BONNEY FIELD-
As games go, they don’t get any bigger. Sac Republic FC trying to play itself into the USL championship game and maybe, just maybe, play itself into Major League Soccer.
“This is the biggest game we’ve had so far. And we’re looking forward to it,” said Kevin Blunt, a fan from Sacramento sounding surprisingly earnest for a guy whose face is painted half white, half crimson.
Sac Republic’s notoriously avid, even rabid fan base did not disappoint. After all, these are the people who’ve help the team shatter attendance records in the USL in this, the team’s first season.
And tonight Major League Soccer is on hand, finishing-off their visit to Sacramento by watching the game and it’s fans.
Of course, Sacramento isn’t the only town around looking to woo MLS.
Among other cities making a pitch: Elk Grove.
“I think that Sacramento is more established already in the fact that we have the team and the stadium,” said Esther Briggs of Elk Grove.
Like the game itself, Sac Republic versus Los Angeles Galaxy, the effort to bring MLS soccer to Northern California is going to be a real dog fight.
And like the game, it’s going to be a nail-biter whether that18,000 seat pitch gets built at the Railyards, and Sacramento becomes a home to Major League Soccer
A decision from the MLS could come as early as December.
Meanwhile, in this spectacular come-from-behind win in extra time, propelled by Team Captain Rodrigo “Roro” Lopez, Sac Republic has done everything it possibly could to make its case.
And at the very least, fans are now assured of getting the USL championship game, at Bonnie Field, September 27th.
