Las Vegas Lights FC to open USL season March 7

The Lights FC will begin its 34-game United Soccer League season March 7 at San Diego Loyal SC.

Las Vegas will play its home opener March 14 against Sacramento Republic FC at Cashman Field. The third-year franchise will host defending champion Real Monarchs SLC on May 2.

“There’s the game we want,” Lights coach Eric Wynalda said in a video posted on the team’s Twitter page. “The one thing you want to be able to do is say you beat the champion. We had good success against them last year, so the Monarchs are always a good game.”

Las Vegas will host matches on Mother’s Day weekend, Father’s Day weekend, July 4 and Mexican Independence Day.

The Lights will resume their rivalry with Reno 1868 FC and look to take the Silver State Cup for the first time. The first of their two matches will be April 4 in Reno, with the rematch Sept. 26 in Las Vegas.

All home matches will be played at Cashman Field, and match times will be announced at a later date.

The Lights finished tied for 12th in the Western Conference with 41 points (11-15-8) last season.

For more information, go to lasvegaslightsfc.com.

Contact Jason Orts at jorts@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2936. Follow @SportsWithOrts on Twitter.