The Rio Grande Valley FC Toros (7,5,8) and Sacramento Republic FC 2 (8,6,6) played to a 0-0 draw. Callum Irving had four saves in the game to keep the game even and give both teams a single point.
Both teams divided possession early in the game. Rio Grande Valley’s goalkeeper, Callum Irving, had an easy save in the 14th minute. The Toros had an opportunity in the 22nd minute when Jose “Memo” Rodriguez passed the ball to Eric Bird inside of the box and shot diagonally. Evan Newton, Sacramento’s goalkeeper, got enough on the ball to send it away to safety.
Memo tested Newton a few minutes later but was not successful as Newton dove to his right and knocked the ball out of bounds. Toros’ Jorginho James decided to shoot from distance and sailed it over the crossbar in the 30th minute. Callum Irving came up huge in the 40th minute with a save when Sacramento Republic FC’s Cameron Iwasa was one-on-one and nearly gave the visiting team a lead.
The second half continued to be possession heavy with spontaneous spurts of opportunities. Ruben Luna entered in the second half for the Toros to give the home team an offensive push. Jose ‘Memo” Rodriguez heralded the attack for the Toros, but his shots were all blocked by Sacramento’s Chris Christian and the rest of the Sacramento defense.
Sacramento Republic FC found rhythm towards the end of the game. Cameron Iwasa once again went one-on-one against Callum Irving in the 88th minute. Callum Irving came out of his line and got the save to keep both teams deadlocked. A minute later, Danny Barrera shot a curler for Sacramento. His shot went wide left by a few inches.
Callum Irving added to his highlight reel in the 90th minute. Sacramento’s Harry Williams connected on a cross with a header forcing Toros goalkeeper, Callum Irving, to go full stretch for the save. In stoppage time, Callum Irving kept both teams even at zero when he denied Danny Barrera.
This match was the third of five consecutive home games for the Toros and will host OKC Energy FC next on Saturday, August 6 at 7:30p.m. That match will also be played at H-E-B Park Practice Fields. Sacramento Republic FC will play OKC Energy on Tuesday, August 2
