PHOENIX, Arizona (Saturday, April 16) – Phoenix Rising FC rode the back of its goalkeeper Ben Lundt to a 1-0 shutout victory against New Mexico United in front of 7,011 fans tonight at Wild Horse Pass.
The 6-6 goalkeeper made five saves on the night. Most of them of the coming in the spectacular variety, while Greg Hurst tallied the lone goal of the match for Rising. Phoenix hosts New Mexico United again this Wednesday, April 20 (7:30 p.m.), in a third round U.S. Open Cup match at Wild Horse Pass.
Lundt started off the match in form. The goalkeeper made a two-handed diving save at full stretch to extinguish a breakaway attempt from New Mexico in the seventh minute. Seconds later, Lundt made his second save via kick save to deny an entry pass from the endline off to the left of his goal.
Lundt made the best save of his Phoenix Rising career, diving far to his right side to pluck a header out of the top corner of the goal from Sergio Rivas. Second later, Phoenix was off to the races. Marcus Epps released Hurst in alone at the opposite end of the pitch. Hurst faked a shot, rounded the goalkeeper and smacked a low and hard shot into the back of the net to give the home side a 1-0 lead in the 14th minute.
Epps nearly bagged one of his own just before the half when a quick restart caught New Mexico off guard. Claudio Repetto brought down the ball and played it out wide for Hurst. Hurst centered a pass for Epps to finish off the chance but New Mexico goalkeeper Cody Mizell made an outstanding save to keep it 1-0 heading into halftime.
Mizell make a nice save, diving to his right to deny Rising’s Ryan Flood of a goal in the 50th minute.
New Mexico cracked the post with a shot in the 65th minute when a centering pass found the feet of Justin Portillo at the top of the area.
Lundt added another kick save to his body of work, denying New Mexico with his fourth save of the night. The goalkeeper wasn’t done.
Referee Gerald Flores pointed to the spot, awarding New Mexico United a free kick and a chance to level the match just before the final whistle. Lundt wouldn’t stand for it, making a diving save on New Mexico’s Chris Wehan, who tried to beat the goalkeeper to his right side. Lundt picked the correct side and got down to punch away the chance, preserving the shuout and the full three points for Rising.
The rematch is on Wednesday with a spot in the fourth round of the U.S. Open Cup on the line.
Scoring:
Greg Hurst (Marcus Epps) 14
Discipline:
PHX – Aodhan Quinn (caution) 13
PHX – Darnell King (caution) 27
PHX – Kevon Lambert (caution) 40
NM – Will Seymore (caution) 63
NM – Preston Etaka (caution) 63
PHX – Ben Lundt (caution) 71
PHX – Greg Hurst (caution) 88
PHX – Ryan Flood (caution) 90
Lineups:
Phoenix Rising FC – Ben Lundt, Ryan Flood, Joe Farrell, Kevon Lambert, Darnell King (Baboucar Njie 89), Aodhan Quinn, Arturo Rodriguez, Luis Seijas, Marcus Epps (Manuel Madrid 73), Claudio Repetto (Joey Calistri 59), Greg Hurst. Substitutes Not Used: Lalo Delgado, Jonathan Levin, Richmond Antwi, Carlos Anguiano.
New Mexico United – Cody Mizell, Austin Yearwood, Will Seymore, Sam Hamilton, Harry Swartz (Ilija Ilic 86), Justin Portillo, Sergio Rivas (Michael Azira 46), Daniel Bruce (Josh Suggs 57), Chris Wehan, Preston Etaka, Neco Brett.
Substitutes Not Used: Alexis Souahy, Ford Parker, Jerome Kiesewetter, Carl Sainte.
Rising head coach Rick Schantz
General thoughts on the match…
We got the one goal on the transition but after that I thought we played a bit too negative. A few too many square passes, in my opinion. I told them at halftime that I didn’t care what the possession stats ended up being. I was more worried about not letting them get in behind us. For 91 minutes we were fantastic defensively. The we gave up a penalty. Sometimes your big man gets called upon to make a save. The four or five saves Ben had tonight were big time. If that’s not a team of the week performance, I don’t know what is.
Rising goalkeeper Ben Lundt
General thoughts on the match…
I felt like I was pretty busy, but I just kept telling myself that I needed to make one more save. I had a save with my foot and I thought my night was done. Then the penalty came. With a little bit of luck, the ball falls our way and we win the game.
On the penalty kick save…
It was a little bit 50-50. If he goes the other way, it’s 1-1. Our guys defensively did a really good job. I am just happy I could help the team today.
Lundt Refuses to Concede, Rising Wins, 1-0
