A late goal from Kyle Adams gave Rio Grande Valley its first ever win against Republic FC at H-E-B Park. Carlos Small nearly gave the hosts the lead in the 13th minute when he outwaited Sacramento goalkeeper Rafael Diaz and fired a shot past the goalkeeper, which was saved off the line by defender Matt Mahoney. Wilmer Cabrera fired wide with a shot two minutes later but the RGVFC midfielder gave his side the lead just after the half-hour mark with an impressive bit of resilience.
Eric Bird’s initial shot from the top of the box was spilled by Diaz and Cabrera followed up with a rebound shot off the goalkeeper, another off the post and then finally found the back of the net with a sweeping turn-around effort that evaded Diaz’s grasp. Sacramento was lucky not to go further behind in the first five minutes after the break when Small blazed over after being played in on the right side of the box and Camilo Monroy shot tamely at Diaz in a similar situation on the left.
Republic FC got another slice of luck in the 84th minute when Isidro Martinez’s sliding clearance attempt sliced past RGVFC goalkeeper Nicolas Corti and into his own net to tie the game. Corti made a strong diving save to deny Hayden Partain a winner with three minutes remaining and Adams proved to be the hero, bundling home Small’s pullback from close range to secure a historic win for RGVFC.
