Oakland Roots shut out Orange County SC 2-0 in Irvine
Oakland defeated Orange County SC for the second time this season on Saturday night, June 29. This time the Roots finished 2-0 at Championship Soccer Stadium in Irvine, California.
The match began with both sides looking dangerous, trading prime scoring chances and good attacking pressure through the first 10 minutes of play. Both clubs looked intent on wasting no time on offense, pushing the ball quickly up the field after gaining possession.
This attacking style earned Oakland a corner kick in the 15th minute. A perfect service found Miche-Naider Chéry on the far post, who headed it back across the face of the goal to find Camden Riley, finishing the easy tap in to put the Roots ahead 1-0.
Despite Oakland taking the lead, momentum remained even for both sides through regulation time in the first frame. In added time, Orange County began to look extremely dangerous, but the Roots were able to shut the door and head into the locker room at the half still holding a 1-0 lead.
The second half began much like the first, with both teams continuing an aggressive attack and earning quality scoring opportunities one after another. But it was Roots once again winning the battle, doubling their lead in the 79th minute when Lindo Mfeka played a gorgeous pass inside the box to Johnny Rodriguez, who had been knocking on the door the entire half, and sent a laser of a shot past the Orange County keeper to make it 2-0.
Oakland was happy to play keep-away for the remainder of the contest to reach the final whistle with a clean sheet still up by two.
The Roots will be back in the East Bay for their next USL Championship match when they host the league’s first-place side, Louisville City FC, on Saturday, July 6 at CSU East Bay’s Pioneer Stadium in Hayward. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
Summary
Scoring:
- OAK: Camden Riley 15’
- OAK: Johnny Rodriguez 79’
Discipline:
- OAK: Baboucare Njie 23’ (yellow card)
- OC: Ashish Chattha 32’ (yellow card)
- OC: Colin Shutler 34’ (yellow card)
- OC: Kyle Scott 74’ (yellow card)
- OC: Thomas Amang 88’ (yellow card)
- OAK: Dom Dwyer 90’ (yellow card)
Oakland Roots SC
Lineup: Paul Blanchette, Justin Rasmussen, Neveal Hackshaw, Camden Riley, Memo Diaz, Napo Matsoso (Kieran Bracken Serra), Baboucarr Njie (Trayvone Reid), Daniel Gomez, Lindo Mfeka (Bryan Tamacas), Miche-Naider Chéry (Jeciel Cedeño), Johnny Rodriguez (Dom Dwyer)
Unused subs: Niall Logue, Timothy Syrel
Line: Shots: 10 | Shots On Goal: 2 | Corner Kicks: 5 | Fouls: 9 | Offside: 1
Orange County SC
Lineup: Colin Shutler, Ashton Miles, Sergio Chavez, Ryan Flood, Owen Lambe, Ashish Chattha, Kyle Scott, Cameron Dunbar (Nicolas Ruiz), Christian Sorto (Thomas Amang), Ethan Zubak, Bryce Jamison (Ryan Doghman)
Unused subs: Ryan Ayoub, Benjamin Barjolo, Juan Santana, Benjamin Norris, Duran Ferree, Marcus Lee
Line: Shots: 10 | Shots On Goal: 6 | Corner Kicks: 5 | Fouls: 14 | Offside: 2
Oakland Soul punch playoff ticket in 3-1 victory at home over SF Glens SC
It was the Shae Murison show on Sunday, June 30, at Merritt College in Oakland. Murison scored all three of the Soul’s goals as the home squad cruised to a 3-1 victory over the visiting SF Glens SC to earn their second playoff appearance in as many years.
The scoring came early and often. Just six minutes into the contest, Murison scored her first of the day when she won a one-on-one opportunity with the SF keeper, dribbling past and then depositing the ball into the twine to give Oakland an early 1-0 lead.
This lead didn’t last very long, however. Just moments later in the 10th minute, the Glens leveled the contest at 1-1 when SF’s Mia Bhuta slotted a great lead pass into the Soul box, where Julia Saunicheva picked it up on the end of a well-timed run and put a shot past Layla Armas.
Not to be outdone, the Soul answered even quicker than the Glens had. In the 12th minute, Oakland regained the lead when Sam Tran charged up the right side of the pitch and played a crosser past the face of the goal to an unmarked Murison, who buried the one-timer to put her club back on top for the final time.
Murison made it a hat trick later in the first half, when a long clearance from the Soul penalty area from Alice Barbieri found a running Murison. Murison caught the keeper out of position and put a low shot towards the right side of the net from well outside the box, finding a gap and giving Oakland a 3-1 lead in the 27th minute.
The Glens and Soul traded scoring opportunities for the rest of the contest, but all of the scoring would be contained to the first half, as Oakland held steadfast on the defense and rode out the clock, holding on to their 3-1 advantage as the final whistle blew.
The Soul will host a playoff game for the first time in franchise history on Friday, July 5, when they welcome visiting FC Olympia to CSU East Bay’s Pioneer Stadium in Hayward, CA. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
Summary
Scoring:
- OAK: Shae Murison 6’
- SF: Julia Saunicheva 10’
- OAK: Shae Murison 12’
- OAK: Shae Murison 27’
Oakland Soul SC
Lineup: Layla Armas, Kyah Coady, Tatiana Cunningham (Aki Yuasa), Arianna Veland (Sydney Shepherd), Clare Robke (Zoe Franks), Alice Barbieri, Henar Urteaga, Miranda Nild, Katie O’Kane, Sam Tran, Shae Murison (Kennedy Schoennauer)
Unused subs: Rebecca Sherry, Mia Colombini
