Oakland Roots lose 1-0 to FC Tulsa to start home stand

Oakland Roots pose for a pre game team photo before their match against FC Tulsa on Sat Sep 16, 2023 (@oaklandrootssc photo)

Saturday, September 16th, 2023

By Troy Ewers

Hayward, CA – The Oakland Roots face off against FC Tulsa to start a three game homestand with six games left in the season, four out of those six will be home games for Oakland. The Roots find themselves in 7th place of the West, three points clear of the playoff line. 

Tulsa got on the board first 10 minutes into the game when Phillip Goodrum knocked a header in the net after receiving a short cross pass into the box and this header made it past Blanchette to put Tulsa up 1-0. The game plan for Oakland seemed more scattered than usual and Tulsa’s whole system was to take advantage of this scattered style of play.

The course of the first half was predominantly focused on setting up possible opportunities, but Oakland made the biggest mistake of the half right before stoppage time when Lindo Mfeka delivered a hard tackle that wasn’t just a clear foul, but resulted in a red card and the Roots had to play with ten men for the remainder of the game.

With only two minutes of stoppage time, the halftime whistle blew before anything could develop and Tulsa held the lead at 1-0, but with that red card on Oakland, Tulsa had the advantage. 

The second half was a complete battle of possession, but the odds were evened out when Tulsa got a red card and now both teams were playing with ten guys. From there the rest of the second half played out and Tulsa never conceded.

As the final whistle blew, the game was just like how it started, 1-0 Tulsa and three points secured for Tulsa, which isn’t good for Oakland as they go into these final five games with a huge mountain to climb. The next game will be a home match for Oakland and it will be against Monterey Bay FC and the Roots need a win to secure them in the playoff picture.

San Jose State falls to Toledo 21-17

Photo credit: toledoblade.com

By: Mary Anne

The San Jose State Spartans looked to win two in a row at the Toledo Rockets on Saturday, but they didn’t. San Jose State fell to Toledo 21-17 at Glass Bowl Stadium. SJSU’s record dropped to 1-3, while Toledo improved to 2-1.

After a scoreless first quarter, San Jose State took a second-quarter lead in only a minute. Kyler Halvorsen kicked a 37-yard field goal to make it 3-0 Spartans at 7:47. Spartans quarterback Chevan Cordeiro threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Dominick Mazotti, who scored his first of the season, and Halvorsen kicked an extra point to give the Spartans a 10-0 lead at 6:47.

The Rockets cut the Spartans’ lead to 10-7 with ten seconds left in the second quarter. Rockets quarterback Dequan Finn threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Jerjuan Newton, who scored a touchdown, and Luke Pawlak kicked an extra point to make it a three-point game.

The Spartans took a 10-7 lead to the locker room at halftime.

The Spartans took a ten-point lead at 9:58 of the third quarter. Kairee Robinson ran for a 15-yard touchdown and Kyler Halvorson kicked in an extra point to put the Spartans up 17-7.

The Rockets made it a three-point game at 6:15 of the third quarter. Dequan Finn ran for an 18-yard touchdown and Luke Pawlak kicked in an extra point to cut the Spartans’ lead to 17-14.

The Rockets took their first lead of the game with 2:01 left in the third quarter. Chris McDonald scored a touchdown on a 25-yard interception return and Luke Pawlak kicked in an extra point to put the Rockets up 21-14.

Notes
Spartans quarterback Chevan Cordeiro joined the 10,000-yard club Saturday.

Up Next
The Spartans will return home to host the Air Force Falcons at CEFCU Stadium on Saturday, September 22, at 7:30 p.m. Pacific.

Webb throws gem, but Giants fall 3-2 to Rockies

Photo credit: si.com

By: Mary Anne

The San Francisco Giants and Colorado Rockies played the second game of the four-game series on Friday. The Giants dropped a 3-2 decision to the Rockies at Coors Field. San Francisco fell to 75-72, while Colorado improved to 54-92. Camilo Doval (6-5, 2.98 ERA) took the loss for the Giants.

The Giants’ lineup featured Mike Yastrzemski, Thairo Estrada, J.D. Davis, Michael Conforto, LaMonte Wade Jr., Mitch Haniger, Patrick Bailey, Brandon Crawford, Luis Matos, and Logan Webb. Webb pitched for eight innings and gave up four hits, one earned run, and six strikeouts.

After a scoreless first inning, San Francisco got on the board in the top of the second inning. Patrick Bailey grounded into a force out to Chase Anderson and Ezequiel Tovar. Michael Conforto scored for a 1-0 Giants lead. LaMonte Wade Jr. was out at second base, while Bailey went to first base with two outs.

The Rockies finally got on the board in the bottom of the eighth inning. Ezequiel Tovar singled on a line drive to Austin Slater. Ryan McMahon scored to tie the ballgame 1-1. Tovar went to second base.

The Giants regained the lead in the top of the ninth inning. Wilmer Flores walked. J.D. Davis scored for a 2-1 lead. LaMonte Wade Jr. went to third base, while Patrick Bailey went to second base.

The Giants’ lead was short-lived as the Rockies took the lead in the bottom of the ninth inning. Elehuris Montero singled on a ground ball to Mike Yastrzemski. Charlie Blackmon and Nolan Jones scored for a 3-2 lead. Montero went to second base. Yastrzemski committed a throwing error. Moreover, San Francisco challenged the play for a home-plate collision, and the call on the field was upheld.

Notes
The Giants optioned Kyle Harrison and Casey Schmitt to Triple-A Sacramento. Ross Stripling returned to San Francisco from rehab and was reinstated from the 15-day injured list.

The Giants recognized and celebrated the cultures, achievements, and celebrations of their Hispanic players, employees, and community members for Hispanic Heritage Month.

The Giants celebrated Roberto Clemente, a Latin American hero and one of the greatest baseball players of all time, on Roberto Clemente Day.

Up Next
The Giants and Rockies will meet again on Saturday at 5:10 p.m. Pacific. Keaton Winn (1-2, 3.55 ERA) will start for the Giants, but the Rockies haven’t named a starting pitcher yet.

Late Game Heroics LaMonte Wade Jr. Strikes Again; Giants Beat Rockies In Extras 6-5

San Francisco Giants’ Patrick Bailey, bottom, scores the winning run against Cleveland Guardians catcher Bo Naylor during the tenth inning at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Wed Sep 13, 2023 (AP News photo)

Wednesday, September 13th, 2023

By Troy Ewers

San Francisco, CA – The series finale to this three game series with the San Francisco Giants (75-71) and Cleveland Guardians (69-78) comes in the form of a 66 degree day game in Oracle Park overlooking a beautiful McCovey Cove.

On the mound today starters, Kyle Harrison for the Giants and Logan Allen for the Guardians. The Giants win after a review that showed runner Patrick Bailey was ruled safe scoring on a sacrifice fly. Bailey scoring from third base that was hit by LaMonte Wade Jr. in the 6-5 win in ten innings.

The game Tuesday night snapped a four game winning streak by a 3-1 Cleveland victory and today’s game started exactly where last night’s game picked up. After a lead off Steve Kwan walk, Jose Ramirez would smack a 1-1 pitch to the left field bleachers for a two run home run and with no outs, Guardians 2-0.

The first inning rally for Cleveland wasn’t done yet as an error for Casey Schmitt off a hit by Gabriel Arias would lead to scoring both Josh Naylor and Andres Gimenez, 4-0 Guardians. 

The Giants wouldn’t concede this early though as they jumped on Cleveland the same way Cleveland jumped on them. Luis Matos hits a single that scores Austin Slater and moves over Thairo Estrada. After Matos’s hit, Allen walked Patrick Bailey and loaded the bases, but that would be stopped and Guardians got out of the jam, but the score would be 4-1. 

In the second inning the Guardians would add another one to their onslaught as Josh Naylor hit a single that scored Steven Kwan, making it 5-1 Cleveland.

The Giants took Kyle Harrison out in the fifth and he walked away with three strikeouts, seven hits, and five runs which he’d probably want to forget for his first career day game. From the third inning on it was a scoreless pitching duel, with the score still in favor of Cleveland, but San Francisco broke that stalemate in the seventh inning with a Wilmer Flores scored Thairo Estrada who got on with a double, 5-2.

The Giants were coming down to their final chances and to give themselves better chances, the Giants had Joc Pederson pinch hit and he was hit by pitch so the eighth inning started with Joc on base, but that was just the set up. Patrick Bailey followed him up with a single and moved Joc to third.

Then J.D. Davis erupted the crowd with a home run that Steven Kwan couldn’t snag in left field. This three run home run would’ve blown the roof off this place if it had a roof and just like that, the score was tied 5-5 with no outs. After a DeJong grounded out to second, Lamonte Wade Jr. who was the hero in Monday’s game, hit a single making him the potential go ahead runner on first base.

Estrada almost electrified Oracle Park with a deep fly ball to left, but that was the inning and we headed into the ninth inning with a tie game. 

The Guardians scared the Giants fans with two hits on Tyler Rogers that put runners on second and third, but Camillo Doval came in and got the last out of the inning, now it was the orange and black’s turn in the ninth inning. Wilmer Flores started the inning at bat and singled to left.

Blake Sabol pinch ran for Flores and Mitch Haniger went to the box. Haniger would strike out, but Sabol would make it to second with a steal and Pederson next in the box. Joc would fly out to center and two outs Bailey was the one to possibly be the hero, but he would be struck out swinging and we have extra innings. 

Cleveland’s go at the 10th inning was three up, three down from Doval and now the pressure was on the Giants. A lead off walk for Davis made it a runner on first and the extra innings runner in second and pinch hitting was Brandon Crawford and the crowd was on their feet.

Crawford would flash bunt majority of the at bat and got on base on balls and now the bases loaded with no outs and Wade Jr. at the plate. Lamonte hit the ball to left field and it was caught, but Bailey would tag third and go home, at first sight it looked like Bailey beat out the throw, but after further review Bailey was safe and the game was over 6-5 Giants!!! 

The Giants walked away from this homestand 5-1 and won the series against Cleveland. The winning pitcher is Doval (6-4) and the losing pitcher is Xzavion Curry (3-4) who gave up the walk-off hit. No time to celebrate for SF as they play a brand new four game series against the Colorado Rockies in Colorado at Coors Field September 14th. It’s unknown who will start for the Giants in the first game of the series, but they know they will face Chase Anderson (0-5, 6.49) on the mound for the Rockies.

USC puts game out of reach, crushes Stanford 56-10 in the Southland

The USC Trojans linebacker Tackett Curtis (25) tackles Stanford Cardinal quarterback Justin Lamson (8)in first half action at the LA Memorial Coliseum on Sat Sep 9, 2023 (AP News photo)

By Daniel Dullum

Saturday, Sept. 9, 2023

Southern California built a 46-point halftime lead that turned out to be all they would need Saturday, as the No. 6-ranked Trojans routed Stanford 56-10 in the final Pac-12 football opener for both schools, played at the Memorial Coliseum.

This was the final scheduled meeting between the West Coast rivals in a series that goes back to 1905. They’ve been in the same conference since 1922, a status that changes next year when Southern California joins the Big 10 and Stanford goes to the ACC.

USC (3-0 overall, 1-0 Pac-12) jumped to a 21-0 lead on first-quarter touchdowns by Caleb Williams, Marshawn Lloyd and Austin Jones. The Trojans continued to roll in the second quarter, starting with a 75-yard punt return for a touchdown by Zachariah Branch.

Three minutes later, Williams completed a 19-yard touchdown pass to Dorian Singer. At 7:02 of the second quarter, Joshua Karty kicked a 38-yard field goal to put the Cardinal (1-1 overall, 0-1 Pac-12) on the board.

The Trojans didn’t let up, as Williams fired a 75-yard scoring strike to Brenden Rice on the ensuing possession. With 16 seconds to play in the first half, Williams completed a 1-yard TD pass to Lake McRee, giving USC a 49-3 halftime lead.

After a scoreless third quarter, Stanford’s Justin Lamson ran in from a yard out for the Cardinal’s first touchdown at 3:35 of the fourth quarter. Miller Moss scored USC’s final touchdown on a 15-yard run with 58 seconds to play,

Williams played only in the first half, passing for 281 yards and three touchdowns while running for another. The Trojans racked up 433 yards of total offense.

Starting quarterback Ashton Daniels was injured while being sacked in the second quarter and was replaced by Lamson, who passed for 121 yards and ran for the Cardinal’s only touchdown. Daniels was 2 of 7 for 19 yards.

Casey Wilkins was the Cardinal’s top rusher with 63 yards on five carries. E.J. Smith ran for 50 yards and Lamson gained 36 yards on 16 carries. Benjamin Yurosek caught four passes for 54 yards. On defense, Collin Wright racked up 10 solo tackles.

Next week, the Cardinal host Sacramento State. Kickoff is at 5 p.m.

Las Vegas Lights FC Rally In The Second Half To Beat The Oakland Roots 3-1

The Oakland Roots tuned up for a little foot work before their match against the Las Vegas Lights FC at California Hayward UC East Bay on Sat Sep 9, 2023 (@oaklandrootssc photo)

Saturday, September 9th, 2023

By Troy Ewers

It’s another USL Championship week and the Oakland Roots faced Las Vegas Lights FC in the final stretch of the season. The Roots wanted to get back on track in this game but were defeated by the Lights 3-1. The Roots are currently in sixth place in the West.

The game for the first 10 minutes was a  battle of possession, but when Oakland drew a penalty, it set up a penalty shot for the team’s leading scorer Johnny Rodriguez. Rodriguez capitalized on the penalty shot and scored his 11th League goal and 12th overall goal of the season and Oakland is up 1-0.

The first half ended with a 1-0 score and Oakland in the lead, but if the Roots know one thing it’s that if they want to secure a W, they can’t take their foot off the gas. When the second half started, the Roots immediately went on the defensive, but that didn’t matter as in the 56th minute Vegas forward Azriel Gonzalez scored one past Blanchette and tied the game up.

The Lights quickly took advantage of the momentum they got off the last goal a minute later Tyler Bagley received a headed pass and slammed it in the net even while smoke from a fan’s flare was in his face. 2-1 Las Vegas Lights FC.

Both goals were assisted by Daniel Rios and it felt like the Roots were now silenced, but there was still time on the clock. Substitutes and fouls slowed the game to halting pace, but that didn’t shake up Vegas as Tyler Bagley scored his second goal of the game from outside the box in the 89th minute and put the nail in the coffin on the Roots as the game entered six minutes of stoppage time, 3-1 Vegas.

When the final whistle blew, the game was already sealed, but the whistle just made it official and the Roots are still on the down trend as we wind down the season.

The next game for Oakland is September 16th at home against FC Tulsa and the next four out of six games will be at home to end the season. The Roots have to string together some wins to secure themselves a good spot in the playoffs and make a run at a USL title.

Oakland A’s commentary: What John Fisher Can Learn From San Jose Teams

Oakland A’s owner John Fisher sitting in the Oakland A’s dugout is the subject of today’s feature Oakland A’s commentary (NBC Bay Area file photo)

Wednesday, September 6th, 2023

By Troy Ewers

OAKLAND– With the end of the MLB season coming at the end of the month and the Oakland A’s two losses away from clinching their second consecutive last place finish in the AL West, the cloud looming over the A’s organization is the threat of leaving Oakland California.

The 2023 season was the year of the boycott. The year of “SELL THE TEAM” chants not just filling the Coliseum, but Oracle Park, the All Star Game in Seattle, and even areas outside of baseball, the boycott was the most talked about thing in Major League Baseball.

The change of location stems from no renovation to the current Coliseum or a new ballpark, but after the stubbornness of owner John Fisher, the negotiations of relocation became the norm starting in 2021. After two years of meetings and talks, Las Vegas became the nominee after Nevada approved a potential $380 million funding deal and the club submitting its relocation paperwork in August of 2023. 

At this point in the conversation, if everything is approved, the new stadium would be completed in Vegas for the 2027 season with Oakland most likely playing the three transition years in either Reno or Sacramento, but in the grand scheme of things, Oakland moving says John Fisher didn’t learn from other Bay Area entities.

Over the past weekend, San Jose State football had their first home game of the season in their newly renovated stadium with new facilities. Building these facilities and having their first game sell out with approximately 22,000 people, a number the A’s would love to have averaged this season, SJSU has the ability to attract big recruits, which will give them a better chance to win games, which in theory can bring more money to the school and an area of San Jose.

The San Jose Earthquakes opened their $100 million stadium that fits 18,000 in 2015 and even with an average team, the stadium is an attraction in the city (they just need better parking). These new facilities in San Jose aren’t just money makers for the organizations, but they make the area they’re in an attraction.

A sign at one of the A’s games said “Fisher should learn from the Quakes” and that sign may go on deaf ears, but it is the sad realization of where we are in this Oakland/Vegas location conversation, all that needed to be done was to build something new. 

In one of the most famous baseball movies ever, Field of Dreams, the most famous quote from the film is “if you build it they will come”, this quote contextually explains that if you build a baseball field, even in the middle of a corn field, people will show up to watch them play baseball.

In a city that lost the football team that was a cultural representation of the city, then lost the best basketball team of the last decade, and is experiencing a poverty problem that is reminiscent of Detroit after the 70’s, to lose a baseball team with such history would devastate the city to possibly irreversible magnitudes, especially if it’s announced after the season. 

Troy Ewers is a beat reporter for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

A’s Lose 7-1 to Blue Jays; Toronto six run 7th Inning Rally does in Oakland

Oakland A’s first baseman Ryan Noda (49) tried to make a catch in foul ground in front of the Toronto Blue Jays dugout and is braced by the Blue Jays Kevin Kiermaier (right) on a ball that was hit by the Blue Jays Ernie Clement at the Oakland Coliseum on Tue Sep 5, 2023 (AP News photo)

Tuesday, September 5th, 2023

By Troy Ewers 

Oakland. CA – On Rickey Henderson Field in the Oakland Coliseum, the Oakland A’s face the Toronto Blue Jays for the second game of a three game series. The A’s had a three game winning streak snapped in Monday’s game with a loss to Toronto 6-5, tying the fifth most losses in A’s history. On the mound for the A’s this game was Ken Waldichuk and Chris Bassitt for the Jays.  The Jays had a six run seventh inning rally on Tuesday night for a 7-1 win.

The first four innings started off scoreless with both teams even at three hits, but both pitchers dealing and having a total of eight strikeouts (three for Waldichuk and five for Bassitt). In the fifth inning the season tradition of fans chanting “sell the team” began with all 4,751 people both Oakland and Toronto fans, engaging in the chant. 

In the sixth inning a rally by Toronto started with a Davis Schneider walk and then a Vlad Jr. single, which extended his on base streak to 21 games, but the rally was halted when Whit Merrifield grounded into a double play, continuing the scoreless game. 

The A’s changed pitchers in the seventh to give Waldichuk a break and they brought in Zach Neal. Waldichuk went six innings, allowing four hits, walking, and striking out three batters. Zach Neal wasn’t in the game long at all, walking three out of the four batters he faced and striking out the one he didn’t walk and he was replaced after 19 pitches and bases loaded.

Sam Long came to replace Neal and Toronto’s Kevin Kiermaier hit a single to end this scoreless war of attrition, scoring Alejandro Kirk, 1-0 Blue Jays. This opened the floodgates and the rally began for Toronto. George Springer followed up with two runs when he hit a single that scored Cavan Biggio and Santiago Espinal, 3-0 Blue Jays.

The avalanche didn’t stop as Davis Schneider hit a double that scored Springer, making it 4-0. Right after that and a Guerrero Jr. intentional walk, Whit Merrifield hit a sac fly that scored Springer and finally with two outs, the score was 5-0 Blue Jays.

Kirk who started the inning was back at the plate and walked again, and the same result for Biggio, but when he was walked, it scored another run and after a fly out from Horwitz, the devastating inning for Oakland was finally over, but the damage was done, 6-0 Toronto. 

The A’s weren’t going to go out quietly as with two outs and Seth Brown on second, Jordan Diaz hit a single and scored Brown to finally get Oakland on the board, 6-1. The eighth inning started with Toronto right back on the head of the A’s when Springer hit an RBI single that scored Kiermaier, 7-1 Blue Jays.

The ninth was the last hope to comeback from six runs for Oakland and Toronto closer Bowden Francis struck out the side and the Blue Jays won, 7-1. The winning pitcher is Chris Bassitt who improved his record to 14-7 and the loss goes to Zach Neal (1-1).

The A’s bullpen is now 3-3 with a horrendous ERA. The next game for Oakland is the last game of the series, Wednesday September 5th and JP Sears (3-11, 4.60) and Hyun Jin Ryu (3-1, 2.48) will be on the mound for day game to end this series and the A’s homestand.

San Jose State Lose To Oregon State 42-10 In Their Home Opener

Oregon State quarterback DJ Uiagalelei (5) throws the ball as San Jose State defensive lineman Mata Hola (94) approaches in the first half at Spartan Stadium in San Jose on Sun Sep 3, 2023 (AP News photo)

Sunday, September 3rd, 2023

By Troy Ewers

San Jose, CA – In CEFCU stadium, the San Jose State Spartans face the Oregon State Beavers and SJSU is coming off a loss last week from USC. Even though the score of that game wasn’t close, it was a big moment for the Spartans to put up four touchdowns on a top 10 ranked team. This game being their first home game of the season in their beautiful revamped facility that would be sure to impress a lot of recruits. A packed house with both Oregon State fans and hometown Spartan fans as we prepared for kickoff.

The first drive for SJSU went the distance, but they were stopped trying to convert on 3rd & 8, but Oregon State had a completely different tune to it. The Beavers went 11 plays and 82 yards for a touchdown to take the first lead of the game plus an extra point, 7-0 Oregon State.

In his second drive SJSU QB Chevan Cordeiro faced pressure from Oregon State’s defense and was rattled as they couldn’t convert on another drive, but they pinned the Beavers with a great punt. The first quarter closed out with Oregon State in the lead 7-0.

SJSU’s opening second quarter drive was way better than anything they strung together in the first with Cordeiro getting yards in the air and on foot, but once they got to the red zone, a penalty and an incompletion caused them to attempt a field goal for their first points of the game and they got it, 7-3. Oregon State’s quarterback DJ Uiagalelei gets his second touchdown, this one in the air with a 14 yard pass play and Oregon State goes up 14-3.

SJSU followed it up with another drive that didn’t result in a touchdown, but another punt and the Beavers received the ball with two minutes left in the first half. In those two minutes, Oregon State scored again on six plays going 60+ yards, which ended the first half with the Beavers up 21-3 on the Spartans. SJSU only converted on one third down in the first half, but the positive for the Spartans was that they had zero turnovers.

The second half started with the Beavers with the ball and it looked like they picked up right where they left off, but even after trying to convert on fourth down, SJSU finally stopped them and took over possession.

Oregon State’s scoring was right back on schedule with six minutes left in the third quarter, when QB Uiagalelei completed a 31 yard pass in the end zone and after the extra point was converted, Oregon State was up 28-3.

The rest of the third quarter was a combination of solid defense and effective offense by SJSU, even utilizing the clock while they were on offense. The third quarter ended with SJSU having the ball in the red zone after stringing together 20 yards with four plays.

The fifth play of that drive was the opening play of the fourth quarter and Chevan Cordeiro ran 2 yards into the end zone making the score, 28-10. The Spartans needed to cool down this Oregon State offense or else this game would be over before the fourth was even halfway done and Oregon State wasn’t going to be stopped.

The Beavers scored again after seven plays and 65 yards with Uiagalelei throwing his third touchdown pass, this one received by Anthony Gould for 28 yards, 35-10 Oregon State. San Jose State found themselves in a terrible spot where on the drive in the fourth quarter that would be the part where they can strike a comeback, but Cordeiro was sacked and then with 6:26 left in the game, the Beavers had the ball, seemingly ending the chance of the Spartans coming back and stealing a win.

Oregon State wasn’t done yet, they scored another touchdown with 3:13 left making the score 42-10, but the cut was deep and the majority of fans left in CEFCU stadium were in black and orange representing Oregon State.

The Spartans didn’t want to end this game without one more touchdown for their own confidence and backup QB Jay Butterfield completed a 19 yard pass to Brandon Alvarez with four seconds left in the game. The final seconds ticked and the horn blew for the end of the game and the Spartans lost 42-17 in their home opener. Chevan Cordeiro went 18/32 for 143 yards, but no passing touchdowns.

The Spartans lose back to back games to PAC-12 teams and start off 0-2. The next game for SJSU will be at home against Cal Poly, September 9th and San Jose State is hoping they can get their first win of the season, especially against a non PAC-12 team.

Oakland Roots Lose 1-0 To Sacramento Republic FC From A Penalty Shot

Defenseman Memo Diaz of the Oakland Roots and the defense tried as hard as they did couldn’t stop the Sacramento Republic FC getting shutout at CSU East Bay in Hayward on Sat Sep 2, 2023 (@oaklandrootssc photo)

Saturday, September 2nd, 2023

By Troy Ewers 

Hayward, CA – In CSU East Bay, the Oakland Roots take on NorCal rival Sacramento Republic FCin their first game of September as we approach the final stretch of games this regular season. Oakland Roots looked to rebound from their heartbreaking loss last week, August 26th. Oakland currently sits in fourth place in the West and the battle for a playoff run continues.

The game started with Sacramento immediately getting on the board after Juan Herrera converted a penalty shot with a shot off the right foot to the bottom left of the net, 1-0 Sacramento. The rest of the first half was a slow half due to many penalties, 17 in total (10 for Sacramento and 7 for Oakland). The teams went even on shots on goal with two, but Oakland was still behind as the first half whistle blew.

The second half was a match with no change of pace, but there were more shots for both sides, a total of 22 for both squads and after an even possession match up this game ended with the same score we started with three minutes in.

This certainly wasn’t the result Oakland sought out for, but it’s something they have to recover from going into their next match. That next match for the Roots will be in Las Vegas against Las Vegas FC, September 9th. Hopefully the Roots can shake off the last two losses and regain their momentum.