Following a dismal start to the 2025 USL Championship season, Oakland Roots looked like a completely different team on Saturday in Oklahoma. Wolfgang Prentice’s brace and top-tier goalkeeping from Kendall McIntosh helped Roots secure their first victory of the season in a 2-1 finish over FC Tulsa.
Oakland started the match looking like a team hungry to earn their first win of the season. Through the first 30 minutes of the contest Roots’ hard work had earned them the lion’s share of truly dangerous scoring opportunities. The best of these chances came in the form of a 13th minute set piece strike from Baboucarr Njie that required a diving save from Tulsa keeper Bryan Dowd to keep the match level.
In the 30th minute of play, Tulsa nearly scored against the run of play when a through ball found a forward all alone with McIntosh, resulting in a shot that required a heroic save to keep the scoreboard blank.
In what looked like a carbon copy of the Tulsa play just a minute earlier, Roots struck first in the 31st minute when Danny Gomez played a through ball to Wolfgang Prentice who was just able to remain onside. Prentice worked his way in close and fired a low strike to the right side of goal which glanced off Dowd’s fingertips but pinged into the back of the net off the post giving Oakland a 1-0 advantage.
Tulsa leveled the contest with a worldie in the 42nd minute when midfielder Owen Damm found room well above the Oakland penalty area and delivered an absolute screamer into the top left corner, beating a diving McIntosh to make it 1-1.
But Roots were determined to bring a lead into the locker room. In added time, Peter Wilson fought for space within the Tulsa penalty area and worked free to slot a pass to Prentice in close just in front of goal. Prentice beat Dowd once again to earn his brace and put Oakland back on top, sending his squad to halftime holding a 2-1 advantage.
The second half provided much the same as the first. For the first half of the frame Roots were earning the more dangerous scoring chances. But Tulsa began to look like a desperate team late in the contest, pouring shots towards the Oakland net and requiring world class goalkeeping from Kendall McIntosh.
Despite the late offensive onslaught from Tulsa, Roots held strong til the final whistle to earn their first victory of 2025.
Oakland will not have long to celebrate their victory, however. The club now faces a quick turnaround as they set to face Tacoma Defiance on the road for their first appearance in this year’s edition of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup on Tuesday, April 15th at 7:30 PM PT.
Oakland Roots SC at FC Tulsa
USL Championship | April 12, 2025
Venue: ONEOK Field
Kickoff: 5:00 PM PT
Weather: 76 degrees, sunny
SCORELINE:
OAK: 2
TUL: 1
SCORING SUMMARY:
OAK: Wolfgang Prentice 31’
TUL: Owen Damm 42’
OAK: Wolfgang Prentice 45’+
DISCIPLINE SUMMARY:
OAK: José Luis Sinisterra 9’ (yellow card)
TUL: Lamar Batista 29’ (yellow card)
OAK: Wolfgang Prentice 45’ (yellow card)
OAK: Neveal Hackshaw 45’+ (yellow card)
OAK: Julian Bravo 62’ (yellow card)
TUL: Harvey St Clair 71’ (yellow card)
TUL: Abdoulaye Cissoko 87’ (yellow card)
OAK: EJ Johnson 90’+ (yellow card)
OAKLAND ROOTS LINEUP: Kendall McIntosh, Baboucarr Njie (Justin Rasmussen), Julian Bravo, Daniel Gomez (Ali Elmasnaouy), Wolfgang Prentice (Tyler Gibson), Peter Wilson, José Luis Sinisterra (EJ Johnson), Neveal Hackshaw, Bobosi Byaruhanga, Jürgen Damm (Abdirizak Mohamed), Kai Greene
Unused subs: Gagi Margvelashvili, Raphael Spiegel, Luis Saldaña, Ilya Alekseev
Shots: 9 | Shots On Goal: 4 | Corner Kicks: 0 | Fouls: 17 | Offside: 3 |
FC TULSA LINEUP: Bryan Dowd, Abdoulaye Cissoko, Lamar Batista, Harvey St Clair, Giordano Colli (Marcos Serrato), Boubacar Diallo, Patrick Seagrist (Delentz Pierre), Owen Damm (Faysal Bettache), Taylor Calheira, Kalil ElMedkhar (Alex Dalou), Stefan Stojanovic (Stefan Lukic)
Unused subs: Johan Penaranda, Edwin Laszo
Shots: 21 | Shots On Goal: 4 | Corner Kicks: 11 | Fouls: 15 | Offside: 2 |
