Oakland Roots took the lead through Johnny Rodriguez, who netted his 11th goal of the season off a rebound to put his side up 1-0 against the Las Vegas Lights.
Vegas equalized in the 12th minute after a quick restart led to a cross, which deflected off Oakland’s captain, Neveal Hackshaw, resulting in an own goal, leveling the game at 1-1.
Las Vegas forced Oakland Roots keeper Paul Blanchette into multiple huge saves to keep the game at 1-1 headed into the halftime break.
Oakland Roots scored against the run of play when Luis Sinisterra turned quickly to find the net, giving the visitors a 2-1 lead with half an hour left in the game.
Johnny Rodriguez doubled Oakland’s lead when Irakoze Donasiyano found the team’s leading goal scorer for his 12th of the year, giving Roots a commanding 3-1 advantage.
Las Vegas pulled one back with a long range strike from Valentin Noël to make it 3-2 in stoppage time.
With the win, Oakland Roots clinched a playoff spot with one week remaining in the season, securing their berth in the postseason for the third time in four seasons.
The squad will now return home for their final regular season match versus Birmingham Legion FC on Saturday, Oct. 26th.
Oakland Roots SC vs Las Vegas Lights
USL Championship | October 19, 2024
Venue: Cashman Field, Las Vegas, Nevada
Kickoff: 7:30 PM PT
Weather: 72 degrees, sunny
SCORELINE:
LV: 2
OAK: 3
SCORING SUMMARY:
OAK: Johnny Rodriguez 3’
LV: Neveal Hacksaw (own goal) 12’
OAK: Luis Sinisterra 61’
OAK: Johnny Rodriguez 72’
LV: Valentin Noël 90+’
DISCIPLINE SUMMARY:
OAK: Baboucarr Njie (yellow) 36’
OAK: Memo Diaz (yellow) 89’
OAK: Irakoze Donasiyano (yellow) 90+’
OAKLAND ROOTS LINEUP: Paul Blanchette, Justin Rasmussen (Trayvone Reid), Neveal Hackshaw, Gagi Margvelashvili, Memo Diaz, Camden Riley, Rafael Baca (Irakoze Donasiyano), Baboucarr Njie, Daniel Gomez (Niall Logue), Jose Luis Sinisterra (Ilya Alekseev), Johnny Rodriguez (Miche-Naider Chéry)
Unused subs: Dom Dwyer, Tim Syrel
Shots: 13 | Shots On Goal: 5 | Corner Kicks: 7 | Fouls: 17 | Offside: 0 |
LAS VEGAS LIGHTS FC LINEUP: George Marks, Grayson Doody, Maliek Howell (Charlie Adams), Joe Hafferty, Shawn Smart, J.C. Ngando (Andre Fortune), Ousman Jabang, Coleman Gannon (Khori Bennett), Valentin Noël, Christian Pinzón (Vaughn Covil), Solomon Asante (Joe Gyau)
Unused subs: Raiko Arozarena, Elias Gärtig,All Gue, Alexander Romero
Shots: 11 | Shots On Goal: 3 | Corner Kicks: 7 | Fouls: 7 | Offside: 1 |
