Rising Plays to High-Scoring 3-3 Draw Against El Paso Locomotive FC at Phoenix Rising Stadium
USL Phoenix Rising FC

Rising Plays to High-Scoring 3-3 Draw Against El Paso Locomotive FC at Phoenix Rising Stadium

Published on August 31, 2025 under United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Phoenix Rising FC News Release


Phoenix Rising battles El Paso Locomotive FC
Phoenix Rising battles El Paso Locomotive FC
(Phoenix Rising FC)

PHOENIX - Phoenix Rising and El Paso Locomotive FC played to another high-scoring stalemate, drawing 3-3 on August 30 at Phoenix Rising Stadium. Forward Ihsan Sacko netted a brace and forward Darius Johnson found the back of the net, while defender Daniel Flores and forward Kelvin Arase notched their first goal contributions with the club as Rising picked up another point in its push for the 2025 postseason.

"We started decent in the first half, then after we got pinned back we suffered a bit," Rising Head Coach Pa-Modou Kah said. "We rode it out, which was good to see. We went back on the front foot in the second half, got two great goals and then committed critical errors that allowed (El Paso) to get back into the game."

With the draw, Rising climbed into fifth in the West and remains unbeaten in its three-match homestand. Notably, the club and has taken four results from its last five matches in Phoenix.

‚¬â€¹New Additions Leave Their Mark

Both Flores and Arase finished Saturday night with their first goal contributions in Rising red. Arase, in his second appearance with the club (first start), assisted both of the club's goals in the second half. Meanwhile, it was Flores' well-weighted lofted cross early in the evening that set Sacko up for the opener.

"(Arase's) performance was very good," Kah said. "He worked his socks off, held the ball up, provided assists. You cannot ask for more from a player who just came to us. He's going to be very important to us."

Arase and Flores were two of Rising's most recent midseason additions, signed in August to strengthen the squad during the stretch run. They join defender Rafael Czichos, who made his Rising debut on Saturday night, as well as midfielder Xian Emmers.

Texas-Sized Shootouts

Rising and El Paso have engaged in three shootouts in all competitions this season, combining for 18 goals (or six goals a match). On March 15, the two squads played to a 4-4 draw in one of the highest scoring matches in USL Championship play in 2025 to date. On July 19, their USL Jägermeister Cup showdown finished 2-2 with Rising taking an extra point thanks to a 7-6 win in penalties. On Saturday, another six goals were added to the tally.

"It's good to see we're creating opportunities," forward Darius Johnson said. "We're a scoring team and exciting going forward. It was just unlucky we received the red card that took our momentum away, because with 11 men on the pitch we finish that game out and even score more goals."

Goal-Scoring Plays

PHX - Ihsan Sacko (Daniel Flores), 7 th minute: After winning the ball in midfield, defender Daniel Flores sent a floated cross into the path of forward Ihsan Sacko, who brought the ball down and used his right foot to slot the ball into the center of the net.

PHX - Ihsan Sacko (Kelvin Arase), 47 th minute: After receiving the ball down the right half-space, forward Kelvin Arase dribbled toward the endline before centering it into the path of Sacko in the middle of the box. The forward then used his right foot to dispatch the ball into the bottom-right corner of the net.

PHX - Darius Johnson (Kelvin Arase), 53 rd minute: After receiving the ball at midfield, forward Darius Johnson dribbled down the left and through the entire El Paso defense before rounding the keeper and using his left foot to find the back of the net.

ELP - Amando Moreno (Ricky Ruíz), 73 rd minute: A well-worked sequence near the top of Rising's box resulted in the ball popping out to Ricky Ruíz, who picked out Amando Moreno with a cross to the back post. Moreno then used his left foot to pick out the far post.

ELP - Gabi Torres (Kofi Twumasi), 81 st minute: From outside the box, Gabi Torres used his left foot to hit a driven ball into the bottom-right corner of the net.

ELP - Ricky Ruíz, 90+8 minute: Making a late charge into the box, Ricky Ruíz pounced on a loose ball and used his right foot to slide the ball into the back of the net.

Notes

-Saturday night continued a run of six home games in seven matches for Rising.

-With two goals Saturday night, Sacko upped his goal tally to seven in all competitions for Rising in 2025.

-Notably, it was Sacko's second goal contribution in as many matches (1A vs. COS; 8/23) as well as his first match with multiple goal contributions.

-With the assist, defender Daniel Flores notched his first goal contribution with Rising.

-Forward Kelvin Arase also made his first two goal contributions with the club Saturday night, assisting on both of Rising's second-half goals.

-Darius Johnson netted his second goal of the regular season midway through the second half.

-Defender Rafael Czichos made his Rising debut, entering the match in the 76th minute.

-Through three matches, both teams have combined to score 18 goals (six goals/game).

-Rising has now earned a result in four of its last five matches.

-Saturday marked the second time Rising has scored at least three goals in consecutive matches this season (5/31-6/7).

Next Game

Rising concludes its homestand against Las Vegas Lights FC on Friday, September 5, at 7:30 p.m. (PT) at Phoenix Rising Stadium. The game will be broadcast on 3TV with streaming available on AZFS and CBS Sports Golazo Network. Radio coverage will be available on KDUS 1060 AM (English) and La Onda 99.5 FM (Spanish).

Please click HERE to find highlights from tonight's match and HERE to find select photos.

Phoenix Rising (7-7-8, 29pts) vs El Paso Locomotive FC (8-5-8, 32pts)

August 30, 2025 - Phoenix Rising Stadium (Phoenix, Ariz.)

Goals by Half 1 2 FT

Phoenix Rising 1 2 3

El Paso Locomotive FC 0 3 3

Scoring Summary:

PHX: Sacko (Flores), 7

PHX: Sacko (Arase), 47

PHX: Johnson (Arase), 53

ELP: Moreno (Ruíz), 74

ELP: Torres (Twumasi), 81

ELP: Ruíz, 90+8

Misconduct Summary:

ELP: Ortíz (caution), 9

PHX: Essengue (caution), 25

ELP: Daroma (caution), 55

PHX: Scearce (caution), 58

PHX: Essengue (ejection), 63

PHX: Rakovsky (caution), 72

ELP: Moreno (caution), 81

PHX: Okello (caution), 82

PHX: Sainté (caution), 90+9

Lineups:

PHX: GK Rakovsky, D Flores (Czichos, 76), D Sainté, D Essengue, D Rizzo, M Scearce, M Okello, M Sacko (Emmers, 76), M Avayevu (Boye, 65), M Johnson (Flood, 76), F Arase (Dennis, 57)

Substitutes Not Used: GK Henry, GK Shaw, F Formella, F Cabral

TOTAL SHOTS: 4 (Multiple players, 2); SHOTS ON GOAL: 3 (Sacko, 2); FOULS: 23 (Multiple players, 4); OFFSIDES: 1; CORNER KICKS: 1; SAVES: 2

ELP: GK Waite, D Ruíz, D Twumasi, D Ortiz, D Diaz, M Torres, M Calvillo, M Daroma (Rodríguez, 60), F Moreno, F Avila (Dollenmayer, 79), F Sorto

Substitutes Not Used: GK Mora-Mora, D Romero, D Alfaro, D Ackwei, M Coronado, F Mora

TOTAL SHOTS: 21 (Fjeldberg, 3) SHOTS ON GOAL: 5 (Multiple players, 1); FOULS: 11 (Multiple players, 2) OFFSIDES: 2; CORNER KICKS: 13; SAVES: 0

Referee: Muhammad Kaleia

Assistant Referees: William Aten, Mark Novosel

Fourth Official: Pavel Georgiev

Attendance: 4,030

All statistics contained in this box score are unofficial.

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Phoenix Rising battles El Paso Locomotive FC
Phoenix Rising battles El Paso Locomotive FC
   



United Soccer League Championship Stories from August 31, 2025


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