Rising Falls to FC Tulsa, 1-0, to End Season
Published on November 8, 2025 under United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Phoenix Rising FC News Release
Phoenix Rising's 2025 season came to an end Saturday night following a 1-0 defeat to FC Tulsa on November 8 at ONEOK Field. Rising's defense held for another 120 minutes before chaos in the box turned into the match's lone goal on the final kick of the night.
"We have to keep our heads up," Rising Head Coach Pa-Modou Kah said. "It was an amazing job. I'm so proud of these boys and so proud of this club. We knew that this was (FC Tulsa's) game, and we couldn't score the last goal. It's a tough loss to take, but we're going to learn from it and get better next year."
With the result, Rising's first season under Kah will conclude in the USL Championship Playoffs Western Conference Semifinals, marking the club's deepest postseason run since it took home the crown in 2023.
"This year the group has showed great character and resilience when they faced adversity," Kah said. "They always stood up, they always fought and gave us everything that we asked for. They come hard to represent Phoenix Rising and they have done it with true honor. I'm proud of every player that we have."
FIGHTING UNTIL THE END
Rising proved on Saturday night that the defensive solidity it has built over the last month of the season has not been a fluke. For a fifth consecutive match, Rising's defense held through 90 minutes without conceding. It took a special volley by Stefan Lukic off a looping deflection to beat Rising goalkeeper Patrick Rakovsky for the first time since October 4.
"Incredible fight from our boys," Kah said. "It's a hard one to take because overall we played very well. We limited what (FC Tulsa) threw at us. It was just not meant to be for this time. We're going to take this lesson and come back stronger next year."
GOAL-SCORING PLAYS
TUL - Stefan Lukic, 120+2 minute: A blocked shot deflected high into the air before dropping into the path of Stefan Lukic who used his right foot to lob the ball into the right side of the net.
NOTES
-Saturday marked the conclusion of Rising's eighth playoff campaign.
-Rising is now 8-3-6 all-time in postseason play.
-Notably the club has missed the postseason just once since 2017.
-The Western Conference Semifinals match marked the fourth meeting in all competitions between Rising and FC Tulsa.
-It was the third to end in a draw following 90 minutes.
-Rising finished 0-2-2 against FC Tulsa across all competitions in 2025.
-Kah's side finished the season with a result in 11 of its final 13 matches of 2025 dating back to August 9.
No. 5 Phoenix Rising (9-8-13, 40pts) at No. 1 FC Tulsa (16-5-9, 57pts)
November 8, 2025 - ONEOK Field (Tulsa, OK.)
Goals by Half 1 2 ET FT
Phoenix Rising 0 0 0 0
FC Tulsa 0 0 1 1
Scoring Summary:
TUL: Lukic, 120+2
Misconduct Summary:
PHX: Moursou (caution), 32
PHX: Scearce (caution), 44
TUL: Batista (caution), 67
PHX: Johnson (caution), 67
TUL: Stauffer (caution), 88
TUL: St. Clair (caution), 90+1
PHX: Okello (caution), 113
TUL: Lukic (caution), 120+3
Lineups:
PHX: GK Rakovsky, D Flood, D Czichos, D Boye, D Essengue, M Scearce (Okello, 103), M Sainté, M Moursou, F Johnson (Sacko, 103), F Avayevu (Cabral, 105), F Dennis
Substitutes Not Used: GK Henry, GK Shaw, D Rizzo, M Ping, F Capetillo, F Formella
TOTAL SHOTS: 13 (Avayevu, 4); SHOTS ON GOAL: 1 (Dennis, 1); FOULS: 30 (Multiple players, 6); OFFSIDES: 2; CORNER KICKS: 5; SAVES: 0
TUL: GK Deric, D Sousa (St. Clair, 80), D Batista, D Ian, D Stauffer (Cissoko, 115), M Colli, M Pierre, M Webber, F ElMedkhar (Lukic, 90), F Calheira, F Damm (Dalou, 65; Amann, 115)
Substitutes Not Used: GK Penaranda, M Booth
TOTAL SHOTS: 11 (Lukic, 3) SHOTS ON GOAL: 1 (Lukic, 1); FOULS: 28 (Sousa, 4) OFFSIDES: 4; CORNER KICKS: 2; SAVES: 1
Referee: Brandon Stevis
Assistant Referees: Matt Trotter, Noah Kenyawani
Fourth Official: Corbyn May
Attendance: 7,917
All statistics contained in this box score are unofficial.
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