Phoenix Rising looks to close out its longest road trip of the 2020 season with three points and a side of revenge this Saturday, September 5, vs. Las Vegas Lights FC (7:30 p.m. PT on CW61 Arizona & ESPN+).
“We gave the final five minutes to Vegas [on August 22],” said Rising head coach Rick Schantz on Tuesday. “We were not focused. Right now, the team feels like caged-up tigers. They are backed up into a corner. They’re ready to go. All the players want to prove to the fans that they’re better than what they’ve shown.”
Despite the setbacks suffered in its last two outings, Rising (6-2-2, 20 points) remains in first place of the Group A standings. Orange County (5-1-3, 18 points) is alone in second place with LA Galaxy II (5-4-0, 15 points) in third. OC and Los Dos play each other one more time this weekend, which will provide a much clearer playoff picture when the dust settles Saturday night. Whichever way the three-team dance goes this week, Phoenix will be in a favorable position with four of its final five matches set to be played at Casino Arizona Field.
But first, Rising is concentrating on rectifying its pedestrian 1-2-2 record on the road this season.
“We have some payback for Vegas,” said Schantz. “We felt like they took two points from us after we played well on the road. We are not going to let it happen again. The only way to ensure that is to go out there right from the start, put the pedal to the metal and get after them. Let’s make it the most difficult game they’ve ever played. Let’s not worry about how many extra overtime minutes there are, let’s just make sure we’ve killed the game off.
From Vegas, we expect to see a lot of direct balls from wide areas. We need to be willing to defend crosses. That has been a challenge for us. We’ll throw a few wrinkles in there as well. We need to make it a little different just so it’s not completely predictable. If they play those long balls, we need to win all the second balls. If we can turn around and attack them in waves, we’ll be extremely successful. It’s all about work rate and desire right now.”
Phoenix Rising looks to close out its longest road trip of the 2020 season with three points and a side of revenge this Saturday, September 5, vs. Las Vegas Lights FC (7:30 p.m. PT on CW61 Arizona & ESPN+).
“We gave the final five minutes to Vegas [on August 22],” said Rising head coach Rick Schantz on Tuesday. “We were not focused. Right now, the team feels like caged-up tigers. They are backed up into a corner. They’re ready to go. All the players want to prove to the fans that they’re better than what they’ve shown.”
Despite the setbacks suffered in its last two outings, Rising (6-2-2, 20 points) remains in first place of the Group A standings. Orange County (5-1-3, 18 points) is alone in second place with LA Galaxy II (5-4-0, 15 points) in third. OC and Los Dos play each other one more time this weekend, which will provide a much clearer playoff picture when the dust settles Saturday night. Whichever way the three-team dance goes this week, Phoenix will be in a favorable position with four of its final five matches set to be played at Casino Arizona Field.
But first, Rising is concentrating on rectifying its pedestrian 1-2-2 record on the road this season.
“We have some payback for Vegas,” said Schantz. “We felt like they took two points from us after we played well on the road. We are not going to let it happen again. The only way to ensure that is to go out there right from the start, put the pedal to the metal and get after them. Let’s make it the most difficult game they’ve ever played. Let’s not worry about how many extra overtime minutes there are, let’s just make sure we’ve killed the game off.
From Vegas, we expect to see a lot of direct balls from wide areas. We need to be willing to defend crosses. That has been a challenge for us. We’ll throw a few wrinkles in there as well. We need to make it a little different just so it’s not completely predictable. If they play those long balls, we need to win all the second balls. If we can turn around and attack them in waves, we’ll be extremely successful. It’s all about work rate and desire right now.”
