Having lost the last two matches against San Antonio FC and with major playoff implications at stake, Rising aims to get back on track this Saturday.
Phoenix Rising FC Match Preview Presented by Mayo Clinic
Phoenix Rising (8-9-9) will host Hispanic Heritage Night at Phoenix Rising Stadium this Saturday, kicking off against San Antonio FC (8-7-12). Find tickets today at phxrisingfc.com/tickets, watch the match live on Arizona’s Family Sports, or stream it on CBS Sports’ GOLAZO network.
“[Hispanic Heritage] is a special night. We know there’s a lot of Phoenix fans that have that heritage, and that we feel that support and we know the connection the team has with that community, especially in this group we have,” said Interim Head Coach Diego Gomez. “We have multiple players that have that heritage — players from Venezuela, Colombia, Argentina, myself from Spain, Mexico, so we have a lot of people in this Latino and Spanish speaking community and to have on Hispanic Heritage an important game also, it’s special for us and we’re going to try to show it on the field.”
Last weekend in Sacramento, Phoenix Rising saw two streaks end abruptly. The club conceded a goal for the first time in five matches and, failing to score, saw their winning streak come to an end at two. It was the first time this season that Rising had won two games in a row, and the loss highlighted a recurring issue for the organization: difficulty finding the finishing touch.
“We had a great stretch — five clean sheets in six games — it’s going to happen, we’re going to concede goals,” said Phoenix Rising defender Laurence Wyke. “They had two good chances, in my opinion, and sacred both of them and that’s what a good team will do, so it was a real learning experience for us that against good teams we’re going to have to give them nothing because they are going to capitalize if they get those moments.”
With only 23 goals scored this year, Rising has the second-lowest goal tally in the league, surpassing only El Paso Locomotive. On the bright side, Rising’s 27 goals conceded is the second-best defensive record in the league, behind only Sacramento Republic FC. As the old saying goes, “Goals win games, and defense wins championships.” Phoenix Rising is creating chances and controlling play in the final third of recent games. Despite falling 2-0 to Sacramento Republic, the club was nearly equal in shots created and expected goals. What the club is lacking might not be so much in goals, but rather confidence.
“We created good chances during the game and the keeper came up with a couple of saves that were outstanding, he’s a top keeper in this league – we need to keep going, keep creating good quality chances, the players are finishing well, but it was just a matter of a great save, hitting the crossbar, or just knocking the ball a little lower in some situations,” said Gomez. “We keep moving forward, and want to score more goals, that’s something we want to do and its one of the main focuses in training, but we feel like the team has been growing in chance generation — Sacramento is not a place where it is easy to generate opportunities and we were able to do so, so we’ll keep working in that same route.”
“Defensively we continue to belong — we are the second-best team in the league statistically, and offensively against Sacramento we showed a little bit better, so we hope to keep building on that,” said Gomez. “We know it’s going to be a very close game, San Antonio, especially in the last game, they have been very tight, compact, and again some low scoring results. San Antonio is always difficult, but when you get them in a good moment, even more, so every aspect of the game is going to be important.”
Phoenix will look to turn things around this Saturday at home against San Antonio FC, who are on the cusp of the playoffs. They are tied with FC Tulsa and Orange County at 31 points for the final spot in the USL Championship Western Conference playoff race and are arguably in the best form of the three teams.
“Everyone knows the task and the guys from last year have been in this position, a tough position, but we’re trending in the right direction and that’s the most important thing for us,” said Wyke. “Obviously we strive for the best, we want to be the best, but I don’t think it’s the worst thing to look at a game from a performance standpoint and a results standpoint, and for five or six games before the last we didn’t really concede any goals and guys are getting more chances at goals, so as soon as those goals start falling in, everything changes — we just have to stay confident, keep working as a team to put some in the back of the net.”
San Antonio has secured two consecutive wins, both on the road. In those matches, Luis Solignac scored the go-ahead goal, including a fourth-minute strike against Oakland Roots on Saturday. Despite having only 44 percent of possession and limited space in the opposition half, San Antonio held onto their lead for 86 minutes. They have scored in each of their last three USL Championship games.
“[San Antonio] is a physical team, veteran defenders, good attacking players and some physical forwards, but I don’t see anything changing for us really, playing them,” said Wyke.” When we played them away we got a little unlucky on two set pieces, and I didn’t feel we deserved to concede those goals and at home we need to stamp our mark on the game and go out with some intensity, a bit of pride and swag, and let them know we’re here to play and dominate the game and try our best to get three points because it’s a must win this weekend.”
The last time Phoenix hosted San Antonio in USL Championship play ended controversially, with Manuel Arteaga receiving a straight red card in the 13th minute for what appeared to be an innocuous foul. Despite the early setback, Rising took the lead but eventually lost 2-1 as San Antonio scored twice late in the match. San Antonio also won 2-1 in July of this year. For Rising, this game is crucial not only for redemption but also for playoff implications, as a loss could see them level on points with their opponent.
“These upcoming games are important for us. We know, as a team, we’re going to take it one game at a time,” said Gomez. “San Antonio is first and really a six pointer, and we know that Orange County will be too, it’s very important to win and get three points. In this league you can lose against everybody, and you can win against everybody, now we have all these important games coming up and we need to go for it to put ourselves in the best position.”
Tickets for Phoenix Rising’s Hispanic Heritage Match this Saturday are available starting at just $15. Secure your seat at phxrisingfc.com/tickets or tune in on Arizona’s Family Sports and CBS Sports’ GOLAZO network.
