Game Notes: Oakland Roots on 3 match win streak, beat Tacoma 3-1

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The Oakland Roots are on fire with a three-match win streak, handling Tacoma Defiance 3-1 on Saturday with goals from Kai Greene in the 13th minute, Ariel Mbumba at 57' and Jeremy Bokila to kill the game in the 82nd. 

Oakland now improves its record to 5-5-8, now 4-2 in its last six appearances, and third straight 3-goal performance. 

"What I would say is it’s been a long time coming. There were a lot of things early in the season keeping us from finding a rhythm. You can point your finger at a bunch of things, but I think now we’re in a stretch where we’ve played games consistently and have had some consistency in the lineup. Tonight was the first night of the season where I didn’t have to make a sub in the midfield. Having the heart of our team game to game, and the core of our team game to game, now we’re at that stage," said technical director and interim head coach Jordan Ferrell. 

Veteran forward Quincy Amarikwa also senses how the team is coming along. He's been a key part of Oakland's success since signing five matches ago. 

"They believed in themselves, they know they're capable of it and it was just a matter of getting on the same page. Once the ball gets rolling, the confidence picks up. Guys are curious, they want to learn and get better and it's showing with results on the field," said Amarikwa while pushing his son higher in the air. 

"We can do it, we can do down a goal and it's not the end of the world. We can go up a goal, and it doesn't mean it's over. Those are very valuable experiences, you look at each mistake you make along the way and take it as a learnable moment. But it's only learnable if guys are opening to listening when things get difficult," he continued. 

Roots SC didn't need the ball to get the job done, finishing with 39 percent possession after going into the half with just 29 percent, but rallied off nine shots with five on target. 

Although it wasn't by design, Oakland only allowed seven shots with three on target.

"Well, I thought we'd have more of the ball, that's for sure," said Ferrell with a laugh. "That wasn't a design, but I thought we did a really good job of pressing them and forcing them to make decisions. I care about the initiative... I thought we got our trap right a lot of times... At halftime, we were able to iron out some different things and that's what led to the goals in the second half."

Now passing the midway mark on the USL season, Oakland is five points back of Tacoma for the final playoff spot and still has three games in hand on OCSC in second and SD Loyal in third--both with 30 points. 

Roots' first goal came in the 13th after winning a corner. Taking the corner was Jose Hernandez, playing the ball short to Mbumba for a cross into the box that was flicked on by Emrah Klimenta to Greene on the far post for the first-touch shot. 

Defiance was able to knot it up 1-1 at 45' +3 from a corner when Tom Brewitt scored with a header, but it marked Defiance's first shot on target of the match. 

"The reality is, you’re going to concede a goal at some point, but a big difference is we’re scoring first. I think that’s a really important thing psychologically because it’s just a new game at the start of the second half. That experience knowing that at 1-1, we know what mistakes not to make in the second half and to just follow the game plan," said Ferrell. 

From there, Ferrell subbed off Chuy Enriquez at the half, who has now appeared in the last eight matches. 

Oakland's midfield featured Hernandez, Wal Fall, and Matias Fissore. They have also appeared in the last eight straight matches, Ferrell has reiterated time and again that their experienced players are making a deep impact at this point of the season. 

"The experience makes a big difference. To start the season we were relying a lot on the younger players like Danny [Flores] and Ariel starting in the midfield. Now, we have our captain in Wal Fall and also Jose," said Ferrell. 

The Roots' go-ahead goal from Mbumba in the 57th when Tacoma's Jackson Regan botched a pass straight to Hernandez, who played the ball to the 19-year old in the area. 

In a one-on-one situation with Taylor Mueller, Mbumba turned the defender inside out by holding him off, sending the left-footed shot rolling past goalie Christian Herrera.  

Two minutes earlier, Roots had another chance to score after Memo Diaz drew a foul in the penalty area. However, Fall's PK to the bottom right was stuffed by Herrera.

Johnny Rodriguez subbed on for Mbumba at the 72nd minute to provide another pressing forward, it marked his fourth straight appearance since returning from an injury. 

Oakland's final goal came when Rodriguez connected with Bokila in the 82nd minute. 

It started with Hernandez, again, winning possession off a lazy pass deep in Tacoma's side of the field. After laying off to Fall, the Big F'in German flicked a lob over the defense to Rodriguez, who sent an easy pass across the net to Bokila for the goal. 

The Roots now get their longest break since late July, a five-day break until facing Tampa Bay Rowdies on the road in Florida on September 3. 

FotMob.com's top five ratings: 

Jose Hernandez was FotMob's Man of the Match with an overall rating of 8.2. 

In 90 minutes, he recorded one assist, 25 accurate passes at 78 percent success with three of three crosses connected, and two long balls. He also finished with five duels won, gained seven recoveries, and two interceptions. 

    1.    Jose Hernandez, 8.2

    2.    Memo Diaz, 7.8

    3.    Kai Greene, 7.7

    4.    Ariel Mbumba, 7.5

    5.    Matias Fissore, 7.5


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