Rising concludes its cross-conference road slate against the Rowdies
Phoenix Rising faced a similar fate to every team to come up against the Tampa Bay Rowdies so far this season, falling to a 3-0 defeat on May 23 at Al Lang Stadium. Following the match, Acting Head Coach Vikram Virk and defender Collin Smith discussed, the slow start, bouncing back and more.
Acting Head Coach Vikram Virk
On his thoughts on the match…
“It wasn’t our best performance. We didn’t bring the intensity that is required in this type of match, especially on the road against a team that’s having success. We know we have to have a better start than what we did. That (start) hurt us, so we need to learn from it, grow from it and carry on to next week.”
On what makes cross-conference matches different …
“It’s always difficult. It’s never easy going across the country. Last year we had to wait until our last game of the season to make our last trip, and this season we got all three done (by summer). We got two (wins), but it’s not a team you see every week. There are different challenges for sure.”
On the team bouncing back beginning May 30…
“We just need to reset. Bring what makes us special in front of our home crowd. That’s intensity, playing on the front foot from minute one and playing football the way we know we can.”
Defender Collin Smith
On his thoughts on the match…
“We started out slow, and typically when you start slow against a good team, they punish you. For us conceding that early, that’s what ended up happening. That gave (Tampa Bay) all the momentum they needed, and they continued to punish us. Against good teams, you can’t make mistakes like that and rely on luck for them to not score. We have to have a better start, have a better mentality… all those things matter in a game like this.”
On what makes facing Eastern Conference teams different…
“We make every game an opportunity to gain three points. String together performances and continue to be consistent. Tonight wasn’t one of our better performances, and that’s not the standard we hodl ourselves to. We’re going to get back to training and grind, focus on the next match because this one is done and dusted. We can’t let this happen again.
On bouncing back…
“Every week in training is going to be a fight, this week especially after this result. We have to go out and realize what happened, but not dwell on it too much. Use it as motivation to go out (against Sacramento Republic FC) and get three points, because that’s what we’re good at and what we need to get back to.”
