Orange County S.C. vs. Oakland Roots - Match Preview (November 13, 2021)
Oakland Roots, victorious over the Mountain Division champion El Paso Locomotive, will look to continue their playoff run against our old friends Orange County Soccer Club at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, November 13 at the Orange County Great Park in Irvine, California. The match will be broadcast on ESPN+ and KOFY TV.
Oakland’s History Against Orange County: Look, I mean, Orange County aren’t better than El Paso.
Luckily, we have written some stuff previously on Orange County.
June 12 - Orange County 1 - Oakland Roots 0
The Roots and the Blog were both still finding their feet when the Roots traveled to Orange County for just their fourth match of the season. Ronaldo Damus scored the loan goal
July 31 - Oakland Roots 0 - Orange County 3
Orange County was already up 2-0 when Max picked up a questionable red in the 55th, and Orange County's third late was pretty meaningless. The Roots were in rough shape here--this match was at Las Positas, and the wind made a huge difference. The starting 11 did not look much like the starting 11 we'd see for the Roots great run of form or the 11 we are likely to see this weekend.
September 25 - Orange County 2 - Oakland Roots 1
[Source: FBRef]
Then, obviously, Orange County won its first playoff match, to extend their winning streak to six. And yet, a little scrutiny shows those victories do not show an invincible team.
Orange County beat Phoenix to kick-off that run. From my preview of the last match-up;
[Source: Oakland Roots SC]
Wait for it
[Source: Oakland Roots SC]
Galaxy had 55% possession and five shots on target. Preston Judd failed to put away a couple of incredible chances, both after Roots fans had already tuned in after the SKII match. Shortly thereafter Rakofsky made an exceptional save on a Jonathan Perez shot from distance that nearly gave me a heart attack. With the game early over (and a draw as good as a win for both Orange County and Oakland), Damus picked the pocket of a Galaxy II defender, then nearly blew the attack with a pass to Enevoldsen that should have been intercepted, but wasn’t dealt with cleanly, and Enevoldsen managed to put in the winner as he went to ground.
Rob Kiernan, the 30-year-old Republic of Ireland native, who we highlighted as a player to watch in our very first preview as a blog, got himself sent off for a DOGSO (“DOGSO, Michael") . Kiernan has the third most minutes among Orange County players, and has been a key part of their team all season. USL for some reason does not publish a discipline report, but we assume that means he’s out next week. This is only the second straight red of Kiernan’s career, which is pretty incredible for a nearly 31-year-old centerback.
With sixty minutes, a man advantage, and the best scorer in the league, what do you think Colorado Springs did? If you guessed “concede once and otherwise basically nothing”:
Damus’s (eventual) game winner a minute into first-half stoppage time is a beauty, especially coming off one of the most hilariously ugly (while still finding its mark) passes you will ever see.
It is, frankly, a little pathetic that there are only two highlights from the second half of an 11-on-10 playoff match, and one is a shot that doesn’t hit the target. Credit to Orange County’s defense for standing tall for that long.
Oakland’s Form
[Source: Oakland Roots SC]
This team conceded eight goals in its first three games to Phoenix Rising, Galaxy II, and Sac Republic, three squads that combined for one playoff game this season. But that Oakland Roots team didn’t have Emrah Klimenta and Kai Greene, the second coming of Tony Adams and Steve Bould.
It’s not like anyone who is reading this blog needs a reminder of what happened this past weekend, but I am going to write these up anyway for posterity.
Somehow, despite [gestures broadly at everything] the Roots had the best chances throughout this game, and despite their underdog status, if they had not won it in regular time you’d have said they were the team regretting missed chances.
It seemed almost like a fluke when Amarikwa sliced through the Locomotive half in the fourth minute and played in Johnny Rodriguez who curled a ball just a little too close, allowing Logan Ketterer to make the backwards-diving save. You might have thought it, in fact, was a fluke, but for my money it presaged the second half.
Emrah Klimenta nearly nodded in a Memo Diaz cross in the 54th and the rebound was sent over the bar by Kai Greene. Paul Blanchette, who had a phenomenal game overall, nearly blew the whole thing by sending a goal kick right to a Locomotive midfielder who was able to control it and play it in to some other guy who shot over the crossbar. In the 71st, Blanchette tipped wide a Diego Luna shot, and things were NERVY.
You absolutely have to hand it to Jordan Ferrell for his game plan, and for keeping his powder dry for as long as he did. We here at the blog love Jeremy Bokila, but his best results are in the first 20ish minutes that he is on the pitch. He cashed in Ferrell’s gamble almost immediately.
At 75:40, within three minutes of Bokila coming on, Blanchette booted the ball long, finding Amarkwa just over midfield with a defender glued to his back. Amarikwa manages to send the ball on with his knee, finding Chuy Enriquez (misidentified by various sources as Memo Diaz, Jose Hernandez, and somewhat miraculously Amarikwa himself--those kits are fire but the numbers are completely unreadable). Chuy whipped his left leg around high, ushering a pass on right to Boklila.
Oakland’s History Against Orange County: Look, I mean, Orange County aren’t better than El Paso.
Luckily, we have written some stuff previously on Orange County.
June 12 - Orange County 1 - Oakland Roots 0
The Roots and the Blog were both still finding their feet when the Roots traveled to Orange County for just their fourth match of the season. Ronaldo Damus scored the loan goal
July 31 - Oakland Roots 0 - Orange County 3
Orange County was already up 2-0 when Max picked up a questionable red in the 55th, and Orange County's third late was pretty meaningless. The Roots were in rough shape here--this match was at Las Positas, and the wind made a huge difference. The starting 11 did not look much like the starting 11 we'd see for the Roots great run of form or the 11 we are likely to see this weekend.
September 25 - Orange County 2 - Oakland Roots 1
This is very much the one that got away. Roots looked so good for stretches of this game. We just hope that Ferrell can recapture that magic, plus a little better finishing.
October 16 - Oakland Roots 0 - Orange County 1
Hard to choose between this and the 2-2 draw to Vegas at Laney for the most disappointing dropped points of the Roots' run-in.
Orange County’s Form
Orange County took the end of the season by storm, winning five in a row, and when San Diego slipped down the stretch, helped in no small part by the Oakland Roots, Orange County leaped into second place.
[Source: USLChampionship.com]
Then, obviously, Orange County won its first playoff match, to extend their winning streak to six. And yet, a little scrutiny shows those victories do not show an invincible team.
Orange County beat Phoenix to kick-off that run. From my preview of the last match-up;
Orange County took the lead in the 18th on a goal from Ben Mines and never gave it up. In the third minute of stoppage time at the end Rising really should have gone ahead and Rakovsky made an incredible save on Aodhan Quinn’s shot to preserve the win. It is worth checking out the highlights just for that (and for Orange County’s Country Time Lemonade kits).Orange County then beat Roots in the incredibly frustrating match fueled by the pointless Jose Hernandez red card, highlights above.
Orange County beat a struggling San Diego team 1-0 in Orange County:
Calvillo curled an exceptional freekick over the San Diego wall in the 26th minute for the only goal of the night. The rest of the highlights are saves that are between good and great. San Diego had 65% of possession while playing in Orange County, and had four shots on target, two of which to my mind were saved by particularly great play by Rakovsky (you could argue the first was a great save only because he didn’t see the ball until late). Orange County was beatable in this game.
Orange County next beat Las Vegas 2-1 in Orange County. O.C’s first was a Dekel Keinan OG, but like many OGs was really barely his fault. OC broke away in the 65th, Enevoldsen played in Damus who made a crisp shot from a tight angle that Vegas defender Antonio Leone saved off the line with a backheel. Unfortunately for Lights, the backheel went straight into Keinan’s knees as he was also running to the goal. About ten minutes later Keinan got himself a second yellow for going through Damus’s back (we’ll be seeing more of these in the El Paso highlights).
The match was still 1-0 when stoppage time started, and then 45 seconds into stoppage time Danny Trejo put away a sensational Dylan Presto cross at the back post. Even with ten men, you’d really have thought that would be a point for each team, but after a full three of the two minutes of stoppage time, Orange County race down the field and the Lights defense completely capitulates, allowing a one-two-three from Enevoldsen to Darwin Jones to Ronaldo Damus to take all three points. I watched these replays over and over and over again and I think that Jones and Damus are both onside, but it is so so close. Jones is past his man, but being played onside by the fellow marking Damus. Damus is played onside by the ball, but that is a matter of inches. Enormous escape for Orange County.
The match was still 1-0 when stoppage time started, and then 45 seconds into stoppage time Danny Trejo put away a sensational Dylan Presto cross at the back post. Even with ten men, you’d really have thought that would be a point for each team, but after a full three of the two minutes of stoppage time, Orange County race down the field and the Lights defense completely capitulates, allowing a one-two-three from Enevoldsen to Darwin Jones to Ronaldo Damus to take all three points. I watched these replays over and over and over again and I think that Jones and Damus are both onside, but it is so so close. Jones is past his man, but being played onside by the fellow marking Damus. Damus is played onside by the ball, but that is a matter of inches. Enormous escape for Orange County.
Finally Orange County beat Los Angeles 1-0 in a match where the Roots desperately needed a draw or an O.C. win.
They really
They really
Made us
Wait for it
Galaxy had 55% possession and five shots on target. Preston Judd failed to put away a couple of incredible chances, both after Roots fans had already tuned in after the SKII match. Shortly thereafter Rakofsky made an exceptional save on a Jonathan Perez shot from distance that nearly gave me a heart attack. With the game early over (and a draw as good as a win for both Orange County and Oakland), Damus picked the pocket of a Galaxy II defender, then nearly blew the attack with a pass to Enevoldsen that should have been intercepted, but wasn’t dealt with cleanly, and Enevoldsen managed to put in the winner as he went to ground.
Playoffs for Oakland. #KnowYourRoots pic.twitter.com/J73no63hf8
— Oakland Roots (@oaklandrootssc) October 31, 2021
Orange County’s streak earned them the right to host Colorado Springs and USL Golden Boot winner Hadji Barry. Barry’s productivity really fell off late in the season, registering one goal and one assist in his last seven matches (all of which were full 90s for Barry). If Colorado Springs had won, and we were previewing him, I would look into whether Barry had to come deeper to pick up the ball later in the season, but he certainly had to against Orange County.
You can just hear in the highlights the end of the commentator announcing that Jeremy Bokila scored the winner for Oakland in their playoff match. Love reminders of that.
Rob Kiernan, the 30-year-old Republic of Ireland native, who we highlighted as a player to watch in our very first preview as a blog, got himself sent off for a DOGSO (“DOGSO, Michael") . Kiernan has the third most minutes among Orange County players, and has been a key part of their team all season. USL for some reason does not publish a discipline report, but we assume that means he’s out next week. This is only the second straight red of Kiernan’s career, which is pretty incredible for a nearly 31-year-old centerback.
With sixty minutes, a man advantage, and the best scorer in the league, what do you think Colorado Springs did? If you guessed “concede once and otherwise basically nothing”:
Damus’s (eventual) game winner a minute into first-half stoppage time is a beauty, especially coming off one of the most hilariously ugly (while still finding its mark) passes you will ever see.
It is, frankly, a little pathetic that there are only two highlights from the second half of an 11-on-10 playoff match, and one is a shot that doesn’t hit the target. Credit to Orange County’s defense for standing tall for that long.
Oakland’s Form
This team conceded eight goals in its first three games to Phoenix Rising, Galaxy II, and Sac Republic, three squads that combined for one playoff game this season. But that Oakland Roots team didn’t have Emrah Klimenta and Kai Greene, the second coming of Tony Adams and Steve Bould.
It’s not like anyone who is reading this blog needs a reminder of what happened this past weekend, but I am going to write these up anyway for posterity.
Somehow, despite [gestures broadly at everything] the Roots had the best chances throughout this game, and despite their underdog status, if they had not won it in regular time you’d have said they were the team regretting missed chances.
It seemed almost like a fluke when Amarikwa sliced through the Locomotive half in the fourth minute and played in Johnny Rodriguez who curled a ball just a little too close, allowing Logan Ketterer to make the backwards-diving save. You might have thought it, in fact, was a fluke, but for my money it presaged the second half.
Emrah Klimenta nearly nodded in a Memo Diaz cross in the 54th and the rebound was sent over the bar by Kai Greene. Paul Blanchette, who had a phenomenal game overall, nearly blew the whole thing by sending a goal kick right to a Locomotive midfielder who was able to control it and play it in to some other guy who shot over the crossbar. In the 71st, Blanchette tipped wide a Diego Luna shot, and things were NERVY.
You absolutely have to hand it to Jordan Ferrell for his game plan, and for keeping his powder dry for as long as he did. We here at the blog love Jeremy Bokila, but his best results are in the first 20ish minutes that he is on the pitch. He cashed in Ferrell’s gamble almost immediately.
At 75:40, within three minutes of Bokila coming on, Blanchette booted the ball long, finding Amarkwa just over midfield with a defender glued to his back. Amarikwa manages to send the ball on with his knee, finding Chuy Enriquez (misidentified by various sources as Memo Diaz, Jose Hernandez, and somewhat miraculously Amarikwa himself--those kits are fire but the numbers are completely unreadable). Chuy whipped his left leg around high, ushering a pass on right to Boklila.
who somehow managed to control that ball under pressure and in the face of a charging Ketterer and slot it in five hole.
Matias Fissore almost managed to put one away to let our heart rates come down some, but it would not be the Roots season if it wasn’t a struggle to the very last second.
Predictions
Bloom - I did not expect to be writing playoff previews. I did not expect to be writing a Western Conference Semifinal preview. I hoped to be doing so, and I made a prediction accordingly. Not only are Phoenix and El Paso gone, but El Paso are gone at the hands of a Roots team who SHUT THEM OUT IN EL PASO. Suddenly people are talking about the Roots’ defense. This Roots defense can shut down Orange County, and held them to one, even down a man for forty minutes, in the last month. Roots take this one 3-1. Up the Roots.
Predictions
Bloom - I did not expect to be writing playoff previews. I did not expect to be writing a Western Conference Semifinal preview. I hoped to be doing so, and I made a prediction accordingly. Not only are Phoenix and El Paso gone, but El Paso are gone at the hands of a Roots team who SHUT THEM OUT IN EL PASO. Suddenly people are talking about the Roots’ defense. This Roots defense can shut down Orange County, and held them to one, even down a man for forty minutes, in the last month. Roots take this one 3-1. Up the Roots.
Comeaux - Is this the matchup Oakland wanted, or is this what OCSC was praying to the soccer gods for? Maybe it’s a bit of both. Roots walk in as 2.5/1 underdogs, one week after being 6.5/1 against El Paso. With San Diego and Phoenix gone, I’m reiterating the words of the OCSC Podcast, this is for the Pacific Division Championship—and anything can happen. I feel more confident this week, and I think Jordan Ferrell is drawing up the perfect plan to lock down Ronaldo Damus and limit shots. My prediction: Roots score early, OCSC ties it right before halftime, Oakland scores around the 60-minute mark. Roots win, 2-1.
Lawson - I have known pretty much exclusively disappointment in my sports fandom, so (1) this current feeling of optimism/hope is weird and unnerving to me, and (2) I see doom around every corner. OCSC took all 12 points on offer this season in their 4 matches with Oakland. Phoenix Rising couldn’t pull off the same feat against Las Vegas Lights, that’s how wild that is. Do I think OCSC is as much better than Oakland as Phoenix is than Las Vegas? No, absolutely not, that’s a ridiculous question. But they seem to have something figured out. If you watched or listened to the Orange & Black Soccer Cast western conference semifinals preview, you’ll know that I think these two teams are very evenly matched and that this one is going to extra time, if not penalties. I see Ronaldo Damus being the difference maker in this one, but the Soccer Cast crew are very nervy about OCSC’s makeshift center back pairing. I waffled on that show, ultimately picking Oakland to nick the extra time winner. As of this writing, I’ve swung back to the other side. I don’t know if the forced shakeup at the back will hurt OCSC as much as some fans worry. 2-1 OCSC, with the winning goal coming deep into extra time.
Lawson - I have known pretty much exclusively disappointment in my sports fandom, so (1) this current feeling of optimism/hope is weird and unnerving to me, and (2) I see doom around every corner. OCSC took all 12 points on offer this season in their 4 matches with Oakland. Phoenix Rising couldn’t pull off the same feat against Las Vegas Lights, that’s how wild that is. Do I think OCSC is as much better than Oakland as Phoenix is than Las Vegas? No, absolutely not, that’s a ridiculous question. But they seem to have something figured out. If you watched or listened to the Orange & Black Soccer Cast western conference semifinals preview, you’ll know that I think these two teams are very evenly matched and that this one is going to extra time, if not penalties. I see Ronaldo Damus being the difference maker in this one, but the Soccer Cast crew are very nervy about OCSC’s makeshift center back pairing. I waffled on that show, ultimately picking Oakland to nick the extra time winner. As of this writing, I’ve swung back to the other side. I don’t know if the forced shakeup at the back will hurt OCSC as much as some fans worry. 2-1 OCSC, with the winning goal coming deep into extra time.
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