After a scoreless 120 minutes, Orange County’s Ronaldo Damus converted his team’s sixth penalty kick to knock Oakland out of the USL Playoffs.
Moments earlier, Roots defender Akeem Ward had his penalty shot saved by OC keeper Patrick Rakovsky which set up Damus’s game-winning attempt.
“We had a good game plan and created some good opportunities,” explained Roots head coach Jordan Ferrell after the match. “I certainly think that we did enough tonight to be stepping into the Western Conference Final but that’s knockout football.”
Scoreless game leads to PKs
Orange County and Oakland stifling each other’s offense in regulation and extra time, setting up penalty kicks.
“You play to PKs and it’s a guessing game, everything is up for grabs and we did well on most of our PKs,” said Ferrell.
Oakland took their penalties first and easily converted their first five. Meanwhile, Roots keeper Paul Blanchette correctly guessed the direction of three of OC’s first five PKs but could not reach any of them.
After Ward had his shot saved, Blanchette initially saved Damus’s PK but was ruled to have come off the goal line prematurely by the referee. Damus blasted his shot into the net with another chance, and Orange County went wild in celebration.
“It’s tough to lose on that but I think we showed a lot of character in the 120 minutes to really give them nothing and create some good chances for ourselves,” noted the Roots head coach.
The loss ended an impressive postseason run after a dramatic turnaround for the Roots in their inaugural USL season.
An incredible first USL season for the Roots
Through the first twelve games of the season, Oakland earned only six points off of one win and three ties, and eight losses.
In their final twenty games, Oakland earned thirty-five points (ten wins, five draws, five losses) in their final twenty games, just enough points to edge out Los Angeles Galaxy II and Tacoma Defiance for the final USL Western Conference Pacific Division playoff spot.
“I can’t say enough about the character of these individuals and how they come together as a team,” said Ferrell. “We had some really low lows, but we also had some incredible highs. Inside the locker room, after the first 12 games of the season, there were questions but I don’t think there was doubt, and that’s what got us here. Once the wheels started turning, with some incredible fight from the team week in and week out, I can’t say enough about these guys.”
Oakland shocked El Paso Locomotive in the first round of the USL playoffs to set up a postseason rematch with Orange County, a team that beat the Roots four times in the regular season. However, despite playing a disciplined organized game Oakland came up just a kick short of advancing to the Western Conference Finals.
“It’s a tough way to cap off the season but only one team is happy at the end of the season and we hope to be that team next year,” added Ferrell.
