Despite a second half push that saw Roots control the attacking pressure for large stretches as they looked for a crucial win, Oakland fell 1-4 at the Oakland Coliseum on Saturday night to visiting Lexington SC.
Both teams were clearly aware of the stakes of the match in terms of playoff positioning, as the game began with quick and aggressive play on both sides of the ball in the early phases.
Phillip Goodrum opened the scoring for Lexington in the 22nd minute on a tough angle shot from the right side of the 6-yard box that was rifled into the top net after a quick counterattack to make it 0-1.
Roots nearly equalized immediately following the halftime break via a chaotic loose ball scrum in the goalmouth, but Lexington cleared it from danger before Oakland could poke it home.
Oakland did eventually find a leveler, and did so in historic fashion in the 52nd minute when an inch perfect cross into the box from Tommy McCabe after a stretch of wonderful ball movement within the attacking third found a leaping Peter Wilson who headed it home for his 12th goal of 2026 and his 31st in a Roots kit, tying Johnny Rodriguez as the club’s all-time leading scorer.
Following the goal Roots began to dominate attacking momentum, and paired with a few stellar saves from Kendall McIntosh, started knocking on the door of a potential game winner.
Well against the run of play however, it was Lexington who would regain their lead in the 78th minute when Goodrum found himself in the right place at the right time once again, tapping in his second of the match to make it 1-2 Lexington with time dwindling.
Just moments later, Lexington found a dagger in the 83rd minute when Marcus Epps streaked down the right side at full pace, beating the last defender before placing a low shot towards the far post and past McIntosh to make it 1-3.
Lexington added a fourth in the 87th minute when Goodrum made it a hat trick with a late header to bring the final score to 1-4.
Roots will now head out on the road for their next match as their playoff push intensifies, readying to face Indy Eleven in Kentucky next Sunday, September 20th at 2 PM PT.
Talking with Head Coach Ryan Martin
Could you just talk about the result tonight and the performance of the team?
Yeah, I think the best way to describe it is frustrated and frustrating.
You never want to lose. Losing 4-1 is unacceptable, really, in terms of where we were. We were on a pretty good stretch in the last five games. We need to turn one pointers into three, but you know, we’ve had four of the last five results, and then I felt like we played well in in a lot of spurts, and it’s kind of been the same story for much of the year, where one playoff, one bad decision, one moment changes the game.
And I think when we scored the first goal, I felt like we were going to win the game, and I felt like our momentum was building. If we stick the second goal, and even their coach said that afterwards, it probably ends, you know, it probably ends the other way. It didn’t. Unfortunately, we shot ourselves in the foot late and didn’t allow ourselves to push. Once it went to 3-1 it was over at that point. And yeah, frustrated, disappointed, and have to keep going.
