Rising returns home to face rivals New Mexico United on April 11
Phoenix Rising closed a week of three road matches with a 2-0 defeat against Sacramento Republic FC on April 4 at Heart Health Park. Defender Daniel Flores made his 2026 debut, while PRFC Academy forward Anthony Capetillo made his third appearance in USL Championship play.
“This match is a little bit of a stinker, but if you look at the road trip and what the team has done I think the boys showed a lot of character and heart,” Head Coach Pa-Modou Kah said. “Obviously, we hoped we could have had a better game today. Opportunities were there for us to take, and we didn’t take them.”
Saturday marked just Rising’s second defeat of 2026 across seven matches, both of which have come on the road. Kah’s side next returns home to face rivals New Mexico United at 7:00 p.m. (PT) on April 11 at Phoenix Rising Stadium.
“It’s important for us to not put our heads down and know that the game was there for us as well,” defender Luke Biasi said. “We had just as many chances as (Sacramento) and it shouldn’t take us two goals to wake up and come at them. We’re disappointed, but you can see it’s there as well.”
GOAL-SCORING PLAYS
SAC – Blake Willey (Forster Ajago), 10th minute: On a quick counter-attack, Forster Ajago drove down the left before squaring a ball to the top of the box to a late-arriving Blake Willey. The forward used his left foot to sweep the ball in at the far post.
SAC – Dominik Wanner (Michelle Benítez), 24th minute: Winning the ball at midfield, Michelle Benítez dribbled down the left and found Dominik Wanner at the top of the box, who used his right foot to find the far-right corner of the net.
NOTES
-Saturday marked the conclusion of Rising’s three-match road trip.
-It was Rising’s second three-match week of the regular season.
-Entering the match in the 75th minute, defender Daniel Flores returned to action for the first time since October 18, 2025.
Phoenix Rising (0-2-3, 3pts) at Sacramento Republic FC (2-1-2, 8pts)
April 4, 2026 – Heart Health Park (Sacramento, Calif.)
Goals by Half 1 2 FT
Phoenix Rising 0 0 0
Sacramento Republic FC 2 0 2
Scoring Summary:
SAC: Willey (Ajago), 10
SAC: Wanner (Benítez), 24
Misconduct Summary:
SAC: Ojaga (caution), 5
PHX: Moursou (caution), 6
SAC: Crisostomo (caution), 28
PHX: Avayevu (caution), 48
SAC: Vitiello (caution), 50
SAC: Wanner (caution), 59
SAC: Benítez (caution), 73
SAC: Willey (caution), 78
PHX: Gómez (caution), 79
Lineups:
PHX: GK Rakovsky, D Biasi, D Vukovic (Capetillo, 64), D Pelayo (Flores, 75), D Smith, M Avayevu, M Scearce ©, M Moursou (Gómez, 61), F Johnson, F Dennis, F Studenhofft (Sacko, 45)
Substitutes Not Used: GK Odunze, D Ramirez, D Gaydon
TOTAL SHOTS: 14 (Dennis, 4); SHOTS ON GOAL: 3 (Multiple players, 1); FOULS: 16 (Avayevu, 4); OFFSIDES: 2; CORNER KICKS: 9; SAVES: 2
SAC: GK Vitiello, D Crisostomo, D Kaye, D Essel, D Benítez, M Willey (Ukaegbu, 84), M Rodríguez (Cambridge, 77), M Desmond ©, M Kleemann, F Wanner (Malango, 72), F Ajago (Edwards, 77)
Substitutes Not Used: GK Randolph, D Strassburg, D Paskey, M Casas, M Rivas
TOTAL SHOTS: 11 (Multiple players, 3) SHOTS ON GOAL: 4 (Willey, 2); FOULS: 22 (Multiple players, 6) OFFSIDES: 2; CORNER KICKS: 3; SAVES: 2
Referee: Muhammad Hassan
Assistant Referees: Peter Hanson, Joshua Mills
Fourth Official: Kevin Mills
Attendance: 9,308
All statistics contained in this box score are unofficial.
