Oakland Roots vs. Sporting KC II - Match Preview (October 30, 2021)
Oakland Roots host Sporting Kansas City II on October 30 at 7:00 p.m. at Laney College for the final match of the Roots’ regular season campaign. The match will be broadcast on ESPN+ and KOFYTV. The Roots must win this game to make the playoffs, but they will also need LA Galaxy to drop points to Orange County SC (in a match that starts at 7:30).
Sporting Kansas City II were founded in the fall of 2015 as Swope Park Rangers. Swope Park Rangers were the third incarnation of Sporting KC’s youth set-up, following Orlando City SC and Oklahoma City Energy FC.
Sporting KC were a founding member of MLS in 1996, founded by Lamar Hunt (named after the competition) as the KC Wiz, but had to change their name to “Wizards” because they lost an IP action brought by electronics retailer “The Wiz.” (“Which will last longer, this American soccer franchise or this electronics retailer?” is like a business school trick question).
Sporting KC are a reasonably successful team, having won the MLS Cup in 2000 and 2013.
[Source: FBRef]
It’s hard to know the best cut-off point here, but to be even-handed we’ll say they’re 1-1-5 over their last seven.
SKC II* are last in the central division, twenty-one points off of a playoff spot, and sporting a -26 goal differential. They have scored 34 goals, which isn’t great, although the Roots only have 35 (which ISN’T GREAT). However, they have shipped 60, good for fourth worst in the league. Roots have only conceded 43.
[*SKC2 sounds like a third droid that George Lucas wrote and the editors mercifully convinced him to cut.]
Sporting KC II visited Louisville City on October 9 and it was a god damned barnstormer.
Jacob Davis rattled the crossbar from long range in the 19th. The 17-year-old (OOF) Cisneros’ goal was pretty solid work, managing to hook his shot around his defender, threading it between the defender and the keeper to the back post. KC keeper John Pulskamp had a save you’d really expect him to make on a long-range free kick in the 74th, but the parry fell to the feet of an Atlanta 2 attacker and Pulskamp made a significantly more impressive save to snuff that opportunity out. SKC2 saw out the end of the match to hold on to their fifth win of the season. I have had something teasing me from the back of my brain while I write this, and I have finally figured it out from this match up of two mls-b teams that both have geographic names and the “two” designation:
[Source:FBRef]
The Roots stood tall last weekend.
First of all, ignore the standings other than based on points. The first tiebreaker is head-to-head match-up, so goal differential no longer plays a role. Roots have the tiebreaker on Tacoma, Tacoma have the tiebreaker on Galaxy II, and Galaxy II have the tiebreaker on Roots.
For the first time September 3, the Roots are playing a team they haven’t faced before. And you know what that means, right?
The Club
The Club
Sporting Kansas City II were founded in the fall of 2015 as Swope Park Rangers. Swope Park Rangers were the third incarnation of Sporting KC’s youth set-up, following Orlando City SC and Oklahoma City Energy FC.
Sporting KC were a founding member of MLS in 1996, founded by Lamar Hunt (named after the competition) as the KC Wiz, but had to change their name to “Wizards” because they lost an IP action brought by electronics retailer “The Wiz.” (“Which will last longer, this American soccer franchise or this electronics retailer?” is like a business school trick question).
Sporting KC are a reasonably successful team, having won the MLS Cup in 2000 and 2013.
Here is a picture of President Obama, tilting his head in hopes that the person in his earpiece will tell him the name of any one of the men standing near him.
Sporting KC II, like the big kid club, play at Children’s Mercy Park which honestly might top Heart Health Park as my new favorite USL stadium name. It probably is sponsored by a hospital, but it sounds to me like it’s a PSA about elementary school bullying.
Sporting KC II Form
Sporting KC II, like the big kid club, play at Children’s Mercy Park which honestly might top Heart Health Park as my new favorite USL stadium name. It probably is sponsored by a hospital, but it sounds to me like it’s a PSA about elementary school bullying.
Sporting KC II Form
It’s hard to know the best cut-off point here, but to be even-handed we’ll say they’re 1-1-5 over their last seven.
SKC II* are last in the central division, twenty-one points off of a playoff spot, and sporting a -26 goal differential. They have scored 34 goals, which isn’t great, although the Roots only have 35 (which ISN’T GREAT). However, they have shipped 60, good for fourth worst in the league. Roots have only conceded 43.
[*SKC2 sounds like a third droid that George Lucas wrote and the editors mercifully convinced him to cut.]
Sporting KC II visited Louisville City on October 9 and it was a god damned barnstormer.
Paolo DelPiccolo (an top-tier name) opened the scoring in the 8th minute assisted by what appears to be Tim Howard. Louisville City doubled their lead with a penalty in the 30th. Jacob Davis pulled one back for SKCII about 30 seconds into first half stoppage time from long range.
Easily the best highlight is in the 56th minute when Louisville City had some incredibly intricate passing and a great shot that the KC Keeper somehow saved at full stretch.
Jacob Davis tied the game at 2-2 in the 84th minute with another long-range effort (that again the keeper maybe should’ve done more with). Incredibly, KC would take the lead with ANOTHER long-range effort a minute later, this one from Jamil Roberts (leading the play-by-play guy to say “pick that out” a second time in one match--embarrassing!). That must have felt incredible for the <checks notes> 500 people who attend SKC II matches [Editor’s Note: this match was played on the road (Bloom Note: right, but surely that means they don’t have many fans at all? Look, how else am I shoehorning this dunk in?)].
Louisville City would tie things up 140 seconds later and then just at the 93 minute mark, not-Tim Howard would get his second assist of the night, heading a free kick back across goal for Cameron Lancaster to smash in. Devastating or something.
On October 13, SKC II hosted Atlanta United II and got their fifth win of the season, winning 1-0 on a 69th-minute Osvaldo Cisneros goal. nice.
Easily the best highlight is in the 56th minute when Louisville City had some incredibly intricate passing and a great shot that the KC Keeper somehow saved at full stretch.
Jacob Davis tied the game at 2-2 in the 84th minute with another long-range effort (that again the keeper maybe should’ve done more with). Incredibly, KC would take the lead with ANOTHER long-range effort a minute later, this one from Jamil Roberts (leading the play-by-play guy to say “pick that out” a second time in one match--embarrassing!). That must have felt incredible for the <checks notes> 500 people who attend SKC II matches [Editor’s Note: this match was played on the road (Bloom Note: right, but surely that means they don’t have many fans at all? Look, how else am I shoehorning this dunk in?)].
Louisville City would tie things up 140 seconds later and then just at the 93 minute mark, not-Tim Howard would get his second assist of the night, heading a free kick back across goal for Cameron Lancaster to smash in. Devastating or something.
On October 13, SKC II hosted Atlanta United II and got their fifth win of the season, winning 1-0 on a 69th-minute Osvaldo Cisneros goal. nice.
Jacob Davis rattled the crossbar from long range in the 19th. The 17-year-old (OOF) Cisneros’ goal was pretty solid work, managing to hook his shot around his defender, threading it between the defender and the keeper to the back post. KC keeper John Pulskamp had a save you’d really expect him to make on a long-range free kick in the 74th, but the parry fell to the feet of an Atlanta 2 attacker and Pulskamp made a significantly more impressive save to snuff that opportunity out. SKC2 saw out the end of the match to hold on to their fifth win of the season. I have had something teasing me from the back of my brain while I write this, and I have finally figured it out from this match up of two mls-b teams that both have geographic names and the “two” designation:
Sporting 2’s most recent match was an absolute thrashing at Pitt Panthers Memorial BBVA Compass Field in Birmingham. Birmingham and Louisville have been chasing down the top spot in the Central Division (and face off to decide the division in their last match of the season), so Birmingham needed three points from a home match against the basement-dwelling Sporting.
They, uh, got three points.
Birmingham scored as many goals in a 72-minute stretch as the Roots scored before July 10. Let’s watch the execution:
They, uh, got three points.
Birmingham scored as many goals in a 72-minute stretch as the Roots scored before July 10. Let’s watch the execution:
The first goal was initially waved off for offside, but the referee reconsidered, likely after recognizing that SKC2 had played the ball straight to the goalscorer. I don’t know what to say about these goals except that Sporting KC II’s defense is a complete shambles. Birmingham’s record suggests that they’re a much more complete team than Oakland, but a worse team than Birmingham would have been converting these chances, too.
Roots Form
Roots Form
The Roots stood tall last weekend.
I was up at my inlaws’ place and barely had enough internet to follow the game. When Williams put Loyal up in the 17th I, to my shame, assumed it was over.
The Roots were not interested in giving up. The own goal to bring the Roots back level was absolutely hilarious. I feel like justice has been done for Zeus’s assisted OG off of Sam Adineran. Chuy’s goal to take the lead was an absolute beauty. That shot goes in much higher up the pyramid of professional soccer. Shockingly, that wasn’t even the best of the bunch. Akeem O’Connor-Ward went full Dennis Bergkamp (if given the opportunity, go the full Bergkamp). Then some bad things happened, fully justifying Corey Hertzog’s #2 slot on my player hater ranking. Tarek Morad got sent off, he says for calling the ref a “fucking cheater”, which is hilarious since we won anyway. I had to remind myself that at one point it looked like the Roots might finish the season at one win, and this was still not even close to the darkest moment of the season.
Then, thirty seconds into stoppage time, we learn the value of putting the ball in dangerous areas. Specifically: the opposing keeper might lose his damn mind. Far beyond being a foul, Austin Guerrero’s tackle on Johnny Rodriguez might have been called targeting if committed against a Bama QB. Hilariously, Max Ornstil runs over to Rodriguez on the turf to check on him, and pointedly ignores Guerrero lying on the ground. Klimenta also walks over and I swear I thought he was going to taunt him.
For once, when it counted so so much, a Roots player deigned to convert a penalty. Bokila put the ball where no one was likely to be saving it, and Roots took the three points.
Combined with Tacoma’s heroic victory over LA II, the Roots are playing for more than pride to wrap up the regular season.
The Roots were not interested in giving up. The own goal to bring the Roots back level was absolutely hilarious. I feel like justice has been done for Zeus’s assisted OG off of Sam Adineran. Chuy’s goal to take the lead was an absolute beauty. That shot goes in much higher up the pyramid of professional soccer. Shockingly, that wasn’t even the best of the bunch. Akeem O’Connor-Ward went full Dennis Bergkamp (if given the opportunity, go the full Bergkamp). Then some bad things happened, fully justifying Corey Hertzog’s #2 slot on my player hater ranking. Tarek Morad got sent off, he says for calling the ref a “fucking cheater”, which is hilarious since we won anyway. I had to remind myself that at one point it looked like the Roots might finish the season at one win, and this was still not even close to the darkest moment of the season.
Then, thirty seconds into stoppage time, we learn the value of putting the ball in dangerous areas. Specifically: the opposing keeper might lose his damn mind. Far beyond being a foul, Austin Guerrero’s tackle on Johnny Rodriguez might have been called targeting if committed against a Bama QB. Hilariously, Max Ornstil runs over to Rodriguez on the turf to check on him, and pointedly ignores Guerrero lying on the ground. Klimenta also walks over and I swear I thought he was going to taunt him.
For once, when it counted so so much, a Roots player deigned to convert a penalty. Bokila put the ball where no one was likely to be saving it, and Roots took the three points.
Combined with Tacoma’s heroic victory over LA II, the Roots are playing for more than pride to wrap up the regular season.
[Source: FBRef]
First of all, ignore the standings other than based on points. The first tiebreaker is head-to-head match-up, so goal differential no longer plays a role. Roots have the tiebreaker on Tacoma, Tacoma have the tiebreaker on Galaxy II, and Galaxy II have the tiebreaker on Roots.
Pray the the Roots are Steve Buscemi.
Roots kick off at 7 tomorrow, which is the same time that Las Vegas kick off against Tampa. Tampa have not quite secured the best record in USL, so expect Las Vegas to get murdered in front of their handful of home fans.
At 7:30, the last slate of games kicks off. Sac are eliminated, and are hosting a San Diego team that are going to try to pounce on any slip up by Orange County. Galaxy II host Orange County, and a draw is good enough for Orange County, as they hold the tiebreaker over San Diego. Orange County should be trying for the win, though, for playoff jockeying versus the Mountain Division. Finally, Tacoma will be playing away to Phoenix Rising.
Here’s the math:
I was going to do a “Players to Watch” here, but it’s almost 5:00 and my editor is breathing down my neck.
Predictions
Bloom - The Roots are a much better team than Sporting KC II. They are playing for more, they’re in front of their home fans, and they’re going to do what they can and hope that OCSC finishes off the MLS B-teams in the pacific division. 3-0 Roots. Up the Roots.
Lawson - I do not believe Roots will screw this up, but it will be way harder than we expect it to be because this team does not make anything easy. Strictly bangers for this squad. Tap ins are for the weak. So this will probably end 1-0, the one being yet another Goal of the Week nominee. I expect Oakland to have something like 72% possession, but somehow only 6 shots, 2 of which are on target. SKC2 will have a moment sometime in the second half that tightens all of our sphincters, but they’ll put the shot over the bar or something. At the full-time whistle, we’ll all check our phones and see that things are square in Carson, California, with approximately 65 minutes having elapsed. But Los Dos will score in the 3rd minute of stoppage time, and we’ll drown our sorrows while listening to Marcus Mumford’s rendition of You’ll Never Walk Alone.
At 7:30, the last slate of games kicks off. Sac are eliminated, and are hosting a San Diego team that are going to try to pounce on any slip up by Orange County. Galaxy II host Orange County, and a draw is good enough for Orange County, as they hold the tiebreaker over San Diego. Orange County should be trying for the win, though, for playoff jockeying versus the Mountain Division. Finally, Tacoma will be playing away to Phoenix Rising.
Here’s the math:
- If Galaxy II beats Orange County they win and go to the playoffs
- If Roots win and Galaxy II loses or draws, Roots go to the playoffs
- If Roots draw or lose, they’re out and the playoffs are dead to us
I was going to do a “Players to Watch” here, but it’s almost 5:00 and my editor is breathing down my neck.
Predictions
Bloom - The Roots are a much better team than Sporting KC II. They are playing for more, they’re in front of their home fans, and they’re going to do what they can and hope that OCSC finishes off the MLS B-teams in the pacific division. 3-0 Roots. Up the Roots.
Lawson - I do not believe Roots will screw this up, but it will be way harder than we expect it to be because this team does not make anything easy. Strictly bangers for this squad. Tap ins are for the weak. So this will probably end 1-0, the one being yet another Goal of the Week nominee. I expect Oakland to have something like 72% possession, but somehow only 6 shots, 2 of which are on target. SKC2 will have a moment sometime in the second half that tightens all of our sphincters, but they’ll put the shot over the bar or something. At the full-time whistle, we’ll all check our phones and see that things are square in Carson, California, with approximately 65 minutes having elapsed. But Los Dos will score in the 3rd minute of stoppage time, and we’ll drown our sorrows while listening to Marcus Mumford’s rendition of You’ll Never Walk Alone.
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