Oakland Roots forward Wolfgang Prentice heads the ball for a goal against FC Tulsa during the first half of a USL Championship match, Saturday, April 18, 2026, at the Oakland Coliseum in Oakland, Calif. (Bridget Whitaker – Sports Radio Service).

By Bridget Whitaker (Sports Radio Service staff writer)

OAKLAND– Coming off the strongest start in the Roots history, Oakland tied FC Tulsa in their game on Saturday night. They earned a hard fought draw at the Coliseum, overcoming adversity after being down a man in the first half.

The Roots are in sixth place in the Western Conference with a 2-3-1 record. On the contrary, Tulsa, the defending Conference Champions, sit in ninth place. In the first few minutes, the Roots opened the scoring with Wolfgang Prentice’s header.

This marked Prentice’s fouth goal of the season, just six matches in. Midway through the first half, Neveal Hackshaw cost the Roots an 11th player, being awarded a red card. From this point on FC Tulsa controlled the momentum and applied constant pressure to the Roots defensemen, forcing their keeper Raphael Spiegel to make several crucial saves to preserve the lead heading into half time.

Starting the second half, Tulsa continued to push, creating several chances as they took advantage of an extra player. Their persistence paid off with Bailey Sparks, the newest substitution for Tulsa, scored in the 65th minute to level the game.

Despite relentless pressure late in the game, Spiegel had a standout performance from goal to secure the draw for Oakland. Ryan Martin said a lack of composure made the difference in not being able to capitalize. “Composure is the biggest issue,” Martin said. “We are getting into good places…the good news is that we’re getting to those spots. Now it’s about taking the next step forward.”

The Roots will look to start fresh in their next game vs the Las Vegas Lights FC on Wednesday Apr 22 a 7:00pm PDT kick off at the Oakland Coliseum.