Phoenix Rising Face El Paso in the First of Three Straight at Home.
The Basics
Phoenix Rising (14-5-2, 47 pts, 1st) vs. El Paso Locomotive (7-8-6, 29 pts, 10th)
7:30 pm, Casino Arizona Field, Scottsdale, AZ
Your Phoenix CW 6 & 61.1
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ArizonaSports.com
Last Match
Phoenix certainly left it late in their latest win, a 3-2 defeat of Los Dos. Making two changes from the previous week, Rising relied on Zac Lubin to keep them in the game but despite some incredible stops, the team still found themselves down by 2 after 51 minutes. Solomon Asante stepped up to spark the team, stealing a rushed free-kick before rounding the keeper and slotting it home. Junior Flemmings followed up shortly after thanks to a nasty backheel from substitute Jon Bakero. Joey Calistri, another sub, secured all three points with less than ten minutes left as Phoenix broke another record, this time for most consecutive road wins (6).
Team News
After being announced by the team on July 15th, Corey Whelan finally made his way to the Valley and practiced with the team fo the first time. No timetable has been announced for when we might see Whelan but it is unlikely tonight will be it……….Joey Calistri made the USL Team of the Week Honorable Mention for the first time this season, thanks to his Game Winning Goal in Carson……Rick Schantz finished second in USL Coach of the Month award for July, only 1% behind the winner, Tom Soehn
Record Watch
As we approach 65% completion of the season, here are some team and USL records we are watching for.
- Goals Scored, Player: Solomon Asante (15) (Record: Cameron Lancaster, 26, 2018)
- Assists, Player: Solomon Asante (11) (Record: Emmanuel Ledesma, 16, 2018)
- Clean Sheets: Zac Lubin (11) (Record: Maxime Crepeau, 15, 2018)
- Goals Scored, Team (56) (Record: Reno 1868 FC 75, 2018)
- Matches Won, Team (14) (Record: FC Cincinnati, 23, 2018)
- Points Won, Team (47) (Record: FC Cincinnati, 77, 2018)
Form
It was only 7 matches ago that El Paso and Phoenix were tied on 26 points. The two teams could not have performed as polar opposites since. Rising has gone on to continue their streak going 7-0-0, while El Paso has earned only 3 points total, going 0-4-3.
El Paso Locomotive
Tonight will be the first game for El Paso since the horrific events that occurred last Saturday in their city and emotions are sure to be high. The El Paso Shooting Victims’ Fund has been set up and it still available to take donations here.
The star of the Locomotive show is their forward Jerome Kiesewetter. Unfortunately (or fortunately), Kiesewetter has been out injured for the last 3 matches. Even before the injury, the striker had gone 375 minutes without a goal after scoring 10 in 624 minutes starting with his 4th game in USL. El Paso has also been bitten by the injury bug at the back, with starting keeper Logan Ketterer out the past two matches. Without those two stars, El Paso will turn to Omar Salgado, who leads the team in shots but only has 2 goals to show for it as well as 4 assists. As mentioned above, the team is in terrible form, scoring only 2 goals in the past 7 matches. The ever-present Richie Ryan leads the team in blocks and interceptions, as well as near the top in clearances.
Projected Starting Lineup
It should be a fairly straight forward lineup again tonight. Based on the play last week, Bakero and Mala should see their way back into the first XI.
What to Watch For?
– Emotions. How do El Paso channel the emotions of the past week?
– Phoenix has played tight the past couple of weeks with Schantz saying that guys are afraid of breaking the streak. Do they continue this or can they get back to the free-flowing form that got them here in the first place?
What do you think? Will the streak continue or does El Paso get the best of Rising?
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