RootsBlog

Welcome to Saturday's edition of the blog's live coverage of Oakland Roots taking on Orange County SC from Championship Stadium in the USL Playoffs' Conference Semifinals.  We're not ready for this season to finish and are, once again, sending up a prayer to the Soccer Gods. It worked last week , please let it work again. Regardless of superstition, a divisional playoff matchup is what both teams wanted.  This is effectively the Pacific Division title with both San Diego and Phoenix eliminated. Anything can go down in a derby.  John Morrissey of USL Tactics writes that Oakland's x-factor is the creativity from wingbacks Memo Diaz and Akeem Ward.  For Orange County, Morrissey points out that Ronaldo Damus is the obvious man to stop.  Provided is Bloom's official preview of tonight's match where he highlights both team's meetings throughout the season.  Lawson also details Orange County is his latest running of "Know Your Enemy."  Oakland have f...

Welcome to Friday's edition of the blog's live coverage of Oakland Roots' playoff opener against El Paso Locomotive, typing alongside a rowdy group of supporters at Old Kan Beer & Co. Wish me luck. Saying the season had its lows and highs are all too obvious; trailing in last place at 2-5-8 and climbing all the way up to fourth in the Pacific Division. Here we are, Roots fans, in the playoffs in the organization's first USL Championship season.  To the Soccer Gods, please don't let this be the Roots' last game. Helping build RootsBlog while getting to know the staff, front office, and supporters has been an indescribable joy. We don't want the season to end; Bloom and myself both put 2-1 Oakland victories in the universe in his official preview.  Lawson, meanwhile, is going the late, heartache and devastation route with El Paso winning 4-2 in PKs.  John Morrissey predicted a 3-0 El Paso win in his annual playoff preview, noting that Akeem Ward and Memo ...

Happy Halloween and welcome to Super Saturday's edition of the blog's live coverage of Oakland Roots taking on Sporting KC II. Scroll down for all the latest updates. It's win or stay at home for Oakland, requiring a victory and a Los Angeles Galaxy II loss or tie. Jordan Ferrell knew all along that it would come down to the wire.  "People have been asking me about the playoff race for the last month. I think we’ve maintained that we always focus on the game ahead of us, and also we’ve had a feeling that it would come down to the last game of the season. A big advantage there is that we’re going to be at home and we know that the Laney crowd is going to be rocking. It’s important that we come in and focus so that we get those last three points."  Roots' Chief Purpose Officer Mike Geddes said on KTVU that he's hoping the organization sets an attendance record in the season finale.  Ferrell reiterated after the 4-3 win at San Diego that he wants Laney to be ...

Welcome to Sunday's edition of the blog's live coverage of Oakland Roots on the road against San Diego Loyal. Scroll down for all the latest updates. Roots head into San Diego's Torero Stadium holding sixth place with a 9-8-13 record after its disappointing 0-0 draw with Tacoma.  Defiance defeated LA Galaxy II 3-2!! Everything hinges on a win tonight for Oakland in order to move back into fifth and one point shy of LA Galaxy.  Provided is Bloom's official match preview , where he points out that Los Dos' results determine Oakland's destiny while highlighting Roots' last match against Loyal on September 22, which was a 2-1 win for the Town. Galaxy II clinch with two points, so a win ends the Roots’ playoff hopes. A Galaxy II draw today and a draw in their final match (home to OCSC) would also secure them fourth place (they hold the tiebreakers on the Roots). I will, for once, be rooting for a Tacoma win. If Roots and Tacoma both win out, and Galaxy II utterly...

Welcome to Wednesday's edition of the blog's live coverage of Oakland Roots on the road against Tacoma Defiance. Scroll down for all the latest updates. Roots SC is up in Washington looking to rebound off of its 1-0 loss to OCSC last Saturday, still holding fifth place with a 9-7-13 record, five points back of LA Galaxy II for a playoff spot, and tied for points with Tacoma and Republic in sixth and seventh.  Los Dos lost to Charleston 3-1, making a win tonight that much more critical for Roots SC in order to keep playoff hopes alive.  Provided is  Bloom's official match preview,  where he highlights both organizations since this last meeting a month ago and points out that it requires much more than a win to sneak into the playoffs. Here's an excerpt from Bloom's preview: "The Roots’ inconsistency has caught up with them at an absolutely devastating time. They not only no longer control their fate for the postseason, but need quite a lot of luck.... Roots don’...

Welcome to Saturday's edition of the blog's live coverage of the Oakland Roots' match with Orange County SC under the lights of Laney College, oh we've missed you.  Roots return from the desert after falling 1-0 to Phoenix Rising last Saturday, entering tonight's match in fifth-place with a 9-7-12 record, two points back of LA Galaxy II for a playoff spot and a point ahead of Sacramento Republic in sixth. For Oakland, that means it's all must-win matches over the remaining matches and table-watching along the way.  Provided is Bloom's official match preview for tonight, where he highlights the Pacific Division's slate of matches on Saturday. Here's an excerpt from Bloom's preview: If Oakland wins tonight, that OCSC-LA II match-up to end the season has huge potential to outright decide a playoff spot for both OCSC and LA II. If Oakland lose tonight, we are going to be desperate for OCSC to win that last one, almost certainly. Here is an updated g...

Welcome to tonight's edition of the blog's live coverage of the Oakland Roots' match with Sacramento Republic under the lights of Laney College.  Oakland enters as the sixth-ranked team in the Pacific Division with an 8-7-11 record against fifth-place Sacramento at 8-8-10. A win overtakes the Republic in the standings, while a Galaxy II loss on Friday and a Roots win tonight puts the Town back in fourth.  Here is Bloom's official match preview for tonight, where he highlights both organizations since their last run-in on August 11.  Here's an excerpt from Bloom's preview that keys on Roots SC's missed opportunities from its recent 2-2 draw with Las Vegas; building a critical time for Oakland to get back on track with three points.  The other frustrating thing is obviously that the Roots had some incredible opportunities that they didn’t convert (Amarikwa, like Wal Fall, considers penalties gauche and unsporting), some bad luck (Rodriguez off the post), and ...

Welcome to tonight's edition of the blog's live coverage of Oakland Roots' meeting with Las Vegas Lights from Laney College.  Oakland enters as the fifth-ranked team in the Pacific Division with an 8-6-11 record against last-place Las Vegas at 5-2-19 Here is Bloom's official match preview for tonight, where he highlights some of the Roots' most hated opposing players and how Vegas walks into Saturday night winding down on a dreadful season. Here's an excerpt from Bloom's preview that puts things in perspective on a must-win match for Roots SC:  Lights started the season bad and have become terrible. Since a 2-2 draw at home to Phoenix Rising on August 8, the Lights have lost nine straight. Dear God, please do not let Oakland drop points in this game.  Join the live match discussion on Discord: https://discord.com/invite/NPNM7jmJ Scroll down for all the latest updates. Key Events Lights equalizer - 89' Lights red card - 73' Traore committs his 2nd yel...