After grabbing a point on the road in league play, Republic FC returns home to host Sporting Kansas City in a huge match – the U.S. Open Cup Semifinal. With a sold-out crowd already confirmed, and a trip to the final match for a shot at domestic glory on the line, it’s looking to be a historic night as the lone lower-division club in the tournament takes on one of the competition’s most successful in the modern era of American soccer.
At a Glance: #SACvSKC
- Wednesday, July 27
- 7:30 PM kickoff, Gates Open at 6:00 PM
- Heart Health Park, Sacramento, CA
- How to watch: ESPN+
The Latest – Republic FC
A point in the desert over the weekend puts Republic FC in a good place. Saturday, Mark Briggs Men held Phoenix Rising FC scoreless, and the match saw a pair of Academy products make their first-team debuts and new acquisition Deshorn Brown get acquainted with the club off the bench.
Much like each of the past two Open Cup contests for the club, all of the focus is on what happens between the lines on Wednesday. It’s bound to be a historical night at Heart Health Park with a lot of potential distractions, so keeping focus and the right mindset will be paramount. It should be quite an atmosphere – but little has intimidated the Indomitable club this season, and it shouldn’t be any different this time around.
Know Your Opponent
Sporting KC enters the contest with this match set to be possibly their biggest of the season. Even in a match held at a lower division foe’s home, the semifinal round of U.S. Soccer’s oldest tournament is a stage the club knows well and won’t be flustered by. The club has won four Open Cups since its inception in 1996. They most recently won the competition in 2017 – coincidentally the last tournament to feature a non-MLS club in the semifinal round.
In their most recent action, the club fell 2-0 to LAFC on the road, their second straight match without a score. To reach the semifinal, the club bested MLS Western Conference foes FC Dallas and Houston Dynamo in the Round of 32 and Round of 16, before handily taking down Union Omaha at home. They’ve outscored their opponents 12-2 in this year’s U.S. Open Cup, and taken one victory in extra time.
Head to Head
Wednesday marks the first time ever that Sacramento and Sporting KC meet. They only share one common opponent on the year – the San Jose Earthquakes – that they each played in the final week of May. Sacramento bested the Bay Area side 2-0, while Kansas City split points in a 1-1 draw.
