Game Recap: Monterey Bay FC Draw and then Defeat Oakland Roots in Penalties to Secure First Prinx Tires USL Cup Victory
SEASIDE, California (Saturday, April 25, 2026) – Monterey Bay FC (0-0-1, 2 points) recorded their first victory of the Prinx Tires USL Cup and of the 2026 season against Oakland Roots SC (0-0-1, 1 points) at Cardinale Stadium winning 4-3 in penalties after a 1-1 draw in regulation.
Monterey Bay FC had an opportunity to score at the sixth minute of the match with a shot by Omari Glasgow that went over the crossbar. Soon after, Oakland opened up the scoring in the 15th minute with goal scored by Jackson Kill. The Crisp-and-Kelp kept on knocking the door despite the early disadvantage with shots by Ilijah Paul, Sebastian Lletget and Chris-Kévin Nadje but weren’t able to tie the game entering halftime.
At the beginning of the second half, Monterey showed hunger and fight to equalize the match with two shots by Paul. In his third shot of the half at the 63rd minute, Paul scored the equalizing goal. His second goal in back-to-back matches. The remaining 34 minutes of the match, both clubs demonstrated high-level soccer with Monterey Bay FC seeking the game-winning goal. At the culmination of regulation, both Monterey Bay FC and Oakland Roots SC ended with a goal a piece and were headed to penalty kicks to determine the winner.
First to kick was Monterey Bay FC with Paul stepping up to the penalty spot. Oakland Roots goalkeeper, Kendal McIntosh, was able to block the first attempt of the shootout and finished with two blocked penalties. But rising to the challenge in the penalty shootout was Monterey’s 19-year-old goalkeeper, Fernando Delgado, who also saved two penalties and added mental pressure that led to the miss by Ali Elmasnaouy that would give Monterey the victory.
“Penalties are always fun for the keepers,” said Fernando Delgado. “Last week was a wake-up call, we’re using this weekend as a reset for us and to think of this as a new start of the season. We must use this as momentum for the next game.”
The victory was a significant weight off the shoulders for Monterey Bay FC and head coach Jordan Stewart who was looking an opportunity motivate the squad going into the rest of the season.
“This win really gives guys confidence even though it’s a Cup game,” said head coach Jordan Stewart. “The guys fixed a few little details and they executed. Going into the penalty shootout, it’s important that we feed off the fans and we definitely had a great showing here from the fans, and that’s what we need as an organization.”
Additionally today, fans at Cardinale Stadium saw the anticipated debut of new loanee from Feyenoord, Chris-Kévin Nadje. Nadje felt right at home in his debut at Cardinale Stadium demonstrating European quality of play.
“A very great game for the team, a good performance and the first win of the season,” said Nadje. “We are happy and I know it won’t be the last time.”
Monterey Bay FC will return to USL Championship play as they will host FC Tulsa next Sunday, May 3rd at Cardinale Stadium in the club’s eighth match of the USL regular season with the match set to kick off at 4:00 p.m.
Additional Notes
- Missing the match due to injury were Riley Bidois (hamstring), Stuart Ritchie (hamstring) and Facundo Canete (meniscus).
Information
Date: April 25, 2026
Venue: Cardinale Stadium; Seaside, California
Weather: Cloudy and 56°F
Attendance: 3,605
Scoring Summary: 1 (4) 1 (3) F
Monterey Bay FC 0 1 4 1 (4)
Oakland Roots SC 1 0 3 1 (3)
MB: Paul (63′)
OAK: Kiil (15′)
Lineups
Monterey Bay FC (0-0-1): Fernando Delgado, Nico Gordon, Kelsey Egwu, Zackary Farnsworth, Luka Malešević, Nick Ross, Ryuga Nakamura (Belmar Joseph Jr., 77′), Chris-Kévin Nadje (Wesley Leggett, 57′), Omari Glasgow, Ilijah Paul, Sebastian Lletget (Eduardo Blancas, 87′).
Subs not used: Ciaran Dalton, Abdel Talabi, Joel Garcia Jr., Adrian Rebollar, Djimon Anderson
Oakland Roots SC (0-0-1): Kendall McIntosh, Neveal Hackshaw, Michael Edwards, Jesús De Vicente, Tyler Gibson (Keegan Tingey, 65′), Thomas McCade, Ali Elmasnaouy, Daniel Trejo (Wolfgang Prentice, 69′), Bertin Jacquesson, Jackson Kiil (Peter Wilson, 65′), Florian Valot (Faysal Bettache, 45′, Luka Rosic 90’+10)
Subs not used: Raphael Spiegel, Emilio Sorrosa, Bobosi Byaruhange, Bradley Roberson
Stats Summary: COS / MB
Shots: 20 / 6
Shots on Goal: 5 / 1
Saves: 0 / 4
Corner Kicks: 5 / 2
Fouls: 19 / 13
Possession: 45.6% / 54.5%
Misconduct Summary
MB: Ryuga Nakamura (caution) 52’
MB: Jordan Stewart (caution) 77’
OAK: Bertin Jacquesson (caution) 78’ and 93′ (red card)
Officials
Referee: Kalilou Jarju
Assistant Referee: Peter Hanson
Assistant Referee: CJ Koll
Fourth Official: Conrado Garcia
