Real Monarchs escape with a point against Sacramento Republic FC

Real Monarchs managed a 1-1 draw against USL standouts Sacramento Republic on the road on Saturday in a match laden with controversy, excitement, and, well, more controversy.

Monarchs opened the scoring with a penalty inside the opening 10 minutes, which Max Rauhofer dispatched without much trouble.

Eric Osswald, Monarchs goalkeeper, impressed, making several important saves to keep the match level and generally having a good command of his box, but the biggest piece of his play came when e stopped a Justin Braun penalty near the end of the first half.

While the first half moved at a reasonable pace, the second half saw both teams playing with a fire that nearly engulfed the game — and while it did boil over several times, including after an incident that saw Ricardo Velazco accidentally step on a Sacramento player's hand in the box — the only red card in the match came when Emilio Orozco was sent off for a second yellow in stoppage time, the cause for which is difficult to say.

Despite sending corners and crosses in toward Osswald, Real Monarchs did just enough to leave the California capital with a point.