New Mexico United Extends Unbeaten Streak with 3-3 Draw against Oakland Roots SC
USL New Mexico United

New Mexico United Extends Unbeaten Streak with 3-3 Draw against Oakland Roots SC

Published on October 19, 2025 under United Soccer League Championship (USL)
New Mexico United News Release


Albuquerque, NM - - New Mexico United (13-10-6, 45 pts) earned a hard-fought point on Saturday night in a thrilling 3-3 draw against Oakland Roots SC at The Lab. The result extends United's unbeaten streak to six matches as the club, having already secured a spot in the 2025 USL Championship Playoffs, now shifts its focus to improving postseason positioning with just one regular-season game remaining.

United struck early, opening the scoring in the 13th minute when Mukwelle Akale fired a precise shot past the keeper to give the home side a 1-0 advantage. Oakland quickly answered, converting a penalty in the 16th minute to level the match at 1-1.

Just three minutes later, the Black & Yellow regained the lead after an Oakland own goal made it 2-1. United continued to apply pressure and were rewarded again before halftime when Akale was brought down in the box. Defender Talen Maples calmly stepped up and buried the resulting penalty, extending the lead to 3-1.

Oakland responded by converting a second penalty in the 40th minute to cut the deficit to 3-2. The visitors found the equalizer in the 82nd minute, capping a determined comeback to level the match at 3-3. Despite several late chances from both sides, neither team could find a winner before the final whistle.

New Mexico United will now turn its attention to the regular-season finale, aiming to close out the campaign on a high note and carry momentum into the postseason. Stats Summary: NM/OAK

Shots: 10/15

Shots on Goal: 2/8

Saves: 5/0

Corners Won: 2/8

Fouls: 11/10

Misconduct Summary:

NM: Gedion Zelalem (Yellow Card - 34')

NM: Kalen Ryden (Yellow Card - 39')

NM: Valentin Noël (Yellow Card - 53')

OAK:Daniel Gomez (Yellow Card - 55 ')

OAK: Jürgen Damm (Yellow Card - 82 ')

NM: Kris Shakes (Yellow Card - 83')

NM: Ousman Jabang (Yellow Card - 85')

QUOTE SHEET

Head Coach Dennis Sanchez

RE: Thoughts on match vs Oakland Roots

For me it was a naive performance. I think that at this point in the season, there's a lot of clarity on the things that we need to do week in, week out to be successful as a team. You know, the fear as a coach, especially when you clinch a playoff position is that you take your foot off the gas and you start to take things for granted, but the reality is it's a difficult league. We talk about it every single week that we have to earn the right to win and I just feel like the energy that we've had, specifically without the ball, the last two games has been poor, and it's not us. It's not the expectations and the standards that we want. To think that we scored six goals in the last 2 games and we had two draws is nowhere near good enough. So for me, I'm always gonna be half glass full. We have to use this as a humble reminder of the things that we need to do to be successful as a team because- If that's the performance we come out with in playoffs, it's gonna be a quick trip. So it's there, it's about consistently doing the right things. The hardest part about being good or great is doing it consistently well all the time.

RE: Message to the team

To g et back to who we are. We're going to have a very difficult match against Rhode Island. They're fighting for playoffs, they're a good team with really good players, they are organized, they are physical, they are direct. It's going to create a different unique challenge for us, but for me right now, it's just more about getting back to our way.

RE: Performance and execution for a full 90 minutes

It starts at the first whistle, we talk a lot about being the protagonists and playing in control. The game was way too open. We were loose with the ball in certain moments. We weren't secure in transitions. We need to play a controlled game. That's when we're at our best when we are living in our attacking half when we are putting transition moments to bed and really building, you know, winning territory and building from there. So again, it doesn't come down to just the end of the match. It's the entire match and how we go about it.

Mukwelle Akale:

RE: Thoughts on scoring and missed opportunities

The thing I think about the most is tying the game. We have such a quality team, I think we just have to get the mentality from minute one to minute 90. Treat every game like a playoff game. We came up flat, naive and then that's what happened. When you score three goals at home, it should be a win, right? Especially if you want to be a top team.

RE: Intensity of the first half

T he first half wasn't terrible once we got the first goal. After that, we kind of relaxed. We saw we had the lead. We thought, oh, maybe this is gonna be easy, a walk in the park, but no game in this league is a walk-in-the-park, no matter who you're playing. Even a team that's not gonna make the playoffs, you see how they came out and played like that, nothing to lose, so those are gonna be the toughest games. And if we come out and play like this in the playoffs, we're not going to make it easier for ourselves.

RE: Expectations for the last regular season match

Just to win. Win. That's it. Win however we can. Treat it like a playoff game. Simple.

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United Soccer League Championship Stories from October 19, 2025


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