Rising’s last regular season home match was nearly five months ago. On October 7, the team was 12-9-12 and sitting sixth in the West with no indication it would be adding a star to the top of its logo in 2023. Then it happened. Rising caught fire, won three road playoff matches, two in overtime and won it all after being down 0-2 in penalty kicks on Nov. 12.
The decks are reshuffled. The stage is set. This Saturday at 7:30 p.m., the 2023 championship season will disappear into memory and become a lasting star atop the crest as the Rising community comes together once again to forge a second championship season.
“In order for us to be successful as the reigning champions, we’re going to need as much strength in numbers as we can possibly get,” said Rising Head Coach Danny Stone. “When we compete, we need to compete as a whole club, a whole community. We spoke about this a lot through the playoffs. The collective spirit, the collective unit we formed together… I certainly felt we had strength in numbers then. We were fighting as an army, not just 11 players on the field.”
The knocks, frustrations and losses suffered in preseason behind the team, Stone noticed a change in the team this week.
“It has been a very spirited week,” said Stone. “I feel the difference in energy and environment. Training today was possibly the best we’ve had all year. There is a real energy about the group. They are excited and focused – ready to start the regular season. I see a real confidence about the group in all aspects of the game. The attack is no different. We don’t have concerns. We have strong players and strong people. We’ll be attacking this game on Saturday.”
The adversary on Saturday, Birmingham returns a trio of Enzo Martinez, Prosper Kasim and Preston Talbort Etaka that combined for 20 goals and 16 assists last season.
“Birmingham will be competitive,” said Stone. “They’re very hard to break down. They also have some very good athletic threats in transition. They have some good attacking threats and they’re well coached. We had a tough game with them last year. We managed to come out on top in that one, but Saturday will be a tough opening matchup for us. We’ll be prepared to fight and compete. To the fans… make this place as difficult an environment for opposing teams to come and play as possible.”
