San Antonio FC (11-6-7) earned their first ever victory in Sacramento, defeating Sacramento Republic FC (6-9-8) 1-0 on Saturday night, giving them nine points in their three-match cross country road trip. A man of the match performance from on-loan defender Kortne Ford helped lead the Alamo City club to victory.
“Sacramento is a strong opponent, and they have a lot of quality players,” said SAFC Head Coach Alen Marcina. “Fans here were very loud. You can feel the passion from the fans that helped the home team. Having said that, I thought our guys were resilient. We created a number of good opportunities that we should have done a bit better with, but the guys kept going and we got rewarded with a goal.”
Sacramento and SAFC ended the first half at 0-0 after both teams continued to try and find a footing in the game. San Antonio had the best chance of the first 45 minutes when a backheel from Nathan found Jose Gallegos who put his shot just wide of the far post.
SAFC came out of the gates in the second half looking for the opener but wouldn’t find it until the 74th minute. After a great run down the right flank, Epps chipped in a back post ball that Ford headed into the back of the net for the 1-0 lead. The Alamo City club almost doubled their lead after another great ball from Epps found Justin Dhillon who put his shot just wide. In the end, the SAFC defense would hold on to the shutout and earn the 1-0 road win.
Ford was named the SWBC Man of the Match after his game-winning goal to go with four tackles and 11 possessions gained. SAFC will finally return home next Saturday, September 25 when they host New Mexico United on Hispanic Heritage Night at Toyota Field.
Scoring Summary:
SAFC: 1-0, Kortne Ford (Marcus Epps assist) 74’
Disciplinary Summary:
SRFC: Yellow Card (Jaime Villarreal) 10’
SRFC: Yellow Card (Jordan McCrary) 57’
SAFC: Yellow Card (Matthew Cardone) 82’
SAFC: Yellow Card (Marcus Epps) 83’
SAFC: Yellow Card (Jose Gallegos) 86’
SAFC: Yellow Card (Justin Dhillon) 90’
SRFC: Yellow Card (Andrew Wheeler-Omiunu) 90’
SAFC: Red Card (Kortne Ford) 90’
SRFC: Red Card (Kharlton Belmar) 90’
SRFC: Red Card (Maalique Foster) 90’
SAFC Starting XI: GK: Matthew Cardone; D: Axel Sjoberg, Mitch Taintor, Kortne Ford; M: Mathieu Deplagne (Chris Lema 72’), PC (c), Cam Lindley, Connor Maloney; F: Marcus Epps, Jose Gallegos, Nathan (Justin Dhillon 80’)
Substitutions not used: Carlos Mercado, Joaquin Varela, Leo Torres, Shandon Hopeau
Postgame Notes:
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