With four goals and another shutout, Phoenix Rising has moved five points clear of the playoff line
Phoenix Rising (9-9-9) delivered a commanding 4-0 win at home against San Antonio FC, marking the team’s 12th shutout of the season.
“It was a great game, 4-0—always happy,” said Phoenix Rising forward Dariusz Formella. “We haven’t had many games like this, this season, but the most important ones are coming up, and we’re going to do everything to keep this momentum going.”
Red smoke lingered in the air throughout the night, rising from the south end after each of Rising’s four goals. It was the first time this season that Rising had scored four goals in a match, and they looked like the likely winners early on. With just 30 minutes played, Rising had racked up eight shots. Formella and Giulio Doratiotto each had a pair, with Emil Cuello, Tomas Angel, and Mohamed Traore also getting involved.
“The difference for us tonight was getting the first goal quickly, followed by a second. From there, we gained the confidence we needed,” said Interim Head Coach Diego Gomez. “The atmosphere was incredible on Hispanic Heritage Night. Phoenix has a lot of cultural heritage, and within our team, it’s represented by different Latin communities. We’re proud to represent them.”
Ultimately, it was Pape Mar Boye who scored the match opener and his second of the season, rising high and heading it home past San Antonio goalkeeper Richard Sanchez, scoring off the corner kick delivered by Charlie Dennis.
It was a crucial first goal for Rising, a team that has struggled to score this season but remains undefeated at home when scoring first. They now have seven wins after netting the opening goal. For San Antonio, conceding first has been a bad omen—they haven’t won any of their last 16 matches after allowing the first goal.
“We’ve done quite a lot of similar stuff the last few weeks, sometimes you just get unlucky, and sometimes maybe you try too hard, or do too much — you want it too much and then you miss,” said Formella. “Everything needs time and we have struggled a few games this season, that’s not great for us, but we tried to do some different things tonight in a different way. We needed time and then we showed what we can do, and today was our day and I hope we’re going to continue this way.”
Rising pressed on, and just 12 minutes after Mar Boye’s opener, Formella scored the second goal. He latched onto a precise pass from Doratiotto that split San Antonio’s defense. After driving into the box and cutting inside, Formella slotted a low shot through Sanchez’s legs. It was his fifth goal of the season and his first since late June.
Rising dominated the first half, controlling 60% of the possession and taking 11 shots compared to San Antonio’s one. While San Antonio managed a slight improvement in the second half, Rising’s 10 shots on target dwarfed their opponents’ single effort.
Rising quickly found its third goal 20 minutes into the second half. Dennis received the ball at the top of the box, and with time to think, slotted it low into the corner for his first goal with Phoenix and his second of the USL Championship season (his first came earlier this year with the Tampa Bay Rowdies). Jearl Margaritha picked up his first assist for Rising on the play.
Phoenix wasn’t done yet. Substitute Damien Barker John opened his account for Rising in the 84th minute, pouncing on a blocked shot from Angel and smashing it home from six yards out with his right foot.
“I’m very happy with the guys, they did everything well,” said Gomez “We wanted the opening goal, and especially for us, that was important because we felt like we had some good moments and we’ve been playing good — even after last week in Sacramento, the guys felt good and confident — and we showed it today on the field.”
This was the first match since July 19 where Rising scored multiple goals, and it was their seventh clean sheet in the last nine games. Hoping this is the spark their attack needed, Phoenix travels to Orange County for a crucial late-season matchup between the seventh and eighth seeds. After that, Rising returns home next Saturday to face Las Vegas Lights. That match kicks off at 7:30 p.m. PT. Get tickets at phxrisingfc.com/tickets.
Scoring:
PHX – 27′ Pape Mar Boye (Charlie Dennis)
PHX – 40′ Dariusz Formella (Giulio Doratiotto)
PHX – 65′ Charlie Dennis (Jearl Margaritha)
PHX – 84′ Damien Barker John
Discipline:
SA – 68′ Jorge Hernandez (Caution)
SA – 79′ Mitchell Taintor (Caution)
PHX – 79′ Rocco Rios Novo (Caution)
PHX – 89′ Laurence Wyke (Caution)
SA – 90+3′ Nelson Blanco (Caution)
Lineups:
Phoenix Rising FC – Rocco Rios Novo, Mohamed Traore, Pape Mar Boye, Laurence Wyke, Emil Cuello (67′ Gabi Torres), Renzo Zambrano, Giulio Doratiotto (78′ JP Scearce), Charlie Dennis (67′ Jose Hernandez), Dariusz Formella (78′ Damien Barker John), Tomas Angel, Jearl Margaritha (85′ Juan Carlos Azocar).
Substitutes Not Used – Patrick Rakovsky, Jamison Ping, Edgardo Rito, Skylar Odle.
San Antonio FC – Richard Sanchez, Mitchell Taintor, Kendall Burks, Carter Manley, Nelson Blanco, Trova Boni (55′ Kevon Lambert), Bura (64′ Juan Agudelo), Rece Buckmaster (75′ Shannon Gomez), Jesus Brigido (46′ Machop Chol), Luis Solignac (75′ Jake LaCava), Jorge Hernandez.
Substitutes Not Used – Luke Haakenson, Kendall McIntosh.
