Sacramento Republic defeat Loudoun United 3-1 in a battle between the top team in the Western Conference and one of the lower ranked teams in the East. Russell Cicerone opened up the scoring with his strike 10 minutes into the game. However the lead was not for long as Wesley Leggett drew the game even with his goal 18 minutes later. The match was netted even for the rest of the half with Cicerone hitting the post before the end of the first half along with another early shot denied with the woodwork before the game tying goal.
The second half was marked by very physical play with a total of ten cautions issued in the game, six for Sacramento and four to Loudoun–seven alone in the second half. However it was Huddersfield Town loanee Kieran Phillips providing the heroics with his brace coming off the bench. His goals in the 87th minute and 92nd minute gave Republic the victory and remain unbeaten in the West with 5 wins and 3 draws. Loudoun with the loss are in ninth place in the East with 2 wins 1 draw and 4 losses. The win was the 100th for Republic coach Mark Briggs.
Our photo album is here along with our select shots from the match.
Next up for Sacramento is a playoff rematch on the road at Phoenix Saturday May 4 at 7:30pm. They return home Tuesday May 7 at 7:30pm to play regional rival Monterey Bay Union in the US Open Cup with the winner most likely meeting the winner of the Quakes/Roots match. Loudoun will return home to host Detroit on May 4 at 4pm before returning to California to meet Orange County SC in the US Open Cup May 7 at 7pm.
