Oakland has shown improvement in some areas and regression in others since the 2025 USL Championship season began. Now sitting at 0-1-3 in the early going, Roots have one more game left in their opening homestand — a matinee fixture versus Rhode Island FC on Saturday, April 5th — until then, we draw some takeaways from the club’s last contest hosting Las Vegas Lights FC.
Points on the Board
It’s not the flashiest result in sports. A 0-0 draw generally doesn’t induce great enthusiasm from anybody — but for Roots, points on the board are points on the board. After starting the season with three straight losses (and five straight going back to last year) earning points in any way possible could be a tipping point for the club.
Oakland is Bought in
It was lucky number sevens at the Coliseum on Saturday, as the Town showed that the club’s record-breaking home opener was no one-hit-wonder. With 7,077 fans in attendance, the fixture represented the second-highest attended game in club history. And like all Oakland crowds tend to be, their energy throughout the contest far exceeded what might be expected from their numbers.
McIntosh Keeps it Clean
Following a sluggish start on the defensive side of the ball and moderately sluggish start to the season for Oakland-born goalkeeper Kendall McIntosh — who entered Saturday’s contest with nine goals allowed and only a .500 save percentage — keeping the sheet clean versus Las Vegas is exactly what he needed to get his season rolling. Locking down on defense has been one of the key areas of focus for the club over the last few weeks, and Saturday’s result showed improvement on that front according to Captain Tyler Gibson.
“We didn’t give up any weak goals,” Gibson said. “It’s a huge step, getting the clean sheet.”
