The Oakland Roots SC [1] played a nearly flawless first half against the Las Vegas Lights FC at the Coliseum on Wednesday, April 22, capping off the night with a history-making hat trick from 2025 Golden Boot winner Peter Wilson, as Oakland won the match 4-2.
[2]Oakland looked to be in control of the match early, setting the pace and moving the ball with intention from the back line to put pressure on the Las Vegas defense.
This early pressure paid dividends in the 18th minute when Peter Wilson bagged his first goal of the year. Good ball movement outside the box led to a through ball to Wolfgang Prentice, who sent a great cross in front from the left side that found Wilson for a tap in to make it 1-0 Roots.
Oakland doubled their lead in short order, and in a similar way to the first, when Bertin Jacquesson worked up the right wing before putting a good through ball into the box, finding Faysal Bettache at the end of a good run. Bettache took a few steps before firing one into the top twine to give the Roots a 2-0 lead in the 22nd minute of the match.
The Roots were dominant in the first frame, allowing Vegas just one shot attempt which didn’t manage to find its way on target, controlling the majority of possession, and finding great attacking opportunities of their own throughout the first half.
Oakland scored their third goal of the evening with a carbon copy of their first, when Prentice again found space up the left side and again put an inch-perfect cross to the front of the net to find Wilson, who slotted it home to make it 3-0 Oakland in the 58th minute.
Las Vegas got one back in the 69th minute when a through ball up the middle found Oalex Anderson who sprinted into the box taking a touch around a charging Raphael Spiegel who was just a half step late, and depositing the ball into the empty net to make it 3-1.
Lights found another in the 78th minute when Nighte Pickering played a cross into the box from the right side, finding former Roots favorite Johnny Rodriguez, who fired it home in the air to make it 3-2.
But Peter Wilson and his boots of gold would not let the comeback for Las Vegas materialize in full, as he had some history-making magic in his back pocket to seal the win for Oakland. After making a furious run into the Vegas box and drawing contact, Wilson was awarded a penalty kick, converting from the spot to earn his hat trick—the Roots first as a USL Championship club—and make it 4-2 in the 87th minute.
The Roots’ four goals in the match tied their franchise record, and gave fans a glimpse of the fire power Oakland has when things are clicking the way head coach Ryan Martin expects them to.
Oakland will now get ready for their third match in eight days as they prepare to head south for their 2026 debut in the Prinx Tires USL Cup—a group stage fixture versus rivals Monterey Bay FC in Seaside this Saturday, April 25 at 7 p.m. [3]
Talking with the head coach
After the game, Roots Head Coach Ryan Martin talked about the four-goal result and then Peter Wilson’s historic hat trick.
“I think it was a pretty complete performance in a lot of ways. And I think we obviously made it a little bit harder on ourselves by making some decisions late that got it to 3-2, which we’ll revisit, keep learning, keep growing,” the coach said. “I know Florian takes responsibility for the first one, and as I told him, even at 33 you can still continue to learn and grow, which is the kind of ethos the group has had throughout the years. How much better can we get each week in each game and throughout the season?”
Talking about the hat trick, Martin said, “Obviously, Peter was tremendous, and I’ve told you guys for many weeks that he’s putting a lot of work in. ‘It will come. It will come.’ Not sure he fully believed that. I think he was a little hard on himself, but he showed his class tonight, and he was tremendous.”
The head coach added praise for others on the team as well. “You also have to look at Tommy McCabe playing center back, and did well. Wolfgang was tremendous as a left back. Bobosi, I thought, was very, very good. Faysal’s goal was spectacular, and we’ve been pushing him to have better final action, final product. And you know, that’s a pretty big statement goal.”
He ended by saying he was “pretty proud of the guys, especially on a short turnaround with lots of injuries and a red card. So, a good Wednesday.”
Summary
Scoring:
- OAK: Peter Wilson 18’
- OAK: Faysal Bettache 22’
- OAK: Peter Wilson 58’
- LV: Oalex Anderson 69’
- LV: Johnny Rodriguez 78′
- OAK: Peter Wilson 87’ (PK)
Discipline:
- LV: Abraham Okyere 37’ (yellow card)
- OAK: Thomas McCabe 51’ (yellow card)
- OAK: Michael Edwards 77’ (yellow card)
- LV: Kyle Scott 86’ (yellow card)
Oakland Roots SC
Lineup: Tommy McCabe, Bobosi Byaruhanga, Wolfgang Prentice, Peter Wilson (Bradley Roberson), Florian Valot (Ali Elmasnaouy), Jesus De Vicente, Bertin Jacquesson (Jackson Kiil), Raphael Spiegel, Michael Edwards, Faysal Bettache (Emilio Martinez), Danny Trejo (Keegan Tingey)
Unused subs: Kendall Mcintosh, Alejandro Caracheo Luna, Luka Rosić
Line: Shots: 12 | Shots On Goal: 6 | Corner Kicks: 7 | Fouls: 14 | Offside: 1
Las Vegas Lights FC
Lineup: Nathaniel Jones, Elias Gartig, Manuel Arteaga Rubinaes (Oalex Anderson), Christian Pinzon, Johnny Rodriguez, Carson Locker (Kyle Scott), Marc Ybarra, Aaron Guillen (Efthimios Antonoglou), Abraham Okyere (Benjamin Mines), Blake Pope (Nighte Pickering), Jared Mazzola
Unused subs: Carver Miller, Benjamin Ofeimu
Line: Shots: 7 | Shots On Goal: 2 | Corner Kicks: 0 | Fouls: 17 | Offside: 1