Rising closes the double-match week with a home showdown against Birmingham Legion FC on August 2
Phoenix Rising fell 4-1 to Orange County SC in its return to USL Championship action on July 30 at Championship Soccer Stadium. Ihsan Sacko’s second-half goal cut the hosts deficit in half, but it wasn’t enough to spark a comeback in Irvine, California.
“We let ourselves down,” Head Coach Pa-Modou Kah said following the match. “We did well to comeback down 2-1, but then we make a mistake not tracking players back, (OC) scores from there and then it’s an uphill battle.”
BREAKING DOWN THE BACK HALF
Wednesday’s match in Southern California marked the end of Rising’s final long road trip of the season. Of its remaining 13 matches, eight will come at home while the club plays consecutive matches on the road just once more (Aug. 9- Aug. 16). Even more important, Rising will have great opportunities to build momentum with two three-match homestands to close the season (Aug. 23-Sept. 5, Sept. 20-Oct. 4).
GOAL-SCORING PLAYS
OC – Ethan Zubak (Christopher Hegardt), 20th minute: Running down the left channel, forward Ethan Zubak received the ball and dribbled toward the center of the box before taking a well-aimed strike into the top-right corner of the net with his right foot.
OC – Ryan Doghman (Ethan Zubak), 58th minute: On a quick counter-attack, Zubak picked out defender Ryan Doghman with a low-cross from the left and the defender used his right foot to fire the ball in at the far post.
PHX – Ihsan Sacko (Darius Johnson), 68th minute: Attacking down the left, forward Darius Johnson sent in picture-perfect looping cross that found the head of forward Ihsan Sacko, who nodded the ball off the ground and into the back of the net.
OC – Bryce Jamison (Christopher Hegardt), 72nd minute: Combining to switch play to the right, Bryce Jamison ended up on the ball and dribbled toward goal before using his left foot to dispatch the ball into the far lower corner.
OC – Pedro Guimaraes (Bryce Jamison), 89th minute: Racing in transition, Jamison received a lofted ball down the right and sent the ball back across the face of goal and into the path of Pedro Guimaraes who slotted the ball home with his right foot.
NOTES
-Midfielder Pierce Rizzo picked up his second-ever professional start in the match.
-Rising and Orange County SC squared off for a 34th time Wednesday night in regular season play.
-The 34 regular-season matches are the most between two clubs in USL history.
-Despite the midweek result, Rising has taken a result in four of the last six regular season meetings (3-2-1).
-With his goal in the 68th minute, forward Ihsan Sacko scored his fifth Rising goal.
-Notably, the goal was his 10th goal contribution in all competions for the club (5G, 5A).
-Forward Darius Johnson has goal contributions in two consecutive matches (1G, 1A).
-His assist Wednesday night marked his second of the season and first since April 12.
-Wednesday marked the conclusion of Rising’s final three-match road trip of 2025. It now returns home where it will play eight of its final 13 regular season matches.
-Notably, the club has two three-match home stands in front of it (Aug. 23-Sept. 5, Sept. 20-Oct. 4).
-Rising does not have another stretch this season where it will play twice in three days.
NEXT GAME
After nearly a month away from home, Rising returns to the Valley to host Birmingham Legion FC. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. (PT) on Saturday, August 2, at Phoenix Rising Stadium. The game is set to stream on AZFS as well as the CBS Sports Golazo Network. Radio coverage will be available on KDUS 1060 AM (English) and La Onda 99.5 FM (Spanish).
Phoenix Rising (6-6-5, 23pts) at Orange County SC (7-7-2, 23pts)
July 30, 2025 – Championship Soccer Stadium (Irvine, Calif.)
Goals by Half 1 2 FT
Phoenix Rising 0 1 1
Orange County SC 1 3 4
Scoring Summary:
OC: Zubak (Hegardt), 2
OC: Doghman (Zubak), 58
PHX: Sacko (Johnson), 68
OC: Jamison (Hegardt), 72
OC: Guimaraes (Jamison), 89
Misconduct Summary:
PHX: Mar Boye (Ejection), 82
Lineups:
PHX: GK Rakovsky ©, D Cuello (Mar Boye, 77), D Montgomery, D Essengue, D Flood, M Rizzo (Sainté, 76), M Emmers (Sacko, 59), M Avayevu, F Johnson (Rivera, 76), F Formella, F Margaritha (Dennis, 63)
Substitutes Not Used: GK Henry, M De la Cruz, M Ping, F Rivera
TOTAL SHOTS: 12 (Multiple players, 3); SHOTS ON GOAL: 2 (Sacko, 2); FOULS: 16 (Formella, 3); OFFSIDES: 0; CORNER KICKS: 7; SAVES: 4
OC: GK Shutler, D Doghman, D Brewitt ©, D Benalcazar, D Ciotta (Santos, 60), M Partida, M Kelly, M Hegardt (Guimaraes, 85), M Sylla (Miles, 77), M War (Jamison, 60), F Zubak (Trager, 77)
Substitutes Not Used: GK Kadono, M Karam, F Dunbar, F Kone
TOTAL SHOTS: 15 (Zubak, 3) SHOTS ON GOAL: 8 (Zubak, 2); FOULS: 11 (Partida, 5) OFFSIDES: 2; CORNER KICKS: 1; SAVES: 1
Referee: Brandon Stevis
Assistant Referees: Jennifer Garner, Clarence Clark
Fourth Official: Steven Cardozo
Attendance: 3,536
All statistics contained in this box score are unofficial.
