The Oakland Roots 2026 season opened up on March 7 against their regional rivals Monterey Bay FC. 

The Roots start this season with a new look, acquiring head coach Ryan Martin from Loudoun United FC, bringing along three of his former players at Loudoun: Florian Valot, Tommy McCabe & Keegan Tingey.

The Oakland Roots opened the game with a pretty impressive first half, looking like a more organized group compared to last year’s squad. The midfield appeared to be the most exciting part, with the first look at the pairing of Bobosi Byaruhangra and Tommy McCabe, showing what they could bring out in this Roots squad. With the first half ending in a draw, the second half brought more action on the offensive side.

The second half began with Monterey Bay pushing the attack more and nearly scoring the opening goal in the 66th minute, thwarted by a save from Roots keeper Rafael Spiegel with newly signed Roots player Michael Edwards clearing the ball.

Danny Trejo, who entered the game at the 71 minute mark, nearly gave the Roots the lead with a header passed by Faysal Bettache, but was ruled offside. Trejo, who was signed late last season, made an immediate impact in his 29 minutes of play. Although he didn’t score, he was able to set himself up with successful dribbles in and outside the box, providing a great look into what he can bring to the Roots in a full season.

While the game looked like it was heading to a nil-nil draw, another newly-signed Roots player Mark Fisher buried a nice shot to the right side of the net, giving Oakland the 1-0 lead with 16 minutes left, which ended up being the winning goal. 

  The Roots came back home with all three points and are 1-0 to start the season heading into their opening day on March 14.

On opening day, the Roots hosted New Mexico United at the Historic Oakland Coliseum with Bay Area legend E-40 performing at halftime.

During the first minute of the game, players from both teams stood still in protest with CBA negotiations still continuing. Oakland Roots supporters group cheered them on with chants of “We are with you” showing the love for the players. 

It did not take long for the Roots to score in their first game at the coliseum this season. At the 7th minute Mark Fisher, the hero from the Monterey game, sent a beautiful cross to Wolfgang Prentice who headed the ball into the right corner of the net. The crowd erupted in cheers as they waved the white rally towels given out at the start of the game.

The Roots had multiple shots on target after the first goal, Peter Wilson, the reigning Golden Boot winner,  had a chance to make it 2-0, but New Mexico United Keeper Kristopher Shakes made a great save. New Mexico also had a few shot attempts and threatened to equalize a couple times, but Roots Keeper Rafael Spiegel denied them, making great saves.

The second half began a bit slower for the Roots, who committed multiple defensive mistakes that could have led to the equalizer for New Mexico. Overall, the defense came in clutch for the Roots, neutralizing the threats and providing a breath of fresh air compared to last season’s defensive struggles. 

Danny Trejo, entered in the 60th minute and brought immediate energy, pushing the offense for the Roots. He fed a great pass to Jackson Kiil, whose shot was denied by New Mexico, deflected towards Peter Wilson who is offside.

Fortunately, the ball hit the head of New Mexico defender Arturo Astorga, which led to an own goal, giving the Roots a 2-0 lead in the 80th minute.

New Mexico finally got their first goal of the season in the 82nd minute, scored by Justin Rennicks, a quick response after the own goal. Like many times after conceding a goal, Roots fans erupted in “Lets Go Oakland” chants.

The match ended with a great defensive effort from the Roots, giving them the 2-1 victory and giving them a perfect 2-0 record in the Ryan Martin era. Attendance for the game ended with 14,419 and some beautiful post game fireworks to finish the night for the fans.

The Oakland Roots traveled to Phoenix on March 21, hoping to move to 3-0. Seeking to get their revenge from last season’s late game drama in which Oakland blew a 3-0 lead and gave up a penalty in the final seconds to draw 3-3. 

The Oakland Roots looked to make club history over the weekend with a win against Phoenix Rising FC. A win would bring the Roots to 3-0 on the season and break the franchise record for longest win streak, at four.

Like the previous games and throughout the USL Championship the match once again began in protest, with chants from the crowd of  “Pay the players” erupting in the first minute. As play went on, the game was mainly dominated by Oakland. 

Peter Wilson almost scored his first goal of the season with a nice touch off his right foot, but the shot missed a bit wide to the right resulting in a goal kick. Immediately after, the Roots intercepted a pass and started applying pressure. Peter Wilson made a great pass to Bobosi Byruhanga who made a great shot that was saved by Phoenix Keeper Chituru Odunze. 

With three minutes left in the first half, the Roots finally scored the first goal of the game. Bobosi Byruhanga got the ball inside the box, fought to the endline and fed it back to Wolfgang Prentice, who delivered a beautiful touch into the back of the net scoring his second of the season.

During the four added minutes of stoppage time, the Roots stayed hot and delivered the second goal of the game provided by Julian Bravo’s header that bounced into the net, assisted by Wolfgang Prentice.

With a 2-0 lead heading into the second half, there was concern of a possible repeat of last year’s match ending in a blown lead. However, with a completely new-look squad, the team carried their dominance into the second half.

Unfortunately for the Roots, Phoenix Rising began applying pressure with 20 minutes left and was starting to get by the Roots defense, after Oakland began to take their foot off the gas. In the 84th minute, Phoenix successfully got on the board with a shot in the far corner of the net by Diego Gomez.

It appeared as though the 94- degree weather was starting to get to the Roots as they continued to allow Phoenix to apply pressure, threatening Oakland’s lead as the game headed into seven minutes of stoppage time.

With one minute left of stoppage time, it was former Roots player Charlie Dennis who delivered a cross to Gunnar Studenthofft who scored the equalizer making it 2-2. All the pressure Phoenix created finally paid off, attacking the fatigued Roots.

The final whistle blows and the Oakland Roots hold onto at least one point. A tough draw for the Roots feeling as if they lost 2 points with a blown 2-0 lead. 

Though unable to obtain the club record for longest win streak, the Roots have undeniably gotten off to a successful start under Ryan Martin’s new regime.