Oakland Roots and Charleston Battery played to a 1-1 tie on Saturday, March 16 at Pioneer Stadium thanks to a second-half goal by 18-year-old Project 51O callup Ilya Alekseev–becoming the youngest player to score in the organization’s five-year history. Roots had to play shorthanded with much of its starting lineup out due to an apparent non-covid illness that spread through the entire organization.
It meant Roots had to go forward without two of three centers backs with Gagi Margvelashvili and Camden Riley, along with our previous RootsBlog Man of the Match Irakoze Donasiyano and surging left back Baboucarr Njie. As a result, Napo Matsoso, Justin Rasmussen, and Alekseev entering the starting lineup with limited depth on the bench.
“We had four guys out sick for the game and Lindo [Mfeka] wasn’t available as well. We talked about it, we’re going to need everyone this season. With injuries and the international windows, people are going to have to step up. We’re just looking for quality and players understanding what we’re doing. We had players making their debut tonight and contributing, and that’s awesome to see. These guys played minutes in the preseason as well, so I think that preparation helped us tonight,” coach Noah Delgado said.
Making matters worse, Matsoso had to be subbed out of the match in the 12th minute due to an injury, forcing Delgado to use an unplanned sub in Miche-Naider Chéry. Then. Bryan Tamacas exited to start the second half, bringing on another teen in Etsgar Cruz.
Neveal Hackshaw rotated to the right-side center back spot in the second half when Tamacas went out, who was already falling back from right wingback to fill in for Riley.
“As a coach, you just try to prepare for situations that might happen. You try to prepare as much as you can, but I didn’t think we’d lose Napo in minute 12, and we kept a similar formation. Tamacas was experiencing a little muscular tightness and didn’t want to risk it for him, so I pulled him off and put Hack at right-side center back. I thought he did well, we did more building out in the second half,” Delgado said.
Alekseev wasn’t even aware he was playing when arriving to Pioneer Stadium.
“I wasn’t expecting to play, actually. They called me up at the last second. I got the butterflies in my stomach, but it was good. I used it as fuel and once I stepped on the field, all of that nervousness went away,” he said.
Alekseev’s goal in the 49th minute was a product of good interplay between the group, where Chéry dumped a pass back to Memo Diaz, who put it on a platter for Ilya at the far post. It was the product of a strategy Delgado deployed coming out of the break.
“We were talking about getting our wide-backs up higher in the second half after being too deep or in between. Memo with a great service and Ilya with a clinical professional finish,” said Delgado.
Here are our talking points coming out of Saturday.
Ilya Alekseev and Project 51O
The pipeline from Project 51O to Oakland Roots was on full display Saturday with Thomas Camier making his professional debut as well, while Cruz earned critical minutes in the second half. For Alekseev, an 18-year-old from Pleasanton, it lead to the marquee moment of his early professional career.
Roots developing through its academy isn’t an approach often seen in the USL Championship, but has potential to pay dividends once each player enters their early 20s.
“Ilya came in, Etsgar is a young professional getting minutes, Thomas making his debut as well tonight. That’s a credit to the organization, there’s a plan of building up, building the youth, building local, and now we’re seeing profits of young players contributing in the USL,” Delgado said.
Alekseev was all smiles during his interview.
“I’m electric man, it’s huge. Especially because it’s my first game here, the atmosphere is electric. I’m buzzing right now, I don’t even have the words to explain it,” Alekseev said. “We were on the break, I saw Memo making the run and I know Memo wants to cross it, so I sprinted as hard as I could to the back post just like in training to get my head on it.”
Ilya and the Project 51O players all got time during the preseason ramp up, including Alekseev finding the back of the net in their finale against Cal.
“Everyone on the team welcomed me. I feel like I’m not just the young guy, I actually feel like I’m a part of the team. It feels like I’m with a family,” Alekseev said. “Everyone helped me to this point; Memo, Johnny, they all make me feel like I’m part of the team in training. The coaches and staff have all been really helpful through the whole process.”
Ilya, Cruz, Camier, Project 51O striker Luis Saldaña, and former Project 51O midfielder Danny Gomez each represent the organization’s pipeline from its academy. If any players can emerge as starters or eventually be sold to a higher level, it will be a true feather in the cap of technical director Jordan Ferrell.
Memo Diaz’s bullseye perfection
Memo Diaz really deserved a shoutout for our RootsBlog Man of the Match for his pinpoint cross to Alekseev for the tying goal. While the youngster was celebrating, he looked to Diaz and mimicked throwing a dart. It was truly a perfect bullseye.
On Saturday, Diaz completed 10 of 19 passes and his only cross attempt, to go along with five of seven tackles won, four interceptions, six recoveries, won 12 duels, and 11 of 15 ground duels.
Although Diaz starts the season behind Njie at LWB and Tamacas at RWB, he’s going to continue earning critical minutes and a substitute at both positions. Tamacas missed 11 matches last season and will undoubtedly continue missing time as El Salvador’s captain, including the upcoming match. Diaz’s crossing ability will continue being a focal point going forward.
Cedeño, Chéry, and the #9 role
It didn’t last long because of Matsoso’s injury, but Jeciel Cedeño started up top alongside Johnny Rodriguez instead of Chéry–which was how the 2-1 win over Indy Eleven ended.
Perhaps it’s a move Delgado prefers, or its just a testament to the coach continuing his opponent-dependent approach. Delgado pointed out that they still see a role in the attack for Trayvone Reid, along with Lindo Mfeka when he’s back from injury.
“Yeah, it’s a mix. We’ve got to get Trayvone in the mix and Miche in the mix, Lindo’s in there too. What we had tonight with Cedeño I thought could give us some possession, and then 12 minutes in the plan changed,” Delgado said.
Chéry played for 69 minutes before making way for Reid in the 81st on Saturday, while he also exited at halftime of the season-opening win over Indy. So far, it’s currently unclear if Chéry is capable of playing 90 minutes. If having a ball-playing striker in Roots’ 3-5-2 is Delgado’s preference, it’ll be interesting to see how he proceeds at the position.
It wasn’t pretty, but a point is a point
It wasn’t a pretty game, but Oakland Roots will happily take a point given all the circumstances involved. Good teams find ways to get results out of ugly situations, and if Roots want to be a contender in the Western Conference, they’ll need to continue grinding out results.
“We know they are a strong team, they’re good on both sides of the ball. For us, we wanted to make the field as big as possible and as wide as possible, getting our wingbacks higher with some counter movement with their forwards,” Delgado said.
Charleston nearly had 70 percent of possession on Saturday, cranking out 21 shots with seven on target compared to Roots’ six shots and two on target. Battery also piled on nine corners while Oakland never gained a single chance.
From a development perspective for Roots’ starting lineup, it feels like a squandered day due to the illness situation. The statistical result isn’t a representation of what Delgado wants to accomplish.
“We still need to get better on the attacking side of the ball. We usually get solid defensively first and then attacking comes as the season goes. It’s just getting more continuity with the team and just keep building. I think the team spirit is pretty high though and you can see a very united, hungry team,” Delgado said.
Tamacas, Koze, Hackshaw off for international duty
Now going on the road to Phoenix, Roots will be without three key players in Tamacas, Hackshaw, and Donasiyano–each going off with their national teams. El Salvador has three games through March 26, Hackshaw plays with Trinidad & Tobago on March 23, while Burundi has two friendlies, March 22-25.
Without Tamacas, Diaz will be expected to slot into the right wingback spot, allowing him to use his favored right foot.
As for the midfield spot, Roots won’t have two of their preferred midfield options in Hackshaw or Koze. If Napo is still hurt, the midfield will be a big hurdle. It almost assures Gomez will start in one of the midfield spots, while its a true tossup if Matsoso is unable to play. Perhaps Cruz can line up in the midfield, or 51O callups Javi Bedolla-Vera and Keiran Bracken Serra.