After nine attempts in club history, Roots finally walked away from a match versus San Antonio FC victorious. It was a gutsy game by any measure, as Oakland overcame adversity in a number of ways before earning their 2-1 victory on Saturday night in Texas. Before Roots head to a battle with North Carolina FC on Friday, we take a look at some key aspects of their most recent win:
Just Win, Baby
San Antonio outshot and outposessed Oakland by lopsided margins on Saturday — but Roots outscored them, and that’s the only metric that really matters. It was the kind of game Roots have been looking for: one that embodied quality over quantity. Oakland did everything they needed to do to win the game, including frustrating the opposition. Despite leading the league in yellow cards, Roots played even tempered soccer and only drew two yellows, while San Antonio drew five — one of which earned an accompanying red card.
The Man With the Golden Gloves
Kendall McIntosh has been everything Roots were hoping for in between the posts — and on Saturday in Texas, his abilities were on full display. San Antonio peppered the Oakland net all game long, putting 21 shots up, six of which found their way to McIntosh. Those six shots on target were no cookies either, as McIntosh made highlight-reel saves on multiple occasions to keep his squad in the match.
McIntosh has been near the top of the league leaderboard in saves all year, and following his performance on Saturday he is sitting alone in 3rd place with 25 saves on the campaign.
The Cup is ¾ Full
Losses in mid-season tournament matches have muddied Roots’ recent stretch of matches. But it should be noted that in regular season competition, Oakland is actually on an excellent run. Roots are now victorious in three of their last four USL Championship fixtures, and two of those wins have come against teams who were leading the conference table at the time of the match — first in the win against FC Tulsa, and then on Saturday in San Antonio.
Oakland has looked better and better as the season has drawn on, and it is still early. The sky is the limit for the club.
