Soul played a dominant game through ninety minutes, making history on their first ever Pride Night as Oakland defeated visiting Pleasanton Rage by a final score of 5-0 at Merritt College on Sunday afternoon.
Oakland turned on the pressure early in the match, scoring only four minutes into the game as Sam Tran buried a cross from Miranda Nild. Just minutes later, at the seven minute mark, Sam Tran doubled her scoring total by rocketing home an unassisted goal.
Soul weren’t nearly finished in the first half. Miranda Nild capitalized on a pass from Nayeli Diaz in the 12th minute to earn Oakland their third goal of the contest.
Pleasanton adjusted their defense and looked to minimize the damage, but Soul made an adjustment of their own and found the twine again before the halftime whistle when Nayeli Diaz scored off a pass from Jaida Nyby in the 38th minute.
Oakland turned to a more defensive minded effort in the second half, and while Pleasanton began to push deeper into Soul’s defensive half, Oakland never looked uncomfortable.
Rage tried to prevent a fifth Soul goal, but Sam Tran was destined to make her mark on Oakland history. Receiving the ball off a pass from Clare Robke, Tran made no mistake with the follow through to record the first ever hat trick in Oakland Soul history.
Soul came close to scoring again, but finished the match content with a 5-0 win.
Oakland now heads on the road to face the Olympic Club on June 21st. Soul will return home to face the league leading SF Glens at Merritt College on July 2nd at 2:00 PM PT.
Oakland Roots SC vs Pleasanton Rage
USL W League | June 18, 2023
Venue: Merritt College, Oakland, California
Kickoff: 2:00 PM PT
Weather: 67 degrees, sunny
SCORELINE:
OAK: 5
PLR: 0
SCORING SUMMARY:
OAK: 4’ Samantha Tran
OAK: 7’ Samantha Tran
OAK: 12’ Miranda Nild
OAK: 38’ Nayeli Diaz
OAK: 67’ Samantha Tran
OAKLAND SOUL LINEUP: Layla Armas, Aaliyah Schinaman (Clare Robke), Marissa Garcia, Evan House, Tatiana Cunningham (Sydney Shepherd), Jaida Nyby (Lizzie Vranesh), Nayeli Diaz (Jordan Geis), Sarah Mirr, Sam Tran (Kaytlin Brinkman), Miranda Nild (Ceci Gee), Henar Urteaga
Unused subs: Maleni Morales