A pair of second half goals by Wilmer Cabrera, Jr. enabled the Rio Grande Valley FC Toros to emerge with a 2-0 win over the Oakland Roots on Wednesday night at Pioneer Stadium.
The Roots were playing their third match in 11 days and were still missing Bryan Tamacas and Neveal Hackshaw who are currently playing for their home countries in the Gold Cup.
“There were some mistakes,” Roots Head Coach Noah Delgado said after the match. “I think heavy legs contributed. We knew this game, it was going to be on us to push the tempo and dictate the game. We had some looks, Wolfy [Wolfgang Prentice] had some good runs in the first half. Just cracking down on ourselves, being disciplined throughout the whole game was going to be key and I think we had some lapses and got hurt.”
A pair of RGV substitutes set up the first goal of the match in the 72nd minute. Frank López stole the ball from Joseph Nane and started his run toward goal. As he was falling to the turf, he dished the ball off to Cabrera, who slid the ball past Oakland goalkeeper Paul Blanchette,
The same two RGV teammates collaborated on the second goal in the 79th minute. A direct ball out of the back found López making his run down the right side. López’s cross met Cabrera at the far post for the tap-in.
Cabrera nearly added a third in the 88th minute, stealing the ball at midfield and making a run into the penalty area. Cabrera’s chip went over Blanchette’s head, but went wide of the far post.
The Roots also had some chances early. In the 5th minute, Danny Barbir’s shot from the left side beat RGV goalkeeper Tyler Deric, but was saved off the line by Mexican defender Érik Pimentel.
In the 22nd minute, Lindo Mfeka blasted a shot from close range that went straight into Deric’s hands, so he was able to deflect the ball over the endline for a corner.
“[RGV] did a good job defending,” Delgado said. “We could have been a little bit more clinical in some of the crosses and service. But yeah, a lot of it is a little bit of heavy legs with this turnaround.”
RGV had a few other scoring chances earlier in the match. In the 38th minute, Blanchette made the initial save on a shot by Christian Pinzon, but the rebound headed for the far post. Christiano François had a wide open net, but could only redirect the ball wide.
François had another chance from close range in the 57th minute, but Blanchette made a kick save.
“I think the team has been excellent for so long. It’s had so many stretches of good games and battling,” Delgado said. “There were some lapses. We’ll look on it, we’ll work on it. According to the team, they usually put their hand up, they’re obviously very receptive to feedback. So we’ll take this on the chin and we’ll get better.”
Another Player Makes His USL Championship Debut
Former University of the Pacific midfielder Ryan Her made his first appearance in a USL Championship match, coming on as a substitute in the 82nd minute. Delgado was impressed with his performance in the limited time he was on the field.
“He had a couple of runs where you can see the explosiveness of a young player,” Delgado said. “He’s still learning the technical nuances of us as a group, and we’re getting his feet wet, and he showed some decent stuff tonight. So, I’m looking forward to him developing.”
A Bit of Rest Before Taking on One of the League’s Best
The Roots get more than a week of rest until they travel to Florida to take on the Tampa Bay Rowdies on July 8.
“Yeah, it’s a very good team,” Delgado said. “And we’ll go over to a place with high humidity and temperature. We’ve been through a couple of those this year, but now it’s time to recover from this, build upon it and get ready for what I think is one of the best teams in the league.”
The Rowdies also feature a former Roots player, Charlie Dennis.
“He’s having a great year, he’s doing great,” Delgado said. “So happy for him, you know? And so yeah, we know he’s a good player.”
