Oakland Roots Fall to Colorado Springs Switchbacks on the Road

The Colorado Springs Switchbacks got on the board early when Delentz Pierre struck perfectly for the home side as they stormed out to an early 1-0 lead in the second minute of the game at Weidner Field on Saturday, June 1.

Alameda Post - A soccer player heads the ball. — Photo Oakland Roots.

Less than 10 minutes later, the Oakland Roots were awarded a penalty kick, but the assistant referee overturned the call, taking away the penalty for the Roots. After that unlucky call, Oakland pressed on the front foot for the majority of the first half. Their best chance of the half came on a curling effort from Trayvone Reid, but his 42nd minute shot came off the crossbar.

Despite Oakland’s best efforts, Colorado Springs held onto the 1-0 advantage going into the halftime break.

The Roots made multiple second-half substitutions, including Baboucarr Njie, who took a free kick in the 73rd minute to threaten the Switchbacks’ lead, but the score remained 1-0. After that, neither team seriously threatened the goal and the Switchbacks held on for the 1-0 victory.

The Roots return home to Pioneer Stadium for a double-header that also features the Oakland Soul this Saturday, June 8. The Soul will face Academica SC at 4 p.m. and the Roots will take on the Tampa Bay Rowdies at 7 p.m.

Summary

Scoring:

COS: Delentz Pierre 2’

Discipline:

COS: Ronaldo Damus (yellow card) 27’
OAK: Gagi Margvelashvili (yellow card) 42’
OAK: Memo Diaz (yellow card) 57’

Oakland Roots SC

Alameda Post - An Oakland Roots soccer player goes for the ball. — Photo Oakland Roots.

Lineup: Paul Blanchette, Justin Rasmussen, Neveal Hackshaw, Gagi Margvelashvili, Bryan Tamacas (Memo Diaz), Irakoze Donasiyano, Camden Riley, Trayvone Reid (Baboucarr Njie), Lindo Mfeka (Napo Matsoso), Jeciel Cedeño, Miche-Naider Chéry (Johnny Rodriguez)

Unused subs: Kieran Bracken Serra, Thomas Camier, Timothy Syrel

Line: Shots: 13 | Shots On Goal: 2 | Corner Kicks: 8 | Fouls: 12 | Offside: 2

Colorado Springs Switchbacks

Lineup: Christian Herrera, Delentz Pierre, Matt Real (Wahab Ackwei), Matt Mahoney, Koa Santos, Yosuke Hanya (Jonas Fjeldberg), Mallique Foster (Quenzi Huerman), Zach Zandi (Marco Rios), Aidan Rocha, Ronaldo Damus, Juan Tejada

Unused subs: Luis Zamudio, Tyreek Magee, Dillion Clarke, Carlos Estrada

Line: Shots: 12 | Shots On Goal: 3 | Corner Kicks: 3 | Fouls: 10 | Offside: 0