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USL Oakland Roots

Oakland Roots Win to Earn Playoff Berth in Inaugural USL Championship Season

October 31, 2021 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Oakland Roots News Release


Oakland Roots have punched their ticket to the 2021 Championship Playoffs on the final day of the regular season after a win over Sporting Kansas City II.

Oakland Roots returned home Saturday to host Sporting KC II in front of a sold out crowd for their final home game of the 2021 season. Roots needed a win as well as a loss or a tie from LA Galaxy II to secure their spot in the postseason. Less than three minutes in, Chuy Enriquez found the back of the net off a poor save attempt from KC goalkeeper Kendall McIntosh. Already on the board, Roots looked to maintain possession and keep a strong defensive front. They carried the lead into halftime as KC had yet to register a single shot on target.

To start the second half Roots followed a similar formula of controlling possession and not allowing KC to penetrate the attacking third. An early second half injury to Roots captain Wal Fall brought Ariel Mbumba into the game to keep a strong midfield presence. Late into the game, the match got a lot more physical with two Roots players earning yellow cards. Sporting KC tried their best to up the attack but it wasn't enough as Roots cruised to victory.

With the Roots win and a loss from LA Galaxy II, Roots will travel to El Paso to face the Locomotive in the first round of the playoffs on Friday, November 5th.

Head Coach Jordan Ferrell:

Congratulations on the crazy season. The highest of highs and the lowest of lows. How do you feel right now?

I wanna start right now by thanking everybody that wears a Roots shirt, the staff, the people on game day, anyone that's helped make this possible, that's my first thank you. I wanna say thank you to our board because the four of them are people who are willing to have tough conversations and they're willing to put the values of the club and the things that we all believe in first. Incredible. This group of players is unique. There's been different players in, different players out, that's the nature of this first year thing. What they've been able to do as a group, as human beings, as men, to come together in such a short period of time, a lot of challenges, my hat's off to them. My staff is remarkable. They've all been incredible throughout the season and weathered some insane storms, they should enjoy tonight as much as any of the players. The person who doesn't get a lot of credit, I wanted to save this one for last, is Eric Yamamoto. He manages to remain the godfather in the background. He's always been there texting me after every game, win or lose. He's the person that's been in some tough conversations and in the trenches with me when others haven't, that's Eric. He's a legend and I greatly appreciate him.

Beginning of the year, only one with how many ties and losses?

Thank god for those ties right? Those ties, the different moments when we were struggling, trying to get goals or trying to get anything and ending up with scoreless draws, those are what made the difference tonight. You guys know how many different lineups we put out this year, I think this is one of the first times we returned with pretty much identical lineup from the previous game. What a season.

Oakland Roots SC vs Sporting KC II

USL Championship | October 30, 2021

Venue: Laney College, Oakland, California

Kickoff: 7:00 PM

Weather: 59, cloudy

SCORELINE: 1 2 FT

OAK 1 0 1

SKC 0 0 0

SCORING SUMMARY:

OAK: Jesus Enriquez 3'

DISCIPLINE SUMMARY:

OAK: Jeremy Bokila 82'

OAK: Ariel Mbumba 90 + 4'

OAKLAND ROOTS LINEUP:

Wal Fall (Ariel Mbumba), Matias Fissore, Jesus Enriquez (Johnny Rodriguez), Joseph Nane, Akeem Ward, Jose Hernandez, Paul Blanchette, Emrah Klimenta, Memo Diaz, Quincy Amarikwa (Jeremy Bokila), Kai Greene

Unused Substitutes:

Soya Takahashi, Max Ornstil, Javier Mariona, Taylor Bailey

Shots: 6 | Shots On Goal: 3 | Corner Kicks: 1 | Fouls: 16 | Offside: 1 |

SPORTING KC II LINEUP:

Kendall Mcintosh, Kaylen Pierre, Graham Smith, Danny Barbir, Isaiah Leflore, Petar Cuic (Jayvin Van Deventer), Jahon Rad, Osvaldo Cisneros, Mataeo Bunbury (Zion Long), Enoch Mushagalusa, Jamil Roberts (Rojay Smith)

Unused Substitutes:

Remi Prieur, Matt Constant, Aljaz Dzankic, Coby Jones

Shots: 4 | Shots On Goal: 0 | Corner Kicks: 4 | Fouls: 7 | Offside: 1 |

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United Soccer League Championship Stories from October 31, 2021


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