Despite scoring two levelling goals and dominating large portions of the match, Oakland Roots fell 2-3 on the road to Orange County SC on Saturday night in Santa Ana, dropping just their second match of the USL Championship season.
Roots started the match a bit sluggish, conceding the first goal of the night in the 8th minute after OC played the short game on a corner kick which led to a cross into the 6-yard box. That cross found Nico Benalcazar with a leaping header that buried the ball into the twine to make it 0-1 County.
Following the opening goal, Roots began to build back into the match, slowly turning momentum in their favor.
In the 40th minute, Oakland scored their first leveling goal of the contest after a great run up the right side from Bertin Jacquesson led to a long switch in the final third. Peter Wilson drew the attention of two defenders midway through the pass and allowed the ball to drift through him to reach Wolfgang Prentice who made no mistake with a shot into the bottom left to make it 1-1.
Roots nearly added on to their lead multiple times in the waning moments of the first half and the opening moments of the second, all in part due to the tenacious play of Jacquesson.
But despite this, it was Orange County who would convert next when in the 50th minute Oakland keeper Raphael Spiegel took a touch on the ball while out of his area, giving it away to OC’s Stephen Kelly who chipped it into the empty net from near the top of the box to give County their second lead of the night at 1-2.
Still battling though, Roots stormed back into the game in short order when just minutes later in the 57th Peter Wilson leveled it for Oakland once again after Jesus de Vicente played a gorgeous through ball up the left side to find Wilson alone in the back. Wilson beat the OC keeper who came off his line before putting an easy shot into the open goal making it 2-2.
Oakland then went on a dominant run for much of the remainder of the match, playing much of the game in the attacking third and making it nearly impossible for OC to maintain any sustained possession.
But near the 86th minute, momentum swung in the other direction, as County began threatening on a consistent basis.
These threats came to fruition in the 87th after a deflected clearance attempt from inside the Oakland box found the foot of OC’s Ousmane Sylla who struck a volley bottom left to make it 3-2 to give his side their third and final lead of the night.
Oakland nearly brought the game even once again on multiple occasions in the final minutes of the match, but couldn’t find their third rally before the final whistle.
Roots will now return home to close out the month of May at the Oakland Coliseum as they prepare to host Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC for a league fixture on Saturday, May 30th at 5 PM PT.
