USLC Week Five: Rip Roaring Republic

Welcome to week five, where your favorite USL Championship clubs get stretched a little thinner in the search for cup magic. Immediately after the mid-week interlude, we get a full slate of mouth-watering matchups including last year’s champions, San Antonio FC hosting the red hot Sacramento Republic as well as the highly regarded Louisville City looking to bounce back against a Detroit City team looking to steal a result from a wobbly inter conference foe. Before we get to all that, however, let’s take a look back at few results from last week.

  • Orange County SC (0-1-3) traveled to Hartford Athletic (0-2-2) for a noon kickoff in California. OCSC came out hot, scoring in the 7th minute with a goal by Milan Iloski. However, right before the end of the first half, Hartford’s Elvis Amoh answered to tie the match right before they went into the locker room. In the second-half, the game turned more physical with a combined 10 yellow cards handed out (5 to each club).  

  • Colorado Springs Switchbacks (2-1-1) came away with a win against Loudoun United FC (1-2-1). In a game that had a weather delay around the 80th minute. The Switchbacks opened up the scoring in the 5th minute by Romario Williams with an assist from Deshane Beckford. On paper, Loudoun was the dominant team, but just could not break down the strong Switchback Defense. 

  • In a game that was delayed due to weather, the dedicated Detroit City FC (1-3-0) fans helped clear the pitch of the deluge submerging the Historic Keyworth Stadium pitch.  Despite the later start time, RGV FC (1-0-3) walked into Hamtramck and came away with a 1-0 victory. The 23rd minute goal for RGV was scored off a turnover by DCFC and Taylor Davila finished it with aplomb. In the first half, Toros kept pushing for a second goal, but could not put the proverbial nail in the coffin. In second half play, the hosts came out and had the better of RGV, but their struggles in front of goal persisted.

All Results from march 31 - april 1

  • FC Tulsa 2 - 2 El Paso Locomotive

  • Hartford Athletic 1 - 1 Orange County SC

  • Loudoun United 0 - 1 Colorado Springs Switchbacks

  • Detroit City FC 0 - 1 RGV Toros

  • Indy Eleven 0 - 0 Las Vegas Lights

  • Miami FC 1 - 1 Memphis 901

  • Tampa Bay Rowdies 0 - 2 Birmingham Legion

  • Monterey Bay 1 - 2 San Antonio FC

  • Oakland Roots 1 - 0 New Mexico United

  • Sacramento Republic FC 5 - 0 Louisville City

  • Phoenix Rising FC 2 - 2 San Diego Loyal

Sacramento Republic visit San Antonio FC in a top of the table clash.

Its an absolute treat to have these two sides clash this early in the season - Sacramento Republic and San Antonio FC are 1st and 2nd in the Western Conference table, separated only by goal difference… a goal difference begat from Republic’s evisceration of Louisville City FC, one of the more well-regarded squads in the league. They have identical records and, on paper, largely play a similar style of smash and grab - just patiently waiting for their opponents to wear themselves out and strike ferociously on the counter. Through four league matches, Sacramento has averaged just 42% of possession but have generated 56 shots, scored 8 goals, only given up 1 and all while Danny Vitiello has kept 3 clean sheets.

Meanwhile, Jordan Farr has stood on his head and while he only has 1 shutout so far, San Antonio’s defense has done exactly as Alen Marcina has it designed to do - bend not break. SAFC have seen even less of the ball, averaging a mere 36.75% of possession but somehow have allowed opponents just 28 shots, and only 16 of which have been on target. Both teams pulled out come from behind US Open Cup matches… Sacramento’s was a wee bit more dramatic; however, both Mark Briggs in Sacramento and Coach Marcena in San Antonio made 11 changes for their cup matches and head into this critical league match fairly fresh. They have gone hammer and tong for a few years, with neither having secured consecutive wins over another since Sacramento Republic had a good spell over San Antonio in 2018 and 2019.

This match has the potential to break the deadlock; 4 wins for San Antonio, 4 wins for Sacramento, and 2 draws. Look for this match to be two teams playing not to lose - and while San Antonio should have the home field advantage, it will be no surprise if they draw for the first time since January 2017.

Get ready for the match, listen to our interview with Sacramento Republic Head Coach Mark Briggs

Its desperate, early on, for both Detroit City and hosts Louisville City - who can pull themselves together first?

Its early in the season - this cannot be emphasized enough. But both Louisville City and Detroit City need a win or two, and soon, because despite being in a playoff position for now, their form has not been nearly good enough to stay there. Louisville, picked by many to win the Eastern Conference, started off well with trips out west vs Orange County SC and Monterey Bay and picking up 6 points; however, in their last two matches, also against Western Conference teams, they have been outscored 8-0 and look like something went absolutely pear-shaped towards the end of March.

The good news is, they got April off to a good start with a 1-0 US Open Cup win over USL League One upstarts, Lexington SC and they host fellow strugglers, Detroit City next. Louisville have beaten Detroit in three straight matches, including a 1-0 away win, a 2-1 home win, and advancing past DCFC in last year’s US Open Cup. Head Coach Danny Cruz, and company, look to make it four on the trot when they host them this Saturday at the Lynn Family Stadium.

Detroit also won their USOC home match - Yazeed Matthews scored in the 43’ and City advance to the next round. Head Coach Trevor James and his squad needed a win, any win, because this season (again, its early in the season) has not gone their way so far. Keyworth is one of the most atmospheric stadiums to play in, perhaps in all of the country, and it can be a beating heart for DCFC - but the weather has been atrocious and the squad has simply not performed well-enough. They’ve lost their last two league matches at home, and have bee shut out in front of their fans. It might be good for them to go on the road and try to steal a win from a team who can close the flood gates. Detroit City come back home at the end of the month to face the MLS franchise from Minnesota on April 25th then play Tampa Bay Rowdies on April 29th. Its entirely possible Coach James and Le Rouge reverse their fortunes by then because… its still just early in the season.

Get ready for the match and listen to our conversation with Fletcher Sharpe of the Daily Detroit

This week’s fixtures:
Sat - April 8

  • Louisville City vs Detroit City - 12pm (PST) / 3pm (ET)

  • San Diego Loyal vs FC Tulsa - 2p (PST) / 5p (ET)

  • Indy Eleven vs Oakland Roots - 4p (PST) / 7p (ET)

  • Charleston Battery vs Hartford Athletic - 4:30p (PST) / 7:30p (ET)

  • Tampa Bay Rowdies vs Miami FC - 4:30p (PST) / 7:30p (ET)

  • Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC vs Pittsburgh Riverhounds - 5p (PST) / 8p (ET)

  • San Antonio FC vs Sacramento Republic FC - 5:30p (PST) / 8:30p (ET)

  • El Paso Locomotive vs Orange County SC - 6:30p (PST) / 9:30p (ET)

  • Monterey Bay vs New Mexico United - 7p (PST) / 10p (ET)

  • Phoenix Rising FC vs San Diego Loyal - 7:30pm (PST) / 10:30pm (ET)

Sun - April 9

  • Birmingham Legion vs Phoenix Rising FC - 2:30p (PST) / 5:30p (ET)

Wed - April 12

  • Tampa Bay Rowdies vs Charleston Battery - 4:30p (PST) / 7:30p (ET)

by Joshua Duder & Harry Austin