The Roots broke their goal-scoring drought but fell to Las Vegas Lights 2-1 on Saturday night.
Oakland only had 13 players available for the game due to USL health and safety protocols. Confusion on who would play continued right until the beginning of the game. Three starting players, new signing Brandon Allen, Danny Flores, and Wal Fall, were removed from the field along with substitute Yohannes Harish moments before kickoff.
USL then released the following statement: “Out of an abundance of caution, the clubs and league have agreed to select player pool for the match to align with health and safety protocols.”
Although team or league officials did not offer any more details on what USL health and safety protocol limited the squad to only thirteen eligible players, it is likely related to possible COVID-19 exposure.
According to league health and safety protocols, if any team player or staff member tests positive for COVID-19, anyone who has been in contact with the infected individual will have to quarantine and be tested one or more times by a team physician to be determined fit to return to the field.
Besides the health and safety protocols, the small squad had to deal with temperatures hovering near 100 degrees at kickoff in Livermore at Las Positas College, the temporary home field for Oakland.
Despite these challenges, the Roots had a bright start behind a Tarin Weir strike in the 24th minute, which broke a 408-minute scoring drought for the team.
Oakland midfielder Lindo Mfeka intercepted a soft Vegas pass and was able to spring Weir free with a well-timed through ball into the box. Weir held off one Lights defender and slotted the ball past the on-rushing keeper Alex Rando.
“Unfortunately, we couldn’t get the win, but it still meant a lot to me, being able to come in and score on a day that already has so much meaning to me,” Weir said after the game, his first start for the Roots this year. He became the first Oakland native to score a goal for the team in a USL Championship game with the goal.
“Tarn really epitomizes just putting your head up and doing whatever is asked of you for the good of the squad,” added Roots head coach Jordan Ferrell.
Las Vegas scored in the 55th and 74th minutes to take the lead. The first goal was struck at a distance by Danny Crisostomo and deflected off a Roots player. The second goal was off a corner kick when Vegas defender Antonio Leone found the ball at his feet and was able to get a quick shot off to take the lead.
Oakland threatened down the stretch a handful of times but was unable to find the tying goal.
“The guys on the field showed that they have heart. They played together well,” said Ferrell. “We got an unlucky deflection on the first goal, and that made the difference in the game. The scoreline is hard to stomach, but the performance on the field was a positive tonight.”
The pandemic has affected the Roots in Livermore and their first choice goalkeeper Zeus de la Paz, who is currently away playing for the Curacao national team.
Unfortunately, after his national team qualified for the Gold Cup, Curacao was ruled ineligible to participate in the event when numerous team players were confirmed to have been infected with the COVID-19 coronavirus. It is not known if de la Paz is one of the infected Curacao players. https://www.youtube.com/embed/PW8iWNh_mRo
Hopefully, for the Roots, they will be able to welcome back several of the players soon. They will have two more home games in Livermore coming up this week. On Wednesday, they face off against Pacific Division-leading Phoenix Rising and then Tacoma Defiance on Saturday, July 17.
“We just gotta keep working, especially with the difficult stretch of games coming up,” noted Weir. “We just have to focus as a team and focus on the next match.”
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Douglas Zimmerman curates the Beautiful Blog, which covers the ‘beautiful game’ of soccer in the Bay Area and worldwide. He recently released a photo book documenting the fans of the World Cup that he started in 2002.
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