Adam Jahn grabbed an early brace and James Musa scored for the first time in three years as Phoenix takes another 3 points on Dollar Beer Night, 3-1 over Rio Grande Valley Toros FC.

Some Thoughts on the Match

1. 10-0-0 on Dollar Beer Night!
   
2. We saw a new midfield lineup tonight as James Musa, Kevon Lambert, and Jon Bakero started together and boy, did they put on a show. On top of his rocket from distance, Musa provided much-needed steel and possession in front of the back four. Lambert was all over the offensive half and was effective in pressing once Phoenix lost possession. And then there is Bakero, who carried a 92% pass accuracy on the night. Together the three played the most complete performance of the year for Rising in the middle.
   
3. For all the talk of chances created and shot for Phoenix this year, Rising did much with little tonight. Scoring 60% of your Shots on Target will not happen often, so you take what you can get. The two goals from open play were not very high percentage shots but with the luck Phoenix has had so far, maybe they’re due for some balancing out.
   
4. Go back and watch the last 12-15 minutes of tonight’s match. The way in which Phoenix was able to shut the game down was something I haven’t seen from them lately. Most of the time, the team focuses on soaking pressure and preventing any huge chances. It was a whole other story tonight, as they choked the life out of RGV with possession. It’s dumb, but the only way the other team doesn’t score is if you have the ball and Phoenix did just that in what I think was there best performance of the season.
   
5. One more note, Lubin was huge again tonight. I thought there would be a chance that Woszczynski would start coming back into the fray but that train has slowed down quite a bit. The double save better be save of the week and came at a crucial time as RGV ramped up the pressure. Lubin could have done better with the RGV’s goal and his decision to pick up the backpass was mystifying but there’s no doubt he’s signed his name in permanent ink in goal.

What do you think? Anyone stand out that we didn’t talk about? Let us know in our Player Ratings