After conceding a lead once again this season, this time to Hartford Athletic in a 3-1 loss at the Coliseum on Tuesday, Oakland Roots head coach Benny Feilhaber entered the post-game press conference looking for answers.
“I know it’s probably not the norm here, but I’d love to hear what you guys have to say about the game,” asked Feilhaber to the press gathered in the room as he sat down. “Can have a dialog this time. I mean, I’m curious.”
What was clear was that Feilhaber was attempting to understand how his team had let another golden opportunity slip away to secure crucial points and keep Oakland’s dwindling playoff hopes alive.
The Roots head coach pointed out that since he arrived in Oakland in early June, his team had coughed up fifteen possible points that they could have earned if they had held on to win games where they scored the first goal.
The Roots dominated the first half against an Hartford Athletic team coming off an emotional 1-0 victory over Sacramento Republic last weekend in the USL Leagues Cup final.
Oakland took the lead in the 31st minute after a brilliantly built-up attack led to Camden Riley delivering a delicious cross to Peter Wilson, which he thundered into the net.
With Hartford on the back foot, Wilson had another chance two minutes later but was unable to direct his clean shot on target. And in the 41st minute, Oakland’s Danny Trejo’s shot in the box was saved by Hartford goalie John Berner.
By halftime, Oakland had outshot Hartford 12-0, while controlling sixty-seven percent of the possession and completing almost double the number of passes.
“It was our best first half of soccer since I’ve been here, in my opinion. It was phenomenal,” said Feilhaber. “I mean, I get it, they just played a game, but that is arguably the best team in the league in terms of the run that they’re on. They won a cup, and they went from last place since I’ve been here to they’re in third. They’re the hottest team in the league. Bar none.”
However, despite the Roots’ first-half dominance, they only led 1-0. After a shot on target by Oakland’s Aly Elmasnouy in the 53rd minute was saved, Hartford began to assert control over the game in the second half thanks to a set-piece goal.
In the 56th minute, Athletic defender Josh Belluz headed home a corner kick to tie the game up 1-1. Then, eight minutes later, the Roots turned the ball over at midfield, which led to a quick counterattack by Hartford. The Athletic’s Jack Panayotou pass sprung open second-half substitute Kyle Edwards, who quickly placed his shot past diving Oakland goalkeeper Raphael Spiegel, and gave the visitors a 2-1 advantage.
“Now, why does the second half lead to what it leads to? Right?” Feilhaber asked in the postgame presser, “Look, at the end of the day, I guarantee you none of us in this room, including me, have the answers, or else I would have already done it, and then you guys would be in my spot if you guys had the answer. I think that there are a lot of things that can disrupt our team, and the reason why is, it’s very simple, it’s because our team is not good enough to play as well as we did for 45 minutes, for 90 minutes every single weekend.”
Oakland upped their attack through the remainder of the game and had several half-chances to equalize. However, Athletic tagged on an insurance goal deep in injury time from Beverly Makangila for the final 3-1 scoreline.
With the loss, the Roots’ playoff chances now hang by a thread. They sit six points behind eighth-place Phoenix Rising with three games to go.
“This league is filled with parity, and at the end of the day, you’ve got to not only be good when you’re good, you’ve got to be good when you’re bad,” said Feilhaber. “And by that I mean not conceding goals, winning games, and right now we’re not there, unfortunately.”
Despite the loss and slim chances of making the USL playoffs, Feilhaber attempted to put a positive spin on what he and the team have accomplished since he took over the head coaching role, and expressed his hope to continue leading the team in the final three games and possibly into next season.
“I give them a lot of credit for what they’ve done today, but also I hope it doesn’t get lost in the mix the way that this team and the players on this team have started to look like a completely different squad from the time that I came in here,” said Feilhaber. “And I think that’s incredibly important for the players to realize, and I hope for you guys that send that message out to fans and people that follow the team to understand that that should be something very positive about how these guys have understood what we’ve tried to do here as a coaching staff.”
Oakland will look to quickly rebound and secure three points on the road this weekend against last-place Las Vegas Lights on Saturday at 7:30 pm.
