After nearly five months of agony over the disappointing end to the 2023 season, the Oakland Roots opened the 2024 campaign with a 2-1 win over Indy Eleven in front of a sellout crowd at Pioneer Stadium in Hayward.
Jeciel Cedeño took a first step toward erasing the painful memories of last season with an opportunistic strike in the second minute of the match. Bryan Tamacas’s cross was cleared by an Indy defender, but straight into the path of Cedeño, who blasted the ball just inside the near post.
“We were prepared for this,” Oakland midfielder Neveal Hackshaw said after the match. “This is what we’ve been doing all preseason, preparing not just for the season, but the first game. It’s one game at a time, you know? The guys came out, put in the hard work, and came out with three points.”
But the three points didn’t come easily. After the first goal, the visitors took control of the match for the remainder of the first half. Their first opportunity came in the ninth minute, when a pass from Jack Blake found Augi Williams unmarked at the far post. Oakland’s Niall Logue blocked his first shot attempt and his second shot went straight into the arms of goalkeeper Paul Blanchette.
Indy nearly got on the board on a free kick from distance by Jack Blake in the 21st minute. His shot curved over the wall, forcing Blanchette to dive to his right to deflect the ball over the end line.
Another free kick gave the Roots trouble in the 35th minute. Cam Lindley’s cross into the box forced Blanchette to come off his line to punch the ball away. Aedan Stanley grabbed the rebound, but his shot from distance sailed over the bar.
Indy finally equalized in the 43rd minute after a quick restart. Younes Boudadi’s cross found Blake as he rushed into the penalty area and sent in a low, hard blast that Blanchette couldn’t reach.
Second Half Changes Make the Difference
At halftime, the Roots responded by making a series of tactical changes, including substituting Daniel Gomez for Haitian striker Miche-Naider Chéry, in his Oakland debut.
But Indy nearly took the lead four minutes into the second half, when Sebastian Guenzatti’s blast from just outside the penalty area rattled off the crossbar,
Oakland responded a little more than a minute later, Tamacas eluded an offside trap to receive a pass from Irakoze Donasiyano, took a couple of dribbles, and calmly slotted the ball past Indy goalkeeper Yannik Oettl, as Oettl’s teammates pleaded for the referee’s whistle.
Johnny Rodriguez nearly put the match out of reach in the 74th minute, when he slid to the turf to redirect a cross from Napo Matsoso, but his shot went straight to Oettl.
Oakland’s pressure defense frustrated Indy for the remainder of the match and enabled the Roots to claim victory.
After the match, Head Coach Noah Delgado discussed the impact of the halftime changes.
“We just made some changes and got Jesse [Cedeno] on the ball a bit more,” Delgado said. “Gomez in there, another player who’s good on the ball. It’s important for us to have possession at times, not long spans without the ball, just defending. I thought the attitude of the boys came in, we made some changes and they [executed] the game plan.”
Delgado also expressed his faith in Chéry, in spite of the tactical substitution.
“Chéry had 45 minutes, he had a shot, he’s still getting used to it all that stuff,” Delgado said. “He’s still growing. He’s going to keep going here and be here all season. He’s a very talented player.”
A Deltas Bay Area Return
Former San Francisco Deltas midfielder Tyler Gibson started the match for Indy and played 86 minutes. Gibson played in 30 regular season and 2 playoff matches for the Deltas in 2017, helping to lead the club to the NASL championship before the franchise folded after a single season.
