In the regular season finale of Roots’ 2026 USL Championship campaign, Oakland fell 2-3 on the road to Sacramento Republic FC. With the loss, Roots were eliminated from playoff contention.
Sacramento opened their scoring account almost immediately following kickoff, after a short-played corner kick led to a tough angle shot from the right side by Alfredo Midence which took a deflection off a Roots defender before beating Kendall McIntosh on the far side to make it 0-1 in the 2nd minute.
Republic looked as if they doubled their lead just minutes later, but the goal was disallowed for offsides and play continued with just a single goal separating the sides.
Roots nearly leveled in the 20th minute when Peter Wilson worked behind the Sacramento defense on a run through the middle, but his cross came too late as the opportunity was cleared from danger.
Oakland came close once again just two minutes later on a cross into the box that resulted in a rebound on the first attempt which landed straight at the feet of Tyler Gibson near the 12-yard spot. Gibson’s shot was blocked by a Sacramento defender however, and Roots remained down a goal.
Roots did earn their leveler in the 45th minute when a free kick was given to Oakland in their attacking third, which Jesus De Vicente sent into the penalty area before the scrum kicked the ball out to Danny Trejo who deposited it into the twine to make it 1-1 in the waning moments of the first frame.
And unsatisfied with simply drawing the match level, Roots took the lead in added time of the first half moments later when De Vicente made a furious run up the left side before putting an inch-perfect cross to a full-speed Peter Wilson behind the backline, who finished his touch from in close to make it 2-1.
But with time running out in the match, and the results secured across the league for Roots to punch their postseason ticket with a win, Sacramento scored in the 81st minute to draw the game once again at 2-2 with a free kick conversion of their own scored by Lee Desmond.
Although it had no effect on Roots’ postseason push, Sacramento scored a dagger in the 90th minute with a counter-attack goal from Kyle Edwards to secure Republic’s 2-3 victory and end Oakland’s 2026 campaign.
While the season is over, Oakland’s late-season push showed that the seeds have been sown to grow further in the offseason, and return stronger in 2027.
