Facing a must-win game to keep their postseason hopes alive, the Oakland Roots left nothing to chance on Wednesday night against the Tacoma Defiance. The Roots put the visitors under sustained pressure from the opening whistle, and it paid off with a 3-1 victory leaving them only three points outside the USL playoffs.
“For us to win those games and climb the ladder it really matters,” noted Roots head coach Jordan Ferrell after the win. “Tonight we did a good job getting the start that we wanted.”
A strong start for the Roots
Oakland’s attack, and a fortunate bounce off of Johnny Rodriguez’s face, gave the Roots an early lead.
In the 10th minute, the Roots’ Wall Fall attempted to slot a pass into the box to Jose Hernandez. Tacoma defender Alex Valenzuela intercepted the ball and attempted to clear as Rodriguez closed him down. Fortunately for the Roots, Valenzuela’s clearance bounced off Rodriguez’s face and into the path of teammate Lindo Mfeka. He ended up one on one with Defiance keeper Christian Herrera and slotted it past him and into the net for the early lead.
“We learned a big lesson the first time we played them [a 3-1 loss],” explained Ferrell. “I think if you give them a little time and space to build a rhythm, they can kill you. That happened in the first game. In the second game, we started off pressing them more, and we saw some rewards with that [a 3-1 win]. Tonight, that first goal game with the team in a 30 by 40 stretch and made the spaces really tight, which worked well for us and was a bit more tough for them. They tried to play out of that and Lindo showed up well to finish.”
Oakland continued to press but was unable to connect an incisive pass in the final third. The Roots sustained pressure up the field, leaving their defense susceptible to a counter-attack, and unfortunately, that happened in the 32nd minute.
Tacoma strike back
Roots winger Ariel Mbumba was stripped of the ball at midfield, and it ended up out wide at the feet of Tacoma forward Ray Serrano.
Serrano got up close on Oakland defender Soya Takahashi and pushed the ball past the right side of Takahashi while running around his left. He then ran onto his own pass and lined up a shot from a tight angle that he blasted over Oakland keeper Paul Blanchette and into the goal’s roof to tie the game.
Despite coughing up the lead, the Roots continued to press, and another nice combination play gave the home side the lead heading into the break.
Rodriguez intercepted a pass at midfield and fed Mfeka, who made an agressive run into the box. He held the ball and then passed to an unmarked Fall just outside the top of the box.
Fall had time to line up a rocket of a shot that hit the underside of the crossbar and bounced behind the line to give Oakland the 2-1 lead.
Second Half
Oakland continued to attack and scored eight minutes into the half thanks to some more magic from Fall and Mfeka.
A long ball from Roots defender Emrah Klimenta found Wal Fall about thirty yards from goal. He let two Tacoma defenders mark him before cutting back the ball to create some space. He then passed the ball toward the box. A Defiance player slightly deflected it into the path of an onrushing Mfeka, who finished from close range for the second time past Herrera for a two-goal cushion.
“Then go into the second half, get the third goal and play strong defensively to close out the game really shows how strong the team is as individual players and as a group,” explained Ferrell.
With the comfortable lead, the Roots became a little more opportunistic going forward and attempted to weather Tacoma’s attempts to get back into the match. They kept the Defiance off the scoreboard in the second half and claimed a valuable three points.
In their last ten games the Roots has won six, tied three, and lost once to pick up nineteen points. Their victory over the Defiance vaulted the Roots past the Sacramento Repubic to fifth place in the standings and are now only three points out of fourth place.
Oakland look to continue their playoff push against the Los Angeles Galaxy II on Saturday night at Laney College.
“I think the energy of the group is incredible. The guys believe in themselves which is probably the most important thing,” said Ferrell. ” Galaxy is where our sights are now.”
