SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Down a man due to a second-half red card, Seattle Sounders FC 2 (4-3-1, 13 points) fell 3-0 to defending USL champion Sacramento Republic FC (5-4-0, 15 points) Saturday night at Bonney Field. Trailing by only one goal at half, the Rave Green allowed two more after the break to Sacramento, who capitalized on its man-advantage after midfielder Giuliano Frano was sent off with a second yellow in the 66th minute.
Nemanja Vukovic opened the scoring for Sacramento in the 20th minute. Rodrigo Lopez sent a free kick in from the left wing, and the unmarked Vukovic headed it past diving S2 goalkeeper Charlie Lyon.
A foul outside the box in the 25th minute gave S2 its first chance on goal from a Pablo Rossi free kick. Rossi’s shot went over the wall, but wide and the half ended 1-0.
Frano, who earned a yellow card in the first half, saw his second yellow in the 58th on a late tackle on Lopez. Lopez scored four minutes later following a short passing sequence between him, Alvarez and Gilberto that left Lopez open on goal, slotting it to the right of Lyon.
Second-half substitute Adnan Gabeljic scored the third goal of the night for Sacramento in the 78th minute. Finding himself one-on-one with Lyon, Gabeljic slotted home a shot to make it 3-0.
Head Coach Ezra Hendrickson's side will next face Oklahoma City Energy FC at home on Friday, May 15 at 7:30 p.m. PT. S2 is an undefeated 4-0-0 at Starfire Stadium. The game will be live-streamed on SoundersFC.com.
MATCH SUMMARY
Seattle Sounders FC 2 |0 - 3| Sacramento Republic FC
Saturday, May 9, 2015
Venue: Bonney Field
Referee: Victor Rivas
Assistants: Chris Hutchison, Eric Ehrhardt
Fourth official: Joseph Dickerson
Attendance: 11,424
Weather: Sunny and 70 degrees
SCORING SUMMARY
SAC - Nemanja Vukovic (Lopez) 19'
SAC - Rodrigo Lopez (Alvarez) 62'
SAC - Adnan Gabeljic 78'
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
SAC – Daly (caution) 27’
SEA – Frano (caution) 27’
SEA – Lowe (caution) 33’
SEA – McCormick (caution) 58’
SEA – Frano (ejection) 65’
LINEUPS & STATS
Seattle Sounders FC 2 - Charlie Lyon; Jimmy Ockford (Choong Sil Lim 73’), Damion Lowe, Nick Miele, Aaron Long; Sam Garza (Qudus Lawal 78’), Amadou Sanyang (Duncan McCormick 16’), Giuliano Frano, Darwin Jones (Aaron Kovar 57’); Pablo Rossi (Victor Mansaray 63’), Andy Craven
Substitutes not used: Saif Kerawala, Lorenzo Ramos
Total shots: 12
Shots on goal: 4
Offside: 1
Corner-kicks: 5
Saves: 6
Sacramento Republic FC – Patrick McLain; Agustin Cazarez (James Kiffe 44’), Mickey Daly, Nemanja Vukovic, Emrah Klimenta; Ivan Mirkovic (Derek Foran 87’), Gilberto, Max Alvarez (Adnan Gabeljic 63’), Rodrigo Lopez; Justin Braun (Joaquin Rivas 87’), David Estrada (Thomas Stewart 70’)
Substitutes not used: Dominik Jakubek, Zev Taublieb
Total shots: 17
Shots on goal: 9
Offside: 0
Corner-kicks: 4
Saves: 4