Tag: USL Championship

Roots Can’t Get Fourth Win In A Row for First Time In History As They Draw 1-1 With Detroit City FC

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The Oakland Roots get tuned up for their match with Detroit FC at Cal State University Hayward on Sat Jul 29, 2023

Saturday, July 29th, 2023

By Troy Ewers

Hayward, CA – The third place in the Western Conference Oakland Roots aimed for their longest streak in team history as they looked to get their fourth win in a row against Detroit City FC. The match immediately started with a spark plug of a goal from Oakland. In the first 40 seconds, the opening attack was successful as Johnny Rodriguez scored a goal from outside the box to find the back of the net.

This is Rodriguez’s ninth League goal and tenth overall goal this season and Roots took the lead 1-0. The equalizer was scored very soon after in the fifth minute a header was scored by Stephen Carroll on a corner piece. 1-1!

The rest of the first half was slowed to a taxing pace as both teams tried to find an advantage over the defense. Oakland relies on more pressure on the offense and Detroit relies more on trying to play a tactical game plan. The first half ended even at 1-1 with four shots on goal for Oakland and five shots on goal for Detroit City, all five shots total for Detroit were on goal.

The second half was a back and forth defensive battle. A defensive mishap from the Roots on was almost capitalized by Detroit, but the ball hit the post and was recovered by Paul Blanchette. Blanchette leads the league in saves and this game was no different, other than the one header in the fifth minute, Blanchette stopped everything that came his way.

On the offensive side of the ball, Oakland couldn’t seem to get past the back line of Detroit and the same seemed to be happening for Detroit with Oakland. The final seconds ran off, the final whistle blew, and the game ended in a draw.

Oakland players looked frustrated when the whistle blew, almost like they were mad at the missed opportunities. The Roots maintained their third place position going into the next game against Charleston in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina on August 4th.

Troy Ewers is Oakland Roots beat writer for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Oakland Roots Move Into Third Place With Third Win A Row Beat Las Vegas 1-0

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Wednesday, July 26 2023

By Troy Ewers

Hayward, California – The Oakland Roots played the Las Vegas Lights for weekday game as the Roots look to extend their winning streak to three games which would match their current longest winning streak of this season.

The match started and it was a sleepy first half as there were only two shots on goal between both teams and both shots were from Oakland. One of those shots came from Roots leading scorer Johnny Rodriguez when he tried to capitalize on a lackadaisical mistake from the Las Vegas center back Zali, who even though he made the mistake, Zali came back and got the save, preventing Rodriguez from getting his 9th league goal this season.

In the first 26 minutes Vegas earned three fouls and their sloppy play almost led to an early goal from Oakland as they missed a free kick and even claimed there was a hand ball, but a no call from the referee. After that missed call it looked like it was getting chippy out there from both teams, but with all that the first half ended scoreless.

In the second half the chances increased for both teams, one of the best chances for the Lights coming in the 50th minute, but the ball would miss wide. Another big chance for Las Vegas came from Andrew Carlton who took a risky shot from the mid line and it looked on par for a goal, but one of the league leader in saves, Paul Blanchette saved that ball from being the go ahead goal for Vegas.

After a Lights open field shot is missed, Oakland takes advantage of the missed opportunity when a deep pass from Bryan Tamacas finds Anuar Pelaez, who beats the back line and sinks a shot to the net for the advantage goal,1-0 Oakland.

A last minute equalizer opportunity for Vegas saw the back of the goal in a set piece, but an offside was called and no goal. The final whistle blew and Roots won, securing their third straight win and third place in the west.

This game not only saw another strong outing from Blanchette, but also the combo of Cireno and Tamacas on the seemed to lead the attack for Oakland as majority of their offense developed from their side.

Next game for the Roots is July 29th in CSU East Bay in Hayward against Detroit City FC as Oakland looks to continue this streak and with 13 games left, they hope to secure a home playoff game when the postseason arrives.