MATCH RECAP: Tacoma Defiance Earns Road Point in Thrilling 3-3 Road Draw with Sacramento Republic FC

SACRAMENTO, CALIF. – Tacoma Defiance (2-8-2, 8 points) snapped its six-match losing skid on Sunday evening after a back-and-forth 3-3 draw with Sacramento Republic (7-1-5, 26 points) at Papa Murphy’s Park. Chino Pérez, Alec Díaz and Ray Serrano all scored for Tacoma, who earned a point at Sacramento for the second time this season. Defiance now moves on to a pair of matchups this week with Portland Timbers 2, first on Thursday, September 24 at Providence Park before returning to Cheney Stadium next Sunday, September 27.

Pérez put Tacoma up 1-0 in the fourth minute on an assist from Alfonso Ocampo-Chavez, which lasted until the second half when the home side took the lead on goals from Villyan Bijev and Kharlton Belmar in the 48^th and 60^th minutes, respectively. Díaz evened the game in the 66^th minute after coming on as substitute five minutes earlier, then Serrano scored for the second consecutive match to give the visitors a 3-2 lead. The lead held until the 90^th minute, when Rodrigo Lopez found the equalizer for SRFC, securing a point for both sides.

MATCH SUMMARY

Tacoma Defiance 3 – Sacramento Republic FC 3
Sunday, September 20, 2020

Venue: Papa Murphy’s Park
Referee: Nicholas Marin
Weather: Clear and 73 degrees

SCORING SUMMARY

TAC – Chino Pérez (Alfonso Ocampo-Chavez) 4’
SAC – Villyan Bijev (Sam Werner) 48’
SAC – Kharlton Belmar (penalty) 60’
TAC – Alec Díaz 66’
TAC – Ray Serrano (Marlon Vargas) 86’
SAC – Rodrigo López (90’)

MISCONDUCT SUMMARY

TAC – Sota Kitahara (caution) 15’
SAC – Dekel Keinan (caution) 45+4’
SAC – Drew Skundrich (caution) 56’
TAC – Alec Díaz (caution) 80’
SAC – Hayden Sargis (caution) 90+4

LINEUPS & STATS

Tacoma Defiance – Eric Klenofsky; Antonee Burke-Gilroy, Abdoulaye Cissoko, Taylor Mueller – captain, Alex Villanueva; Sota Kitahara, Reed Baker-Whiting (Christopher Hegardt 85’); Ray Serrano, Danny Robles (Marlon Vargas 85’), Chino Pérez (Azriel Gonzalez 72’), Alfonso Ocampo-Chavez (Alec Díaz 61’)

Substitutes not used: Conrad Lee, Eric Kinzner, Josh Hardin

Total shots: 8
Shots on goal: 4
Fouls: 10
Offside: 0
Corner-kicks: 2
Saves: 2

Sacramento Republic FC – Brady Scott; Jordan McCrary (Shannon Gomez 84’), Juan Barahona, Dekel Keinan, Hayden Sargis; Drew Skundrich – captain (Tomas Hilliard-Arce 75’), Sam Werner (Frank López 75’), Jaime Villarreal, Dariusz Formella (Safael Jauregui 84’); Villyan Bijev (Rodrigo López 69’), Kharlton Belmar

Substitutes not used: Rafael Diaz, Cameron Iwasa

Total shots: 16
Shots on goal: 5
Fouls: 15
Offside: 4
Corner-kicks: 6
Saves: 1