Despite coming to the East Bay winless, visiting Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC earned all three points in Hayward on Saturday night, scoring two second half goals to double their season scoring total.
Colorado Springs opened the match with an immediate scoring opportunity, putting the ball off the crossbar in the first minute of the match. But it was Oakland that controlled the majority of the first half of play.
Only moments after the Switchbacks opportunity, Roots worked a counter attack, earning a free kick in the attacking third. The set piece was converted into a goal in the third minute, but negated by an offsides call due to a Roots player pushing forward a bit too early on the try.
Oakland continued to dominate time of possession throughout the remainder of the first half, playing keepaway in the Colorado zone and earning scoring chance after scoring chance. But Roots could not convert. Thanks to a late diving save from Paul Blanchette the home team entered halftime knotted up at 0-0.
The Switchbacks made adjustments in the second half which paid dividends. The field began to look tilted in their favor as they began to control the game in the same way Oakland had in the first.
Colorado opened the scoring in the 71st minute when a shallow cross in tight from Maalique Foster found a reaching Juan Tejada who was just able to get a foot on it and redirect the ball into the back of the net.
In the 85th minute the Switchbacks doubled their lead on a lethargic looking Roots team when Maalique Foster once again played a cross from outside the box, this time finding a free runner up the middle in Juan Tejada who buried a shot easily into the bottom right corner of the net.
Oakland will now head on the road for their next USL Championship matchup versus San Antonio FC on May 4th. Roots will then return to the Bay Area to face MLS side San Jose Earthquakes in the Round of 32 of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup on Tuesday May, 7th at PayPal Park in San Jose.
Talking with Head Coach Noah Delgado
Tough loss. Going into the half tied, but allowed two similar goals there in the second half. What are your thoughts on where things went wrong?
Tracking in the box. Just plays where we have an advantage but we’re not tracking the runners. And it was two similar ones — we had to make some changes after we went down 1-0. We went for it a little bit and took some risks to try to get a goal. We put on attacking players, changed the formation a bit and got caught on a midfield recovery, and the second one was back post marking.
Oakland Roots SC vs Colorado Springs Switchbacks
USL Championship | April 27, 2024
Venue: Cal State University, East Bay
Kickoff: 7:00 PM PT
Weather: 57°F, Sunny
SCORELINE:
OAK: 0
COS: 2
SCORING SUMMARY:
COS: Juan Tejada 71’
COS: Aidan Rocha 85’
DISCIPLINE SUMMARY:
COS: Zack Zandi 22’ (yellow card)
OAK: Justin Rasmussen 52’ (yellow card)
COS: Duke Lacroix 73’ (yellow card)
OAK: Camden Riley 83’ (yellow card)
COS: Jairo Henriquez 90’+ (yellow card)
OAKLAND ROOTS LINEUP: Paul Blanchette, Bryan Tamacas, Niall Logue (Miche-Naider Chéry), Justin Rasmussen, Irakoze Donasiyano (Ali Elmasnaouy), Daniel Gomez, Memo Diaz, Ilya Alekseev (Camden Riley), Jeciel Cedeño (Etsgar Cruz), Trayvone Reid (Napo Matsoso), Johnny Rodriguez
Unused subs: Tim Syrel, Thomas Camier, Eli Wachs
Shots: 9 | Shots On Goal: 2 | Corner Kicks: 6 | Fouls: 16 | Offside: 5 |
COLORADO SPRINGS SWITCHBACKS LINEUP: Chris Herrera, Matt Mahoney, Matt Real, Duke Lacroix, Koa Santos, Zack Zandi (Jairo Henriquez), Aidan Rocha, Yosuke Hanya (Juan Tejada), Speedy Williams, Ronaldo Damus (Quenzi Huerman), Maalique Foster (Jonas Fjeldberg)
Unused subs: Joe Rice, Pierre Delentz, Stevie Echevarria
Shots: 15 | Shots On Goal: 6| Corner Kicks: 5| Fouls: 17| Offside: 0|
