Sacramento Republic FC continued its pursuit of first place in the USL Championship’s Western Conference with a 2-0 victory against the Tampa Bay Rowdies on Saturday night at Al Lang Stadium as Russell Cicerone recorded a goal and assist to lead the visitors to all three points.

The result saw Republic FC Head Coach Neill Collins make a winning return to his former stomping grounds as the former Rowdies manager’s side moved within six points of FC Tulsa for first place with eight games to play in the regular season.

Here are three things we took away from the contest.

1. Republic FC’s Collins Gets the Result He Wanted

For Sacramento Republic FC Head Coach Neill Collins, his first trip back to the site of so many of his former glories as an opposing manager wasn’t going to mean a lot if his side didn’t come away with all three points.

His side produced the performance and the result he was looking for with a display that saw them absorb pressure – particularly in the second half when the Rowdies made 58 final-third entries out of 93 in the game – but ultimately come away with another shutout, goalkeeper Danny Vitiello’s 10th of the season.

“Honestly, anyone who coaches knows that you only look forward to nights like this if you win,” said Collins. “I don't think the players could have performed any better in one of the most difficult environments in the USL.”

Collins was full of praise for 18-year-old Blake Willey, who won 3 of 4 duels and completed 14 of 16 passes and provided positive energy in humid conditions before being substituted with 14 minutes to go, but this was a tremendous collective that limited the Rowdies’ prime scoring chances to an effort by Woobens Pacius with in the 72nd minute.

After two consecutive 2-0 road victories in two difficult environments, Republic FC heads home poised to turn up the heat on Tulsa in the race for first place.

2. Russell Cicerone Earned His Reward

Based on American Soccer Analysis’ of his play, Russell Cicerone has been one of the most influential players, let alone forwards, in the USL Championship this season. He ranks sixth in the league with a +6.55 Goals Added mark, but that hasn’t been showing up on the scoresheet consistently.

On Saturday night, Cicerone’s bagged his first game with multiple goal contributions since Republic FC’s contest against Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC on March 22, earning an assist on Rodrigo Lopez’s first-half finish before getting his sixth goal of the regular season to ice the game in the first minute of second-half stoppage time.

“I think I've been playing really, really well for a while now, and I haven't really had the

numbers, so getting a goal and assist was really nice,” said Cicerone. “RoRo [Lopez] and I have played so much together so I knew where he was going to be, and he had a great finish. And then I saw Seba [Herrera] get in behind, and it was heavy legs late in the game, but I knew with my speed I could beat those center backs. And then in the end, it was a tap in.”

Cicerone isn’t likely to end up in the Golden Boot race, as he might have if he’d emulated his run of three consecutive seasons with double-digit goals between 2021-23, but his value to this team can’t be underestimated.

3. Rowdies Remain on Edge of Playoff Picture

If there was a silver lining for the Tampa Bay Rowdies on Saturday night, it was that both the teams they are chasing for the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference also fell as eighth-placed Indy Eleven lost to the Charleston Battery and ninth-placed Rhode Island FC lost to Louisville City.

The challenge for the Rowdies, though, is going to be making up the five-point gap to the Boys in Blue with eight games to go in the season. The majority of those contests will be at Al Lang Stadium, but against a strong Republic FC unit the hosts couldn’t find the cutting edge required to break through.

“We’re not creating enough,” said Rowdies Head Coach Dominic Casciato. “It’s really difficult for us that we haven’t been able to start games with the right intensity. When we start doing that, we’ll create more chances and score more goals. Until we do that it’s going to continue to be more difficult.”

In some ways, Tampa Bay feels in a similar position to when Neill Collins took the helm in 2018. The combination of a midseason managerial change and middling results over the remainder of the season – Tampa Bay went 7-10-8 after Collins’ appointment in mid-May – left the side outside the playoffs.

That hope isn’t lost yet for the Rowdies, but it does bring to mind the changes that occurred the following offseason after Tampa Bay last missed the postseason, and what might be ahead for the club as Casciato looks to find a path forward in the months ahead.