Rising next travels to the Bay Area to face Oakland Roots SC on July 12
Phoenix Rising returned home for the first time in nearly a month but couldn’t build on its win from a week ago as it fell 1-0 to Lexington SC on July 4 at Phoenix Rising Stadium. Forward Jearl Margaritha and defender Carl Sainté picked up their first home starts since returning from international duty as Rising reached the midway point of its season.
“Sometimes in football, these things happen in terms of you not taking the opportunities that are in front of you,” Rising Head Coach Pa-Modou Kah said. “It’s painful. But we have to learn and move on. We are far better than what we showed. We have to offer intensity and fight more.”
REACHING THE MIDWAY POINT
15 games into the regular season, Rising sit an even 5-5-5 with 20 points – a record that places the club in a tie for the fifth spot in the Western Conference. New Mexico United currently occupies first place with 25 points, followed by San Antonio FC (24 pts), El Paso Locomotive FC (23) and FC Tulsa (21).
Notably, Rising has now faced every team in its own conference but Oakland Roots SC, which it will face next Saturday. With the standings so tight, one win is enough to shake up the table in a hurry.
“There have been some missed opportunities,” Kah said. “Like they say, it hurts more when you beat yourself, which we did today. But we live and we learn from it, and there’s another 15 more games to play, so there’s a lot of points to be won.
Kah added: “Are we where we need to be? Obviously, we always aim high, but we also know that coming into this second part of the season is where we need to pick up the most points, at home as well.”
GOAL-SCORING PLAYS
LEX – Michael Adedokun (Marcus Epps), 34th minute: After receiving the ball in the left half-space, Michael Adedokun dribbled into the center of the box before using his right foot to send the ball into the bottom-right corner of the net.
NOTES
-Friday marked Rising’s first home match since June 7th (vs. OC).
-It was Rising’s lone home match in July.
-Kah’s side next plays at home on August 2 when it faces Birmingham Legion.
-Rising is now 2-3-2 at home, with the defeat its first in the Valley since April 12.
-Midfielder Xian Emmers picked up his second straight start in the match and first-ever at home.
-Additionally, the match is the first-ever played between Rising and Lexington SC.
-Both teams face off one more time in Lexington, Kentucky, on August 9.
-At the midway point of the season, Rising now sit 5-5-5 (20pts) and are tied for fifth place in the West.
-Rising has now played every team in the West, other than Oakland Roots SC, which it will play next Saturday.
NEXT GAME
Rising next head to the Bay Area to face Oakland Roots SC. Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m. (PT) on July 12 at the Oakland Coliseum. The game is set to stream on AZFS and ESPN+. Radio coverage will be available on KDUS 1060 AM (English) and La Onda 99.5 FM (Spanish).
Phoenix Rising (5-5-5, 20pts) vs Lexington SC (4-6-5, 17pts)
July 4, 2025 – Phoenix Rising Stadium (Phoenix, Ariz.)
Goals by Half 1 2 FT
Phoenix Rising 0 0 0
Lexington SC 1 0 1
Scoring Summary:
LEX: Adedokun (Epps), 34
Misconduct Summary:
None
Lineups:
PHX: GK Rakovsky, D Flood (Cuello, 74), D Sainté ©, D Essengue, D Smith, M Scearce, M Avayevu (Montgomery, 87), M Emmers (Ping, 74), F Margaritha, F Formella (Sacko, 75), F Dennis (Johnson, 55)
Substitutes Not Used: GK Henry, GK Villegas, F Capetillo, F Balanzar
TOTAL SHOTS: 8 (Margaritha, Formella, 2); SHOTS ON GOAL: 0 (n/a); FOULS: 9 (Emmers, 3); OFFSIDES: 1; CORNER KICKS: 4; SAVES: 2
LEX: GK Thompson, D Djeffal, D Burks, D Hafferty, D Firmino, M Epps © (Williams, 58), M Zengue (Gibert, 45), M Midence (Barbir, 74), F Sargeant (Wu, 81), F Ajago (Mbongue, 81), F Adedokun
Substitutes Not Used: GK Ketterer, M Caceres
TOTAL SHOTS: 8 (Adedokun, 3) SHOTS ON GOAL: 3 (Adedokun, Ajago, 1); FOULS: 8 (Midence, 2) OFFSIDES: 0; CORNER KICKS: 2; SAVES: 1
Referee: Elton Garcia
Assistant Referees: Noah Kenyawani, Karsten Gillwald
Fourth Official: Blendi Breshanaj
Attendance: 4,814
All statistics contained in this box score are unofficial.
