Rising begins the 2025 USL Championship postseason in the Western Conference Quarterfinals against a familiar foe
Written by Emma Dinnan
After closing its regular season with a draw against Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC on October 25, its 10th result in 11 matches, Rising is ready to turn the page to the 2025 USL Championship postseason. The club’s Western Conference Quarterfinals match will take it to El Paso, Texas, to face No. 4 El Paso Locomotive FC at 6:30 p.m. PT on Saturday, November 1, at Southwest University Park.
The three matchups in all competitions this season have resulted in high-scoring, entertaining draws. In the first match, Rising stormed back from three goals down in the second half to draw 4-4 on March 15 in the club’s first away match. In the most recent regular-season match, Head Coach Pa-Modou Kah’s side drew 3-3 on August 30 at Phoenix Rising Stadium.
“These are the games you want to play, and I know our boys are ready,” Rising Head Coach Pa-Modou Kah said. “They have worked hard all season. Obviously, we wanted the home playoff game for our fans and club, but sometimes you have to do the hard work and we’re looking forward ot it.”
On Saturday, the one certainty is that the match won’t end in a draw. Whether in regulation, extra time or penalties, Rising’s season hangs in the balance this weekend and its goal is to push through a fight for a second title in three seasons.
GAMEDAY INFORMATION
WHAT: Phoenix Rising FC at El Paso Locomotive FC
WHEN: Saturday, November 1, 2025 (6:30 p.m. PT)
WHERE: Southwest University Park (El Paso, TX)
HOW TO WATCH/LISTEN: AZFS, ESPN+, KDUS 1060 AM (English), La Onda 99.5 FM (Spanish)
RISING IN THE POSTSEASON
In 2017, Rising made its first postseason appearance. In the the seven seasons since, the club has only missed out on the postseason dance just once. In 2019, Rising took the regular-season crown with 78 points. It reached the USL Championship Final in 2018, 2020 and 2023.
Notably, in 2023, Rising went on to win its first-ever USL Championship title after entering the postseason as a six seed. It defeated the Charleston Battery in the final with a 3-2 victory on penalty kicks after a 1-1 draw in regulation. The team won all four of its postseason matches on the road in 2023, which was a first in USL Championship Playoffs history.
“For me, the most important thing is now; with Phoenix Rising,” Kah said. “What this group has done is something that we should not get passed through. Everything that has been thrown at (the team), everything they have gone through… (the players’) character, their will, their desire to fight for and stand up for one another is remarkable.”
Starting on the road once again, Rising looks to kick off another special run as underdogs in West Texas.
DEFENSIVELY STRONG
In its last three matches, Rising has yet to concede a single goal. It has now been 428 minutes since Rising last conceded a goal from open play, which came against Oakland Roots SC on September 27. One key change behind the uptick in cleansheets? A shift to a five-defender setup, with three center backs and a pair of wingbacks.
The change to solidify the defense came, in part, as a necessary decision due to factors both on and off the filed.
“It was a combination of us looking at what we had in the moment and seeing what we had availablible and brainstorming with all of us in the coaching staff,” Kah said.
The decision has paid dividends so far, with Rising looking solid at the back during some of its most important matches of the regular season.
“Being defensively strong has been really good for us going into the playoffs,” defender Ryan Flood said. “Being able to hold no goals against and big moments where we can finish out games, it’s really good.”
On Saturday, Rising will face its toughest challenge yet: an El Paso side with a plethora of dangerous attacking threats. We’ll see then how much the new-look Rising defense can bend without breaking.
KICKING OFF IN EL PASO
Saturday marks the fourth matchup of 2025 between Rising and El Paso Locomotive FC in all competitions. The three previous matches have all ended in draws, with a combined 18 goals scored between the two sides.
The playoff match will be the third game played in El Paso, Texas. The last time Rising traveled to West Texas, the match went to penalty kicks following a 2-2 draw in USL Jägermeister Cup play.
“It’s a playoff game,” Kah said. “You don’t know what (El Paso) is planning, but we know what we want to do. We have played them three times, they have all been high-scoring games. I don’t see anything different.”
This will be the first time in four years El Paso Locomotive FC have hosted a playoff game on its home turf. Both teams have an extensive history of making it far into playoffs; however, El Paso has never made it past the Western Conference Finals.
El Paso Locomotive enter the weekend with five results in its last six matches to close the regular season (2-1-3). On the scoresheet, the Texan club is led by Wilmer Cabrera Jr. and Amando Moreno, who have 10 goals each. Gabriel Torres leads El Paso with seven assists.
