SACRAMENTO – Perfect warm weather and a classic cloud-free sky coupled with a light breeze and a colorful sunset; but for the coronavirus pandemic, it would have been beautiful rather than spooky. Professional sports returned to the Golden State on Monday night in an empty house. No fans were allowed into Papa Murphy’s Park for Sacramento Republic FC’s USL Championship 2020 season restart versus the Tacoma (WA) Defiance. A group of brave die-hard supporters dubbed the Levee Patrol set up camp from a distance on top of the levee wall and could be seen from the pitch. No matter how far away they were, their presence made a difference. The home team may not have won, but a courageous and aggressive 3-3 draw after being sidelined for four months is impressive.
The legendary Rodrigo Lopez returned to Sacramento’s starting XI for the first time since 2015. He was joined by fellow midfielder Cameron Iwasa, a familiar face and veteran roster anchor. Unfortunately, Tacoma would find the back of the net first on a goal by Alec Diaz that came in the first minute off an assist by Danny Reynolds. Unfazed, Sacramento would equalize only seven minutes later thanks to a penalty kick taken by Dariusz Formella.
Sacramento would go on to take the lead in the twenty-third minute on a brilliant goal by Tomas Hilliard-Arce made possible by an assist from none other than Rodrigo Lopez. From there, they smelled blood. The club would extend their lead to 3-1 on a goal by Dariusz Formella that came off an assist by Jordan McCrary. Formella’s goal was clean and strong as he rushed in almost completely unchallenged from the right side of the box striking a clean left footer that exploded off the inside edge of his boot with ferocious velocity.
The club was on fire, but unfortunately it was all downhill from there. Halftime wound come and go, and as frequently happens at the break, the wind left the sails. Tacoma would go on to score again and narrow the gap to a single goal. Sacramento would substitute Jaime Villareal for Andrew Wheeler-Omiunu, and the always exciting Villyan Bijev came on for Lopez, both in the sixty-third minute. However, that did’t turn things around. Sacramento brought in Kharlton Belmar for Iwasa just ten minutes later. The club also entered Dekel Keinan for McCrary and Sam Werner for Formella, thus opting for what appeared to be a more defensive posture perhaps to preserve a 3-2 victory.
Sadly, that was not to be. Tacoma equalized in the eighty-first minute as Ray Serrano brought the score to 3-3. The confluence of disbelief and altered chemistry left Sacramento in desperation from there on. Despite a valiant effort to regain the lead, the clock expired. One might wonder what might have been had the 12th man legion that is the Tower Bridge Battalion been in the house. A distant drum simply wasn’t enough.
It’s worth noting, however, that it wasn’t disappointing from the edge. It was great to see the club return to action, and while it wasn’t the result they wanted, a 3-3 tie tends to show that this group is hungry and aggressive. Hopefully the world works in ways that allow fans to witness the energy and excitement these men bring to the game. Sacramento Republic FC returns to the pitch Sunday, July 19 at 6 p.m. to host Reno 1868 FC. The match will be broadcast live on ESPN2.
Ahsan Awan has been covering sports for over a decade, and has been covering professional soccer, and Sacramento Republic FC, since their debut in 2014. All images taken by Ahsan Awan for American Presswire and ©2020 American Presswire. He can be found on Twitter as @quackarazzi and on Instagram as @quackarazzi.