The Oakland Roots once again demonstrated the ability to get a lot out of a few chances in their 1-0 win over New Mexico United FC at Pioneer Stadium in Hayward on Saturday afternoon.
The host side had only one shot on target for the entire match, but it resulted in the first ever USL Championship goal for former MLS and U.S. National Team standout Dom Dwyer. Prior the match, Dwyer had played in seven matches since joining Roots on June 19, all but one as a substitute. He had earned five yellow cards in those seven appearances, but had not yet gotten on the scoresheet.
On Saturday, Dwyer entered the match as a substitute in the 71st minute and scored his goal five minutes later. Dwyer timed his leap perfectly to meet a corner kick from Memo Diaz and muscled a powerful header past goalkeeper Alex Tabakis.
After the match, interim Head Coach Gavin Glinton was asked about Dwyer’s overall impact on the team.
“It’s been big ever since he got here, you know, the experience and his history and what he does,” Glinton said. “It’s fantastic for him to get over his slow start. I thought he held up the ball for us, battled, and in the locker room he’s been good just like everyone else. The guys in the group right now have really started to come together in terms of the work rate and the effort and you can see that in the results.”
It was the third consecutive match in which Oakland’s only goal was scored on a set piece. The previous two matches ended in draws. The loss also snapped New Mexico’s streak of four consecutive road victories.
“This is a group that is built to suffer and fight through stuff,” Glinton said. “We want more than one shot on target for sure. But that being said, even with our lack of creation over the last few games, I was much happier with our ability to get forward and get into their box, definitely stuff to build on going forward.”
Oakland’s defense made things much easier for goalkeeper Paul Blanchette, holding New Mexico to only two shots on target: a shot by Greg Hurst in the 24th minute from the edge of the penalty area that went straight into Blanchette’s arms and a shot from a similar spot by Jacobo Reyes in the 31st minute that Blanchette deflected over the end line for a corner.
The victory also gives Oakland the distinction of having defeated the leading squads in both the Western Conference (New Mexico) and Eastern Conference (Louisville City FC) by identical 1-0 scorelines.
Glinton was asked whether his team is ready to make a successful run in the playoffs.
“Not there yet,” Glinton said. “But I thought this was a fantastic performance on both sides of the ball for us. And we were much better with the ball than we’ve been in the last few games. We were able to buy ourselves time. We know how good of a team New Mexico is. You know you’re not going to be able to get through the match without having to defend and hold on for a bit. But I thought that was as much of a complete performance as we put in in the last two months or so. So for us a great, great way to build up.”
Upcoming Matches
The Roots’ next home match is on September 14 vs. San Antonio FC.
They also face a challenging travel schedule for the next five weeks, having to endure long plane rides to face North Carolina FC, Hartford Athletic, and Memphis 901 FC.
“We’ll have to rotate [the lineup],” Glinton said. “We’ll have to adjust how we train and prepare. But, you know, it’s good to be able to do that off the back of three points. You get a chance to breathe, maybe get an extra day of rest. And then we know we have another big one next week, right? They don’t stop.”
