Oakland Roots were virtually eliminated from playoff contention in 2025 after a 2-2 tie with the last place Las Vegas Lights at Cashman Field on Saturday night.
Roots haven’t won a match since defeating Monterey Bay FC on August 30. In five of the seven matches since then, Oakland has taken the lead, only to give up one or more goals to enable their opponent to earn a result.
But this time, they did it twice.
Wilson Continues His Hot Streak in the First Half
Peter Wilson opened the scoring in the 29th minute with his 15th goal of the season, including 12 goals in his last 11 appearances. Wilson is now in second place in the USL Championship’s scoring race.
The play was set up by Panos Armenakas, who dribbled the ball to midfield and fed the ball to Danny Trejo as he made his run down the left side. Trejo deked a Las Vegas defender, then approached the 6 yard box and crossed the ball to an unmarked Wilson, who deflected the ball into the net.
But Armenakas also made a crucial mistake that led to Las Vegas’s goal less than two minutes later, taking down Vaughn Covil from behind.
Giorgio Probo took the subsequent free kick, which bounced around a crowd of players in the box. Former Roots forward Johnny Rodriguez ended up with the loose ball at the edge of the penalty area. His shot took a wicked deflection off of Gagi Margvelashvili and into the net.
Oakland Hunts for Goals in the Second Half
As the second half began, Coach Benny Feilhaber took Armenakas out of the game, replacing him with Wolfgang Prentice.
In the 50th minute, Faysal Bettache hit the post on a free kick from just outside the penalty area.
Oakland took the lead in the 56th minute, as four Oakland players rushed into a counter attack, past a pair of Vegas defenders. Bettache dished the ball off to Trejo, who waited for goalkeeper Raiko Arozarena to commit himself, then lifted a shot that kissed the crossbar and sailed into the open net.
Feilhaber hoped to ensure victory by making a pair of defensive-oriented substitutions, with Kai Greene replacing Faysal Bettache, and Morey Doner replacing Ali Elmasnaouy.
But disaster struck again in the 87th minute. Giorgio Probo sent a pass to Rodriguez waiting at the edge of the box. Rodriguez chest trapped the ball to Stefan Stojanovic, who lobbed it into the top corner of the net
Oakland had one final chance to get the three points in the fourth minute of stoppage time, but Ilya Alekseev’s shot from close range was saved by Las Vegas defender Anthony Herbert.
Next Matches
Roots have one remaining regular season road match when they take on New Mexico United next Sunday, October 19th at 2 PM PT.
They close out the regular season hosting Lexington FC at the Oakland Coliseum on Saturday October 25 at 7 PM.
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