Republic FC remains undefeated at home this season, picking up a point in a 1-1 draw against the top team from 2024, Louisville City FC. Cristian Parano scored his first goal of the year in style and the Indomitable Club held the reigning Players’ Shield winners scoreless through 97 minutes, but one final hopeful ball from the visitors took an unfortunate bounce and resulted in the two clubs splitting the points.
Following the match, Head Coach Neill Collins said, “I’m really proud of the team. I thought, against potentially the best team in the USL, I thought we did enough to win the game. Really pleased with how they executed our game plan, and I thought I would be standing here with three points. But I’m not going to let that take away from the performance that the players put in.”
Republic FC’s game plan against the 2024 Player Shield winners was on display from the opening. With a firm grab on possession through the first half, Blake Willey nearly added his name to the club’s record books with an assist in the 11th minute. The homegrown midfielder split the Louisville defense with a pass to Russell Cicerone on the left who dribbled past the first defender before another dove in to deflect the shot out for a corner kick.
Making his first appearance of the year, Jared Timmer looked to make a difference early on. The right back. In the 39th minute, Timmer chipped the ball to Jack Gurr on the right flank for a shot across goal that bent just wide of the target.
Fresh off his first career Team of the Week selection, defender Freddy Kleemann had another stellar performance. When Louisville got in behind Sacramento’s backline in the 62nd minute, Kleemann ran down the opponent to make an all-out tackle to shut down the attack. Moments later it was Danny Vitiello who stood strong, coming off his line to block a close-range shot from Phillip Goodrum. Kleemann finished the night with 14 clearances and 10 duels won.
Republic FC found its breakthrough in the 69th minute when Cristian Parano scored his first goal of the season. After Louisville keeper Damian Las took a strong first touch on a pass back, Sebastian Herrera applied heavy pressure to force Las to make a bad outlet pass. Parano battled to collect the ball and fire off a shot from distance to put the Indomitable Club on the board.
Louisville was granted a lifeline with eight minutes of stoppage time. In the final moments of the match, a searching ball was lofted into the six-yard box. Goalkeeper Danny Vitiello did well to punch the ball away from leaping attackers. But an unlucky clearance led to a fortunate bounce for the visitors. The redirection would put Louisville on the board with minutes left.
As the clock ticked down, Captain Rodrigo Lopez – in his first Heart Health Park appearance since last May – tried to conjure up more of his set piece magic. The talisman attempted to sneak a free kick underneath and to the inside post. A snap save from Louisville’s keeper would steer the ball aside before the final whistle.
Collins closed the night saying, “Can’t believe I’m standing here with only one point. But I’ve been in the game long enough to know that we learn a little bit, but I’m going to take a lot more of the positives out of it and not let that last moment take away, take away from how good the players have been tonight.”
Republic FC will return to play next weekend when the team heads to Southern California to take on Orange County SC. The match kicks off from Championship Soccer Stadium at 7:00 p.m. and will be broadcast live in English and Spanish on Antenna TV 40.2, as well as streaming on FOX40.com and ESPN+.
The Indomitable Club will next play at home on Wednesday, April 15, as amateur side El Farolito comes to Heart Health Park for the Third Round of the U.S. Open Cup. Tickets for the match are available now at SacRepublicFC.com/Tickets.
Sacramento Republic FC 1 – 1 Louisville City FC
USL Championship
Heart Health Park, Sacramento, CA
April 5, 2025
Scoring Summary: SAC – Cristian Parano 69’ ; LOU – Amadou Dia 90+8’
Misconduct Summary: SAC – none; LOU – Kyle Adams (caution) 32’
Sacramento Republic FC: Danny Vitiello (C), Freddy Kleemann, Jared Timmer (Chibi Ukaegbu 45’), Jack Gurr (AJ Edwards 84’), Michel Benitez, Dominik Wanner (Ryan Spaulding 45’), Blake Willey, Luis Felipe, Cristian Parano (Rodrigo Lopez 80’), Russell Cicerone, Lewis Jamieson (Sebastian Herrera 65’)
Unused substitutes: Jared Mazzola, Rayan Djedje, Justin Portillo, Trevor Amann
Stats: Shots: 8, Shots on Goal: 4, Saves: 3, Fouls: 9, Corner Kicks: 5, Offsides: 1
Louisville City FC: Damian Las, Aiden McFadden (Amadou Dia 70’), Sean Totsch, Arturo Ordoñez (Josh Jones 90’), Manny Perez, Kyle Adams (C)def, Evan Davila (Niall McCabe 74’), Taylor Davila, Jansen Wilson (Adrien Perez 74’), Ray Serrano, Phillip Goodrum (Sam Gleadle 70’)
Unused Substitutes: Carlos Moguel Jr, Danny Faundez, Brandon Dayes
Stats: Shots: 9, Shots on Goal: 4, Saves: 2, Fouls: 13, Corner Kicks: 3, Offsides: 3
