Monterey Bay Hits the Road to Sacramento for Battle with Republic FC
SACRAMENTO, California (Friday, June 16, 2023) – Monterey Bay F.C. (5-4-5, 20 points) hits the road to Sacramento for a Western Conference showdown against current table-toppers Republic FC (8-1-5, 29 points). The match kicks off at 8:00 p.m. PT on Saturday at Heart Health Park in Week 15 of the 2023 USL Championship regular season. Live streaming of the match will be available on ESPN+.
Monterey Bay and Sacramento Republic FC last met on August 13, 2022 in a match that ended 1-0 in favor of the Crisp and Kelp at Cardinale Stadium in Seaside. The lone goal of the contest came in the 14th minute on the end of a James Murphy set piece and off the head of Christian Volesky. It was the Union’s first win over Republic FC after dropping the first two contests between the two NorCal rivals. Overall, Republic FC owns an all-time 2-1-0 record against the Union, including a 1-0-0 mark at Saturday’s venue: Heart Health Park in Sacramento.
Unbeaten in three matches and coming off back-to-back wins for the first time this season, the Union are hoping that this is the start of a run akin to its season-changing stretch last year in which the side went 8-3-4 beginning in July. It was a run that saw Monterey Bay pick up an impressive 1.9 points per match to go from the bottom of the table to Western Conference playoff contention with just four fixtures to play. A positive result in Sacramento could be all the proof this team needs to show that they are back in form and ready to make noise.
On the other side, league-leading Sacramento may be beginning to show some cracks with draws in each of its last two matches, though they came on the road against solid opposition in Tampa Bay and San Diego. With the highest goal difference in the league (+18) by almost double the next closest team so far this season, Monterey Bay will have their work cut out for them against a team in the midst of an indomitable campaign.
“We’re looking forward to it. It’s always a good game when we play Sac,” said midfielder James Murphy. “Obviously right now they are doing pretty well at the top of the West, but we feel pretty good about ourselves too. We’ve played well in the last few games, got a couple of good results. So it’s a game we’re going into with a lot of confidence, we know it’s going to be a really big test.”
Sacramento Republic FC vs. Monterey Bay F.C.
Heart Health Park; Sacramento, California
Saturday, June 17, 2023; 8:00 p.m. PT
Access SACvMB Match Notes
The Adobe PDF version of the 2023 Match Guide in advance of Saturday’s contest between Monterey Bay F.C. and Sacramento Republic FC can be found here. Media members looking to receive the document as an attachment or have further questions are asked to please contact Steven Vargo in MBFC Communications via email at steven@montereybayfc.com.
FiveThirtyEight Predictor
MBFC 15%, SAC 60%, Draw 25%
2023 Records
Sacramento Republic FC (8-1-5, 29 pts, 1st West); Monterey Bay F.C. (5-4-5, 20 pts, 6th West)
