September 18, 2024 – United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Phoenix Rising FC News Release
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…