Roots Go Back-to-Back to Start 2026, Defeat New Mexico United 2-1 in Home Opener

Oakland remained undefeated to begin the new year in their home opener at the Oakland Coliseum on Saturday night, as Roots defeated visiting New Mexico United by a final score of 2-1 in front of nearly 15,000 fans.

Roots began the match hunting a goal to reward the home crowd early, earning a dangerous set piece in just the third minute of the match. This set piece wound up being cleared away from danger by New Mexico, but the threat from Oakland continued in earnest.

In the 7th minute of the match, Roots fans received their reward, after a gorgeous series of ball movement in Oakland’s attacking third wound up at the boot of Mark Fisher, who bagged his second goal contribution in as many games when he delivered an inch-perfect cross from the right side to just outside the middle of the 6-yard box, finding Wolfgang Prentice who opened the scoring with a floating header that drifted just inside the top right corner and into the twine to make it 1-0.

Roots continued to control the match with clever ball movement and well-timed runs, but starting near the 20th minute New Mexico began to solidify their strategy, taking over the possession aspect of the game.

This possession based gameplan from New Mexico didn’t lead to frequent scoring opportunities, but the few that it did produce were of high quality.

Both sides traded a few great looks before halftime, but Oakland were able to build back into the attack near the end of the frame, and Roots’ keeper Raphael Spiegel delivered his 5th straight clean half dating back to the end of last season as the squads headed into the locker room at the break with Roots still holding a lone goal advantage.

New Mexico continued to dominate possession coming into the second half, finding occasional attacking chances while limiting Roots’ ability to put together anything of their own.

But the game opened up in the 79th minute when Peter Wilson found himself beyond the back line once again, failing to get a shot off before being dispossessed, but delivering his side a much needed spark in the match.

Wilson capitalized on his own spark the very next minute, when a rebounded Jackson Kiil shot attempt found Wilson in the right place at the right time, putting a wobbling header from just feet outside of the goal line trickling into the net before the New Mexico keeper could clear it, and giving his side a 2-0 cushion in the 80th minute.

New Mexico weren’t willing to lie down, however, as they answered with a goal of their own in the 82nd minute to bring the deficit back to one as Jake LaCava delivered an assist with one of his first touches of the game just seconds after being subbed in, finding Justin Rennicks who finished a strike from in close to make it 2-1 Roots.

Oakland fended off a desperation push from United in the waning moments of the match, but the back line held, and the score remained tilted in Roots’ favor at the final whistle.

Roots will look to go 3-0 in 2026 when they travel to Arizona for their next game, as they prepare to visit Phoenix Rising FC on the road next Saturday, March 21st at 7 PM PT.

Talking with Head Coach Ryan Martin

This is the first 2-0-0 start in team history. It says a lot to the project that you’re leading. I hear a lot about the camaraderie amongst the group, just kind of talk about that; what you’re seeing from this group that is making this start so electric.

Yeah, I think the camaraderie was something that, when Nana and I went out and we brought in new players, and we kept a lot of the players still here. The biggest one was, can we find really good people that want to be part of this project? And they all have a belief that this is where they want to be, and that we can create something special here.

So it started with the recruitment process, and then throughout preseason  we tried to put them in situations where they could interact and mingle and do different things where it was deeper than just the conversation. We’ve done some things where they’ve told their history and their journey and how they got here, their values and what they’re trying to become. Some things that we might not know, that they have in common with each other. Even something as simple as, like, a pet peeve, you know, so you get a laugh out of what they’re looking to do. 

We’ve tried to create deep, meaningful relationships, so when things do get hard and we’re up against it, they know that the guy next to him will have his back. And so I’m incredibly proud of the group in terms of what they were able to accomplish in the first two weeks here. But you also know we have a long road ahead of us.

After the game I kind of saw after you guys did the player walk around and it looked like you were kind of looking at the stadium, just did a 360 a little bit. What were you feeling in that moment/after the game, with the crowd response and the atmosphere that can happen in this stadium.

I was in awe, really, of what I saw. I’ve seen a lot of crowded stadiums in my journey, but I don’t think I’ve seen one with the passion, the collective energy, and the collective belief and passion for the city and the club. And I think it was just really a big kind of celebration around what Oakland is, between when you start adding E-40 at halftime and what that brought into it, and then our guys, and the heart and the will to win that they performed with. It was just a special evening for the city, I think, and the club. Really proud to be a part of it. You might, frankly, play a small part of that.

Oakland Roots SC vs New Mexico United

USL Championship | March 14, 2026

Venue: Oakland Coliseum | Oakland, CA

Kickoff: 7:00 PM PT

Weather: 67°F, Clear Skies

SCORELINE: 

OAK: 2

NM: 1

SCORING SUMMARY:

OAK: Wolfgang Prentice 7’

OAK: Peter Wilson 80’

NM: Justin Rennicks 82’

DISCIPLINE SUMMARY:

OAK: Peter Wilson 54’ (yellow card)

OAK: Raphael Spiegel 90’+ (yellow card)

OAK: Tommy McCabe 90’+ (yellow card)

OAKLAND ROOTS LINEUP: Tommy McCabe, David Garcia, Bobosi Byaruhanga, Wolfgang Prentice (Danny Trejo), Peter Wilson, Tyler Gibson (Neveal Hackshaw), Mark Fisher, Julian Bravo, Raphael Spiegel, Michael Edwards, Faysal Bettache (Jackson Kiil)

Unused subs: Kendall Mcintosh, Ali Elmasnaouy, Jesus De Vicente, Emilio Martinez, Bradley Roberson, Luka Rosić

Shots: 10 | Shots On Goal: 5 | Corner Kicks: 0 | Fouls: 6 | Offside: 3 | 

NEW MEXICO LINEUP: Zico Bailey, Christopher Gloster, Dayonn Harris, Greg Hurst (Luther Archimede), Ousman Jabang (Justin Rennicks), Kipp Keller (Nicholas Hamalainen), Valentin Noel, Niall Reid Stephen (Jake LaCava), William Seymore, Kristopher Shakes, Gedion Zelalem (Arturo Astorga)

Unused subs: Raiko Arozarena Gonzalez, Cristian Nava

Shots: 14 | Shots On Goal: 5 | Corner Kicks: 9 | Fouls: 11 | Offside: 5 |