In a season with more downs than ups, it finally looks like the Oakland Roots are on the up and up.
After falling behind by a goal early in the second half to the Las Vegas Lights, the Roots responded with three unanswered goals to earn the full three points on the road at Cashman Field on Saturday evening.
“Yeah, I’ve been saying that the momentum is building,” said a satisfied Roots head coach Jordan Ferrell after the game. “… it was unfortunate to go down three minutes into the second half. But the character of the group starts to show through, and we could have hung four or five on them. “
Both teams battled in a scoreless first half before Las Vegas got onto the board shortly after the break.
Oakland was unable to clear a ball bouncing in their half of the field. Then Lights’ midfielder Bryce Duke looped a ball behind the Roots defense and onto the feet of his teammate Danny Musovski. He calmly nutmegged Roots keeper Paul Blanchette to give the home side the advantage.
However, Oakland has developed a knack during their four-game unbeaten streak to equalize after falling behind.
This time it only took four minutes for the Roots to tie the match.
A Chuy Enríquez cross found teammate José Hernández in the box. Hernández was able to take two quick touches to create some space and place a shot into the far net.
“The goal today was great, awesome for [Hernández] to get the first goal in the shirt,” said Ferrell. “I think that was a catalyst for us.”
Several minutes later, Oakland wrestled control of the game off a brilliantly executed counterattack.
Vegas booted a free-kick into Oakland’s box, but the ball was cleared to the midfield line. Roots forward Quincy Amarikwa took control of the ball and rushed behind the Lights’ defense. He then held up the ball before passing to Lindo Mfeka, who was steaming toward the goal. Mfeka quickly delivered a superb square pass to Chuy Enriquez, who chipped Vegas keeper Alex Rando for the go-ahead goal.
“The second goal from a team standpoint was incredible,” explained Ferrell. “But the fact that Lindo can find that pass in that moment says a lot about who he is as a player and how he plays the game.”
Las Vegas attempted to press forward for the equalizer, but Roots super-sub Jeremy Bokila almost put the game to bed in the 67th minute when he found himself one-on-one with Rando. Unfortunately, his shot hit the post and went out of bounds.
With one more chance in the 82nd minute, Bokila made sure to deliver the insurance goal.
Substitute Johnny Rodriguez was able to deliver a penetrating pass into the box to Bokila. This time the Roots forward used his experience to surprise Rando by quickly poking his shot from a tight angle inside the near post and the final 3-1 advantage.
“It’s important for us to get [Bokila] going,” noted Ferrell. “The ability to give different looks with Quincy, Bokila with Brandon. I think that’s important for us with the congested schedule ahead.”
Oakland’s four-game unbeaten streak pulls them to only three points behind Vegas, with three games in hand. The Roots look to continue climbing out of the USL Pacific Division basement Wednesday night against first-place Phoenix Rising at Las Positas College in Livermore.
