Despite a second-half push that saw the Roots control the attacking pressure for large stretches as they looked for a crucial win, the Oakland Roots fell 4-1 to Lexington SC Saturday night, September 12, at the Oakland Coliseum.
Both teams were clearly aware of the stakes of the match in terms of playoff positioning, as the game began with quick and aggressive play on both sides of the ball in the early phases.
Phillip Goodrum opened the scoring for Lexington in the 22nd minute on a tough angle shot from the right side of the six-yard box that was rifled into the top net after a quick counterattack to make it 1-0.
The Roots nearly equalized immediately following the halftime break via a chaotic loose-ball scrum in the goalmouth, but Lexington cleared it from danger before Oakland could poke it home.
Oakland did eventually find a leveler, and did so in historic fashion in the 52nd minute. After a stretch of wonderful ball movement within the attacking third, an inch-perfect cross into the box from Tommy McCabe found a leaping Peter Wilson, who headed it home for his 12th goal of 2026 and his 31st in a Roots kit, tying Johnny Rodriguez as the club’s all-time leading scorer.
Following that goal, the Roots began to dominate attacking momentum. After a few stellar saves from Kendall McIntosh, they started knocking on the door of a potential game winner.
Well against the run of play however, it was Lexington who would regain their lead in the 78th minute. Goodrum found himself in the right place at the right time once again, tapping in his second of the match to make it 2-1 Lexington with time dwindling.
Just moments later, Lexington found a dagger in the 83rd minute, when Marcus Epps streaked down the right side at full pace, beating the last defender before placing a low shot towards the far post and past McIntosh, to make it 3-1.
Lexington added a fourth goal in the 87th minute, when Goodrum made it a hat trick with a late header to bring the final score to 4-1.
The Roots will now head out on the road for their next match as their playoff push intensifies, and will face Indy Eleven in Kentucky next Sunday, September 20, at 2 p.m. Pacific time.
Talking with the head coach
After the match, Roots Head Coach Ryan Martin was asked to talk about the result and the performance of the team.
“I think the best way to describe it is frustrated and frustrating,” Martin said. “You never want to lose. Losing 4-1 is unacceptable, really, in terms of where we were. We were on a pretty good stretch in the last five games. We need to turn one pointers into three, but you know, we’ve had four of the last five results, and then I felt like we played well in in a lot of spurts, and it’s kind of been the same story for much of the year, where one playoff, one bad decision, one moment changes the game.”
The coach then added, “When we scored the first goal, I felt like we were going to win the game, and I felt like our momentum was building. If we stick the second goal, and even their coach said that afterwards, it probably ends the other way. It didn’t. Unfortunately, we shot ourselves in the foot late and didn’t allow ourselves to push. Once it went to 3-1 it was over at that point. So yeah, frustrated, disappointed, and have to keep going.”
Summary
Scoring
- LEX: Phillip Goodrum 22’
- OAK: Peter Wilson 52’
- LEX: Phillip Goodrum 78’
- LEX: Marcus Epps 83’
- LEX: Phillip Goodrum 87’
Discipline
- OAK: Tommy McCabe 11’ (yellow card)
- OAK: Tyler Gibson 60’ (yellow card)
Oakland Roots SC
Lineup: Kendall McIntosh, Tommy McCabe, David Garcia, Wolfgang Prentice, Peter Wilson (Danny Trejo), Florian Valot (Bruno Lapa), Jesus De Vicente, Neveal Hackshaw, Mark Fisher (Tyler Gibson), Julian Bravo (Bobosi Byaruhanga), Bertin Jacquesson (Etienne Lopez)
Unused subs: Tucker Lepley, Julian Escobar, Michael Edwards, Gavin Stone
LIne: Shots: 14 | Shots On Goal: 3 | Corner Kicks: 11 | Fouls: 11 | Offside: 0
Lexington SC
Lineup: Jacob Greene, Kendall Burks, Aaron Molloy, Marcus Epps, Phillip Goodrum, Xavier Zengue, Noble Okello (Braudillo De Pina Rodrigues), Blaine Ferri (Tarik Scott), Oliver Semmle, Javain Brown, Malcolm Fry (Elio Nicolas De Araujo Firmino)
Unused subs: Marqes Muir, Patrick Seagrist, Brooks Thompson, Milo Yosef
Line: Shots: 13 | Shots On Goal: 8 | Corner Kicks: 1 | Fouls: 7 | Offside: 0
