Las Vegas Lights FC is hosting Sacramento Republic FC on Saturday in their second and final meeting of the regular season. Here is everything you need to know:
WHEN AND WHERE: Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m. PT at Cashman Field in Las Vegas (TICKETS).
WHERE TO WATCH: The match will be available to watch locally on SSSEN and streamed nationally on ESPN+ (subscription required).
2024 RECORDS AND STANDINGS: Lights: 10-8-10 (40 points, 5th West), Sacramento: 12-6-8 (44 points, 2nd West)
FORM GUIDE (all competitions, most recent first): Las Vegas: DDWWL, Sacramento: WLWWL
PREVIOUS MEETING: The Lights defeated Sac Republic 1-0 at Heart Health Park in Sacramento, Calif., on July 3. Christian Pinzón scored the match-winner in the 10th minute.
MAGIC NUMBER: Las Vegas Light’s magic number to secure its first playoff berth in franchise history is 13 points. Entering this weekend, the USL Championship has the Lights’ playoff odds at 83%.
SCORING STREAK SNAPPED: A scoreless draw against Monterey Bay FC last weekend snapped an impressive run of 14 consecutive matches of scoring at least one goal.
SHORT REST: Before traveling to Cashman Field on Saturday, Sac Republic visits first-place New Mexico United on Wednesday for a clash of the top two teams in the Western Conference.
ELITE D: Sacramento boasts the best defense in the league, having conceded just 22 times, five fewer than anyone else. Sac Republic is tied with the Charleston Battery for the most clean sheets in the league (13) and feature the reigning Goalkeeper of the Year in Danny Vitiello.
PLAYER TO WATCH: Kieran Phillips, F
The Englishman is second on the team with eight goals this season, including three in his last five matches.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
Lights FC forward Christian Pinzón
On getting back on the score sheet after being shutout for the first time in 14 matches…
It helps when you have a bunch of talented players who work as a collective and not just as individuals. We have a lot of great players who know the gameplan. Monterey Bay [last week] did a pretty good job defensively. I feel like we still had our chances. We take what we can from that game and move on to the next one.
Lights FC defender Gennaro Nigro
On staying focused on a playoff push…
From the beginning of the season, we’ve had reference points throughout and moments where we’ve made steps forward or steps backward. We’re keeping all of those in the back of our minds and are not content with what we’ve done so far. Realistically, we haven’t done anything. Yes, recently we’ve been putting in good performances, but I still believe that there’s another level that this team can get to.
Lights FC Head Coach Dennis Sanchez
On duplicating success against Sacramento Republic to earn another three points…
It was one of the best halves of the year in the first half especially against Sacramento. Their strengths are really around their aggressiveness without the ball and their ability to press…Looking back, that game as a team for us was really important. It instilled even more confidence in the group that we can compete with anybody. A lot of our success in the first half came from our ability to manipulate them with the ball. We had really good variation of playing within close connections, but also finding dangerous spaces at the right time. Our defensive mentality and aggressiveness was also really, really top on the day.
