After a dismal first 45 minutes, the Oakland Roots made a valiant comeback bid but fell short in the end as they lost 4-2 to North Carolina FC at First Horizon Stadium in Cary, N.C., on Friday night, May 16. At one point, the match had begun to look fairly level for both sides, but North Carolina built momentum as the game progressed.
Around the 30th minute, North Carolina started putting sustained pressure on the Oakland back line, moving the ball around the attacking third until finally breaking through in the 33rd minute when Jaden Servania worked some free space at the top of the Oakland box and ripped a shot towards goal that took a deflection off of Kai Greene before finding the back of the net to make it 1-0.
North Carolina then doubled their lead in added time of the first half when Michael Maldonado scored an absolute worldie on a set piece from just on top of the box, bending it around the wall and in off the top part of the right post, putting the score at 2-0 for North Carolina.
The Roots regrouped in the locker room at halftime and came back to the pitch looking like a different team. They started applying pressure of their own, creating a number of scoring chances before finally finding one. In the 63rd minute, Wolfgang Prentice drove the net on the left side before chipping it across the box to Jürgen Damm who put a strike on the ball before it hit the ground, beating the North Carolina keeper for his first goal in a Roots kit to make it 2-1.
North Carolina regained their two-goal advantage in the 74th minute when Oalex Anderson played a cross from the right side all the way through the Oakland box and past a dummy to find Louis Pérez who had subbed on only moments before, tapping in the wide open look and giving his side a 3-1 lead.
Still, the Roots didn’t quit. In the 81st minute they cut the lead to one again when Damm put a great move on a North Carolina defender on the right side of their penalty box to find space and rip a shot on target that the keeper couldn’t corral. Peter Wilson was right there to finish the second chance opportunity and give his side life with the scoreboard showing 3-2 in the final moments.
Oakland nearly found an equalizer on several occasions, but the comeback wasn’t to be, as North Carolina capitalized on a Roots turnover with just seconds remaining, with Anderson scoring one of his own to make it 4-2 at the final whistle.
The Roots will look to get back in the win column when they return home to host New Mexico United at the Oakland Coliseum on Saturday, May 24, at 7 p.m.
Summary
Scoring:
- NC: Jaden Servania 33’
- NC: Michael Maldonado 45’+
- OAK: Jürgen Damm 63’
- NC: Louis Pérez 74’
- OAK: Peter Wilson 81’
- NC: Oalex Anderson 90’+
Discipline:
- OAK: Neveal Hackshaw 28’ (yellow card)
- NC: Collin Martin 38’ (yellow card)
- NC: Bryce Washington 53’ (yellow card)
- OAK: Jürgen Damm 84’ (yellow card)
Oakland Roots SC
Lineup: Kendall McIntosh (Raphael Spiegel), Julian Bravo (Gagi Margvelashvili), Wolfgang Prentice, Peter Wilson, Panos Armenakas (Baboucarr Njie), José Luis Sinisterra (Daniel Gomez), Tyler Gibson (EJ Johnson), Neveal Hackshaw, Bobosi Byaruhanga, Kai Greene, Ilya Alekseev (Jürgen Damm)
Unused sub: Ali Elmasnaouy
Line: Shots: 9 | Shots On Goal: 5 | Corner Kicks: 1 | Fouls: 15 | Offside: 0
North Carolina FC
Lineup: Jake McGuire, Bryce Washington (Conor Donovan), Finn Sundstrom, Triston Hodge (Paco Craig), Michael Maldonado, Collin Martin (Raheem Somersall), Jaden Servania (Patrick Burner), Rafael Duizit Mentzingen, Oalex Anderson, Pedro Dolabella (Louis Pérez), Rodrigo da Costa (Adam Luckhurst)
Unused subs: Trevor Mulqueen, Justin Malou
Line: Shots: 12 | Shots On Goal: 7 | Corner Kicks: 4 | Fouls: 11 | Offside: 1
