By Macy Membrere and Jason Tajima
EBC Sacramento Bureau
SACRAMENTO, California (Eagle News) — The 2019 United Soccer League (USL) regular season officially kicked off for the Sacramento Republic FC and Real Monarchs SLC. Team captain Cameron Iwasa of Sac Republic made a plea to the crowd before the start of the match, saying “We come out for you every night. Keep bringing the noise!”
In the past, the Republic FC and Real Monarchs have played close matches. Tonight’s match was no different with the new head coach, Martin Vasquez, leading Real Monarchs SLC.
In the first half of the match, both teams had many attempts at a goal. At the 11th minute, a yellow card was issued to Cameron Iwasa of Sac Republic. At the 25th minute, a yellow card was issued to Michael Chang of Real Monarchs for a foul on Stefano Bonomo of Sac Republic.
Jake Blaek of Real Monarchs SLC scored the first goal of the night at the 35th minute by from a penalty kick, ending the first half with a score of 1-0 in Real Monarchs’ favor.
In the second half, Sac Republic goalie Cohen made a miraculous save at the 76th minute of the game. Sac Republic then fired back with another goal attempt but missed a great opportunity to tie the game. A yellow card was issued to Ricardo Avila of the Real Moncarchs at the 79th minute of the game. Finally, at the 81st minute of the game, a goal was scored by Sac Republic’s Haris Chantzopoulos assisted by Sam Warner.
This was Ray Saari’s first game with the Sac Republic FC and although the result wasn’t ideal, he looks ahead by saying, “Three points would have been great, but I think we’ll take the one point and head to Colorado next week.”
In the post-game interview, Sac Republic FC Head Coach Simon Elliott summed up the game by saying, “It was a good second half, but it wasn’t a good game.”
The season opener for both Sacramento Republic FC and Real Monarch SLC ended with a tie: 1-1.
(Eagle News Service)