The Oakland Roots got a tough draw for their first-ever US Open Cup game. Not only did they face the Greenville Triumph, perhaps the best team in the third-division USL League 1, but they also had to travel over 2,200 miles to South Carolina for the match.
Facing a motivated Triumph side looking primed for the upset, the Roots looked punchless, falling to Greenville 2-0.
Despite having 71 percent of the possession, Oakland produced little positive in the attack. They rarely threatened Greenville despite seventeen shots during the game.
First-year coach Juan Guerra decided to rest some of his most-used players for the cup match. Charlie Dennis, Edgardo Rito, and Alejandro Fuenmayor did not even sit on the bench. Instead, the team consisted of players that were part of the Roots 2021 side.
Johnny Rodriguez got his first startup top teaming up with Lindo Mfeka. The defensive line consisted of Memo Diaz, Max Ornstil, Tarek Morad, Emrah Klimenta, and Hakeen Ward.
Jose Hernandez teamed up with Joseph Nane and Chuy Enriquez in the midfield. Taylor Bailey re-emerged as the goalkeeper after playing the first two league games of the year.
First Half
The Roots did have a couple of decent chances in the first twenty minutes from Ward, Mfeka, and Diaz on target. However, they were all handled cleanly by Greenville keeper Paul Christensen.
But despite lacking ball possession, the Triumph continued to produce positive attacks when they did control it.
Just before the half-hour, Greenville took the early lead.
Triumph defender Lucas Coutinho hit a long ball over the Roots defense to Jake Keegan.
The Greenville forward ran onto the ball and found himself one-on-one with Roots keeper Taylor Bailey who hesitated to react quickly to the attack. That moment of indecision was all Keegan needed as he chipped Bailey and the ball softly fell into the net for the one-goal advantage.
After the goal, the Roots seemed deflated. In fact, Greenville had a chance to go up by two goals, but Jesús Ibarra’s shot hit the far post.
Second Half
Oakland controlled most of the possession in the second half but did little positive when they did.
Oakland’s best chance fell to substitute Juan Azócar in the 83rd minute. However, from just in front of the goal, his header skied well above the crossbar.
The Roots pressed everyone forward for a desperate equalizer as the game moved into extra time. A long ball into the box by Klimenta was headed by a Triumph defender back towards the midline. Greenville forward Don Smart eventually got onto the ball. He held off Klimenta, Oakland’s lone defender, before slotting a shot into the net despite a deflection off Taylor Bailey’s foot.
The Oakland Roots short-run in the US Open Cup ended quickly with the loss. However, they will have a long time to think about this loss with a cross-county trip ahead of them and a week off until their next USL league game against the San Diego Loyal.
