Avayevu finished 2025 with 18 goal contributions (7G, 11A) in a career-best 37 appearances across all competitions
Phoenix Rising midfielder Hope Avayevu was named to the 2025 USL Championship All-League Second Team, USL announced today. Avayevu finished 2025 with a team high 18 goal contributions (7G, 11A) in 37 matches (32 starts) across all competitions.
“(Avayevu) is a very intelligent footballer and he always wants to be on the front foot and press,” Rising Head Coach Pa-Modou Kah said in a mid-October press conference. “He has set the tone for us, which is what you want and need. When you have one of your best players performing, everyone else will follow.”
Named to the USL Championship Team of the Week a club-high six times, Avayevu was the only Rising player to eclipse double-digit assists and one of just three players to accomplish the feat in the entire USL Championship. Notably, no other player in the Western Conference matched Avayevu’s 10-assist season.
The Rising midfielder also finished the 2025 regular season with a pair of multi-goal-contribution matches. Most recently, Avayevu contributed to all three of Rising’s goals (1G, 2A) in a 3-3 draw against Birmingham Legion on August 2.
2025 marked Avayevu’s first season in the USL Championship, where his 30 regular-season appearances mark a career best. Before his breakout season in the Desert, Avayevu spent three seasons at North Texas SC (2022-2024) and one at Ventura County FC (2024), both in MLS NEXT Pro.
