
Phoenix Rising Heads Back on the Road for Showdown with Sacramento Republic FC
April 26, 2019 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Phoenix Rising FC News Release
Phoenix Rising heads back on the road to take on Western Conference foe Sacramento Republic FC on Saturday, April 27, at Papa Murphy's Park. The match is scheduled to kickoff at 7:30 p.m. Fans can watch the match at one of two official watch parties being hosted by the club: Venezia's Pizza in Tempe and Tim Finnegan's Irish Pub in Glendale.
Rising comes into the match riding high following a 4-0 drubbing of Tacoma Defiance. In that match, forward Junior Flemmings scored two goals and an assist to lead the offensive attack. He was named to the USL Championship Team of the Week for that performance. Teammates Jason Johnson and Solomon Asante each recorded a goal and an assist. Goalkeeper Zac Lubin notched his third clean sheet of the season.
The win propelled the club into 9th place in the Western Conference Standings, the first time this season Phoenix Rising has been in the top 10. Phoenix Rising's ten points are just four points off the conference's top team, Portland Timbers 2 (14 points).
A Little Bit About Sacramento Republic
Sacramento Republic is coming off a 1-0 loss at Portland Timbers 2.
Forward Cameron Iwasa's five goals put him among the league's top 10 goal scorers.
Sacramento Republic has managed to score more than one goal in just one of their six matches.
Sacramento Republic is third in the conference in goals conceded, only allowing five goals in six matches.
Sacramento Republic leads all of USL Championship in successful tackles per match (14.7)
A Little Bit About Phoenix Rising
During Phoenix Rising's 4-0 win over Tacoma Defiance, the team led for a total of 56 minutes. The club had led for a total of 87 minutes in the previous six matches.
Per Opta, Phoenix Rising's team rating of 6.9 is the third best in all of USL Championship.
Phoenix Rising remains second in USL Championship in shots on target per match (6.3).
Forward Junior Flemmings' four goals put him among the top 10 scorers in USL Championship.
Midfielder Solomon Asante's four assists are just one off the league leader.
Per Opta, Solomon Asante has the best average player rating in all of USL Championship (7.9).
Asante also leads all of USL Championship in key passes per match (3.4) and shots on target per match (2.1).
Solomon Asante has the longest active consecutive starts streak (12) for the club.
PHX and SAC
This will be the thirteenth all-time meeting between the two clubs with PHX's all-time record being 2-6-4.
With thirteen matches, SAC will become PHX's third-most common opponent in club history. PHX has only played Orange County (18 matches) and LA Galaxy II (15 matches) more times.
PHX has never won a match at SAC, going 0-3-3 in six matches.
PHX's last win against SAC came on August 26, 2017. In that match, current assistant coach Peter Ramage notched a goal.
In 2018, SAC had the better half of the series, winning the first matchup in Phoenix, 3-1, and earning a 0-0 draw in Sacramento.
Former PRFC forward Chris Cortez holds the club record for career goals against SAC (2). The only active players on the roster who has previously scored against SAC is Jason Johnson (1).
Record-breaking goal pace
Rising's 14 goals through the first seven matches of the season is still ahead of the record-setting goal pace the club set last year. The club had scored ten goals in its first seven matches in 2018.
Iron Man Watch
Solomon Asante remains the only player to have started in every match in 2019 (he has also started 12 consecutive matches dating back to last season). Two other players, Junior Flemmings and Jason Johnson, have also appeared in every match of 2019. Asante's 622 minutes played is the team high, followed by Amadou Dia's 540 minutes played and A.J. Cochran's 529 minutes played.
Four and no more
Rising's 4-0 win over Tacoma matches a team record for most goals scored, and largest margin of victory, at Casino Arizona Field. The team has now won 4-0 four times at home and have scored four goals ten times. The club record for most goals scored in a match overall is five, set on May 21, 2018, at Tulsa.
Past Scoring Success
Jason Johnson is the only player on the club who has scored against SAC as a PHX player (one goal). But teammate Joey Calistri has found the back of the net twice against SAC, both times while he was with the Tulsa Roughnecks. His first goal came on April 9, 2017, in a 2-1 loss. His second was on May 21, 2017, in a 3-2 loss.
Hello Old Friend
When the powerful PHX attack zeros in on the goal, they will likely see former Pheonix Rising goalkeeper Josh Cohen standing between the pipes. Cohen had success against Rising in 2018. In his two starts, Cohen allowed just one goal en route to a 1-0-1 record against his former club. Rising FC could also see former player Tyler Blackwood, who returns to SAC following a season with Swope Park Rangers. In his one season with the club in 2016, Blackwood scored eight goals and notched one assist in 26 appearances.
League Honors
Junior Flemmings' two-goal, one assist performance against Tacoma landed him on the USL Team of the Week. Teammate Jason Johnson (one goal, one assist) was an honorable mention. It was the fifth time in 2019 a Rising player has been recognized by the league and the second time for Flemmings (Team of the Week Honorable Mention Week 1).
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