Roots Return to Oakland for USL Championship Action Versus Orange County SC

After an early exit in the 2025 U.S. Open Cup following a 1-2 loss in the tournament to Tacoma Defiance on Tuesday, Roots will return to USL Championship regular season play this weekend when they host Orange County SC at the Oakland Coliseum on Saturday, April 19th at 1 PM PT.

Roots are coming off of their first regular season victory of 2025, defeating FC Tulsa 2-1 on the road in their last league fixture. And despite falling to Defiance on Tuesday, Roots played their best soccer of the year in that contest — their 22 shot attempts in that game are the second highest shot total in team history.

Orange County is similarly coming off of a loss in the Open Cup on Tuesday, as they fell to USL League One side AV Alta FC in a match that required penalty kicks to decide a winner.

There are both concerning and hopeful active trends for Oakland heading into Saturday’s match. In their last seven contests at home dating back to last season, Roots have scored only a single goal and are winless in that stretch. On the other side of the coin, however, Roots have been historically very good against Orange County at home, having won their last three contests on friendly ground — the longest home winning streak in the team’s history.

Roots will look to their budding stars to make an impact on Saturday. Oakland-born goalkeeper Kendall McIntosh currently sits in a three-way tie among the league leaders in saves with 18, and forward Wolfgang Prentice’s three goals on the season both lead the team in 2025 as well as match the 2024 squad’s second-most leading goal scorer throughout the entire season.

It will be a quick homestand for Roots, playing just one game in Oakland before heading back up to Washington state for a USL Jagermeister Cup Group Stage contest versus USL League One club Spokane Velocity on April 27th at 4 PM PT.