It was Soul Night at Laney College, where Oakland celebrated its new women’s soccer team, Oakland Soul. Special game day jerseys will be auctioned off to raise funds for gender justice and reproductive rights. After a scoreless first half, goals from Mikael Johnsen, Ottar Magnus Karlsson and Johnny Rodriguez paved the way for an Oakland win against Atlanta United 2.
Roots took the lion’s share of the possession early on and peppered the United net with shots. Forward Charlie Dennis had three big chances but couldn’t find the back of the net.
In the second half, it only took four minutes for the Roots to notch one; defender Emrah Klimenta played a ball out wide to Memo Diaz who curled a cross into the far post. Mikael Johnsen, for his first goal of the season, headed it home. Atlanta responded ten minutes later when they cut through the Roots defense and put one past goalkeeper Paul Blanchette tying the game at one apiece.
In the 73’ minute on a Roots counterattack, Mikael Johnsen was pulled down by an Atlanta defender in the penalty box. Óttar Magnús Karlsson dispatched it with ease for his league-leading 11th goal of the season. Thirteen minutes later, Johnny Rodriguez scored off a breakaway to ice the game and cement the win.
Roots continue their playoff quest with a trip down south to Los Angeles where they play the LA Galaxy II on Friday, July 1st.
Talking to Head Coach Juan Guerra
Very important win tonight. What was your message to the team before the game?
I told the guys this week that we’re going to put ourselves in a position that we have a necessity to get the three points. The boys put in a good shift tonight. We could’ve put the game away earlier but it was a good game. A lot of things we worked on during the week out on the field; as a coach, that’s all I can ask for. We put together a game plan, we give the players information and over the week it becomes knowledge, and then we see if we can execute it on game day. Today was a positive day for us.
How’d you want the team to react in the second half after having four big chances in the first half but ending it scoreless?
The boys reacted as we wanted to. They started the second half as we finished the first one: on the front foot, running behind and taking shots. At some point, when you don’t put teams away and you have these young guys that are very talented, technically gifted — you’re going to get burned. It was good for us — we have to keep learning and pushing forward.
Oakland Roots SC vs Atlanta United 2
USL Championship | June 25, 2022
Venue: Laney College, Oakland, California
Kickoff: 7:00 PM PT
Weather: 70 degrees, sunny
SCORELINE:
OAK: 3
ATL: 1
SCORING SUMMARY:
OAK: 49′ Mikael Johnsen
ATL: 60’ Tristan Tager
OAK: 73’ Ottar Magnus Karlsson
OAK: 86’ Johnny Rodriguez
DISCIPLINE SUMMARY:
ATL: 31’ Erik Centeno (yellow card)
ATL: 73’ Grant Howard (yellow card)
ATL: 80’ Ajani Fortune (yellow card)
OAKLAND ROOTS LINEUP: Paul Blanchette, Tarek Morad, Emrah Klimenta, Alejandro Fuenmayor, Joseph Nane, Matias Fissore, Memo Diaz, Darek Formella (Akeem Ward), Charlie Dennis (Jesus Enriquez), Mikael Johnsen (Ariel Mbumba), Óttar Magnús Karlsson (Johnny Rodriguez)
Unused subs: Danny Barbir, Wolfgang Prentice, Taylor Bailey
Shots: 29 | Shots On Goal: 8 | Corner Kicks: 4 | Fouls: 19 | Offside: 1 |
ATLANTA UNITED 2 LINEUP: Justin Garces, Grant Howard, Noah Cobb, Nelson Orji, Ajani Fortune (Nick Firmino), Robbie Metz (c), Erik Centeno (Toni Tiente), David Mejia, Darwin Matheus, Tristan Trager, Jackson Conway (Andrew Sullins)
Unused subs:Vicente Reyes, Efrain Morales, Nwogu Emenike, Brendan Lambe
Shots: 5 | Shots On Goal: 2 | Corner Kicks: 1 | Fouls: 13 | Offside: 1 |
