Oakland Roots are a soccer club that was recently established back in 2018 by Oakland natives. In a span of 3 years, Oakland, California now have a professional soccer team playing the second-level of U.S. soccer. In their first season in the USL Championship, Oakland Roots have surprised many with an impressive season so far.

The Roots came into Saturday’s game against Orange County SC on 34 points, only two points off a playoff spot. This was a must win game for the Oakland team to stay on pace with LA Galaxy II and Orange County SC. Unfortunately, the Roots fell to a narrow 0-1 loss at home. Unlucky positioning by Oakland goalkeeper, Paul Blanchette gave Orange County attacker Ben Mines the chance to put the visitors up. Blanchette quickly turned from the hero to the villain as he saved a penalty earlier in the game.

The Roots currently sit in 5th place in the Western Conference with 34 points. With three games to go, they are still in the playoff hunt. But what exactly do they need to get in the playoffs?

What Do The Roots Need?

As things stand, Oakland will need a couple of results to go their way. They will first off need to overtake LA Galaxy II, who currently sit in 4th place with 39 points. To do this, the Roots will need to win the rest of their games and hope LA Galaxy II don’t make more than 3 points in the last 3 matchdays.

The Bay Area team will have to first get a result away versus Tacoma Defiance this Wednesday October 20th, while hoping the Galaxy fails to beat Charleston Battery away. On Sunday October 24th, the Roots will have to pull off in upset in beating San Diego Loyal at San Diego. This will be their toughest test as the Loyal currently sit in second of the Western Conference. Additionally, they will have to hope that the Galaxy fails to win on the road again, this time against the Tacoma Defiance as well.

If things go as planned, Oakland Roots will sit on the final matchday at 40 points while LA Galaxy II will have between 39 to 41 points. Oakland will close out their season at home on October 30th against Sporting K.C. II. On the other hand, the LA Galaxy’s B team will play Orange County SC at home for a Southern California clash.

Oakland Roots will have a very hard task to pull off a last-minute playoff qualification. If there’s anyone who should be optimistic it should be the Roots family themselves. No one thought that they would be performing this well in their debut season in the USL Championship. The Roots have already executed upsets like beating both San Diego Loyal and Phoenix Rising 2-1 and 3-1 respectively. Nevertheless, this Oakland team looks promising, and who knows? With the likes of Marshawn Lynch in the ownership group, we could see the Roots in the MLS in the near future.

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