PHOENIX, Arizona (Saturday, July 31) – Phoenix Rising FC defeated Rio Grande Valley Toros, 3-1, tonight at Wild Horse Pass.
Darnell King, Aodhan Quinn and Rufat Dadashov scored for Phoenix, which improved to 7-0-1 at home. Rising plays two matches on the road next week, at Oakland Roots on Wednesday, August 4 (7 p.m. on ESPN+) and at Las Vegas on Saturday, August 7 (7:30 p.m. on CW 61 Arizona/ESPN+), before returning home vs. Orange County SC on Saturday, August 14.
Tonight, Arturo Rodriguez won the ball back in Rio Grande Valley’s defensive third of the field in the 10th minute of the match and immediately swung the ball out wide to Solomon Asante. The two-time defending league MVP sent a return pass to Rodriguez and the Mexican would have been in on goal if not for a Toros’ defender pulling him down from behind to prevent a goal-scoring opportunity. Asante stepped up to take the set piece, sending a cross into the center of the six-yard box, but RGV goalkeeper Tyler Deric came off his line to punch away the chance.
Rising took a 1-0 lead in the 14th minute when Darnell King cut inside from Phoenix’s right flank. The right back curled a pass into the path of forward Dadashov but Deric once again came off his line to intercept the pass. Fortunately for Rising, Dadashov’s run mixed up the goalkeeper and the ball continued to run on through the area and ended up in the corner of the net.
Nine minutes later, Rising was attacking down the left flank, when Quinn received a pass at the top of the box and cut towards goal. Quinn played a quick one-two combination with Santi Moar and then, after receiving the return pass, slotted a sharp shot in on the ground to the far post. The shot eluded Deric and settled into the corner of the net to make it 2-0.
Phoenix goalkeeper Ben Lundt got down to make a solid, diving save at his near post in the 23rd minute. Rising went right back on the attack, seconds later, finding a third goal in the 27th minute. The goal came off a set piece 40-yards from goal. Rodriguez sent the ball in, finding Dadashov unmarked in the center of the six-yard box. The Azerbaijani volleyed a hard shot past Deric from close range to make it 3-0.
Rio Grande Valley pulled a goal back just after halftime when a backheel pass down the Toros’ left flank was immediately crossed into the area by Adrian Vera. The pass looped over the head of a Rising defender and directly onto the forehead of Juan Azocar, who redirected a shot past Lundt to make it a 3-1 game.
Scoring:
PHX – Darnell King 14
PHX – Aodhan Quinn (Santi Moar)
PHX – Rufat Dadashov (Arturo Rodriguez) 27
RGV – Juan Azocar (Adrian Vera) 55
Discipline:
RGV – Ronald Cerritos (caution) 61
Lineups:
Phoenix Rising FC – Ben Lundt, Tate Schmitt, James Musa, Joe Farrell, Darnell King, Kevon Lambert, Aodhan Quinn (Joey Calistri 86), Arturo Rodriguez, Santi Moar (Prince Saydee 71), Rufat Dadashov (David Egbo 71), Solomon Asante (Seyi Adekoya 71).
Substitutes Not Used – Andre Rawls, Jon Bakero, Ryan Flood.
RGV Toros – Tyler Deric, Carter Manley, Camden Riley, Erik Pimentel (Louis Ramsey 88), Grant Robinson, Juan Cabezas (James Murphy 46), Rodrigo Lopez, Ronald Cerritos (Christian Sorto 88), Adrian Vera (Baboucarr Njie 67), Juan Azocar, Kyle Edwards (Vicente Sanchez 67).
Substitutes Not Used – Colin Miller, Roberto Albquerque.
Head coach Rick Schantz
General thoughts on the match…
We started extremely well. The first half was fantastic. The only thing we talked about at halftime was getting a fourth goal in the first 10 minutes of the second half and really killing the game. If we could, we would be in a position to rest some guys and prepare for next week [two games]. That’s a mistake I made. When you start talking about giving guys rest, bad things can happen.
On scoring on set pieces…
It puts fear into guys when they know you’re effective on set pieces. They know they cannot foul us and give up opportunities.
On the play of his midfield…
Aodhan’s vision, his ability to direct traffic and slow the game down at times. That matched well with Arturo’s [Rodriguez] willingness to dribble at people. There’s a good balance there.
On RGV’s game plan going into the match…
RGV played their front two really wide. That enabled Kev [Lambert] to sit in the pocket. He didn’t have to do a ton of running tonight.
Defender Darnell King
On defenders scoring in the past three games…
Any time we can get on the scoresheet it’s great. We know our forwards can get the job done but if we can put some in the back of the net, we know we’re really firing on all cylinders. That’s really good for us going forward.
On having a great game…
I knew I had that space going forward. They kept a guy high. I was a little worried about that, but I trusted my center backs to do their job. They had my back so that enabled me to go forward more. I’m thankful we took our opportunities when they came.
Forward Rufat Dadashov
On his goal…
It was great for us to score another goal on a free kick. We’re getting better every week. It’s another way for us to score and should be a good advantage for us the rest of the season.
PHOENIX, Arizona (Saturday, July 31) – Phoenix Rising FC defeated Rio Grande Valley Toros, 3-1, tonight at Wild Horse Pass.
Darnell King, Aodhan Quinn and Rufat Dadashov scored for Phoenix, which improved to 7-0-1 at home. Rising plays two matches on the road next week, at Oakland Roots on Wednesday, August 4 (7 p.m. on ESPN+) and at Las Vegas on Saturday, August 7 (7:30 p.m. on CW 61 Arizona/ESPN+), before returning home vs. Orange County SC on Saturday, August 14.
Tonight, Arturo Rodriguez won the ball back in Rio Grande Valley’s defensive third of the field in the 10th minute of the match and immediately swung the ball out wide to Solomon Asante. The two-time defending league MVP sent a return pass to Rodriguez and the Mexican would have been in on goal if not for a Toros’ defender pulling him down from behind to prevent a goal-scoring opportunity. Asante stepped up to take the set piece, sending a cross into the center of the six-yard box, but RGV goalkeeper Tyler Deric came off his line to punch away the chance.
Rising took a 1-0 lead in the 14th minute when Darnell King cut inside from Phoenix’s right flank. The right back curled a pass into the path of forward Dadashov but Deric once again came off his line to intercept the pass. Fortunately for Rising, Dadashov’s run mixed up the goalkeeper and the ball continued to run on through the area and ended up in the corner of the net.
Nine minutes later, Rising was attacking down the left flank, when Quinn received a pass at the top of the box and cut towards goal. Quinn played a quick one-two combination with Santi Moar and then, after receiving the return pass, slotted a sharp shot in on the ground to the far post. The shot eluded Deric and settled into the corner of the net to make it 2-0.
Phoenix goalkeeper Ben Lundt got down to make a solid, diving save at his near post in the 23rd minute. Rising went right back on the attack, seconds later, finding a third goal in the 27th minute. The goal came off a set piece 40-yards from goal. Rodriguez sent the ball in, finding Dadashov unmarked in the center of the six-yard box. The Azerbaijani volleyed a hard shot past Deric from close range to make it 3-0.
Rio Grande Valley pulled a goal back just after halftime when a backheel pass down the Toros’ left flank was immediately crossed into the area by Adrian Vera. The pass looped over the head of a Rising defender and directly onto the forehead of Juan Azocar, who redirected a shot past Lundt to make it a 3-1 game.
Scoring:
PHX – Darnell King 14
PHX – Aodhan Quinn (Santi Moar)
PHX – Rufat Dadashov (Arturo Rodriguez) 27
RGV – Juan Azocar (Adrian Vera) 55
Discipline:
RGV – Ronald Cerritos (caution) 61
Lineups:
Phoenix Rising FC – Ben Lundt, Tate Schmitt, James Musa, Joe Farrell, Darnell King, Kevon Lambert, Aodhan Quinn (Joey Calistri 86), Arturo Rodriguez, Santi Moar (Prince Saydee 71), Rufat Dadashov (David Egbo 71), Solomon Asante (Seyi Adekoya 71).
Substitutes Not Used – Andre Rawls, Jon Bakero, Ryan Flood.
RGV Toros – Tyler Deric, Carter Manley, Camden Riley, Erik Pimentel (Louis Ramsey 88), Grant Robinson, Juan Cabezas (James Murphy 46), Rodrigo Lopez, Ronald Cerritos (Christian Sorto 88), Adrian Vera (Baboucarr Njie 67), Juan Azocar, Kyle Edwards (Vicente Sanchez 67).
Substitutes Not Used – Colin Miller, Roberto Albquerque.
Head coach Rick Schantz
General thoughts on the match…
We started extremely well. The first half was fantastic. The only thing we talked about at halftime was getting a fourth goal in the first 10 minutes of the second half and really killing the game. If we could, we would be in a position to rest some guys and prepare for next week [two games]. That’s a mistake I made. When you start talking about giving guys rest, bad things can happen.
On scoring on set pieces…
It puts fear into guys when they know you’re effective on set pieces. They know they cannot foul us and give up opportunities.
On the play of his midfield…
Aodhan’s vision, his ability to direct traffic and slow the game down at times. That matched well with Arturo’s [Rodriguez] willingness to dribble at people. There’s a good balance there.
On RGV’s game plan going into the match…
RGV played their front two really wide. That enabled Kev [Lambert] to sit in the pocket. He didn’t have to do a ton of running tonight.
Defender Darnell King
On defenders scoring in the past three games…
Any time we can get on the scoresheet it’s great. We know our forwards can get the job done but if we can put some in the back of the net, we know we’re really firing on all cylinders. That’s really good for us going forward.
On having a great game…
I knew I had that space going forward. They kept a guy high. I was a little worried about that, but I trusted my center backs to do their job. They had my back so that enabled me to go forward more. I’m thankful we took our opportunities when they came.
Forward Rufat Dadashov
On his goal…
It was great for us to score another goal on a free kick. We’re getting better every week. It’s another way for us to score and should be a good advantage for us the rest of the season.
