Despite scoring two goals and dominating large portions of the match, the Oakland Roots [1] fell to Orange County SC 3-2 Saturday night at Santa Ana Stadium, dropping just their second match of the USL Championship season.
[2]The Roots started the match a bit sluggish, conceding the first goal of the night in the eighth minute after Orange County (OC) played the short game on a corner kick which led to a cross into the six-yard box. That cross found Nico Benalcazar with a leaping header that buried the ball into the twine to make it 1-0 for OC.
Following that opening goal, the Roots began to build back into the match, slowly turning momentum in their favor. In the 40th minute, they scored their first leveling goal of the contest after a great run up the right side from Bertin Jacquesson led to a long switch in the final third. Peter Wilson drew the attention of two defenders midway through the pass and allowed the ball to drift through him to reach Wolfgang Prentice who made no mistake with a shot into the bottom left to make it 1-1.
The Roots nearly added on to their lead multiple times in the waning moments of the first half and the opening moments of the second, due in part to the tenacious play of Jacquesson. But despite that, Orange County converted next in the 50th minute, when Oakland keeper Raphael Spiegel took a touch on the ball while out of his area, giving it away to OC’s Stephen Kelly. Kelly then chipped it into the empty net from near the top of the box to give OC their second lead of the night for a 2-1 lead.
The Roots stormed back into the game just minutes later. In the 57th minute, Peter Wilson leveled it for Oakland again after Jesus de Vicente played a gorgeous through ball up the left side to find Wilson alone in the back. Wilson beat the OC keeper who came off his line before putting an easy shot into the open goal, making it 2-2.
Oakland then went on a dominant run for much of the remainder of the match, making it nearly impossible for OC to maintain any sustained possession. But near the 86th minute, momentum swung in the other direction, as Orange County began threatening on a consistent basis.
These threats came to fruition in the 87th minute, after a deflected clearance attempt from inside the Oakland box found the foot of OC’s Ousmane Sylla who struck a volley bottom left to make it 3-2 to give his side their third and final lead of the night.
Oakland nearly brought the game even once again on multiple occasions in the final minutes of the match, but couldn’t find their third rally before the final whistle.
The Roots will now return home to close out the month of May at the Oakland Coliseum, hosting the Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC for a league fixture on Saturday, May 30, at 5 p.m. [3]
Summary
Scoring:
- OC: Nico Benalcazar 8’
- OAK: Wolfgang Prentice 40’
- OC: Stephen Kelly 50’
- OAK: Peter Wilson 57’
- OC: Ousmane Sylla 87’
Discipline:
- OC: Garrison Tubbs 4’ (yellow card)
- OAK: Tommy McCabe 21’ (yellow card)
- OAK: Keegan Tingey 80’ (yellow card)
Oakland Roots SC
Lineup: Tommy McCabe, Wolfgang Prentice, Peter Wilson, Florian Valot (Faysal Bettache), Jesus De Vicente, Tyler Gibson (Tucker Lepley), Neveal Hackshaw, Keegan Tingey, Bertin Jacquesson (Danny Trejo), Raphael Spiegel, Michael Edwards
Unused subs: Kendall McIntosh, Bobosi Byaruhanga, Jackson Kiil, Julian Bravo
Line: Shots: 21 | Shots On Goal: 5 | Corner Kicks: 6 | Fouls: 11 | Offside: 0
Orange County SC
Lineup: Alexander Rando, Garrison Tubbs, Tom Brewitt, Ryan Doghman, Grayson Doody, Nico Benalcazar (Efren Solis), Ousmane Sylla, Yaniv Bazini, Stephen Kelly, Christopher Hegardt (Marcelo Palomino), Lyam Mackinnon (Brandon Cambridge) (Tyson Espy)
Unused subs: Oliver Kurnik, Nicola Ciotta, Jamir Johnson, Tetsuya Kadono, Apolo Marinch
Line: Shots: 12 | Shots On Goal: 6 | Corner Kicks: 3 | Fouls: 5 | Offside: 1