This weekend, Republic FC will play its first interconference contest of the year as the 2024 Players’ Shield winner Louisville City FC comes to Sacramento for the first time since 2023.
Overview: SAC v LOU
- Date: Saturday, April 5
- Time: Kickoff at 7:00 p.m. PT
- Venue: Heart Health Park
- Tickets: BUY NOW
- Watch: FOX40, Antenna TV 40.2
- Stream: FOX40.com, ESPN+
Know Your Club – Republic FC
The Indomitable Club is coming into Saturday’s match with a chance to bounce back from its first loss of the 2025 campaign. On the road for the first time, the club battled early-season standout FC Tulsa in a close match last Friday, but came away without any points. Despite outshooting Tulsa 15-11 and getting 33 touches in the opponents’ box, Sacramento was unable to find the target for the first time since May 19, 2022.
Offseason addition Freddy Kleemann earned his first career Team of the Week selection after tying the league’s all-time record with 17 aerial duels won. The difference maker wouldn’t come until the 87th minute as Tulsa found the back of the net on a dangerous corner kick.
“I think for large parts of the game we looked like the better team,” said Head Coach Neill Collins after the game. “We should have capitalized on our moments and we didn’t and we paid the ultimate price for not taking our chances. We defended a set piece poorly and we ended up coming away with nothing.”
As the club manages early-season injuries, Captain Rodrigo Lopez made his first appearance in 678 days after suffering a season-ending ACL tear in May 2024.
Know Your Opponent – Louisville City FC
LouCity is a perennial Eastern Conference powerhouse, so it should come as no surprise that the reigning Players’ Shield winners are the only remaining undefeated team in the East. Last week, the Kentucky club extended its lead in the table with a 2-0 victory over Detroit City FC at Lynn Family Stadium.
Detroit held the edge in possession, but Louisville made its chances count with five of its 10 shots on target and eight chances. Ray Serrano broke the deadlock in the 20th minute with his team-leading third goal of the season. The other goal came from Jansen Wilson, who collected a cross from Manny Perez on the right flank to double the lead. The 22-year-old Serrano has been an integral part of LouCity’s early success. In each of the team’s wins, he has scored the opening goal.
Saturday’s contest against Sacramento could see Louisville defender Sean Totsch make history. Heading into the weekend, he is just 56 minutes away from surpassing Kenardo Forbes for the most regular season minutes in league history.
Head-to-Head
The series between Republic FC and LouCity is still young. Since the league re-introduced interconference play in 2022, the clubs have faced off three times with the home team claiming all three points each time (1 SAC win, 2 LOU wins).
Last year, they delivered a thrilling rollercoaster match in front of a national TV audience. Down two goals early in the second half, a Nick Ross brace led the Indomitable Club to explode for three goals in seven minutes to take the lead. Moments later, Louisville would pull even before netting the game winner with an extra time uncontested drop ball on the edge of the 18-yard box.
When they met at Heart Health Park in 2023, Republic FC claimed a landmark 5-0 victory, handing LouCity its biggest defeat in club history. Russell Cicerone recorded his first brace for Sacramento, while Luis Felipe, Jack Gurr, and Keko added goals of their own to kick off an undefeated month for the club.
