The Oakland Roots [1] were moments away from suffering their second loss of the 2026 season when heroics from Peter Wilson salvaged a point as they fought to a 2-2 draw with Loudoun United FC at Segra Field in Leesburg, Virginia, on Saturday May 2.
[2]The Roots looked in control of the match from the first whistle, moving the ball smoothly and earning scoring chances with intention in the opening moments of play. In the 10th minute, however, Loudoun earned the first goal when a run up the right side led to a tough angle shot on goal which Raphael Spiegel deflected near the penalty spot, where Richard Aman was waiting to clean up the rebound into the empty net, making it 1-0 Loudoun.
Despite that early goal, the Roots continued to look like the more settled side, immediately resuming their attacking pressure.
In the 18th minute, they capitalized on that pressure with a leveling goal on their fourth corner kick in a row without a Loudoun clearance. Jesus De Vicente curled the right side service perfectly into the box and a leaping Bertin Jacquesson took a header, redirecting the ball into the twine for his first goal of the season to make it 1-1.
For the remainder of the first half, Oakland continued to knock on the door for a second goal, but were unable to find one before the halftime whistle.
Coming into the second half, Loudoun looked like a different team, playing with much of the same poise and attacking prowess that the Roots had displayed in the first half. In the 66th minute, Loudoun regained the lead after Oakland’s Bobosi Byaruhanga was called for a foul inside the penalty area, earning Loudoun a penalty kick that Pedro Santos converted to make the score 2-1 Loudon.
Loudoun pressed for a cushion goal for much of the remainder of the match, looking destined to earn their first 2026 win in league play, but it was Oakland’s Peter Wilson who played savior. Salvaging a point for Oakland in stoppage time, Wilson made a great run into the box to meet a curling service from Faysal Bettache with a strong header to level the match 2-2. It was Wilson’s fourth goal in the Roots’ last two USL Championship fixtures.
The Roots earned a point and will now host El Paso Locomotive FC at the Oakland Coliseum on Saturday, May 9, at 7 p.m. [3]
Summary
Scoring:
- LDN: Richard Aman 10’
- OAK: Bertin Jacquesson 18’
- LDN: Pedro Santos (PK) 66’
- OAK: Peter Wilson 90’+
Discipline:
- LDN: Andrés Souper 35’ (yellow card)
- LDN: Axel Essengue 45’ (yellow card)
- OAK: Thomas McCabe 61’ (yellow card)
- LDN: Pedro Santos 72’ (yellow card)
- LDN: James Murphy 77’ (yellow card)
- LDN: Adam Beaudry 81’ (yellow card)
Oakland Roots SC
Lineup: Tommy McCabe, Bobosi Byaruhanga (Jackson Kiil), Wolfgang Prentice, Peter Wilson, Jesus De Vicente, Neveal Hackshaw, Keegan Tingey (Tyler Gibson), Bertin Jacquesson (Faysal Bettache), Raphael Spiegel, Michael Edwards, Danny Trejo (Florian Valot)
Unused subs: Kendall McIntosh, Ali Elmasnaouy, Bradley Roberson
Line: Shots: 15 | Shots On Goal: 3 | Corner Kicks: 8 | Fouls: 9 | Offside: 2
Loudon FC
Lineup: Adam Beaudry, Axel Essengue, Noah Adnan, Boluwatife Akinyode, James Murphy (Jack Panayotou), Andrés Souper (Salvatore Mazzaferro), Pacifique Niyongabire, Kwame Awuah, Arquímides Ordóñez, Pedro Santos, Richard Aman (Marcos Dias)
Unused subs: Lorenzo Herrera, Luca Piras, Ethan Bandré
Line: Shots: 16 | Shots On Goal: 5 | Corner Kicks: 7 | Fouls: 16 | Offside: 3