USL Phoenix Rising FC

Phoenix Rising Enters U.S. Open Cup Fray, Wednesday at 4 PM

Published on May 6, 2024 under United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Phoenix Rising FC News Release


Phoenix Rising faces North Carolina FC in a Round of 32 U.S. Open Cup match this Wednesday, May 8 at 4 p.m. The match will be streamed live on www.ussoccer.com and Rising Radio will stream their audio call of the match on Phoenix Rising's Twitter feed at the same time.

Rising is coming off a 1-1 draw vs. Sacramento at home while North Carolina drew Rhode Island, 0-0, at the site of Wednesday's match, WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina.

"If we play like we did in the second half [Saturday]..." said Rising head coach Danny Stone, "We start winning games. That was a tough team to break down. [Sacramento] is a defensively resolute team."

Phoenix is back to allowing just a goal per game, the pace the team set through the opening four matches of the campaign.

"I don't feel we conceded a lot of clear-cut chances to [Sacramento]," said Stone. "We limited a very strong attacking team. We dealt with the game well."

North Carolina is 0-3-2 in its last five games, allowing 1.3 goals per game and scoring 0.88 per match through its first nine games since rejoining the USL Championship this season.

"We have a long road trip again this week," said Stone, referring to the team's cross-country trip to Rhode Island on April 26. "We'll get the team recovered. We're going to get them together. We don't look backwards. We look forward now."

Rising's last two East Coast road trips couldn't have gone better. The team picked up that 3-1 win in Rhode Island and won the USL Championship Title on November 12 in Charleston, South Carolina.

The win in Rhode Island was one of forward Remi Cabral's best. He scored twice, securing his second brace of the season. Cabral picked up the game tying goal on an assist from Gabi Torres last weekend, extending his run of form to six goals in his last five games. The MLS Next Golden Boot Winner now ranks third in the USL Championship with six goals.

Rising will visit Detroit on the way back to Phoenix following this match, so Stone is likely to shuffle his lineup at some point in the next two matches. That tactic worked recently as the gaffer made seven changes to his starting 11 between the Pittsburgh (April 20) and Rhode Island games. The team has also shown a lot of interchangeability with several positions (Pape/Stenberg, Torres/Azocar, Cuello/Varela, Wyke/Traore, Erickson/Rito, Hernandez/Doratiotto) running a two-deep system.

No matter which group Stone rolls out on Wednesday, picking up a result on the road seems achievable. That result, should it come to be, would put Phoenix in the final 16 teams vying for the 2024 U.S. Open Cup - a point in this competition this club has never seen.

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United Soccer League Championship Stories from May 6, 2024


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