Rising keep clean sheet, pick up another point at home as stretch run approaches
Phoenix Rising picked up a third consecutive result at home, keeping a clean sheet en route to a 0-0 draw at home against Las Vegas Lights FC. Following the match, Rising Head Coach Pa-Modou Kah and goalkeeper Patrick Rakovsky discussed the defensive effort, defender Rafael Czichos’ leadership and more.
HEAD COACH PA-MODOU KAH
On his thoughts on the match…
“I think we were very sharp the first 30 minutes, with a couple of opportunities that we could have got; then the game became stale. Not enough speed of play today. The positive is you kept a clean sheet. It was great to see (Rakovsky) bounce back and keep us in the game, because that was an incredible save (late in the match).”
On failing to score against Vegas…
“For the last two games, we put in seven (goals). If Hope (Avayevu) put that opportunity that he played a one-two with, maybe that changes the outcome of the game. But it was a 0-0 game. When you look at the overall picture of the game, we had more possession, but it was not that we created unbelievable opportunities.”
On playing shorthanded tonight…
“I would love to see how many times we have actually played with the same lineup twice in the full season we’ve had. But when you look at the other side of it, (the absences) have created opportunities for everybody, and we’ve seen players play that normally may not have gotten minutes, which is a fantastic thing to have.”
GOALKEEPER PATRICK RAKOVSKY
On his thoughts on the match…
“I think the first 20-30 minutes we were pretty good. I feel we were pushing, we had good chances, just the final pass was missing. (Vegas) had some set pieces, some counter attacks, I think we dealt with it really well.”
On New Addition Rafael Czichos…
“(Czichos) has been great. Obviously, he’s really experienced in a lot of games from Germany and here. He’s definitely what we expect and what we need in the back. Also, he’s a leader on the field and off the field. We’re just excited that he’s here now.”
On Entering the Final Stretch of the Season…
“We have two East Coast games, but we still also have a lot of home games, so we definitely want to win every one. But it’s nice that we didn’t have to travel (the last several weeks). We were definitely happy to be home and wanted to have nine points and not five. I feel like we are ready for the final stretch.”
