Roots Down Club Atletico Omaha 3-1 at TrailRidge

Mason Yeatts #49 picked up the ball near midfield on the half hour, ran at the Club Atletico Omaha back line, and set the tone for the afternoon at TrailRidge. Capital City Roots FC never looked back. The Roots beat Atletico 3-1 on Sunday for a second straight win.

Atletico started the brighter of the two sides, putting a pair of early shots off target and forcing back-to-back corners inside the first 15 minutes. The Roots weathered it and grew into the match as the half wore on. Loli Lonyome #19 was booked in the 25th minute as the contest settled into a physical rhythm.

The breakthrough came in the 30th minute and was built from deep. Yeatts collected a pass from Jose Balderas #8 around midfield, carried it down the line toward the corner, cut inside his defender, and drove into the box before finishing. Seven minutes later, Ademir Zalihic #7 stepped up to a free kick and doubled the lead. The Roots went into halftime up 2-0.

Atletico came out of the break pushing. An early free kick and corner led to a header wide, and in the 50th minute Alex Kohler pulled one back to make it 2-1. The Roots answered with their best spell of the match, pinning Atletico in their own half with a run of corners and shots between the 60th and 70th minutes. Atletico’s #12 was cautioned in the 67th minute.

The insurance goal arrived in the 80th minute. Awarded a penalty, Junior Gutierres #10 saw his effort blocked by the Atletico keeper, but he was first to the rebound and finished before the defense could recover. Atletico picked up two more cautions late, to #5 in the 90th minute and #18 in stoppage time, as the Roots closed out a 3-1 result.

The win came at a cost. Domnick Miyeng #28 and Eyifehn Forfor #32 both left the match with injuries. Both players are following the club’s return-to-play protocol, with support from the club’s sports physical therapy partner, Veritas Physical Therapy, and will return once cleared.

The performance was recognized league-wide. Five Roots players were named to the UPSL Premier NE-IA-SD Team of the Week for Week 3: forward Carlos Zamago #27, midfielders Yeatts and Makog “MJ” Mangok #39, and defenders Lonyome and Nga Reh #29. Head coach Hamed Alic was named Coach of the Week. No club in the division placed more on the sheet.

The result kept the Roots at the top of the division and set up a first-against-second trip to Heartland United FC the following weekend.

Roots Run Deep.