Oakland fell behind within the first two minutes of the match against New Mexico United on Saturday, May 11, at Isotopes Park in Albuquerque. Paul Blanchette’s giveaway at the back allowed New Mexico’s Greg Hurst to give New Mexico United a 1-0 lead.
New Mexico continued to pressure Oakland, forcing Blanchette into multiple saves to keep the score at 1-0. The home side went into the locker room for the halftime break with just the one-goal advantage despite having two-thirds of the possession.
Oakland got on the scoresheet almost immediately in the second half as Neveal Hackshaw had his deflected shot trickle into the New Mexico goal, leveling the game at 1-1.
The situation was made more difficult for Oakland in the 82nd minute, when Roots striker Johnny Rodriguez was shown a red card, giving New Mexico both a man and a goal advantage.
Oakland captain Neveal Hackshaw conceded a free kick with less than 20 minutes to go, which ultimately resulted in a goal for New Mexico’s Mukwelle Akale, who beat Blanchette to restore the one-goal lead for New Mexico at 2-1.
The Roots battled to the final whistle, using all their substitutions, but were unable to find the equalizer as they left Albuquerque with no points following the 2-1 loss.
The Oakland Roots now return home to the East Bay to host Orange County SC on Saturday, May 18, at Pioneer Stadium at Cal State East Bay in Hayward.
Summary
Scoring:
- NM: Greg Hurst 2’
- OAK: Neveal Hackshaw 47’
- NM: Mukwelle Akale 74’’
Discipline:
- NM: Abdi Mohamed (yellow card) 28’
- NM: Talen Maples (yellow card) 45+’
- OAK: Neveal Hackshaw (yellow card) 73’
Oakland Roots
Lineup: Paul Blanchette, Baboucarr Njie, Niall Logue, Camden Riley, Memo Diaz, Neveal Hackshaw (Napo Matsoso), Daniel Gomez (Lindo Mfeka), Irakoze Donasiyano (Miche-Naider Chéry), Etsgar Cruz (Jeciel Cedeño), Trayvone Reid (Justin Rasmussen), Johnny Rodriguez
Unused subs: Gagi Margvelashvili, Timothy Syrel.
Line: Shots: 9 | Shots On Goal: 2 | Corner Kicks: 4 | Fouls: 13 | Offside: 5
New Mexico United
Lineup: Alex Tamakis, Anthony Herbert, Sergio Rivas (Mukwelle Akale), Nicky Hernandez, Marco Micaletto (Nanan Houssou), Talen Maples, Arturo Astorga (Chris Gloster), Greg Hurst (Daniel Bruce), Zico Bailey, Kalen Reyes, Abdi Mohamed
Unused subs: Kris Shakes, Avionne Flanagan, Nanan Houssou, Dayonn Harris, Jackson Dubois
Scoring: Shots: 11 | Shots On Goal: 5 | Corner Kicks: 6 | Fouls: 13 | Offside: 2
