Overview: SAC v. LEX
- Date: Saturday, August 15
- Location: Heart Health Park
- Kickoff: 8:00 p.m. PT
- Watch at Home: FOX40+, ESPN+
- Native American Heritage Night
- Cooling scarf giveaway to the first 1,500 fans
- On-field debut of Strength In Motion Kit + first chance to buy the Strength In Motion merchandise collection
- Special vendors
- Indigenous Future Leader Scholarship presentation
Know Your Club- Republic FC
After two consecutive matchups on the East, Republic FC makes their return for the first of a two-game home stand. Sacramento most recently picked up a point on the road after a stand-still 0-0 score facing defending champion Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC.
Republic FC held the edge in shots and possession, but ultimately it was the team’s defensive performance that stood out. With three saves on the night, Danny Vitiello recorded his sixth clean sheet of the year and became the first player in league history to collect 50 clean sheets for a single club.
The point kept The Quails well within striking distance to secure a home playoff match. They are now among a group of seven teams – including this week’s opponent – separated by a total of just five points.
Now after getting through one of the toughest stretches of the season – with four of the last five matches coming on the road – the team is looking forward to returning to Heart Health Park.
“We enjoy being at home, so now we want to build on the things that we’ve been doing really well,” said Head Coach Neill Collins. “We enjoy playing at home, and we’ve been very good at home recently. So we need to continue that form at home.”
“Now we get to play most of the remaining games at home,” said defender Jared Timmer. “We need to make sure we take care of business in front of our home crowd to put ourselves in a good situation. We want to be playing at home come playoff time, where we can be ourselves and play the style that we want. These home games are going to be huge for us.”
Know Your Opponent- Lexington SC
Lexington SC visits Sacramento riding high after a 1-0 win against Pheonix Rising FC last Saturday on their home turf.
They controlled the match up and down the stat sheet, while holding Phoenix without a single shot on target. Lexington continued to test Rising FC’s backline with five shots on target by the 60th minute, just before connecting with the net in the 63rd minute. A sneaky back-of-the-foot pass by Blaine Ferri into open space for Braudílio Rodrigues gave way for a shot on goal, connecting with the net to bring Lexington up 1-0 and giving Rodrigues the nomination for USL Championship Goal of the Week.
Lexington SC midfielder and captain Aaron Molloy leads the team with four goals and five assists on the season and secured the league award for July Player of the Month after four assists across all competitions and creating eight chances and making nine shots.
After gaining three points in their previous matchup, Lexington sits in fifth place in the USL Championship Western Conference.
Head-to-Head
Both teams will be looking to earn their first-ever win in this series. In three previous meetings, all have ended deadlocked, including a 0-0 draw in Lexington earlier this year.
