Republic FC’s Sunday victory over Las Vegas Lights FC brought all kinds of excitement, as the club downed the Southern Nevada club 2-0 at Heart Health Park. The club bounced back from its defeat at Colorado Springs a week ago with a strong shutout win, moving to 58 points in the Western Conference table. And a historic occasion late in the match was met with a tremendous roar from the sellout crowd on hand for the matinee match.
After a deadlocked first half, Sacramento’s adjustments in the second period would create offensive opportunities. The shift would give the Quails an edge resulting in two scores and all three points. The club dominated on the ball all afternoon to the tune of 60% possession, 19 shots, and 86% passing accuracy.
“I thought it was a good performance,” said Head Coach Mark Briggs after the match. “We wanted to see our quality on the ball and we wanted to see our energy. We certainly saw that, had it in abundance today and I thought the second half was extremely good. Fantastic performance, and to get two goals and possibly more based on what we did was very pleasing.”
The match saw an impressive milestone come for its captain. Rodrigo Lopez’s entry into the contest in the 58th minute marked his 121st appearance for Republic FC across all competitions – moving the club’s first-ever signee to second on the all-time leaderboard, past defender Emrah Klimenta. Lopez would go on to put a signature mark on the contest, serving a perfect ball to Luther Archimède for a headed score in the 84th. It was his fourth assist this season and second since returning from injury on August 26.
13-year-old Da’vian Kimbrough made history with his professional debut. At 13 years, 7 months, and 13 days old, Kimbrough – who signed a professional contract in July – became the youngest professional athlete to debut in American team sports. The previous record-holder was New York City FC 2’s Maximo Carizzo, who made his pro debut for the MLS NEXT Pro side in 2022 at age 14.
“The most rewarding parts of my job happened tonight,” Briggs said of Kimbrough making his debut. “Giving a young Academy player the opportunity to represent his home team and listen to the stadium, the fans go mental because of a hometown kid.”
Despite the magnitude of the moment, Kimbrough looked comfortable as he stepped on to the pitch. Calm on the ball, he completed both of his pass attempts, including a perfectly-placed ball to spring a Zeiko Lewis attack.
“I was a bit nervous at first before I got subbed on,” Kimbrough admitted. “But once I got on the field, at the end of the day it’s just soccer. So just doing what I love. Simple stuff. Just soccer.”
Republic FC makes its final road trip of the season this week, traveling to Texas to face off with Rio Grande Valley FC. Kickoff is set for 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 7 – after the match, the club returns home for the Regular Season finale on October 14 against Miami FC.
