For Las Vegas Lights FC, the first objective of the 2024 season is complete. The team secured its first playoff berth in franchise history by recording a club-record for points and wins. Now, the focus turns to an entirely different task as a daunting postseason slate awaits.
The fourth-seeded Lights will host the No. 5 seed Sacramento Republic FC on Friday at Cashman Field (7:30 p.m. PT; SSSEN, FOX5, ESPN+ | TICKETS) looking to add an inaugural home playoff win to their already impressive campaign. Las Vegas welcomes an opponent it defeated twice this year, the only Western Conference club to sweep Sac Republic, but the players and staff know that the third time will be the most challenging.
“We for sure have momentum with those two wins during the regular season,” said Lights midfielder Valentin Noël. “But it doesn’t mean anything anymore. It’s a whole different season now. Playoff time is totally different.”
First-year Lights Head Coach Dennis Sanchez has put together an incredible season, one that started late in the offseason and required several last-minute player signings to complete the squad. The Lights at one point this year had suffered just one loss in 20 matches, and Sanchez has his players believing that their successful run doesn’t need to stop here.
“The whole locker room shares this same goal,” said Noël. “We have everything to do it. We have the quality. We have the unity. We have the game plan. I strongly believe that what we went through this year, whether it was the injuries, the not knowing anyone and not having a full preseason, having a completely new roster, going through the winless streaks. It’s been chaotic, but at the same time I think that’s what brought this group together.
“That’s what created this brotherhood, and those things are special and don’t happen every year and in every team,” he continued. “We have that, we are aware of it, and it’s about delivering on the field.”
Sanchez has had numerous reliable contributors this year. Forward Khori Bennett scored 14 goals, which is tied for fifth in the USL Championship and was just one behind a Lights franchise record. J.C. Ngando played at a Best XI-level in central midfield. And Noël himself, who played for Sanchez last year in MLS NEXT Pro with Austin FC II, put in a masterful season with 10 goals and seven assists, which tied for fourth in the league.
While Sanchez will certainly rely upon the aforementioned trio on Friday and moving forward, it’s going to take a collective team effort to advance to the Western Conference Semifinal.
“There’s a balance of going with players who have shown consistently that they can step up, but also in the moment trusting guys who want to take the opportunity,” said Sanchez.
Las Vegas has established as clear an identity as anyone in the league. The Lights love to dominate possession, set the tempo and control where on the pitch the game is being played. That ethos has gotten them this far, perhaps even farther than anyone would have suspected before the season, and it will be crucial that it continue if they hope to achieve their ultimate goal of lifting a trophy.
“Going into the playoffs, you know that there’s going to be more pressure,” said Sanchez. “Pressure is a privilege, but at the same time we need to continue to play the way that we’ve played all year long, which is coming out and dictating the game from the first whistle.”
