In the regular season finale 2026 USL Championship campaign, the Oakland Roots SC lost 3-2 to Sacramento Republic FC at Heart Health Park in the state capital. With that loss, the Roots were eliminated from playoff contention.
Photo by Oakland Roots SC.
Sacramento opened the scoring almost immediately following kickoff, after a short-played corner kick led to a tough angle shot from the right side by Alfredo Midence. The shot took a deflection off a Roots defender before beating Kendall McIntosh on the far side to make it 1-0 in favor of the host team in the second minute.
Republic FC looked as if it doubled the lead just minutes later, but that goal was disallowed for offsides and play continued.
The Roots nearly leveled the score in the 20th minute, when Peter Wilson worked behind the Sacramento defense on a run through the middle, but his cross came too late. Just two minutes later, Oakland came close once again. A cross into the box resulted in a rebound on the first attempt which landed straight at the feet of Tyler Gibson near the 12-yard spot, but Gibson’s shot was blocked by a Sacramento defender and the Roots remained down a goal.
The Roots did earn their leveler in the 45th minute, when a free kick was given to Oakland in their attacking third. Jesus De Vicente sent the ball into the penalty area before the scrum kicked it out to Danny Trejo, who deposited it into the twine to make the score 1-1 in the waning moments of the first frame.
Moments later, in added time of the first half, the Roots took the lead when De Vicente made a furious run up the left side before putting an inch-perfect cross to a full-speed Peter Wilson behind the backline, who finished his touch from in close to make it 2-1.
But that lead would not hold. In the 81st minute, with time running out in the match and the Roots ready to punch their postseason ticket with a win, Sacramento scored with a free kick conversion of their own, scored by Lee Desmond, to tie the game again at 2-2.
Although it had no effect on the Roots’ postseason push, Sacramento scored a dagger in the 90th minute with a counter-attack goal from Kyle Edwards to secure a 3-2 victory and end Oakland’s 2026 campaign.
The season is over, but Oakland’s late-season push showed that the seeds have been sown to grow further in the offseason, and return stronger in 2027.
Summary
Scoring
SAC: Alfredo Midence 2’
OAK: Danny Trejo 45’
OAK: Peter Wilson 45’
SAC: Lee Desmond 81’
SAC: Kyle Edwards 90’
Discipline
OAK: Bobosi Byaruhanga 71’ (yellow card)
OAK: Michael Edwards 90’+ (yellow card)
Oakland Roots SC
Lineup: Kendall McIntosh, Tommy McCabe, David Garcia, Bobosi Byaruhanga (Neveal Hackshaw), Wolfgang Prentice (Julian Bravo), Peter Wilson, Jesus De Vicente (Keegan Tingey), Tyler Gibson (Bertin Jacquesson), Mark Fisher, Michael Edwards, Danny Trejo (Bruno Lapa)
Unused subs: Tucker Lepley, Julian Escobar
Line: Shots: 9 | Shots On Goal: 5 | Corner Kicks: 3 | Fouls: 12 | Offside: 1
Sacramento Republic FC
Lineup: Danny Vitiello, Jack Gurr, Jared Timmer, Lee Desmond, Michelle Benítez (Ryan Spaulding), Pep Casas (Mark-Anthony Kaye), Daniel Crisostomo, Alfredo Midence (Blake Willey), Memo Rodríguez, Mayele Malango (Forster Ajago), Cal Jennings (Kyle Edwards)
Unused subs: Jacob Randolph, Tim Leibold, Aaron Essel
Line: Shots: 18 | Shots On Goal: 8 | Corner Kicks: 3 | Fouls: 9 | Offside: 1