Jim Krajewski

jkrajewski@rgj.com

The planning, scouting, recruiting, signing of players, training camp and preseason friendly matches has all led to this.

The Reno 1868 FC soccer team plays its first regular-season soccer game at Greater Nevada Field on Saturday.

The Reno 1868 will take on Orange County SC in a United Soccer League Western Conference match at 7 p.m. Saturday.

Reno midfielder Matt La Grassa said the intensity will be ramped up for Saturday’s game. La Grassa played for the Sacramento Republic last season.

“The preseason is long, but everybody’s looking forward to this day. We’ve been counting down for a long time,” La Grassa said of the opener. “We’re ready to go, for sure. The intensity rises. Everybody knows what’s at stake.”

He said the Reno 1868 roster features a good mix of newcomers and veteran players.

La Grassa said fans will notice the urgency in the players.

“Every point starts to become very important. Every game you can swing your momentum, positive or negative,” La Grassa said.

Reno 1868 coach Ian Russell said there will be a little more attention paid to detail this week.

He said the players’ mindset will be a big focus leading into Saturday.

“It’s been a long preseason. To finally get to play the game, that’s why we all play. They’re ready to go,” Russell said.

He expects there will be some nervous energy by his players, but said that comes with any professional sport.

“They’re fit, they’re prepared, they’ll be ready go,” he said.

He said Reno will be an attacking style team, not content to sit back and let the other team dictate tempo.

Russell said the parent club, the San Jose Earthquakes, will likely send a few players to Reno this week.

The Reno 1868 has players from around the world. Russell has been molding them into a cohesive unit for the past several weeks.

“Everybody’s really meshed well. This is a group that has really come together,” Russell said. “It’s an expansion team, but it doesn’t feel that way. It feels like these guys have known each other for a long time.”

Russell drew from his wealth of connections as he spoke with many coaches and teammates while he was assembling the team to get a feel for the character of the players.

“Most of these guys really got glowing reviews from their peers and other coaches,” Russell said.

One of the Orange County players to watch Saturday will be Oscar Sorto, 22, a former U.S. U23 National Team player, who played for the LA Galaxy last season.

The United Soccer League is the largest Division II professional league in the world with 30 teams. The USL season begins with 13 matches this weekend.

On Friday, the1868 FC bar crawl with Battle Born Brigade begins at 6 p.m. and will include stops at Mellow Fellow, Ol’ Bridge Pub, The Stick, Sierra Tap House and Our Bar.

The crawl begins at Mellow Fellow at 6 p.m. Anyone wearing Reno 1868 FC gear will receive discounts at each of the crawl locations.

The 1868 in the team name stands for the year Reno was founded. FC stands for football club.