pressure is on New Mexico. If they win on Wednesday, they’ll probably win the conference. But if we win, that gap will become a bit smaller and we’ll be just behind them in the points. So we’ve got nothing to fear. We’ve just got to go out there and play our game.”
