Oakland’s comeback fell short at the Coliseum on Saturday night, August 9, as visiting Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC held on to a one-goal lead at the end of 90 minutes, defeating the Roots for the fifth straight contest in a 1-2 finish.
The match started a bit sloppy for both sides as the Roots shook off the rust from their bye-week rest. While there were no dangerous chances from either club in the first phase of the match, Oakland did manage to earn four corner kicks within the first 14 minutes of the game, showing that while the finishing wasn’t quite there, they were moving the ball well into dangerous spaces.
Both clubs were still searching for their first shot on target when Colorado opened the scoring with their first in the 43rd minute. In the waning moments of the first half, a clever run through traffic in Colorado’s attacking third ended with a well placed through ball behind the back line from Marco Micaletto, finding Jonas Fjeldberg who was there to clean up the wide open look and make it 1-0 for the Switchbacks.
Colorado got right back to work after the halftime break, doubling their lead early when a 49th-minute cross inside the Oakland box from Fjeldberg found Quentin Huerman across the face of goal. Huerman buried a tough angle shot into the top twine to make it 2-0 for the Switchbacks.
The Roots pulled one back for their first goal versus the Switchbacks since August 2023 in the 59th minute. Bobosi Byaruhanga played a picture-perfect throughball that skidded along the turf through plenty of traffic and eventually found the left foot of Peter Wilson who powered the one-touch shot into the back of the net to bring the contest back within reach at 2-1.
The goal powered a surge of energy from the Roots, who began to tilt the field in their favor, hustling for loose balls and making good runs that nearly led to an equalizer on a number of occasions.
But just as swiftly as the momentum shifted in Oakland’s favor, the Switchbacks were able to halt it, slowing the game down and frustrating the Roots’ attack.
A few late scoring chances nearly saw Oakland salvage a point, but the final whistle blew before they could accomplish that goal.
The Roots will now head on the road for a crucial two-game stretch, first up I-80 to play NorCal rivals Sacramento Republic FC on August 16, and then on to Kentucky for a battle with Lexington SC on August 23.
Talking with the Head Coach
After the game, Roots’ Head Coach Benny Feilhaber was asked to share his overall thoughts on the result and the performance. (See video.)
“It’s always frustrating when you lose, especially at home and against a team that I think we’re quite obviously competing for a playoff spot,” Feilhaber said. “I think the guys are disappointed. Obviously, the staff is disappointed as well.”
Noting that it’s always tough to come back after a break and be clicking, the coach said, “I think we had enough of the game in the first half to at least get to halftime at zeros, if not stick one in the back of the net ourselves before they went up.”
That wasn’t how it turned out… “It’s time to get back on the training field on Monday and get back to work for another game, obviously a big one against Sacramento next weekend,” Feilhaber said.
The coach was then asked what he thinks is missing when the Roots get the ball in good areas and create a lot of shots, but just can’t put them all away.
“I’d like to see us be a little bit more composed in front of their box,” Feilhaber said. “I wouldn’t even say final third. I’d even say further closer to the goal, right? We haven’t scored a ton of goals, and when you don’t score a ton of goals, I think you almost view every opportunity that you get close as like this ultimate chance. And so your eyes almost get too big. I think there were moments like that where we maybe rushed the shot, there’s maybe an extra pass available, or the cross doesn’t necessarily come to the right player.
“…I would love for us to get a little bit cleaner, more composed, and change a 20-30% chance to score into maybe an extra pass that gets you maybe a 50-60% chance to score, right? …But I would say that in the first half, it would have been nice, obviously, to go up 1-0. …And we had some moments where I think we could have.”
Summary
Scoring:
- COS: Jonas Fjeldberg 43’
- COS: Quentin Huerman 49’
- OAK: Peter Wilson 59’
Discipline:
- COS: Akeem Ward 30’ (yellow card)
- OAK: Gagi Margvelashvili 33’ (yellow card)
- COS: Markhus LaCroix 67’ (yellow card)
- COS: Adam Beaudry 68’ (yellow card)
- COS: Zachary Zandi 69’ (yellow card)
- OAK: Kai Greene 81’ (yellow card)
- OAK: Panos Armenakas 90’+ (yellow card)
Oakland Roots SC
Lineup: Kendall Mcintosh, Julian Bravo, Gagi Margvelashvili (Jürgen Damm), Daniel Gomez (EJ Johnson), Peter Wilson, Panos Armenakas, Tyler Gibson (Bobosi Byaruhanga), Neveal Hackshaw, Morey Doner, Kai Greene, Ali Elmasnaouy (Faysal Bettache)
Unused subs: Camden Riley, Wolfgang Prentice, Raphael Spiegel, Thomas Camier
Line: Shots: 17 | Shots On Goal: 2 | Corner Kicks: 5 | Fouls: 21 | Offside: 3
Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC
Lineup: Akeem Ward (Markhus LaCroix), Matthew Mahoney, Jonas Fjeldberg (Levonte Johnson), Zachary Zandi (Brennan Creek), Quentin Huerman, Steven Echevarria, Adam Beaudry, Aidan Rocha, Marco Micaletto (Tyler Clegg), Garven Metusala, Juan Tejada
Unused subs: Christian Herrera, Isaiah Foster, Charles Adams
Line: Shots: 7 | Shots On Goal: 2 | Corner Kicks: 1 | Fouls: 21 | Offside: 1
