Rising explodes for three goals to pick up first regular season victory of 2026
Phoenix Rising returned to 38th & Washington and put on a show in front of its home fans, netting three goals to defeat New Mexico United 3-0 on April 11 at Phoenix Rising Stadium. Following the match, Head Coach Pa-Modou Kah and midfielder JP Scearce spoke with reporters about everything clicking, picking up regular season momentum and more.
HEAD COACH PA-MODOU KAH
On his thoughts on the match…
“I think it was a great 90-minute performance, one that we wanted to see from the boys and one we knew was brewing. To do it in a derby, it makes it even sweeter. But the performance, the way (the players) played and fought for each other for the full 90 minutes… I’m very proud of the team and I’m very proud of the club and the support we got today from the fans.”
On the team’s overall performance…
“Everybody today was different. Everybody today hit the level, which I’m very happy with. And football is a process and things happen over time. For me, the one thing that I’m very happy and very proud of is seeing these boys every day coming to work and put in their maximum best. We got rewarded for the work that we’ve been doing.”
On Ihsan Sacko’s performance…
“We know what (Ihsan) Sako can bring at the line, and we know that we started him for that, but he has also been productive wherever we put him; that’s how versatile he is. He’s hitting another gear. He rewarded himself today with two goals and could have maybe had a third one.
But again, the performance that he brings, we’re very happy, and you could see it in him. Because last year, he didn’t have a break for a year with us when he started in Europe, started going, started going, and now he’s on a different level. He has hit a different level. But not only him. Everybody today was different. Everybody today has hit the level.”
On JP Scearce and his role as captain…
“I’m just glad to be able to see it. I was a little bit emotional because of what we went through to that, which showed me what kind of person and character he is as a captain. I know that he wanted to help the team since the beginning. He trusted the process that we put him through, and for him to able to get the minutes that he had today, I’m very happy and he’s going to be more and more.”
On the performance of the back line…
“I’m very happy and proud of seeing these boys every day coming to work and putting in their maximum best. Today we got rewarded for the work. So when I see that, that makes me happy. I’m just proud of how we’ve been continuing to play with guys out, players filling in. There’s no pouting, there’s nothing. And that just shows the resilience and the character of this team.”
MIDFIELDER JP SCEARCE
On his thoughts on the match…
“I think it was probably our best performance of the season. We needed a reaction after the poor start that we’ve had. I think we got out on the front foot in the first half and hopefully we can build off that.”
On the club’s defensive adjustments…
“I think it starts from training. We worked on the defensive press and all those tactics throughout the week, and honestly, we have been chasing the game, we went to that man-to-man press, and we had success off it, even though sometimes we didn’t get the result. We decided this week to start in that direction. Start with the man press and it looked good.”
On taking and playing with a lead…
“Even from last year, we’ve had situations where we’re leading games and we give up, we give up the lead, and I think we cause ourselves that harm. So whenever we have a lead, we just must be smart and just play safe. You know, sometimes be a little more direct on free kicks, waste time or should I say game management.”
