Oakland Roots struggled in their second fixture of the 2026 Prinx Tires USL Cup on Saturday night, losing 1-nil to Sacramento Republic, dropping them to 0-1-1 in the group stage and keeping them at one point. Republic leads Group 1 with six points, AC Boise beat Monterey 4-3 to give them five, while Las Vegas Lights and Spokane Velocity play on Sunday.
Oakland had its moments in transition and held 54 percent of possession, but just couldn’t make many plays in the box. Roots finished with just two of five shot attempts on target, to go along with nine touches inside the opponent’s penalty area.
“We made a handful of changes to the lineup to continue to give guys minutes. I thought in the first half, we had a lot of control in possession, but we weren’t able to get in behind enough. That’s why we made a change to Wolfy and Peter, because we felt like there was a lot of space to be had. We just lacked a little bit of the final execution. I think we controlled a lot of the game, but we needed to be more decisive and have more composure,” coach Ryan Martin said
Sacramento broke the deadlock in the 56th minute when Mayele Malango took a good touch in the top left corner of the Oakland box to shake a defender before curling a shot to the far post for the goal. It started with Pep Casas feeding the ball out left to Malango, who walked the ball toward Tyler Gibson before darting to the inside for his shot.
Perhaps Roots’ best chance of the game came at the very end at 90+3′ with just seconds left to play. Tommy McCabe sent a long ball across the field to Jesus de Vicent in the box, laying the ball off to Danny Trejo on his first touch. Trejo took one touch with his right foot before following through with his left, launching a laser that crashed off the right post.
Oakland returns to its league schedule on May 23, visiting Orange County SC. Roots will have the opportunity to spoil OCSC’s party at Santa Ana Stadium, where the home side looks to sell a record attendance for the club.
More Sacramento to come
Oakland was able to maintain possession for most of the night, while Sacramento focused on a counterpress in a compact formation. Saturday’s clash felt like a solid precursor to what will be two critical USL Championship matches between Oakland Roots and Sacramento Republic.
With Roots holding 16 points on the league table to the Republic’s 13, their July 25 match at the Coliseum will undoubtedly shape the Western Conference towards the season-finale battle in Sac on October 24. When asked about things they can pull going into their July 25 league contest, Martin said they got a good glimpse at how their rivals may approach them.
“It was good to see how they play and how they approach us. We got a preview of them when we play in a couple of months,” Martin said. “For us, it was a good opportunity to have control and understand where the spaces are. We’ll see how Sacramento grows throughout the season, but at least we have a picture of how compact they were, where the space is, and how to exploit it.”
Charlie Wachs debut
Making his Oakland Roots debut was Charlie Wachs, just days after signing an Academy contract. Wachs becomes among the youngest players to ever appear for Roots, joining the swath of young talent the club has called up from Project 51O.
“It means the world to me. I’ve dreamt of this moment since I could think about that sport when my dad and brother introduced it to me,” Wachs said. “I felt so much support. It was unlucky to not get the win, but I’m proud of the boys. We have a game next week, so we have to move on to that one.”
Charlie joins an exclusive club of Project 51O callups to earn minutes with the first team, joining the likes of Ali Elmasnaouy, Ilya Alekseev, Etsgar Cruz, Javi Bedolla-Vera, Kieran Bracken-Serra, and his older brother, Eli Wachs.
“My family does everything for me, I wouldn’t be here without them,” Wachs said. “My brother is my biggest hero. I do it for him, definitely, because he pushes me the most. He’s a great player and a great influence to have. I wish we could’ve played together, but it’s great to have that connection through the club.”
Martin said that Wachs was someone Project 51O head coach David Cordova Marroquin and director of player personnel Nana Attakora recommended as someone to keep an eye on.
“He’s one of the people David and Nana have been speaking highly about for the past couple of months. So when we had guys out, I asked to see him, and I thought we should get him into training to see what he really looks like,” Martin said.
Martin has a lot of talent in developing players from their teenage years at D.C. United’s academy and Loudoun, making mention of former Loudoun midfielder Moses Nyeman, New England Revolution winger Griffin Yow, and VfL Wolfsburg winger Kevin Paradese.
“I’ve had a chance to work with Moses Nyeman at that age, Griffin Yow, and Kevin Paradese, so I’ve seen high-potential players at his age,” Martin said.
One common piece of Martin’s practices is getting input from players about things they could possibly make changes to. He described that the teenager from Bishop O’Dowd was someone he was surprised to see speak up in a strong way.
“We brought the team together after his first session, and I always ask for thoughts from players on how to make things better. He was the first one to say something, and it was well articulated, which I’ve never seen a 16-year-old kid that confident and able to understand the game at a high level. I was incredibly impressed with that,” Martin said.
Martin went on to call Wachs a “soccer junkie,” saying he hasn’t been as excited about a young player since Abdellatif Aboukoura, who scored 12 goals and two assists at Loudoun last season.
“I’m excited to see where he goes. We’re going to be patient with him, we’ll maximize his minutes with 51O, and he’ll be training with us full-time when he finishes high school for the summer. I envision him having a successful career based on the type of kid he is. He’s a soccer junkie, he’s cerebral, and figures out the game with his mind. I haven’t been this excited about a player since Abdellatif Aboukoura at Loudoun,” Matin said.
As for people who Wachs molds his game after, the teenager responded: “Messi is the best. Guys like Joshua Kimmich and Alexis Mac Allister. Sebastian Berhalter is a great one for me because he’s American. I just love the game so much, I don’t go a minute without thinking of playing. I breathe footie. I’m definitely going to be involved with it for the rest of my life,” Wachs said.
Wachs has grown accustomed to playing against older players throughout his life. And with Oakland Roots, he’ll have an opportunity to do it on a consistent basis.
“I’ve been playing older players my whole life. Ever since my brother and I were at Bay Oaks, training 4-5 years up made me better, not necessarily with my feet, but with my mentality. When I got to Project 51O, I was one of the youngest on the team, and it was the same thing. The coaching staff has done a great job at creating a culture of unifying players despite the age gap,” Wachs said.
Injury updates: Bobosi, Fisher, Bravo
Bobosi Byaruhanga was held out of the 20-man gameday roster after leaving the previous match in the 55th minute. As Martin describes, although he picked up a knock on May 9 against El Paso, their plan was to have him rest against Sacramento.
“He had a little bit of a knock, but it was more of a scheduled rest with Bobosi. From AFCON all the way up to now, he’s been carrying a lot of minutes and traveling a lot. We saw his numbers decline the last few weeks physically, so it was coming anyway,” Martin said.
Mark Fisher has also been out since March 21, and it remains unclear how close he is to getting back.
“Mark Fisher is making progress, but still a ways away,” Martin said.
Julian Bravo, meanwhile, was back on the subs list but never saw the field. It marked his first time being active since suffering an injury on April 18.
“Julian Brabo was back in the group tonight and available, for sure, but we went with Chuck [Charlie Wachs] instead to get him his debut,” Martin said.
Lost in the shuffle was David Garcia, who was also injured on April 18 against Tulsa. We’ll get an update on Garcia in our next media availability.
Starting Lineups
- Oakland Roots
Some notable changes: Peter Wilson, Wolfgang Prentice, Raphael Spiegel, and Bobosi Byaruhanga are getting rest. With that, Jackson Kiil gets the nod at striker, Kendall McIntosh in goal, while Ali Elmasnaouy and Tommy McCabe start in the midfield. Tucker Lepley also starts at RW. Florian Valot on the left, and Faysal Bettache central. The back line looks like Tyler Gibson and Keegan Tingey in the fullback roles, while Michael Edwards and Neveal Hackshaw start at center back.
- Sacramento Republic
Timeline
Lepley on th right, Florian on the left, Faysal central.
Florian goes for glory and slips as he’s trying to catch Vitiello off his line – 14′
Roots try to head a ball centrally, claimed by Vitiello – 17′
Roots break toward the box again, Ali sends it wide, ball to Viteillo – 18′
Lots of crosses going to the GK – 19′
Shot blocked by Rodriuguez – 19′
Sac corner – 20′
Play short, ball almost finds Ajago in front of the net for a header
Sac corner – 26′
Eventually leads
to a shot by Benitez goes wide
Tepley gets a ball into the box but elects to pass up a shot – 30′
Would’ve liked to see him take it on the first touch.
Free kick about 10 yards across midfield – 42′
First half notes:
Stalemate kind of half, really no clear chances for either side. Sacramento trying to counter, forcing lots of long crosses into the box. Oakland with nearly 60% of the ball, but just one shot and two touches in the opponent’s box. Sac with 7 shots, 1 on target, 11 touches in the box.
Wolfgang on for Ali – 46′
Peter Wilson on for Jackson Kiil
Lepley playing more centrally
Melango sails a shoy = 48′
Corner – 51′
foul on Roots
Malango scores a banger like Lepley last week – 56′
Bent a shot from the left side of the box to the far post.
De Vicente on for Bettache – 59′
Valot longshot on target – 61′
Roots first attempt on target
Free kick – 62′
Play down left side to Wolfy, tries to cross it in to Valot. He takes a slo shot through contact – 68′
Trejo on for Valot – 73′
Charlie Wachs checks in for Edards- 82′
Becomes youngest player to get minutes in team history.
Good job by McIntosh to rush off his line – 86′
Sac shot trails wide – 90+2′
Trejo shot hits the post – 90+3′
Bobby fucking hates Sac