Roots Fall For The First Time in 2026, Lose 0-1 to Orange County SC at Home

For the first time this season, Oakland left the pitch without picking up a point, as Roots fell 0-1 to visiting Orange County SC despite a dramatic second half push.

The match kicked off with a big early save from Raphael Spiegel in the 5th minute after an Orange County set piece led to an open shot from in close. Spiegel made a spectacular reflex read on what would turn out to be perhaps the best scoring chance for either side in the first half, clearing the ball to keep the match scoreless.

Roots had a great look of their own in the 30th minute when early club leader in goals Wolfgang Prentice intercepted a pass just outside the 18-yard box, making a run towards the net but being dispossessed from behind just before he could release a strike.

Both squads generally kept each other in check through the first 45, and while Orange County held a slight lead in possession, the few scoring opportunities traded by the clubs were for naught as the game entered halftime with zeroes still on the board.

Oakland faced their first scoreboard deficit of 2026 in the 47th minute of the match when Spiegel misjudged a ball coming back towards him and pressed too far forward, allowing Orange County’s Mataeo Bunbury to intercept it and slip behind before depositing an empty netter to make it 0-1 OC.

Following the Orange County goal, Roots dominated the remainder of the contest.

Oakland unleashed a torrent of attacking opportunities that didn’t cease until the final whistle, and nearly tied it up on the last play of the match when a set piece opportunity found Michael Edwards donning a keeper’s kit after Spiegel was shown a red card in added time. Edwards took a mid-air touch just feet from the goal line, but the shot went wide right and the match ended with Roots suffering their first loss of the season.

Roots will look to rest and recuperate now, as the club observes a bye week before returning to action for their next match on Saturday, April 11th on the road at Tampa Bay Rowdies.

Talking with Head Coach Ryan Martin

What are your overall thoughts on tonight’s match and the result in the end?

Yeah, disappointed in our first half, and our approach to the match, where, you know, the energy level wasn’t great.

One of our themes, or who we want to be in terms of our identity is being proactive. We felt like we were very reactive, especially in the first half. We thought we were a little bit disjointed. We couldn’t find a rhythm. Some of that was, well, a lot of it was because of how direct Orange County was, and they made it very difficult for us. And I think when we struggled to find second balls, and we got kind of a little bit stretched, it became very reactive. And I think that was our disappointment.

Obviously, the goal was, you know, a mistake. And you can’t, in this league, make mistakes and shoot yourself in the foot and have to claw out of the hole for the next 45 minutes. It’s just a hard league to do that when they’re sitting so deep, and to break them down, and we created a number of really good chances and looks, but to be honest with you, we shot ourselves in the foot and just need to be better, really.

And you know, I’ll reflect on myself first, and how can I be better and make sure we’re more prepared to go into a game and have more energy. But overall, we’re disappointed, I think, with the result, disappointed with the performance more importantly, and now we have two weeks to fix it.

Oakland Roots SC vs Orange County SC

USL Championship | March 28, 2026

Venue: Oakland Coliseum | Oakland, CA

Kickoff: 5:00 PM PT

Weather: 71°F, Partly Cloudy

SCORELINE:

OAK: 0

OC: 1

SCORING SUMMARY:

OC: Mataeo Bunbury 47’

DISCIPLINE SUMMARY:

OC: Garrison Tubbs 65’ (yellow card)

OAK: Danny Trejo 67’ (yellow card)

OC: David Palomino 90’+ (yellow card)

OAK: Raphael Spiegel 90’+ (red card)

OAKLAND ROOTS LINEUP: Tommy McCabe, David Garcia, Bobosi Byaruhanga, Wolfgang Prentice (Bradley Roberson), Tyler Gibson (Jesse Maldonado Jr.), Neveal Hackshaw (Jesus De Vicente), Julian Bravo (Jackson Kiil), Raphael Spiegel, Michael Edwards, Faysal Bettache, Danny Trejo (Bertin Jacquesson)

Unused subs: Ali Elmasnaouy, Emilio Martinez, Luka Rosić

ORANGE COUNTY LINEUP: Alexander Rando, Nicholas Benalcazar, Tom Brewitt, Garrison Tubbs, Christopher Hegardt, Yaniv Bazini (Lyam MacKinnon), Kevin Partida, Mataeo Bunbury (Ousmane Sylla), Mouhamadou War, Ryan Doghman (David Palomino), Stephen Kelly

Unused subs: Grayson Doody, Apolo Marinch, Efren Solis, Oliver Kurnik, Tetsuya Kadono

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