Irwin becomes youngest starter in club history at 15 years old
Phoenix Rising began group play in the 2026 Prinx Tires USL Cup Saturday night, giving up a goal in the first half to fall 1-0 to Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC on April 25 at Phoenix Rising Stadium. Midfielder Jaethan Irwin became the club’s youngest-ever starter as Rising played in front of its largest crowd of the 2026 season.
“(Colorado Springs) gets its goal, but you look at what we had, the chances, the opportunities in the second half…” Rising Head Coach Pa-Modou Kah said. “Overall, I’m very proud of the boys, especially with the young players that we played today… they showed us that they can compete at this level.”
Rising next returns to USL Championship play on the road against Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC on May 2 at F.N.B Stadium.
PLAYING THE KIDS
The average starting age of Rising’s starting 11 came in at under 22 years old on Saturday night, with four players under the age of 18. Those players: midfielders Alexander Balanzar de la Cruz and Jaethan Irwin as well as defenders Jackson Gaydon and Noah Cross are all products of the club’s academy system.
“Being able to rotate the team a little in a match like this is very important,” Kah said. “I’m very happy with the young players because they played very well. Four academy players played, which isn’t normal. For me, all four played well and I’m happy with that.”
Notably, a PRFC Academy player has appeared in nine of Rising’s 11 matches so far this season, with Irwin making club history as the youngest starter in club history at just 15 years and three months old.
“It means a lot to me,” Irwin said. “I’ve been with this club for about eight years now, so being able to play is something special.”
COMING UP IN THE CUP
Saturday night’s match marked the first of four group stage matches in Rising’s 2026 Prinx Tires USL Cup campaign. This is the club’s second season in the league’s cup competition, having gone 1-1-2 in 2025.
Rising was placed in Group 2 alongside AV ALTA FC, Orange County SC, El Paso Locomotive FC, New Mexico United and Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC. The best team in each group advances to the knockout rounds, with aa wild card spot awarded to the second-place team with the most points.
“It’s very important to have players that you can play, and they can rotate and they can get minutes, because it’s a long season,” Kah said. “It’s very important that we don’t tire our players, but we also rotate and give people opportunity when it is time do, and (the USL Cup) is a perfect opportunity for us to do that.”
The club returns to regular season play to face Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC (5/2) and San Antonio FC (5/9) before hosting Orange County SC in its next cup match (5/16). Rising closes group play against New Mexico United (6/6) and AV ALTA FC (7/11) on the road.
GOAL-SCORING PLAYS
COS – Isaiah Foster (Talen Maples), 26th minute: Winning the ball in the final third, Talen Maples found Isaiah Foster in the box who used his right foot to take a shot that deflected off a defender and into the left side of the net.
NOTES
-Saturday marked the beginning of Rising’s 2026 Prinx Tires USL Cup campaign.
-The club will play four matches in the group stage: vs. OC (5/16), @ NM (6/6), @ AVA (7/11).
-With his start, midfielder Jaethan Irwin became the youngest player to start a match in club history (15 years, 3 months).
-Irwin was one of four PRFC Academy players to start Saturday’s match (Alexander Balanzar de la Cruz, Jackson Gaydon, Noah Cross).
-Notably, a PRFC Academy product has appeared in nine of Rising’s 11 matches in all competitions.
-Defender Pape Mar Boye made his first start of 2026 in the match.
-Forward Kelvin Arase returned to the pitch at Phoenix Rising Stadium for the first time in 2026.
-7,002 marks Rising’s highest attendance of 2026 to date.
Phoenix Rising (2-2-3, 9 pts) vs Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC (2-2-2, 8 pts)
April 25, 2026 – Phoenix Rising Stadium (Phoenix, Ariz.)
Goals by Half 1 2 FT
Phoenix Rising 0 0 0
Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC 1 0 1
Scoring Summary:
COS: Foster (Maples), 26
Misconduct Summary:
PHX: de la Cruz (caution), 14
COS: Rocha (caution), 36
PHX: Moursou (caution), 37
PHX: Studenhofft (caution), 49
COS: Pérez (caution), 61
COS: Williams (caution), 64
COS: Fjeldberg (caution), 73
PHX: Bench (caution), 90+3
COS: Hanya (caution), 90+4
Lineups:
PHX: GK Odunze, D Biasi, D Gaydon (Gómez, 80), D Mar Boye (Pelayo, 45), D Cross (Smith, 63), M de la Cruz (Sacko, 64), M Moursou, M Avayevu, M Irwin (Scearce, 88), F Dennis ©, F Studenhofft (Arase, 75)
Substitutes Not Used: GK Rakovsky, GK Shaw, F Johnson
TOTAL SHOTS: 12 (Multiple players, 2); SHOTS ON GOAL: 3 (Multiple players, 1); FOULS: 13 (Biasi, 4); OFFSIDES: 5; CORNER KICKS: 6; SAVES: 2
COS: GK Shutler, D Rocha, D Mahoney (Metusala, 45), D Maples, D Foster, M Williams, M Fjeldberg (Hanya, 88), M Pérez (Bennett, 71), M Daroma (Creek, 45), M Johnson (Masereka, 45), F Tejada
Substitutes Not Used: GK Styduhar, D Burner
TOTAL SHOTS: 11 (Pérez, 3) SHOTS ON GOAL: 3 (Multiple players, 1); FOULS: 15 (Pérez, 6) OFFSIDES: 2; CORNER KICKS: 7; SAVES: 3
Referee: Trevor Wiseman
Assistant Referees: Fernando Fierro, Emmanuel PadillaFourth Official: Benjamin Davis
Attendance: 7,002
All statistics contained in this box score are unofficial.
