If the first-ever Oakland Roots versus Sacramento Republic league game was a harbinger of the I-80 Derby, then buckle your seatbelts, fans. It’s going to be a wild ride.
Although the end result was a 3-3 tie, both sides had great chances to take a full three points in the back-and-forth affair.
“We have the capacity to score good goals. Creating three goals and some other chances, that’s not going to win you games on its own,” said Roots head coach Jordan Ferrell after the game. “So it’s good to see us getting on the score sheet but overall it’s not good enough.”
After a chippy first fifteen minutes, when it seemed both the Republic and Roots were trying to stamp their dominance of the rivalry, the home side struck first.
Roots defender Max Ornstill fouled Republic forward Cameron Iwasa right outside the top of the penalty box.
On the ensuing free kick, The Republic’s Jamie Villareal touched the ball to teammate Dariusz Formella who placed his shot around the Roots wall and into the far post and the early lead.
Oakland did not take long to respond, thanks to a fortuitous bounce in the 26th minute.
Ariel Mbumba secured a loose ball at midfield and streaked toward the goal before passing out wide to Chuy Enriquez. Sacramento Republic keeper Tomas Gomez slid to get to the ball before Enriquez, but the goalie could not fully capture it in his mitts. Instead, the ball squirted out to Enriquez, who was able to pick his spot and finish from a tight angle.
The Roots doubled their lead in the 40th minute.
An Enriquez corner kick was deflected away from the goal and to the feet of Roots teammate Danny Flores. Flores floated a square pass to Ariel Mbumba, who performed a smooth step-over that gave him a chance to run past his Sacramento defender and tee up an unstoppable wicked shot that blasted past Republic keeper Gomez and into the net.
After the half, Sacramento came out with guns blazing, putting the Roots defense under sustained pressure.
A mistake by Roots midfielder Mbumba in the 60th minute gave the ball to Republic striker Cameron Iwasa. He was able to pick out the right post and place the ball past Roots keeper Luis Barraza.
The Roots quickly struck back with a surprise strike after Akeem Ward got into the box in the 66th minute. His shot on target was saved by Gomez, but the ball bounced up to the recently inserted Jeremy Bokila, who headed the ball into the net.
It took Sacramento only two minutes to respond when a cross found Republic winger Jordan McCrary in the box. He took his time and nutmegged his Roots defender to score the equalizer.
The game opened up even more during the final twenty minutes as both teams pressed for the victory.
The Roots’ best chance was a Danny Flores shot in the 78th minute.
The Republic had two golden chances right before the final whistle. In the 90th minute, Republic forward Iswasa’s shot on target was saved by Roots keeper Barraza. Then in the 95th minute, a shot by Sacramento’s Petteri Pennanen was deflected by Roots center back Max Ornstil and off the crossbar.
“It’s a tough tie cause you know that we had the opportunities to finish this game, but this is the game you win some, you lose some, and you tie some,” explained Chuy Enriquez. “Now it’s just time to get back home and work hard and keep going forward from here.”
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