Sports stats



USL Sacramento Republic FC

Short-Handed Republic FC Falls to San Jose 2-1

June 12, 2014 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Sacramento Republic FC News Release


Finishing the match down a man, a short-handed Republic FC fell to the San Jose Earthquakes 2-1 in the fourth round of the 2014 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.

San Jose came out strong and in just the 5th minute had their first big opportunity that saw three different shots taken and two big saves by Republic FC goalkeeper Dominik Jakubek before defender Harrison Delbridge cleared the ball. Republic FC then seemed to come alive and for the next half hour pressured San Jose relentlessly, controlling the flow of play for the remainder of the half.

After several close shots Republic FC finally broke through in the 42nd minute when forward Chad Bartlomé crossed the ball into the box to Justin Braun, who jumped and flicked the ball into the back of the net to put Republic FC up 1-0. The goal was Braun's second in as many appearances.

San Jose did not waste any time responding to the Republic FC goal and in the next possession forced a corner kick. The corner was taken and the ball scored but referee Juan Guzman called a penalty before the shot was taken. San Jose midfielder Khari Stephenson took the penalty and shot it just over the diving Jakubek and into the top corner of the goal to tie the score, 1-1.

The score remained tied going into the half. Republic FC came out strong from the half and continued to play in the San Jose defensive half, but San Jose was able to take the lead on a counter attack. In the 73rd minute, San Jose midfielder Cordell Cato received a ball that had bounced off a Republic FC defender, putting the shot just past the reach of an onrushing Jakubek for a San Jose 2-1 lead.

Republic FC pushed to find a late match equalizer, but in the 78th minute Bartlomé was shown his second yellow card forcing Republic FC to finish the match a man down.

Defender Jack Avesyan had the best chance of equalizing in the 88th minute when he blasted an open shot from just outside the six-yard box, but San Jose goalkeeper David Bingham made great save to preserve the lead.

"San Jose is a tough team and our partner but we made it difficult for them and played our style of football," said Republic FC head coach Preki following the match. "It was incredibly positive for us, we are a young team, a team that has been together barely three months and for us to come here and show this well is an incredible bonus."

Republic FC will travel to Oklahoma City to take on Energy FC on Saturday, June 14. The match is scheduled to kickoff at 5:00 p.m. PST and will be streamed live at sacrepublicfc.com/matchday.

Check out the Sacramento Republic FC Statistics

• Discuss this story on the United Soccer League Championship message board...

United Soccer League Championship Stories from June 12, 2014


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central