Oakland Roots kept itself in the playoff hunt by gaining a point in its 0-0 draw with Colorado Springs on Saturday night. Although they dropped one position in the standings down to 10th place, they gained a point on the bottom two playoff spots, now five points back of seventh-place Orange county and four points behind eighth-place San Antonio FC.
Roots didn’t have much offensive activity throughout the match, finishing with just one of five shots on target and five touches inside the box. They had to withstand a lot of pressure with the home side logging 18 shots and 31 touches in the box, but struggled to hit the mark with just four attempts on target.
Colorado Springs had the much better of chances. Jonas Fjeldberg scuffed a chance wide after receiving a long pass in the box in the 32nd minute, while Kendall McIntosh had a huge diving save in the 50th minute. 11 minutes later, McIntosh pushed a shot from distance by Juan Tejada over the crossbar. Then in the 64th, ejada had a free header also miss wide.
Oakland looks to regain their offense in their final Coliseum appearance on Saturday, October 10 against San Antonio, in which will be a critical match toward their postseason livelihood.
Here are our talking points from Saturday night.
The Playoff Chase
It wasn’t pretty, elegant, or exciting match to watch for Oakland fans. But, a point is a point, and Roots gained ground on two teams above them with three matches to play.
With San Antonio (Oct. 10), FC Tulsa (Oct. 17), and Sacramento (Oct. 24) remaining, Roots arguably need to take all three games or at least two wins and a draw. All nine points would give Oakland 43 points, while the latter scenario gives 41 and two wins puts them at 40.
Looking ahead straight to San Antonio, October 10 may be the most important match of the season with an opportunity to climb one point back of the eighth-place side.
After visiting Oakland, San Antonio will host third-place New Mexico United before closing the regular season at home against Orange County SC. OCSC, meanwhile, visits first-place El Paso, hosts 11th-place Phoenix, and visits San Antonio.
Ideally, both Orange County and San Antonio take just one point in their remaining three matches by tying with each other in the season-finale. This would give OC 40 points and SAFC 39. If Roots could catapult them both to finish the season in seventh-place, it would set up a tantalizing first-round of the playoff by visiting second-place Sacramento.
Ninth-place Las Vegas will also need to be watched. They have the most favorable end to the season against Phoenix, fourth-place Lexington, and late-place Monterey. The Lights will be the favorites against PHX and MB, meaning six points will spit them out with 42. Oakland will need one of those underdog sides, plus Lexington, to get the job done.
Defense continues playing well
This final stretch of the season certainly has shades of 2021, when Roots shorred up its defense before gaining a final playoff spot. Oakland will certainly welcome a revisit from 2021, when they upset top-seed El Paso Locomotive in the first round of the playoffs.
The result means Oakland are now unbeaten in their last three matches without any goals allowed and seven points to their credit during the span.
Defense has been the trend since August for Roots as they inch toward a playoff seed. If they were to take away its disastrous 4-1 loss to Lexington on September 12, they have allowed just four goals over a nine=match span. They issue is offense, with just seven goals during the same stretch, including three of them on Phoenix.
Roots have an opportunity to continue its strong defense against San Antonio, who’s attack has been sputtering since September. SAFC has scored just one goal in their last five USL Championship matches, which was a 2-1 loss to Colorado Springs on September 11. They’ve gone scoreless over their last three, including 0-0 ties against Sacramento and Tampa Bay, along with losing 1-nil to Las Vegas last night.
One last show at the Coli
Farewell, old friend. It was fun, I guess.
For better, or for worse, Oakland Roots host their final game at the Coliseum on October 10 against San Antonio. It’s been a tumultuous time at the site, on and off the pitch, but a win on Saturday night will send some renewed life into the roster and fans going into the final two matches.
In 29 league matches at the Coliseum going back to 2025, Roots have won just eight of them, including four in both 2025 and 2026. Oakland finished with 15 points at home last year, and currently have picked up 17 points at the Coliseum in 2026. In fact, Roots have never won more than seven matches in a season at home going back to its USLC inception in 2021.
The Roots’ roster knows things haven’t been great at home, and want to close things at the Coliseum on a high note.
“It’s a historical place to be and it’s awesome to be a part of it,” Tyler Gibson said following their win over Phoenix Rising. “We haven’t made it the fortress that it should’ve been, but I think we’re going to turn that around in this last game. That’s what I’m most disappointed in, that we haven’t made it the toughest place for people to come… If we can do that [against San Antonio], that will be a good way to remember it.”
Things never lived up to the hype from the 2025 home opener at the Coliseum with attendance falling off a cliff from then. There are tons of factors as to why that may have happened; like parking prices coupled with just two hours of tailgating time, along with concession prices.
But, the lack of sustained success also undoubtedly has played a factor in the organization’s inconsistent ability to sell tickets. That responsibility, inherently, is Roots’ decision-making board’s to bare after failing to build a winning squad in 2025 when they decided to re-hire Gavin Glinton ahead of an ultra-important season.
They finally took a long-term approach by hiring Ryan Martin for 2026, but building excitment is a multi-year process. If Oakland’s board expected Martin’s initial hiring to provide a boost to attendance over a short-term span, they were sorely mistaken. It’s an indication of the learning they still need to do.
Starting Lineups
- Oakland Roots
Ryan Martin is running it back; no changes for Oakland Roots from last week’s game. Peter Wilson is available but is on the bench, meaning it’s a front line of Bertin Jacquesson, Danny Trejo, and Wolfgang Prentice from left to right. Tyler Gibson gets the nod at CM opposite Bobosi after a highly productive game against Phoenix. Jesus de Vicente and Mark Fisher, once again, make the fullback combination alongside CBs David Garcia and Michael Edwards.
- Colorado Springs Switchbacks
Timeline
Not much action for either side through 10 minutes
Edwards runs through McIntosh- 13′
Friendly fire has McIntosh down. Checking for a concussion
Corner – 17′
Headed out for another
Corner – 17′
Wolf shot deflected for a corner- 26′
Corner- 27′
Play short. Pass from de Vicente goes through the box
COS shot wide on the volley- 32′
Big chance missed
COS corner. 35′
Play short, leads to a header that loops high
Big block by Edwards – 38′
COS corner – 41′
First half notes:
Pretty fair 0-0 tie at the half, Switchbacks with the better of chances with a big miss by Fjeldberg. No shots on target for either side, but COS with 5 shots to Oakland’s one. Roots with 33 percent possession, just 1 touch in the box. COS with 13 touches in the box.
Good low cross from Wolft cleared away- 49′
McIntosh big diving save on a shot from distance by Tejada – 50′
Wolfy sails a shot from range – 55′
Wilson enters, Lapa exits – 57′
McCabe on for Jacquesson
COS asking all the questions.
Shot from distance hit out the back by McIntosh- 61′
COS corner – 62′
Header by Tejada goes wide – 64′
COS skies a shot in the box- 67′
McIntosh down, checking forba leg injury – 69′
He’s back up.
COS sails another shot – 72′
Tingey on for De Vicente – 78′
De vicente was down before subbing out
Tejada header wide – 79′
McIntosh down again – 80′
Corner – 84′
Ball bounces in the box, Garcia tries a volley thst flies over the net.
Roots giveaway leads to a shot blocked out for a corner – 88′
Big chances missed for Switchbacks
CS corner – 88′
COS another chance missed – 90+2′
Nig tackle by Bobosi in the box
Lepley on for Gibson – 90+4
Long throw vy Tingey – 90+5′
Header on leads to nothing.
COS corner – 90+7′
Last play of the game most likely.
Full time. Roots take a point