Oakland Roots played host to San Diego Loyal for the second time in less than two weeks. This time being at their secondary venue of Las Positas College in Livermore for what would be the last of their ‘Roots Road Trips’ for the season. The midfield saw the return of Wal Fall and José Hernandez to the starting lineup. Only six minutes into the game, Roots found the back of the net off a Goal of the Year candidate strike from forward Johnny Roriguez for his second of the year. From there Roots continued to press the Loyal despite the visitors controlling possession in the first half. Then in stoppage time Collin Martin scored for the Loyal off a volley from outside the 18 to put the teams level going into the half. Head Coach Jordan Ferrell made a switch at the half, bringing in recently-signed midfielder Joseph Nane for Wal Fall. The team continued to press and play aggressively, this led to a tackle in San Diego’s box in the 62nd minute, leading to a penalty kick. José Hernandez took the kick and scored despite San Diego’s Austin Guerrero getting a piece of it. From there the match got more intense with both teams receiving multiple yellow cards, a total of eight for the game. The center referee gave a total of five minutes of stoppage time to end the game but that still was not enough for San Diego to find their second equalizer. With the win, Roots now hold the fourth and final playoff spot in the Pacific Division. They travel to Irvine this Saturday, 9/25 to face Orange County SC.