Takeaways from Roots’ USL Jägermeister Cup Victory Versus Monterey Bay FC

That’s back-to-back wins for Oakland versus USL Championship competition. Even if their most recent victory — a 2-1 triumph versus Monterey Bay FC at home — won’t count towards the season standings.

But the USL Jägermeister Cup win was far from meaningless. Now with four points in the Group 1 table, and thanks to a number of results from other groups, Roots are technically still alive in the tournament. The club will need to earn a victory in their final cup competition versus Orange County, and will once again require plenty of outside help, but a path through the group stage — however slim — does exist.

Before Roots return to regular season play next Saturday, July 5th to host Detroit City FC, we look back at the cup victory versus Monterey Bay to draw some conclusions:

Becoming Who We Are

When new head coach Benny Feilhaber took the reins, he stressed the importance of Roots developing a clear identity. Saturday’s victory was an obvious shift towards that goal.

Oakland came out firing on all cylinders, playing a high-press that Monterey Bay was very clearly not expecting to have to deal with. Roots had ideas of how they wanted to get into the attacking third, and executed individual responsibilities exceptionally all game long.

Morey Doner

That pretty much sums it up.

Playing against his long-time former squad, Doner put on an absolute clinic. Involving himself in both Roots goals, nearly scoring a third, and hustling from box-to-box to make game changing defensive plays as well, head coach Benny Feilhaber had nothing but praise for him following the match. 

“He just keeps giving us more and more,” Feilhaber said. “Today it kind of came together in a lot of different ways, and he was our MVP of the day for sure.”

Backline Metamorphosis

From conceding the most goals in the league, to being extremely difficult to score on under any circumstances, Oakland’s metamorphosis on defense under coach Feilhaber has been drastic. Roots were just four minutes away from their third clean sheet in four games. Morey Doner, who signed in late May and has been a large part of the defensive resurgence says its cohesion and clarity in the locker room that is to thank for the shift.

“I think it’s just pride,” Doner said. “As a family, moving forward, that’s what we’re trying to do.”