Rising secures first road win of 2026 with three-goal performance in Miami
Phoenix Rising picked up a second straight 3-0 victory in USL Championship play, most recently taking the performance to South Beach where it closed a three-match week with a 3-0 win over Miami FC on April 18 at Pitbull Stadium. Following the match, defender Adrian Pelayo and Head Coach Pa-Modou Kah spoke about keeping a third clean sheet in 2026, returning to health, looking forward and more.
HEAD COACH PA-MODOU KAH
On his thoughts on the match…
“It was a well-executed, mature performance from our boys. Knowing the week we had, with the travel cross-country. I’m proud of the result.”
On the club’s recent performances…
“Ever since preseason (the players) have been gelling. Now things are clicking in terms of being a teammate. Being a brother. We’re a family. You get a win in a derby game (against New Mexico), you go to San Jose and could have gotten something out of it. Then you go cross-country and see the energy, the harmony, the willingness to fight for one another and do every little thing that was needed. I hope we made our fans happy and proud, but also support we should give these players each week.”
On the team getting closer to full strength…
“For us, as a coaching staff and front office, we knew what we had. Sometimes people don’t see it, and questions have been asked, but for me its always calm heads prevail. You have to stay calm and keep working every day because we knew we were going to get healthy. Seeing Pape (Mar Boye) back, seeing Danny (Flores) back, seeing Kelvin (Arase) back and now the addition of Dom (Badji). You just see the injection of quality and we still have people coming back. We’re trending in the right direction and now it’s about training and growth.”
DEFENDER ADRIAN PELAYO
On his thoughts on the match…
“As a group we did well. It was a very collective performance and you can tell we trust one another now that we’re further into the season.”
On what recent clean sheets have said about where the team is at…
“The focus and desire to want to win in this league and make it to the final. Everyone is on the same mindset to get there.”
