Three days ago, on the Southern end of the Golden State, Minnesota United secured a 2-1 win against San Diego FC, their second successive Southern California win. The challenge tonight is a different tournament - the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup Round of 32, a different scale, a different shape, and a different part of California. If you are asking yourself, "What is the Open Cup?" then we've got you covered. The Loons may rotate from their recent adventures, although Cam Knowles has acknowledged the importance of the tournament and the quality of the opponent.
Sacramento [Republic FC] are a fantastic team with a really good coach and a really good staff, a great community that has supported that team for so long. Great crowds. I’ve been there a number of times as a coach and have known a lot of players and coaches that have gone through that club and it’s a real staple of USL and a top-tier organization. So, that’s going to be a really difficult game for us to go to. As far as the [U.S. Open] Cup, it’s a fantastic competition. I think having the opportunity for teams of all different levels to play against each other is a great experience, and to give teams in different divisions the opportunity to play and compete for a trophy against everyone, and same for us to compete for a trophy against all the teams in this country is fantastic.
The visiting club has a 9-2-8 record (W-D-L) in limited US Open Cup action over the years, and has won only once on the road in the Open Cup since joining MLS. The best performance by the Loons in the tournament was a runner-up spot in 2019. Last year, they made it all the way to the Semifinals before falling agonizingly close to hosting the final.
Heart Health Park on the California State Fairgrounds has been a difficult place for visitors in the Cup. Since 2014, the club has amassed an impressive 21 home tournament wins, including five giant-killing victories against MLS teams. They were also the first non-MLS team to make the Final since Charleston Battery in 2008 and the 4th non-MLS team to make the Final since 1996, when they made it all the way in 2022 - albeit losing 3-0 to Orlando City at the final hurdle. Last year, they fell at this round, to San Jose.
Republic FC is struggling to put together two consistent halves in a row in the face of an injury list including Jack Gurr, Memo Rodriguez, Pierre Reedy, Jared Timmer, and Ryan Spaulding. That said, the hosts are third in the USL Championship and have only lost once this season. Their rallying cry was (is?) LFG, despite a league-wide policy of banning banners and scarves with profanity therein. We'll see who (and why) the expletives are flying tomorrow.
Speaking to club media about the match-up, Republic head coach Neill Collins said,
I think when you’re playing against an opponent from a higher division, you’ve got to want it more than them. You have to be more motivated. In these knockout games, we’ve seen that when you have teams from different levels facing off, you can see that gap in abilities get smaller when teams raise their level, and that can happen on any given night. We need to do that, and we need to use our home environment to bridge that gap.
Availability (as of 11 Apr)
SAC | Out: N/A ; Questionable: None
MIN | Out: Michael Boxall (adductor), Peter Stroud (quad), Julian Gressel (broken toe), Dominik Fitz (illness); Questionable: None
Staff Predictions
- Seth Steffenhagen: 2–1 Loons
- Michael Lake: 2–1 Sacramento
- Tim McLaughlin: 2–0 Loons
- Ashle Paige: 3–1 Minnesota
- Bridget McDowell: Loading . . .
- Knives Paige: Loading . . .
Guest Prediction:
- Non-League editor and US Open Cup guru, Tim Abbott: 2–1 Loons AET
