The Oakland Roots pose for a pre game photo before kicking off against the Hartford Athletic at Cal State East Bay in Hayward on Sat Apr 15, 2023 (@oaklandrootssc photo)

Hartford Edges Out Oakland Roots 2-1

Written By Troy Ewers

HAYWARD–On a busy Bay Area Saturday, where there’s Giants baseball in the morning, A’s baseball at the Coliseum, Warriors vs. Kings in the NBA playoffs, and Earthquakes having a match in San Jose, you would think the Roots would play backseat to all that action.

Well you would be wrong if you thought that, because in another packed game at Pioneer Stadium in Hayward, the Oakland Roots would play Hartford Athletic. The crowd seemed extra revved up for this game and that’s because the Roots were coming off a win last week and fans were ready to see another one.

From the starting whistle, Oakland fans were hype like it was a playoff atmosphere. The first 20 minutes of this game tell a different story than the entire game. The Roots all season have a knack for holding a majority of possession in games and the first 20 minutes of this one was no different.

This strong offensive hold for Oakland resulted in three good scoring chances, but easy stops for Hartford goalkeeper Richard Sanchez. Hartford saw no real chances of scoring until a big yellow card would be given to Johnny Rodriguez of the Roots and that shifted the tone of the first half so far in Hartford’s favor that the yellow card could be seen by anyone watching the game, it was the most pivotal moment at the time, because four minutes later the momentum resulted in a Hartford goal by Prince Saydee (his fourth of the season) and this wouldn’t be the end for Hartford Athletic.

Five minutes after the last goal, a deep pass down the middle would be picked up by Hartford’s Jeciel Cedeno and he’d get an easy tap in goal passed Blanchette making it 2-0 in the first half. Oakland Roots fans are dedicated, because as the temperature dropped along with the sun, the crowd was still all the way in it in the second half and that was enough to keep the Roots fighting.

In the 73rd minute, Hartford’s Kyle Edwards would get a yellow card and that would give the Roots a penalty shot. Not shy of scoring this season, Dariusz Formella would take the penalty shot and convert it in the top left corner for the Roots’ only goal of the night.

Oakland would gain a couple more close attempts, but none would see the back of the net and the final whistle would blow. 2-1 Hartford Athletic. This game was a strong outing for Oakland, even though they couldn’t secure the W. Rito and Mfeka are fan favorites who get huge cheers when they touch the ball and the back line of Babir, Morad, and Tamacas have shown huge improvements from the first game.

Still a long season ahead for the Roots, but this was certainly a game that fans wanted to see in the favor of The Town. Next game for Oakland is April 23rd against Loudoun in Leesburg, Virginia and all eyes will be on Formella to keep his scoring streak going.