Rising travels to play El Paso Locomotive FC at 6:00 p.m. Saturday, March 15, at Southwest University Park
Phoenix Rising hits the road for the first time in 2025, traveling to El Paso, Texas, for a Saturday showdown against El Paso Locomotive FC. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. at Southwest University Park.
Looking to bounce back from its Week 1 defeat to FC Tulsa, Head Coach Pa-Modou Kah and his squad see its first away day as an opportunity to pick up three points and build crucial momentum ahead of a Week 3 clash against 2024 USL Championship runners-up Rhode Island FC.
“I think it’s going to be a good matchup,” Kah said. “(El Paso) has a great coach who has been in MLS. I have respect for him. For us, it’s just building on what we did in the second half and keep pushing those standards higher.”
GAMEDAY INFORMATION
WHAT: Phoenix Rising FC at El Paso Locomotive FC
WHEN: 6:00 p.m. (Local)
WHERE: Southwest University Stadium (El Paso, Texas)
HOW TO WATCH: AZFS (TV), ESPN+ (stream)
TURNING PERFORMANCES INTO POINTS
A goal prevented by goal-line clearance, a shot that flashed inches over the top post. Despite the 1-0 defeat to FC Tulsa on March 8, Kah saw many positives to take away from the club’s season opener.
“Obviously, you give away a goal, but for me it’s the performance that matters to me most,” Kah said following the match. “We’re not in control of the results, but we are in control of the performance. I think the boys gave their effort and I will never fault them for that. They were brilliant.”
There’s little need to look beyond the contrast between the first and second halves to understand Kah’s optimism. Outside of Alex Dalou’s 25th-minute strike, Rising conceded very few clear-cut opportunities. A Tulsa team that finished with seven shots inside the opening 45 minutes mustered just one after halftime. All of goalkeeper Patrick Rakovsky’s league-high four saves were made in the first half.
As Rising’s defense tightened, it’s attack grew. A 17th-minute shot from Collin Smith was cleared off the line. Sustained pressure in the second half resulted in a key opportunity to equalize, with Pape Mar Boye serving an inch-perfect ball into the box that Dariusz Formella headed just over the bar in the 90th minute.
“It was a game that we started a bit slowly,” midfielder Noble Okello said following Wednesday’s training session. “There was a little bit of jitters with new players and a new environment, but I feel we really imposed ourselves and showed what we have. We were unlucky not to score.”
While those opportunities proved to be too little too late against FC Tulsa, Phoenix Rising’s performance, especially in the second half, garnered Kah’s praise and served as an indicator of what he hopes is to come against El Paso this Saturday and beyond.
PLAYING THE YOUTH
With 75 minutes played in Rising’s season-opening match against FC Tulsa on March 8, Braxton Montgomery stepped to the sideline awaiting his big moment.
Entering the match for Ryan Flood, the substitution was a significant moment for both the 17-year-old defender and Phoenix Rising as a club. Fresh off signing a USL Academy contract for the 2025 season, the moment marked Montgomery’s professional debut. It also showed Kah’s commitment to giving young players opportunities, one of his self-proclaimed “coaching pillars.”
“For us as a club to have one of our academy players make his debut at home, it’s massive for him,” Kah said following the match. “We’re not afraid to play (academy players). We needed a player in the position and we knew (Montgomery) could do the job.”
Montgomery is just one of five academy players who recently signed USL Academy contracts, which also include forwards Zach Da Silva and Anthony Capetillo, midfielder Pierce Rizzo and goalkeeper Jan Villegas.
Jamison Ping is another Phoenix Rising Academy product awaiting his debut as a full professional. The 16-year-old midfielder became the second Phoenix Rising Academy player to sign a professional contract with the club and has already donned the captain’s armband––doing so in the club’s Red vs. Black scrimmage on February 28.
With a grueling 34-match league schedule, U.S. Open Cup and USL Jägermeister Cup all on the docket, there will be plenty of opportunities for young players to gain valuable developmental minutes. If there’s one thing Kah showed in Week 1, it’s that he isn’t afraid to “play the kids.”
OFF TO EL PASO
Rising’s first road trip of the 2025 regular season takes it to El Paso, Texas, to face El Paso Locomotive FC for the 9th time in regular season play. The club currently holds a 5-2-2 record all-time against its Southwestern rivals and is on a four-match unbeaten run (2W, 2D) dating back to August 2023.
Locomotive FC enters Saturday off a 2-2 draw at home against reigning USL Championship title-holders Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC. It was forward Wilmer Cabrera Jr. who scored the game-tying goal in the 90+2 minute to help the hosts salvage a point.
The point provided an encouraging start for an El Paso squad looking to rebound from finishing last in the Western Conference in 2024 (8-18-8, 32pts). Head Coach Wilmer Cabrera, who boasts coaching experience at the international level as well as in MLS and USL, returns for his first full season at the helm after arriving from Rio Grande Valley Toros last May.
On the field, El Paso brought in forward Beto Avila from Sporting Kansas City II to bolster its attack. Avila finished with nine goals across 26 appearances (23 starts) in MLS NEXT Pro play in 2024. In defense, Locomotive FC added creative-minded fullback Memo Diaz who finished last season with seven assists for Oakland Roots SC, as well as center back Arturo “Palermo” Ortíz, a Mexican international who has featured for Pumas UNAM and FC Juárez in Liga MX.
“(El Paso) plays a similar formation to Tulsa,” Okello said. “We’ll look to break them down in similar ways, but it will be a different game because we’re playing away. We have to adjust that way, but we look forward to playing them.”
Rising hasn’t won in El Paso since the club’s first-ever trip to West Texas, a 2-0 win on April 13, 2019. It’s last two away trips have ended in draws. Kah’s squad will look to break that streak and pick up early-season momentum as it looks to put its season-opening defeat behind it.
