Roots Host Orange County SC for USL Jägermeister Cup Bout

Roots will be back home this Saturday, July 26th as Oakland closes out the Group Stage round of the USL Jägermeister Cup with a match versus Orange County SC at the Coliseum.

Oakland has been one of the hotter clubs in the entire USL Championship lately, having won four of their last five matches across all competitions and boasting a completely revamped defense under head coach Benny Feilhaber.

Once the league leaders in goals conceded, Roots have now earned clean sheets in four of their last seven contests with goalkeeper Kendall Mcintosh’s six total clean sheets in the regular season putting him just one shy of the top spot on the league leaderboard.

With a win on Saturday, Roots will have won five-of-six matches for just the second time in club history, and Orange County could be a prime opportunity to reach that target.

Having already been eliminated from the tournament, it seems likely that the visitors will play a conservative style of soccer — which is exactly what Oakland needs.

While Roots are not technically eliminated from moving on in the tournament, a minor miracle is what it would take. Oakland can no longer mathematically win the group, and so will rely on claiming one of the available Wild Card slots given to the top-two second place teams of the six groups.

With a regulation victory, Oakland can earn a maximum of seven points in the table, and with three second-place teams already holding seven points, Roots’ fate rests far out of their own hands.

To make a long story short, Oakland needs to win, a plethora of other teams need to lose in very specific ways, and Roots likely also need to score five or more goals in Saturday’s contest. The margins are razor thin — but they are there.

Regardless of the outcome, the match still provides an excellent opportunity for Oakland to continue honing their style and confidence under Feilhaber as the playoff push draws ever nearer and the table remains highly contentious.

Following the match, Roots will have a bye week before returning to regular season action at home versus Colorado Springs on August 9th at 7 PM PT.