It was a tale of two halves for the Oakland Roots on Saturday night, August 8, at Southwest University Park in El Paso. Despite a second-half push, the Roots couldn’t find an answer to Locomotive FC’s first-half goal, and ultimately lost the match by a score of 1-0.
Perhaps weary from three games in short succession and back-to-back games facing high heat on the pitch, the Roots looked sluggish as they began the match. El Paso deployed an energetic high press from the outset, spending nearly the entire first frame in the Roots’ defensive third and completely blanking Oakland’s efforts to sustain movement up the pitch.
Locomotive scored what would ultimately turn out to be the eventual game-winner in just the ninth minute of the match, when Rubio Rubín posted in front of the six-yard box and deflected an inswinging cross on a half-volley that beat Kendall Mcintosh to make it 1-0.
But however poorly Oakland appeared to be playing in the first half, they appeared dangerous in equal amounts in the second half. The Roots attacked with much more aggression and pace, opting to move the ball into the box by any means necessary.
That shift in style led to a number of scoring chances that easily could have drawn the match even, The best of those occurred in the 68th minute, when Tucker Lepley set up a shot inside the box, striking what looked like a sure goal, only to be cleared over the bar by an El Paso defender that was in the right place at the right time to bail out the Locomotive netminder.
Oakland continued to press until the final moments to find an equalizer, but that never materialized as the match ended 0-1.
The Roots’ next opportunity in their push for the playoffs will come on Saturday, August 15, when they return home to face NorCal rivals Monterey Bay FC at the Oakland Coliseum at 7 p.m.
Summary
Scoring:
- ELP: Rubio Rubín 9’
Discipline
- ELP: Robert Coronado 34’ (yellow card)
- ELP: Zyen Jones 81’ (yellow card)
Oakland Roots SC
Lineup: Kendall McIntosh, Bruno Lapa (Tucker Lepley), Tommy McCabe, David Garcia (Jesus De Vicente), Bobosi Byaruhanga, Wolfgang Prentice, Peter Wilson (Bertin Jacquesson), Florian Valot, Neveal Hackshaw, Julian Bravo (Jackson Kiil), Michael Edwards
Unused subs: Keegan Tingey, Raphael Spiegel, Faysal Bettache
Line: Shots: 12 | Shots On Goal: 3 | Corner Kicks: 6 | Fouls: 11 | Offside: 4
El Paso Locomotive FC
Lineup: Abraham Romero, Kofi Twumasi, Arturo Ortíz, Tony Alfaro, Jimmy Farkarlun (Noah Dollenmayer), Robert Coronado (Alex Méndez), Eric Calvillo (Carl Sainté), Gabriel Torres (Ricardo Ruiz), Roberto Avila (Zyen Jones), Amando Moreno, Rubio Rubín
Unused subs: Pedro Cruz, Nicolás Cardona
Line: Shots: 17 | Shots On Goal: 6 | Corner Kicks: 4 | Fouls: 11 | Offside: 1
