USL PRO Game Report
Monday, July 14, 2014
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Sacramento Republic FC moved into third place in the USL PRO standings as Tommy Stewart's early goal earned a 1-0 victory against the Charlotte Eagles on Monday night at the Queens Sports Complex. Republic FC's 10th win of the season jumped them past the LA Galaxy II as they earned a split in their two-game east coast road trip.
The game started off quickly with chances for both teams, but Sacramento opened up the scoring when Stewart collect a ball that wrong-footed Charlotte defender J.J. Greer. Stewart was able to sneak past Bilal Duckett and slip a shot underneath Eagles goalkeeper Alec Kann to give the visitors the lead only 10 minutes in.
The Eagles kept pressure on and in the 22nd minute came close to an equalizer when Zak Boggs controlled a long pass and sent a low cross in front of the goal, only for a final touch from a teammate to be absent. Three minutes later a free kick by Jorge Herrera was parried away to safety by Republic FC goalkeeper Jake Gleeson as the shot arrowed toward the right corner of the net.
Another opportunity presented itself when Boggs intercepted a Sacramento pass and was tripped at the top of the penalty area, which gave the Eagles another dangerous free kick in the 27th minute. Herrera’s cross found an unmarked Fred Sekyere, but the Ghanaian midfielder's header struck the post and was cleared by the Republic FC defense as Sacramento held onto its lead at the break.
The game opened up more in the second half up as both teams were able to create scoring opportunities. Both Kann for Charlotte and Gleeson for Sacramento stood tall, however, as Kann made a couple of stops as the Republic FC attack tried to test him from distance, while Gleeson controlled his penalty area well in dealing with Eagles’ crosses.
Charlotte had some good pressure late in the game, only to have its chances repelled by a stout Sacramento defense, which recorded its fourth shutout of the season. The Eagles now head to Pittsburgh and Dayton for a two-game road trip that begins on Thursday night against the Riverhounds at Highmark Stadium at 7 p.m. ET. Sacramento returns home to host league-leaders Orlando City on Thursday night at Bonney Field.
The Eagles will return home to host the Wilmington Hammerheads on Saturday, July 26th at 7 p.m. ET at Queens Sports Complex.