April 28, 2023 – United Soccer League Championship (USL) – Phoenix Rising FC News Release
Phoenix Rising FC returns home to 38th St/Washington to face Loudoun United on Superhero Night this Saturday, April 29 at 7:30 p.m.
The match will follow the inaugural Police vs. Firefighters match that is set to kick off at 5:55 p.m.
“It’s important to honor and give back to the community,” said Rising Head Coach Juan Guerra. “I’ll be out there early to watch them on Saturday. It should be exciting. I’m looking forward to supporting them.”
Following the 30-minute pregame scrimmage, Rising will look to get three points against a Loudoun United side that has won three straight while outscoring its opponents, 10-0. Five of those goals came in a shutout win against Flower City Union in a Lamar Hunt U.S Open Cup match on Wednesday. Rising was also in action on Wednesday, falling 2-1 to New Mexico United on the road.
“I’m bothered,” said Guerra after that match. “The problem was not the second goal. The problem was the first half. I cannot say anything bad about the last 45 minutes. We played like we had 12 men. We showed what we can do.”
This will be only the second meeting between the clubs. The first was last season when Rising traveled to Northern Virginia and took a 1-0 lead in the ninth minute, only to allow four consecutive goals to go down, 4-1, by the 83rd minute. Phoenix battled back, scoring two late goals, but fell 4-3 at the final whistle.
With the match in Phoenix this year, Guerra expects his team to use its home field advantage to begin converting the club’s advantage in possession to goals
“We were dominating,” said Guerra about his team’s performance on Wednesday. “We were playing as we wanted. We were moving side to side. We were creating chances but we’re not executing. We did not play with the character we had in the second half. We were going forward in the second half and we were down a man. Why do we wait to be brave and push forward and really go? [Tonight] was a wake-up call. We have an important game on Saturday. I’m going to push, challenge and demand of the guys because this performance was not good enough.”
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