Another busy week awaits Republic FC as the club kicks off a stretch of three games in eight days with a road contest against San Antonio FC this Saturday. With just five regular season matches to play, the squad is in second place in the table and could clinch a postseason berth over the weekend.
Saturday will mark the second head-to-head contest between Republic FC and San Antonio FC this year. Sacramento has held the edge in the series as of late – including a 1-0 win at Heart Health Park in August – but with these two clubs’ history and San Antonio’s playoff hopes on the line, Head Coach Mark Briggs knows that the contest will be a battle. “It’s going to be a very difficult game in a difficult place to play. Now they’re playing for their season and they’ve good a squad of good players, which makes it a difficult challenge.”
Last weekend, the Indomitable Club earned its largest win of the season, defeating Western Conference leader New Mexico United 4-0 in front of a sold out home crowd. The performance earned three Team of the Week selections and wrapped up a standout month for Kieran Phillips who added a scoring contribution in all five games.
“We showed what we’re capable of,” said Briggs. “It was a statement to ourselves, more than anything else, to show what we are capable of and to show that we can still be the best team in this conference.”
“It just gives us confidence. To see four goals and then to keep a clean sheet on top of it, it was a great feeling,” said defender Jared Timmer. So we just want to continue to build on that momentum.”
Including Saturday, three of Republic FC’s five remaining games will be played on the road, giving the club an opportunity to return to the strong away form it showed earlier in the year. “We started the year good on the road, and we’ve had a little bit of difficulty in the last few games, but we know what it takes to go on the road and put in a good performance. We’ve just got to dig in and stick together and get the result that we need,” said Timmer.
“I think it’s important that we get back to who we showed we were on Sunday. Whether we’re at home or away, we’ve got to show our DNA and we’ve got to show our identity,” said Briggs. “Throughout the season there are peaks and valleys, but we’re still right where we need to be, and we’re still in contention to lift the championship.”
