Roots Earn First USL Jägermeister Cup Win, Defeat Monterey Bay FC, 2-1, at Home

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USL Oakland Roots

Roots Earn First USL Jägermeister Cup Win, Defeat Monterey Bay FC, 2-1, at Home

June 29, 2025 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Oakland Roots News Release


Morey Doner shined against his long-time former team, getting involved with both Roots goals as Oakland defeated visiting Monterey Bay FC 2-1 on Saturday night at the Coliseum in the club's first win of the 2025 USL Jägermeister Cup.

Oakland looked like a team hungry to find the back of the net from the very start, playing a high press and maintaining possession while completing smart and decisive passes to move the ball into the attacking third early and often.

Roots nearly found the back of the net in a bizarre 16th minute play which saw a turnover by the Monterey Bay keeper on a clearance attempt that bounced hard off of a charging José Luis Sinisterra and just outside the right post.

But Oakland would be rewarded for their early work regardless. Just a minute later in the 17th Doner found a soft spot in the right side of the penalty area and took a shot that was headed wide left, but took a friendly bounce off of Monterey Bay's Jacob Muir and into the top left corner to give Roots a 1-0 lead.

The pitch continued to tilt in Oakland's favor as Monterey Bay struggled to find any meaningful possession outside of a 26th minute chance that saw Roots keeper Raphael Spiegel sprint off of his line to beat a charging Monterey attacker and clear away the danger.

In the 30th minute of the match it was nearly déjà vu, as once again Doner fired a shot from the very same spot that took a deflection off a Monterey Bay defender - but instead pinging it off the left post.

Roots began to slow down late in the first half, but certainly didn't stop. Their high pressure in the early portion of the match surely led to some tired legs, but Oakland remained able to limit opposition scoring chances, and continued to put together a few dangerous chances of their own.

It was as dominant of a first half as Oakland has seen in 2025, and perhaps the best 45 minutes of play under new coach Benny Feilhaber.

The second half began much as the second half ended - with Roots playing a bit more conservatively, but still earning the lion's share of scoring opportunities.

In an unbelievable twist of fate, Roots would score their second goal in what was once again a carbon copy of Doner's two earlier chances. In the 58th minute Panos Armenakas played a through ball into the box to Doner who found the same spot once again, this time earning his goal by sending a strike that glanced off the keepers fingertips and inside the left post to make it 2-0 Oakland.

The game never looked like it was heading for trouble, as Oakland continued to look like the better side until late in the contest.

But they weren't perfect. In the 86th minute Monterey pulled one back when a failed clearance off the back line landed at the feet of Xavi Gnaulati just outside the box who played it quickly to Luke Ivanovic just to his right. Ivanovic sent a rocket towards the right side which beat Spiegel clean to make it 2-1 late.

Despite some nervous moments in added time, Oakland held until the final whistle to earn all three points in the Group 1 table and keep their razor thin chances of escaping into the next round alive.

Roots will continue an extended homestand next weekend as the club returns to USL Championship action to host Detroit City FC at the Coliseum on Saturday, July 5th at 7 PM PT.

Talking With Head Coach Benny Feilhaber

What are your overall thoughts on the performance tonight, and winning at home?

I think it's incredibly important for our fans to see us win. I've said this before, I think we have massive untapped potential here. We could have a 12th man that nobody in the USL Championship has. So the ability to win at home, be entertaining, give fans what they want to see, make them go home happy - I think is important. So, of course, winning is great. I think we did it in a very positive way. I think there were a lot of good attacking moments today. We could have had three, four, or five goals. And I don't think that's an overstatement. I thought it was really good.

The one thing that I told the guys is, 'Can we find ways to win without suffering at the end?' We could have won that game, three or four to zero, as opposed to suffering the last five minutes in a 2-1 win. But it's steps, baby steps, going in the right direction, but it's a great win for the fans and to kind of show them a little bit of what we're hoping to get to.

Prior to your arrival, Roots had the most goals conceded in the league. But since you came here, it's your second win in your fourth game in charge, just two goals allowed, almost your third clean sheet. What are some changes made that you can credit for this defensive turnaround?

The players. I think the players are the ones that deserve most of the credit. These guys have been bought in since before I even walked through the door. They've given me everything and more that I've asked for. There's certain relationships out on the field that were constructed before I got here as well. And look, my ability to just watch in training, learn from the guys, see what kind of players they can be. Just give them a little bit of direction organizationally and ideas from the defensive perspective.

Defense, for me, is about two things: It's the coach providing a clear message to what everybody's roles and responsibilities are within the team, and then it's the ability for players to have the right attitude and the right mentality to do the extra run when it's necessary, to clean up a play that somebody else made a mistake on. Somebody's out of position, can you fill in for them? And the guys have been exceptional at that.

I think everybody wants to win. I think everybody wants to be a better individual player. I think we want to be a better collective team. And that goes a long way when it comes to not giving up goals. And so I think that's what we've seen.

Oakland Roots SC vs Monterey Bay FC

USL Jägermeister Cup | June 28, 2025

Venue: Oakland Coliseum

Kickoff: 7:00 PM PT

Weather: 70 degrees, sunny

SCORELINE:

OAK: 2

MB: 1

SCORING SUMMARY:

OAK: Jacob Muir (OG) 17'

OAK: Morey Doner 58'

MB: Luke Ivanovic 86'

DISCIPLINE SUMMARY:

OAK: Camden Riley 15' (yellow card)

MB: Diego Gutierrez 40' (yellow card)

OAK: Ali Elmasnaouy 52' (yellow card)

MB: Miles Lyons 57' (yellow card)

MB: Sami Guediri 62' (yellow card)

OAK: José Luis Sinisterra 72' (yellow card)

OAK: EJ Johnson 90'+ (yellow card)

OAKLAND ROOTS LINEUP: Julian Bravo, Gagi Margvelashvili, Camden Riley (Ilya Alekseev), Daniel Gomez, Wolfgang Prentice (Bobosi Byaruhanga), Panos Armenakas (EJ Johnson), José Luis Sinisterra (Tyler Gibson), Neveal Hackshaw, Morey Doner, Raphael Spiegel, Ali Elmasnaouy (Peter Wilson)

Unused subs: Abdi Mohamed, Emilio Martinez, Julio Martinez, Timothy Syrel

Shots: 8 | Shots On Goal: 6 | Corner Kicks: 3 | Fouls: 16 | Offsides: 0

MONTEREY BAY LINEUP: Jacob Muir, Carlos Guzman Fonseca, Adrian Rebollar-Cortes, Ethan Bryant (Xavi Gnaulati), Adam Larsson (Luke Ivanovic), Mobi Fehr, Pierce Gallaway (Wesley Fonguck), Miles Lyons (Grant Robinson), Diego Gutierrez (Maylee Malango), Samuel Gomez, Sami Guediri

Unused subs: Nicolas Campuzano Jimenez, Alejandro Lara

Shots: 9 | Shots On Goal: 3 | Corner Kicks: 6 | Fouls: 16 | Offsides: 3

Check out the Oakland Roots Statistics



United Soccer League Championship Stories from June 29, 2025


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