Soul fall 2-1 to FC Olympia in USL W League Playoffs
The Oakland Soul erased a one-goal deficit in the second half to push their first-round playoff game to overtime on Friday night, July 5, at CSU East Bay’s Pioneer Stadium in Hayward, but FC Olympia emerged victorious, defeating the Soul in the USL W League playoffs Round of 16 by a final score of 2-1.
Oakland looked dominant in the first half, hemming the visitors into their defensive third for much of the opening frame, but were unable to score. As the teams headed into the locker room at halftime, the match was still knotted up at 0-0.
FC Olympia looked a bit stronger out of the gate in the second half. In the 59th minute, they struck first when a Soul turnover in the defensive half led to an Olympia advantage two-on-one. As she crossed the line to enter the penalty area, Olympia’s McKenna Martinez took a shot while falling which found an opening to the right side of the goal, finding twine to put her side up 1-0.
The Soul wouldn’t have to wait long for an equalizer, however. In the 64th minute, Jordan Geis answered when she received a pass on the left wing from teammate Kyah Coady and took an unbelievable shot from a tough angle outside the penalty area, beating the Olympia keeper to even the match up at 1-1.
Oakland earned numerous breakaway opportunities during the remainder of the contest, but did not score again.
In the 95th minute, FC Olympia earned a corner kick, which deflected off Soul netminder Layla Armas before bouncing off of Oakland’s Aki Yuasa and into their own goal to give the visitors a 2-1 advantage.
Soul fought hard for an equalizer, spending much of the remaining time in the opponents defensive area, but the visitors remained steadfast, holding steady until the final whistle to earn a 2-1 victory and advance to the next round of the USL W League playoffs.
Summary
Scoring:
- OLY: McKenna Martinez 59’
- OAK: Jordan Geis 64’
- OLY: Aki Yuasa (OG) 95’
Oakland Soul SC
Lineup: Layla Armas, Kyah Coady (Ella Colombini), Vickie Jones, Sydney Shepherd (Marissa Garcia), Zoe Franks (Clare Robke), Aki Yuasa (Kennedy Schoennauer), Tatiana Cunningham (Mia Colombini), Miranda Nild, Katie O’Kane, Sam Tran, Shae Murison (Jordan Geis)
Unused subs: Bella Mendoza
Roots Victorious over Louisville City FC 1-0 at home
The Oakland Roots locked up defensively on Saturday night, July 6 at Pioneer Stadium in Hayward, as they handed visiting Louisville City FC just their third loss of the USL Championship season in a thrilling 1-0 victory.
Out of the gate, Lou City looked to be the more organized team, keeping their shape and moving the ball well upfield. But the Roots were adept at playing spoiler, maintaining the majority of possession through the first frame, and limiting the visitors’ ability to gather any momentum.
Louisville nearly scored on two separate occasions in the first half, when the Roots left a man unmarked on the far post, but on both occasions an Oakland defender was able to get in front of the resulting shot and keep the match level heading into the half.
It looked to be more of the same entering the second half of play, with Louisville looking dangerous but the Roots holding steadfast. In the 62nd minute, the match changed entirely. Lindo Mfeka received the ball in the Lou City penalty area at the end of a perfectly timed run and played a low crosser to Johnny Rodriguez who tapped in the empty netter to give the home side a 1-0 lead.
After the goal was scored, the Roots looked like a different, more confident group. Scoring chances became more frequent, and while the defensive end still looked perilous on occasion, the line would bend but never break.
Oakland held on to their single-goal lead through a lengthy seven minutes of additional time to reach the final whistle victorious.
The Roots will now head out on the road after winning five of their last six contests, and will face the Pittsburgh Riverhounds on Saturday, July 13, before returning home to host NorCal rivals Sacramento Republic FC on Sunday, July 21, at Pioneer Stadium in Hayward. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.
Summary
Scoring:
- OAK: Johnny Rodriguez 62’
Discipline:
- OAK: Napo Matsoso 23’ (yellow card)
- LOU: Sean Totsch 60’ (yellow card)
- LOU: Taylor Davila 68’ (yellow card)
- OAK: Miche-Naider Chéry 70’ (yellow card)
- OAK: Jeciel Cedeño 88’ (yellow card)
- LOU: Carlos Moguel Jr 90’+ (yellow card)
- OAK: Dom Dwyer 90’+ (yellow card)
Oakland Roots SC
Lineup: Paul Blanchette, Justin Rasmussen (Bryan Tamacas), Neveal Hackshaw, Camden Riley, Memo Diaz, Napo Matsoso (Irakoze Donasiyano), Baboucarr Njie (Trayvone Reid), Daniel Gomez, Lindo Mfeka (Niall Logue), Miche-Naider Chéry (Jeciel Cedeño), Johnny Rodriguez (Dom Dwyer)
Unused subs: Timothy Syrel
Line: Shots: 8 | Shots On Goal: 2 | Corner Kicks: 1 | Fouls: 11 | Offside: 3
Louisville City FC
Lineup: Damian Las, Taylor Davila, Elijah Wynder, Sean Totsch (Carlos Moguel Jr.), Arturo Ordoñez (Evan Davila), Wesley Charpie, Sam Gleadle (Abiola Showunmi), Jake Morris (Amadou Dia), Aiden McFadden (Jansen Wilson), Ray Serrano (Dylan Mares), Wilson Harris
Unused subs: Ryan Troutman
Line: Shots: 10 | Shots On Goal: 3 | Corner Kicks: 4 | Fouls: 18 | Offside: 3
