Roots fans it’s game day! Roots host FC Tulsa at the iconic Oakland Coliseum at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 18 for Women’s Empowerment Night. You should be there! I think if you’re a member it’s also the night to pick up your collectible model of the iconic Oakland Coliseum, but looking that up seems like a lot of effort.
Continuing a now semi-regular feature, I have attmpted to draw the FC Tulsa badge from memory without consulting an image. Please note, I am very likely the worst artist you’ve ever met.
Just a quick aside, this is actually one of my favorite photoshops ever, even if there’s no obvious reason why the Tulsa bird should be John Travolta from Saturday Night Fever:
Roots’ Form
It’s possible I’ve never been happier with a Roots draw.
The first goal was ugly. I really think McIntosh should’ve done better. I don’t think you should be spilling a ball hit from that distance, even if it was hit with decent pace.
Roots’ equalizer was a fun little own goal. I am generally of the opinion that own goals should not be counted as a specific stat, at least not attributed to a specific player. Without checking any data to back this up, it seems to me that most own goals come from one of two sources: (1) good play by an attacking team that forces a defender to try to do something to stop a clear goal; or (2) some nonsense that results from a lapse of concentration (backwards pass to the keeper without seeing that the keeper is elsewhere so the ball rolls into the net) or terrible luck (ball goes off the crossbar, off the back of Emi Martinez’s head, and into the goal). Neither of these really seem to make much sense to credit against the specific player. Anyway, this was definitely in the first category. The defender probably should have done nothing since he was so close to his own net and running full speed, but he also surely knew where Jacquesson was and figured Jacquesson had something like an 85% chance of finishing that into the open net. So he took his chances on getting it over his own goal, which was a mistake, but an understandable one. Anyway, it bums me out that neither Wolfgang nor Jacquesson get credit for creating that goal together. And Wolfgang surely deserved it. Garcia saw Wolfgang lined up on the Tampa Bay right back’s shoulder and played the ball into space. Garcia was rewarded with Wolfgang turning that right back and leaving him behind. Wolfgang laced his pass through the box, too far out and with too much pace for the keeper to come out for it or get in position to try to stop a shot.
Tampa Bay went ahead right at the end of the first half. That same right back [I should just look this up, please hold]
…
Dion Acoff got one back breaking off of Julian Bravo and delivering a great cross that looked like it missed everyone until Russell Ciceroni charged through the box, past a frozen Gibson, and tapped it in. Bravo probably could have played Acoff a little closer. A different keeper may have been able to come out and pluck that out of the air (not sure, though, it was pretty high), but I think ultimately Gibson had the biggest error here. I think a consequence of playing a midfielder at right back. And credit to both Acoff and Ciceroni–Roots’ defense could have played better here but this was a great little bit of tactics that Tampa Bay very much deserved a goal for.
In the 49th minute, Roots equalized on a fast break off of a cleared Tampa Bay corner kick. It’s hard to tell who clears it from the tv footage. The ball came into a cluster with two attackers, two defenders, and McIntosh diving in. The ball pops out to a Tampa Bay player around the edge of the 18-yard-box who inadvisably heads the ball backwards, I think in an attempt to recycle possession, but it falls into space where Bettache wins the footrace and, seeing Wolfgang and Jacquesson in a 2-on-2 situation downfield, just boots it. His contact isn’t great–I think he skies it way more than he intends to–so instead of Wolfgang getting a chance for a footrace, it falls about 2/3 of the way towards the Tampa Bay goal with Wolfgang and the Rowdies defender jostling for it. The Rowdies player opts for a header but his jostling has put him too far away, so Wolfgang controls the ball with his left foot by popping it into space behind the defender’s back. Wolfgang then runs onto it having created a couple yards of separation from the defender whose momentum was all wrong. The defender that had been marking Jacquesson tries to cut Wolfgang off diagonally as Wolfgang charges the box and the Rowdies keeper makes a pretty late decision to come out and try to cut down the angle. Jacquesson is wide open across the box but Wolfgang doesn’t have a clear angle at all for a backpass and, to be fair, almost certainly feels like this is his chance to take. He just has time to get a little chip shot off over the keeper and past the defender, and it rolls in for the equalizer.
Tampa Bay had some other chances but Roots deserved the equalizer and deserved to leave Tampa Bay with a point.
FC Tulsa’s Form
Tulsa won the Western Conference in 2025 and are following that up with a rough start to 2026. Tulsa are 1-2-2 with a paltry four goals scored. Three of those goals came in a 3-2 match over Las Vegas Lights. Since that Lights match, they have drawn Phoenix Rising 1-1 and fallen to Orange County 1-0. Tulsa do not have a point on the road this season. Let’s wach the Vegas highlights!
Interesting opening goal from Johnny Rodriguez, in that he picks the ball up from unusually deep and runs through traffic before unleashing a shot that, well, might have been something but it took a deflection that looped up and over the goalkeeper. Good for him.
The goal to watch for is the last one. A first-time effort from Owen Damm in the 82nd to win the game.
Not sure what we learn from all this. Tulsa are possibly better than their record shows. They have some of the same dangerous players that lead them through the playoffs last year. But they aren’t doing a ton and they don’t seem to be producing much on the road so far.
Is the World Better or Worse Since the Last Match
Seems like not worse and maybe better?
(Ed. note: lol)
(2d Ed. note: still bad in some specifically terrible ways, tho)
I wrote the placeholder above and the editorial staff decided to put in real context before this went to “print.” Anyway, as I’ve mentioned before, this bit is wearing on me, I just keep it open in case the good thing happens.
Match Predictions
Bloom
I think after a difficult match against Orange County, a long break, and a difficult road match against Rowdies, Roots are ready to unleash. They have a lot of attacking personnel available and I think we’re going to see it. Tulsa won’t have the wherewithal to punish Roots’ injuries at right back. 2-0 Roots.
Jon
This is a good opportunity for Roots against an FC Tulsa side that is struggling to find the net. Although Gibson went down against Tampa Bay, there’s an inkling it wasn’t overly serious. Still, I think we may see a change in the right back position. Like Luis de Guzman mentioned in his three questions going into Saturday, I feel there’s a good chance we see a change to someone like Jesus de Vicente.
I like Roots chances, and I want to see them push the gas pedal to the floor. 3-nil, Oakland.
Aaron
There are rumors that Gibson’s injury may not be as bad as we feared, but we are still in a place where the Roots find themselves stretched thin, personnel-wise, at the back, while the missing pieces of the attack are returning. The existence of a mid-week fixture means there’ll be some rotation, but regardless this sets up well for the Roots to run out a very attacking lineup. Against Tulsa, I would guess part of the calculation is that their attack is pretty unthreatening, so you can sacrifice some solidity in defense. I’ll be curious to see if Roots feel the need to rotate much in midfield. The McCabe-Byaruhanga pairing is even more critical, and under stress, with a thinned-out back line. Anyway, 2-1 Roots.