- Slug: Sports-Phoenix Rising Playoff Preview, 920 words.
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By Cooper Burns
Cronkite News
PHOENIX – Phoenix Rising FC seeks a rare feat, one that hasn’t been accomplished since 2018, when Louisville City FC won back-to-back USL titles.
Heading into this year’s playoffs, Rising’s road to gold appears all too similar to last season’s run. In the 2023 playoffs, Rising came in as the sixth seed in the Western Conference and needed road wins over San Diego Loyal SC, Orange County SC and Sacramento Republic FC to earn a shot at the title. After passing each test with victories, Rising went on to capture their first championship in franchise history against Charleston Battery.
Phoenix enters the 2024 USL Playoffs as the eighth seed in the conference and needs a similar run away from home to defend its USL championship, starting Sunday against conference foe New Mexico United.
A few short weeks ago, on Oct. 9, Phoenix came away with a critical 2-1 victory against United to keep its playoff hopes alive.
In preparation for the postseason, Rising’s practices have prioritized intensity in hopes of a repeat result to upset the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference once again. Rising interim Coach Diego Gomez believes his team is ready to not only attack New Mexico, but all USL contenders like a season ago.
“Everybody’s motivated,” Gomez said. “Everybody is focused on Sunday’s game, and we have already forgotten about the last game to put all of our focus on this game.”
Rising has dealt with outside distractions during the 2024 regular season with class as reigning champions. From the firing of first-year manager Danny Stone 17 games into this season to naming Gomez the interim coach, the squad stayed the course to earn a playoff berth late in the season.
The latest noise centers around reports about a permanent replacement for Stone – and unconfirmed reports indicate Gomez isn’t the choice.
“For me the most important (thing) is the game on Sunday … I want to win on Sunday and I don’t have any distraction of (the coaching search) because it’s not helping at all, the team or myself,” Gomez said. ”So all of the focus is winning on Sunday. We want to be champions and that is what we are focusing on.”
Repeating as champions will prove difficult for Rising. As the lowest seed in the conference with a record of 11-9-14, the franchise faces its lowest rank since the playoff format was changed to conferences.
Despite the unfavorable odds, Rising feels comfortable about their position. The 2-1 victory over New Mexico in the last meeting is one reason Phoenix carries confidence into the first-round road matchup. Rising conceded the first goal of the game in the first half and rallied to win the game.
The victory marked the first time that Rising conceded the first goal in a game and won since the 2023 USL Championship against Charleston, a mere 11 months ago.
In round three, Rising midfielder Charlie Dennis and his teammates remain confident.
“Yeah, we’re not too bothered about (going to New Mexico),” he said. “We’re happy to be going there to be honest.”
Rising’s keys to victories include playing a flawless game against an excellent opponent. Despite their winning performance in the last game against New Mexico, particularly offensively, Gomez also has his eyes on another factor to win.
“In playoff games, do not concede, if you don’t concede a goal then you are through to the next round so that’s the mentality,” he said.
Rising has been one of the best defensive teams in the league this season thanks to goalie Rocco Rios Novo, who ranks third in the Western Conference with 96 saves, only six behind the first-place Antony Siaha of Monterey Bay. With Rios Novo in net, Rising can play more freely and not worry about some of the potential mistakes that may arise.
“Rocco’s an excellent player and everyone knows that in the locker room,” Dennis said. “He’s great with his feet and that really helps us play the style of football that we like.”
Between their defense and 2023 title run, Rising feels a deep postseason run is inevitable.
“I think they have extra confidence going on the road, going away, every game of the playoff span and they know they can do it again,” Gomez said.
Added Dennis, “The vibes are good between the boys. The players that were here last year and won it, they’re going to take that experience into the playoffs. There’s a different feeling in the air when it’s playoff time.”
The arduous road of repeating as champions will go through either Las Vegas or Sacramento for their second-round game with a win Sunday. Rising has not fared well against either of those two teams this season, posting a 0-2-2 record.
Rising played to a 1-1 draw against Sacramento at home in their May 4 meeting. A few weeks later on June 1, Rising and Las Vegas drew 0-0.
The regular-season rematches ended in worse fashion. Rising traveled to Sacramento and returned with a 2-0 loss suffered on Sept. 14. Exactly two weeks later, Rising lost 2-1 to Las Vegas at home, one of their worst losses of the season after allowing two goals within three minutes to steal the win.
Now, the slate is wiped clean and Rising knows from experience that anything can happen in the postseason.
“Yeah, it’s the playoffs now so it’s one game at a time,” Dennis said. “You win, you stay in, that’s how it goes. It’s tournament football and it’s crunch time really.”
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