USL Phoenix Rising FC

Phoenix Rising FC Prepares for Clash with No. 2 in Western Conference

Published on June 28, 2019 under United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Phoenix Rising FC News Release


Phoenix Rising FC returns to Casino Arizona Field as the No. 1 team in the Western Conference and will host the No. 2 team, Portland Timbers 2, on Saturday, June 29th, at 7:30 p.m. The match will air on YourPHX CW (channel 6 on cable and 61.1 on satellite & over-the-air) as well as ArizonaSports.com and on ESPN Phoenix 620 AM.

The team rides back into home following a two-win week on the road last week. Last Tuesday, the club downed Reno 1868 FC, 3-0, and last Saturday the club took out Energy FC, 4-1. Forward Solomon Asante was named the USL Player of the Week following his two-match performance (three goals and an assist) and teammates Adam Jahn (one goal and one assist) and Zac Lubin (ten saves, two wins and one clean sheet) were team of the week honorable mentions.

Timbers 2 have gone 2-1-2 in their last five matches. The one loss came this past Wednesday, when the club fell to Reno 1868 FC at home, 2-1. In that match, Brayan Hurtado gave the club a 1-0 lead just 15 minutes into the match. But Reno scored both of its goals in a span of three minutes after the hour mark to come away with three points.

PHXvPOR Series

This will be the 11th all-time meeting between the two clubs with PHX's all-time record being 4-5-1.

PHX's last win in the series was also the club's first-ever USL playoff win on October 29, 2018.

PHX has won four of the last five matches after not winning in the first five matches of the series.

A Little Bit About Timbers 2

POR is 4-1-3 on the road in 2019.

The club's leading scorer is Dairon Asprilla with six goals in six appearances. Foster Langsdorf, Brayan Hurtado, and Modou Jadama each have four goals.

Eryk Williamson leads the team in assists with seven.

POR has just two clean sheets this season but has scored in every match.

POR leads all of USL Championship in penalties awarded with 10. The next highest total is just five.

Per Opta, POR's 2.1 goals per match is tied for second best in USL Championship.

A Little Bit About Phoenix Rising

Per Opta, the team's 7.0 team rating is tops in USL Championship.

PHX has outscored opponents 26-4 in its last seven matches (all wins)

PHX has scored three or more goals in ten of its last 16 matches.

Per Opta, PHX has created 38 big chances as a team, fourth best in USL Championship.

PHX's 41 goals scored is tops in USL Championship.

Solomon Asante leads all of USL Championship in assists (8) and is tied for second in the league in goals scored (10).

Zac Lubin's eight clean sheets are just one off the league leader, TB's John McCarthy.

Per Opta, Asante has the best average player rating at 8.18. He's the only player currently above 8.

Per Opta, Asante is second in the league in key passes per match (3.2) and chances created (9) and leads the league in shots on target per match (1.8)

Difference Makers

Not only is Phoenix Rising leading USL championship in goals (41) but the club's goal differential is also the best in the league by a wide margin. The club currently has a +26 goal differential, 11 goals better than the next highest total. In fact, the +26 is a better differential than the combined goal differential of the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th-place teams in the Western Conference.

Men On Fire

It's been hard to get through a match without Adam Jahn or Solomon Asante scoring or contributing to goals. Asante comes into the match having scored in six consecutive matches (seven goals total). Jahn has scored a goal or notched an assist in eight straight matches. The last time Jahn didn't get a goal or assist was on April 27.

National Team Call Up

The club will be without midfielder Kevon Lambert and Junior Flemmings after both were called up by the Jamaican National Team for the 2019 Gold Cup. After coming on as a sub in the team's Gold Cup opening match win over Honduras, Flemmings started Jamaica's two matches against El Salvador and Curaçao (both draws). Lambert came on as a sub in the 73rd minute against Curaçao.

Tracking ahead of pace

Through the first 16 matches of the season, Phoenix Rising has 32 points. In 2018, the club had 31 points through the first 16 matches of the season en route to setting a club record for points in a season.

Goal scoring pace

Phoenix Rising now has 41 goals scored through the first 16 matches of the season. In 2018, the club scored 32 goals through 16 matches en route to setting the club record for goals in a season.

Iron Man Watch

Defender Amadou Dia remains the club's minutes leader with 1,260 minutes played. He's followed by Solomon Asante (1,244), Adam Jahn (1,212), Zac Lubin (1,170), and A.J. Cochran (1,069) to round out the top five. Seven players total have logged 1,000 or more minutes this season.

Check out the Phoenix Rising FC Statistics

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United Soccer League Championship Stories from June 28, 2019


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