The Oakland Roots prayers were answered with a 2-0 shutout over the Grande Valley Toros at CSU East Bay in Hayward on Wed Jun 28, 2023 (@oaklandrootssc photo)

A rare weekday game for the Oakland Roots in Hayward, California at CSU East Bay, this game against the Rio Grande Valley Toros. This game was a standout game for goaltender Paul Blanchette of Oakland, but for the defensive back line it was something they wanted to forget immediately.

The first half showed promise as both teams each had good scoring chances that the goaltenders had to make highlight reel stops. The difference between both teams is how they approach their first moves, the Roots’ first move being more timid than RGV and in this game it was about who was more aggressive.

In the second half that point was proven masterfully by RGV. Even though at the beginning of the second half Lindo Mfeka had a huge scoring opportunity for the Roots, Oakland would only end up with five shots on goal total and compared to RGV’s 12 shots on goal that would be a deciding factor for this game.

Two of those 12 shots would go past a tired Paul Blanchette. First goal came from a breakout pass by RGV that would be stopped Oakland’s Joseph Nane, but when Nane tries to clear the ball, RGV gets it right back and Frank Lopez would sneak a pass past Barbir of the Roots to Wilmer Cabrera for a shot that finds the back of the net, 1-0 RGV.

The second goal coming eight minutes later and it would be a smoother play for the Toros as an offensive rush leads to Frank Lopez again getting an assist and again Wilmer Cabrera scorches it in the goal, 2-0 RGV and that was all that was needed to give RGV a W, but it wasn’t the only damage done before this game was over. Within two minutes, Guillermo Diaz got two yellow cards resulting in a red card and five minutes later the final whistle blew.

The next game for Oakland is July 8th against Tampa Bay and this is the time of year where teams at the top of the table start to separate from the rest and Oakland finds itself in the middle of the pack and they need to start winning and stop with the draws and losses before they look up and it’s October and they’re out of the race completely.