USL Jägermeister Cup Preview: Republic to host AV Alta in the first group stage match
Both clubs make their cup debuts in an intriguing interstate matchup
The Republic will host AV Alta FC of USL League 1 in Match Day 1 of the USL Jägermeister Cup—both teams will be playing their first ever game in this tournament.
How They Got Here:
Both clubs enter this game by virtue of being USL clubs. While the USL Jägermeister Cup kicked off its inaugural run last season, Republic did not participate as participation was limited to USL League 1 clubs. AV Alta also did not participate, as this year is their inaugural season.
The USL Jägermeister Cup consists of six groups of six or seven teams; both Republic and AV Alta were placed in the West Coast group. Each team in each group plays four matches; two home and two away. Additionally, two of those matches are against USL-C teams, and two of those matches are against USL-1 teams. By virtue of the west group having only two USL-1 clubs, the Republic were guaranteed a match against AV Alta. For more information on how the USL Jägermeister Cup is formatted, check out our article here:
The Match Up
Neither club has played each other before—in fact, Alta has only played a total of eight matches in its club history. The clubs, however, have one opponent in common, Orange County SC. Republic lost to OC 2-1 two weeks ago, while AV Alta beat Orange County on penalties in the Open Cup just two days later.
It is hard to know what to expect from AV Alta. The club is off to a decent start, running a 2-0-3 record in USL League Play, but advancing far enough in the Open Cup to play an MLS club in the next round by beating Orange County. With limited data available, this looks like a team that rises to the moment and has already shown capability to beat USL-C teams. But with such a small sample size, there is no way of knowing if they have been good or just lucky.
Sacramento will certainly want to, and expect to, dominate this game. If they want to advance out of the group stage, winning against the USL-1 teams they face while racking up a substantial goal difference is a necessity. Remember that the “Wild Card” slots for advancing out of the group stage is based on goals scored; the Quails cannot be content to win games like this by a single goal in this tournament. They must also be careful; this is a must-win game if they want to advance in the tournament, and AV Alta has already shown an aptitude to compete against USL-C clubs.
This is also a great chance for Republic Head Coach Neill Collins’ to make some changes; because these games do not effect league play, it is a bit of a safer environment to give some bench players more minutes and to make some minor tactical tweaks. Alternatively, it could also be a great way to give the standard starting XI’s offense a jump start that it desperately needs before returning to league play next weekend.
What Comes Next?
Regardless of the outcome of the match, both teams will head into Match Day 2 of the tournament on May 31st, where Sacramento will host the Las Vegas Lights of USL-C and AV Alta will host the Oakland Roots of USL-C. The real “strategy” of the tournament, with watching goal differences and other team positions, will not become a major factor until games three and four of the group stage.