RootsBlog

The Oakland Roots' season came to an end on Saturday, November 13 at Championship Stadium in Irvine, falling 6-5 in penalty kicks to Orange County SC after a full 120 minutes completed without a goal being scored.  Oakland came in with a specific game plan to stop OC's Ronaldo Damus, and they did so up until the final penalty attempt. Roots' keeper Paul Blanchette stopped Damus' initial try but was called for encroachment, resulting in the Haitian National burying his kick.  Damus was repeatedly called for offside throughout the 120.  "Penalties, I love penalties. I look at penalties and say that’s our game. I’ll continue to think that way even though things didn’t go our way tonight. We had a good game plan and created some good opportunities. I certainly think that we did enough tonight to be stepping into the Western Conference Final, but that’s knockout football," reflected technical director and interim head coach Jordan Ferrell.  "You play to PKs an...

Oakland Roots' technical director and interim head coach Jordan Ferrell had one message to the organizations around the USL which have doubted them, "keep doing it."  "They can keep doing it, I don’t really care. What matters is within that locker room right now and the fans that have been supportive of us all of season. People can continue to overlook us and that’s great but we’re not concerned with how other people see us," said Ferrell.  The Roots entered with the odds stacked against them at over 6/1 underdogs. And rightfully so; in addition to El Paso not losing a home match in 470 days, Oakland started the first two months of the season 1-3-8 without a home match at Laney. Things obviously took longer to jell than initially hoped for. "I think for us as a group, not having been a team for a long time, the early part of the season where we didn’t find success, there were a lot of challenges. It’s very easy when you come together and start winning and e...

Source: Oakland Roots SC The Oakland Roots won 1-0 over Sporting Kansas City II on Saturday night, but its match was only partially over at the time. The squad gathered at midfield, staring intently at the Laney College Stadium screen as Orange County and Los Angeles Galaxy II continued scoreless in the 65th minute.  The Blog's Aaron Lawson recapped the win this morning, highlighting Oakland's goal and pointing out the "shambolic nature" of KC's shoddy backline when Chuy Enriquez scored in the second minute, while detailing the excruciating torture watching OC and Los Dos carry on.  Here's a link to Lawson's article.  Reader, years were taken off my life on Saturday. We informed you pregame that Sporting KC II’s back line was…more of a beaded curtain than a wall, and its shambolic nature revealed itself early: Kai Greene lofted a ball over the top to Quincy Amarikwa. Sporting’s back line lost all resemblance to a line, allowing Quincy to sneak in on goal. ...

The Oakland Roots drew 0-0 on Wednesday night on the road against Tacoma Defiance, bringing their record to 9-8-13. Roots SC has now gone scoreless in its last three matches. It was a critical time for the Roots to take three points after LA Galaxy II lost 3-1 to Charleston Battery earlier in the day. Oakland is still four points back of Los Dos and will require the SoCal side to drop its final two matches. Roots must defeat San Diego Loyal on Sunday to keep itself alive.  Oakland's lack of finishing in the first half came back to haunt them; it's been similar note to the 1-nil loss to Orange County.  Roots had at least four good chances at net in the first half; Matias Fissore started the action with a shot on target in the 7th minute after Memo Diaz played a nice pass through the legs of Tacoma's defender.  In the 19th, Kai Greene played a perfect long ball over the top to Johnny Rodriguez--but his first-touch shot wasn't on target. Soon after, Chuy Enriquez could...

The Oakland Roots brought home three points with a 2-1 victory over Sacramento Republic on Wednesday night at Laney College. The win improves their record to 9-7-11 and catapults the club into fourth place with 34 points, three points behind OCSC.  Oakland now prepares for an away match at Phoenix on Saturday, while LA Galaxy II can do Roots' a favor by losing Vegas on Friday. OCSC and Tacoma also play on Oct. 9. It was a chippy and physical affair between Oakland and Sacramento all night, with the Roots' claiming the NorCal Derby season series with a 1-3-0 record. It's the formula for a budding California soccer rivalry, and the June 19 mishap was undoubtedly still on the minds of players, coaches, and front office members.  "It's a good way to wrap up the series against them. Obviously, every single game is a battle. I think the majority of our squad was healthy and available for the first time; it makes a big difference. We also showed better mentality tonight t...

Oh, how the Beautiful Game can be cruel. The Oakland Roots were able to claim a point in its 2-2 draw with Las Vegas Lights on Saturday night at Laney College, but a late goal while holding a man-advantage in the 89th minute prevented Roots from claiming three points.  With an 8-7-11 record, Roots SC is in sixth place one point behind the Sacramento Republic and LA Galaxy II in fifth and fourth.  Oakland conceded a goal in the fifth minute after Julian Vazques found Danny Trejo for a tap-in goal on a pass across the face. The inconsistency in which the USL uses an assistant referee is peculiar, especially with a focus on this goal.  Per the replay, Trejo appeared at least one full stride ahead of Oakland's last defender, Memo Diaz, when Vazquez plays the ball.  . @lvlightsfc sprints out to the early lead 🏃💨 #OAKvLV pic.twitter.com/q3wKDJebmI — USL Championship (@USLChampionship) October 3, 2021 Similar to the Roots' 2-1 loss to OCSC in its previous match, the hom...

Photo courtesy of Oakland Roots SC The Oakland Roots fell 2-1 to Orange County SC on the road in Irvine, watching its record dip to 8-6-11, still holding fourth-place with 30 points.  Tacoma also lost 2-1 on Saturday night to Phoenix, while San Diego extended its lead in second-place with 40 points.  Roots SC dropped points from a winning position after scoring in the 19th minute, but conceding goals in the stoppage time at 45+1 and 90+. The Roots had several clear chances at the net in the first 45 minutes and finished with nine shots, two on target, and eight chances created. However, Oakland only added one more shot attempt off of target in the second half.  Ariel Mbumba scored on a beautifully worked goal in the 19th minute when Johnny Rodriguez worked the ball to Brian Brown, who played it out wide to Mbumba.  While one-on-one with Brent Richards, Mbumba showed off similar footwork to his goal against Sacramento back on June 2--working a triple stepover and a sh...