Sacramento Republic pulled off one of the biggest U.S. Open Cup shocks in recent memory, going on the road to win Tuesday’s quarterfinal against the LA Galaxy.
Rodrigo López struck early for Sacramento, who took the lead in the 4th minute, only for the Galaxy to get level via an 18th minute own goal off of a corner kick. Luis Felipe then scored a long-range winner in the 70th minute, with Sacramento hanging on confidently to their lead eventually finishing the match with four more shot attempts than the Galaxy (15-11).
Greg Vanney only mildly rotated his team, and even sent Javier “Chicharito” Hernández and Victor Vázquez in for the final half-hour trying to keep LA in the tournament, but in the end Sacramento authored the sixth win by a club somewhere in USL over an MLS team in this year’s competition. Sacramento has two of those, as they defeated the San Jose Earthquakes in the round of 16.
Both goals came from former MLS players, and in fact both played for Galaxy rivals. López’s first professional contract saw him sign with Chivas USA in 2005, while Luis Felipe spent three seasons with San Jose.
Sacramento entered the quarterfinal as the only remaining USL Championship club left in the Open Cup, and one of two non-MLS sides still in with a chance. Union Omaha, the last remaining USL League One team, plays Wednesday against Sporting Kansas City, and another upset there would guarantee the first lower-league finalist since 2008, as Sacramento and Omaha would be paired in the semifinal.
See Sacramento take down the Galaxy
SacRep come out 🔥 early in the second half… @LAGalaxy 1-1 @SacRepublicFC | #USOC2022 pic.twitter.com/ZxHX0vqxTr
— U.S. Open Cup (@opencup) June 22, 2022
Luis Felipe finds a way 💥@LAGalaxy 1-2 @SacRepublicFC | #USOC2022 pic.twitter.com/WEODlnFRrd
— U.S. Open Cup (@opencup) June 22, 2022
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