SAN ANTONIO — San Antonio FC returned to USL Championship play on Saturday for a Western Conference clash, playing to a scoreless draw with Sacramento Republic FC in front of 6,524 fans at Toyota Field.
The result keeps San Antonio’s unbeaten streak at home to 21 matches and unbeaten in their last 16 overall.
Here are three standout moments from SAFC’s scoreless draw with Sacramento:
Firepower
Despite the scoreless first half, both clubs came out strong with firepower. SAFC goalkeeper Jordan Farr made some big saves to keep the match scoreless.
Meanwhile, SAFC had some solid chances in the opening 45 minutes but could not get the ball past Daniel Vitello. Sacramento had the better of the chances in the opening half but SAFC’s defense stood tall going into the second half.
“I felt we did more than enough to get the three points, I felt we were the better team tonight,” SAFC Head Coach Alen Marcina said. “But, incredibly proud of my guys. Had to overcome so much adversity, and challenges. Not just heading into tonight, but then guys playing out of position, needing to make some adjustments on the fly as well.”
Defense stands tall
Saturday’s match was a stellar defensive showing from both clubs. San Antonio and Sacramento each did well to make each team uncomfortable in their offense setup, making for changes from both coaching staffs in the second half.
Sacramento and San Antonio both changed their shape and attacking style as the match went on but in the end, neither team could find the back of the net.
“You know we had to play a number of guys who’ve never played in the back – Kimarni [Smith] had to go in late as a left wingback,” Marcina said. “We haven’t played him there this year, you had Connor [Maloney] first time playing center back, played him there. Zico [Bailey], then we had to switch Shannon [Gomez] who’s coming off an injury. Then he’s going to the left and then coming to the right, PC had to start… that’s a lot of moves in the back. But we didn’t miss a beat.”
Staying scoreless
The scoreless result was the first scoreless draw result for SAFC since October 2021 when they went 0-0 against the Austin Bold at Toyota Field.
Jordan Farr picked up another clean sheet Saturday, his second clean sheet of the season. After the match, he made sure to credit his teammates and coach.
“Like this group, mentality-wise, he actually said it was better this year than it was last year,” Farr said. “And last year, we had a decent run at it. … He just was really encouraging about the boys’ mentality. We just don’t make excuses.”
UP NEXT:
San Antonio FC is now 3-0-2 (11 points) on the season and will return to the pitch next Saturday for a rematch of last year’s USL Championship Final against Louisville City FC at 6:30 p.m.
