In the sixth match of the season, the Oakland Roots finally showed signs of the fluidity and passion they need to become a contender in the Western Conference of the USL Championship.
Wolfgang Prentice and Kendall McIntosh were the key players in Oakland’s first win of the season, but most of the players on the pitch raised their game in helping to secure the Roots’ 2-1 win road win over FC Tulsa on Saturday night.
Prentice scored both of Oakland’s goals and McIntosh made a series of key saves in the second half to preserve the margin of victory.
While the Roots were off to a slow start in their first five matches, Tulsa had been surprisingly successful, with three victories in their first four matches, including wins over the Tampa Bay Rowdies and the Sacramento Republic.
Shootout Toward the End of the First Half
Oakland got off to a slow start in the first 10 minutes or so, with the host side maintaining 70% of the possession in the first few minutes of the match. But the Roots had the first chance in the 13th minute, when Baboucarr Njie’s free kick from 30 yards out curled behind a two man wall, forcing Tulsa goalkeeper Bryan Dowd to fully extend himself to punch the ball away.
McIntosh’s first key save came in the 29th minute, when Taylor Calheira got a step ahead of three Roots defenders on the breakaway, but McIntosh made a sliding tackle to deflect Calheira’s shot to safety.
Prentice’s sudden strike in the 31st minute came as a welcome surprise for a club that was going through a goal famine of nearly 300 minutes.
Prentice stayed on side until Daniel Gomez sent in his chip from nearly midfield. Prentice trapped the ball with his right foot and shifted it to his left, and his low, hard strike toward the far post was just out of Dowd’s reach.
But Tulsa responded quickly with the equalizer in the 42nd minute, when Owen Damm took advantage of cautious marking and blasted a shot from 25 yards out that left McIntosh helpless on the turf.
More direct play from the Roots led to Prentice’s second goal in the sixth minute of what became 11 minutes of stoppage time. Njie’s direct ball from the Oakland half split a pair of Tulsa defenders as Prentice and Peter Wilson both made a run. The ball came down to Wilson, who avoided a tackle by Tulsa’s Abdoulaye Cissoko and tapped the ball to Prentice for the finish.
Oakland Holds on in the Second Half
In the second half, Oakland held onto the lead, thanks in part to two excellent saves by McIntosh.
In the 64th minute, Stefan Stojanovic’s cross found Calheira parked at the back post. Calheira’s header was on target, but McIntosh had the quick reflexes to punch the ball away.
McIntosh made another big stop in the 83rd minute, as McIntosh made another quick leap to block another header by Calheira.
The Roots’ defense also helped preserve the lead in the first minute of stoppage time, with Neveal Hackshaw preventing Cissoko from putting a header on target. Three minutes later, Roots defenders blocked four shot attempts in the box as Tulsa made a desperate effort to try and even the match.
Upcoming Matches
The Roots have a busy week, as they prepare a trip north to take on Tacoma Defiance in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup on Tuesday. Next Saturday, they return home to the Oakland Coliseum to take on Orange County SC.
