August 11, 2024 – United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Phoenix Rising FC News Release
Phoenix Rising FC’s Dariusz Formella versus Tampa Bay Rowdies’ Danny Crisostomo and Danny Crisostomo
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PHOENIX, Arizona – With lightning clashing in the distance, revealing the silhouette of mountains around its home stadium, Phoenix Rising FC (6-8-8) played to a 0-0 draw against the Tampa Bay Rowdies.
“I think the guys performed pretty well, not only with intensity but also showing quality today on the field,” said Interim Head Coach Diego Gomez. “We’re just missing the goal, and I think we had more than enough chances to get a goal but today we couldn’t get the ball to go inside [the net].”
Phoenix Rising started the match with tremendous energy, drawing Joshua Perez into an early yellow card by manipulating play on the outside of the pitch. This trend continued throughout the first 45 minutes, with Rising finding the back of the net twice in a goalless half.
Most of Rising’s chances came from its pace on the outside, with Edgardo Rito and Juan Carlos Azocar consistently finding space behind the Tampa Bay back line. Tomas Angel was the first Rising player to split the Tampa Bay defense, playing Azocar into the box. Azocar put his head down and drilled a shot into the bottom right corner of the net, but he was flagged offside by the official on the line.
Rising continued to work the ball from the inside out, finding Angel, who siphoned the attack toward the Tampa Bay goal. Starting to gel in his second match with Rising, Angel and attacking midfielder Fede Varela controlled play for Rising in the final third, helping the club dominate possession at 68 percent through the first 45 minutes.
“Tomas [Angel] gave us a lot of good movement and his quality in the last third, he will be the first one that is disappointed that he didn’t score a goal, but I told him to relax, if he keeps playing like that he’s going to score a lot of goals for us,” said Gomez.
On the other side of the pitch, Tampa Bay tried to filter its attack through Cal Jennings, the Tampa talisman who had found the back of the net 12 times in the 2024 season, but Tampa Bay looked stagnant in the final third, largely due to the strong play of Papae Mar Boye, who tracked Jennings well and held him to no shots and just eight touches in the first half.
Azocar followed up his first called off goal with another, receiving the ball this time from Rito, who played the it across the box and found him just beyond the…