USL Sacramento Republic FC

Sacramento Republic FC vs Portland Timbers 2

Published on August 19, 2016 under United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Sacramento Republic FC News Release


Sacramento Republic FC (10-6-7, 37 pts) return home to Bonney Field to take on Portland Timbers 2 (7-12-4, 25 pts) on Saturday, August 20. Kickoff is 8 p.m. The match is Caped Crusader Night, presented by Jiffy Lube. The match will be aired live on CW31 and Sports 1140 KHTK and streamed live at SacRepublicFC.com/matchday and YouTube.com/USL.

The match is Republic FC's third annual Caped Crusader Night, presented by Jiffy Lube. Republic FC's starters will wear custom-made capes prior to the presentation of the national anthem. Each player's child escort will also be wearing a custom-made cape. The child escorts will be current and former UC Davis Children's Hospital patients and children with special needs representing the community family.

The capes will then be auctioned off between the beginning of the match and the end of halftime. The winners of the auction will have the opportunity to take the field following the match for a meet-and-greet with the player who's cape they won. All proceeds from the cape auction will benefit Capes4Heroes, a Northern California non-profit that creates capes for children with special needs or who have experience life threatening illnesses. To-date, Capes4Heroes has created and delivered over 20,000 capes for children in the United States and around the world.

This is the second and final match between Republic FC and Portland Timbers 2 this season. T2 won the first match 1-0 at Merlo Field in Portland, on Apr. 17. The all-time series is split, with each team winning two matches. There are no draws between the two sides in all-time series history.

Republic FC enter the match riding a four-match unbeaten streak after a 4-3 victory over Saint Louis FC on Aug. 13. Republic FC scored three goals just 17 minutes into the match, before eventually clinching their fifth road win of the season. Saturday's match was the third seven-goal match in Republic FC history. Republic FC is undefeated in seven-goal matches, defeating Colorado Rapids Reserves 4-3 at Bonney Field on June 20, 2014 and defeating Orange County Blues FC 6-1 on Aug 17, 2014.

Midfielder Matt LaGrassa had a match full of career firsts against Saint Louis FC. LaGrassa made his first USL start for Republic FC after appearing in five previous Republic FC USL matches as a substitute. LaGrassa also recorded his first and second career assists on Saturday. He and fellow midfielder Tommy Thompson recorded two assists each, the first time in franchise history that two different players had recorded multiple assists in the same match.

Forward Cameron Iwasa recorded his second career brace on Saturday, scoring Republic FC's second and fourth goals of the match. Iwasa now has a club-leading nine goals on the season. Iwasa is just one goal shy of becoming the third player in franchise history to record a double-digit scoring season and is just two goals shy of tying Thomas Stewart's single-season record of 11 USL goals.

Midfielder Octavio Guzman scored his second goal of the season against Saint Louis FC, his second goal in the last two matches. Guzman is the third Republic FC player to record goals in back-to-back matches this season, joining Iwasa, who scored in back-to-back matches on June 11 and 18 and Mike da Fonte, who scored in three straight matches on July 2, 6 and 10.

T2 come into the match following a 2-1 loss to Real Monarchs SLC on Wednesday, Aug. 17. The loss to Real Monarchs snapped a short three-match unbeaten streak for T2, including victories over LA Galaxy II on Aug. 6 and Orange County Blues FC on Aug. 14.

Midfielder Neco Brett and forwards Kharlton Belmar and Villyan Bijev lead T2 on offense. Brett leads the club in scoring, netting five goals this season, while Bijev leads the club with six assists. The trio combined for 11 goals and 11 assists on the season, accounting for 22 of T2's 25 goals on the season.

17-year-old defender Marco Farfan was recently named the number seven on the USL 20-under-20 list. Farfan is sixth in minutes on T2 with 1,387 on the season. Farfan and fellow Timbers U-18 Academy teammate, 18-year old midfielder Blake Bodily have both impressed in their first season with T2. Bodily has three goals and an assist in just 591 USL minutes this season.

The match will be aired live on CW31 and Sports 1140 KTHK and streamed live at SacRepublicFC.com/matchday and YouTube.com/USL. Updates of the match will be provided via Twitter @SacRepublicFC or using #SACvPOR.

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United Soccer League Championship Stories from August 19, 2016


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