SANDY, Utah – It took longer than the team had hoped, but Real Monarchs earned the first win in club history on Wednesday in dramatic fashion, ousting the defending USL champion Sacramento Republic 1-0 at Rio Tinto Stadium.
FW Max Rauhofer scored his second goal of the season and GK Lalo Fernandez earned his second shutout as the Monarchs improved to 1-4-2 (5 points) on the season.
In the 38th minute, the Monarchs had a great buildup up the right side. Connecting a string a passes that led to MF Alec Sundly crossing the ball to FW Max Rauhofer in the middle of the box. Rauhofer gathered the pass, but it was slightly behind him when he shot and the attempt on goal sailed high.
Rauhofer finished the first half with three of the six shots taken by the Monarchs, but the match remained scoreless heading into the second half.
In the 51st minute, former Real Salt Lake forward Justin Braun got a shot away from the edge of the box, but it spilled into the arms of GK Lalo Fernandez for the save.
The Monarchs finally broke through in the 68th minute when Rauhofer scored his second goal of the season. MF John Stertzer put the ball into the box from midfield and it was knocked away by a Sacramento defender. The attempted clearance only went as far as MF Fito Ovalle 25 yards out though and he skipped a ball bound for the far post. However, it struck Rauhofer in the middle of the box and he redirected it inside the right post for his second goal of the season and a 1-0 lead.
In the 78th minute, Rauhofer nearly added to that lead with a 35-yard chop from the left side. He picked the ball off his defender and then sent an arcing shot toward the net, trying to take advantage of Sacramento GK Patrik McLain playing off his line. However, the shot missed just over the top corner of the net for a goal kick.
FW Emery Welshman almost got his first goal of the season in the 87th minute, racing out on a ball from the midfield, but his 1v1 effort was stopped by McLain. Welshman got another contested shot off the rebound but McLain picked that one up for the save.
Sacramento pressed for the equalizer and in the 89th minute MF Gabe Gonzalez got his head on a ball from the left side, but his shot was shuffled away at the near post by GK Lalo Fernandez and the Monarchs defended the corner kick to keep Sacramento off the board.
That’s the way the match would end and Rauhofer’s goal stood up for the historic first win for the Monarchs.
The next match for the Monarchs will come on May 9 on the road against the Austin Aztex.
REAL MONARCHS 1-0 SACRAMENTO REPUBLIC
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 29, 2015
RIO TINTO STADIUM
Goals by Period 1 2 F
Real Monarchs 0 1 1
Sacramento Republic FC 0 0 0
Scoring Summary:
SLC – Max Rauhofer (Fito Ovalle) – 68’
Misconduct Summary:
SLC – Max Rauhofer (Yellow, foul) – 51’
SR – Justin Braun (Yellow, foul) – 57’
SR – Max Alvarez (Yellow, foul) – 65’
Lineups:
Real Monarchs (4-3-3): Lalo Fernandez; Riley McGovern, Emilio Orozco, Phanuel Kavita, Jordan Murrell; Fito Ovalle, Alec Sundly (John Stertzer – 66’), Ricardo Velazco (Lucas Baldin – 78’); Eti Tavares (Darion Copeland – 89’), Max Rauhofer (Coco Navarro – 84’), Maikon Orellana (Emery Welshman – 72’).
Substitutes not used: Victor Rodriguez, Garrett Losee.
Sacramento Republic (4-3-3): Patrick McLain; Emrah Kilmenta, Derek Foran (Alfonso Motagalvan – 51’), Nemanja Vukovic, Agustin Czarez; Ivan Mrikovic (Zev Taublieb – 66’), Octavio Guzman (Gabe Gonzalez – 81’), Rodrigo Lopez; David Estrada (Joaquin Rivas – 70’), Thomas Stewart (Max Alvarez – 62’), Justin Braun.
Substitutes not used: Dominik Jakubek, Gabe Gonzalez.
Referee: Hamed Sadeghi
Assistant Referees: Terence Mares, Robert Pickett
4th Official: Hensen Keetch
Attendance: 2,477
Weather: Partly cloudy and 77
