Rising Scores Late in 3-3 Draw Against Birmingham Legion FC at Phoenix Rising Stadium
USL Phoenix Rising FC

Rising Scores Late in 3-3 Draw Against Birmingham Legion FC at Phoenix Rising Stadium

August 3, 2025 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Phoenix Rising FC News Release


Phoenix Rising FC's Emil Cuello on the field
Phoenix Rising FC's Emil Cuello on the field
(Phoenix Rising FC)

PHOENIX - Phoenix Rising left it until late, but a 90th minute equalizing goal scored by midfielder Charlie Dennis secured the club its fifth home result of the regular season as it drew Birmingham Legion FC 3-3 on August 2 at Phoenix Rising Stadium.

"Every point matters, and at home you don't drop points," Head Coach Pa-Modou Kah said. "That's not good enough, but you got to credit (Birmingham Legion FC) for fighting back. Maybe we have a disallowed goal, the disallowed penalty. But again, you don't put yourself in the situation when you are up 2-0."

Defender Emil Cuello and midfielder Hope Avayevu scored two quick goals inside 30 minutes to put Rising on the front foot, while Dennis scored off the bench to rescue a vital point at home. With a goal and two assists, Avayevu finished the night with his third multi-contribution match of the 2025 season, playing a hand in every Rising goal on Saturday night.

"We got a point at home, but that feels like a loss," Avayevu said. "We're obviously going to work hard and then come back with a victory after this game, because it's about time we stopped losing points."

Jumping on Top Early

With his goal in the 16th minute, defender Emil Cuello put Rising in the driver's seat of a match for the second time since June 14th. Just over 10 minutes later, Avayevu doubled the club's lead. The two-goal advantage marked the club's largest at home since it defeated Orange County SC by a score of 3-1 on June 7. The cushion put Rising in position to eventually earn another point as it vies for playoff positioning in the dog days of summer.

Dennis Off The Bench

Dennis scored his third regular-season goal in the 90th minute of Saturday night's match. Notably, all three of those goals have come as a second-half substitute. In all competitions, Dennis has netted six goals with a hat-trick against Texoma FC in USL Jägermeister Cup play on June 28.

Goal-Scoring Plays

PHX - Emil Cuello (Hope Avayevu), 16th minute: Following a quick-combination sequence, midfielder Hope Avayevu sprung defender Emil Cuello into space down the left sideline. After running onto the ball in the box, Cuello used his left foot to blast the ball into the top of the net.

PHX - Hope Avayevu (Ihsan Sacko), 25th minute: After bringing a lofted ball down at the top of the box, forward Ihsan Sacko laid the ball off into the path of Avayevu, who settled the ball onto his right foot before picking out the top-right corner of the net with a curling effort.

BHM - Tyler Pasher, 39th minute: Capitalizing on chaos in the box, midfielder Tyler Pasher ran onto the loose ball outside the penalty area and dribbled centrally before using his left foot to aim a shot into the lower-right corner of the net.

BHM - Sebastian Tregarthen (Samuel Shashoua), 54th minute: After receiving a pass on the right side of the box, Sebastian Tregarthen loaded up a right-footed rocket that hit the top crossbar and found the bottom-left side of the goal.

BHM - Enzo Martinez (Samuel Shashoua), 64th minute: Making a run down the center of the box, a cross into the box by Tregarthen bounced off a Rising defender and into the path of Enzo Martinez who pushed the ball over the goal line with his right foot.

PHX - Charlie Dennis (Hope Avayevu), 90th minute: After receiving the ball on the right off a cross-field switch, midfielder Charlie Dennis used his left foot to ping the ball over the top of the defense and into the far-corner of goal.

Notes

-Saturday's match marked the final time this season Rising plays two matches on three days of rest or fewer.

-Midfielder Pierce Rizzo picked up his first-ever start at home in Saturday's match.

-It was his second consecutive start and third straight appearance in all competitions.

-Defender Emil Cuello netted his second goal of 2025 with his strike in the 16th minute.

-The goal was his first in league play since the 2023 season (v. OC, 9/30/2023).

-Notably it marked the first time a Rising player has scored the opening goal in a match since June 14 (@TUL).

-With two assists, Hope Avayevu upped his total to a team-high nine across all competitions.

-With his goal in the 25 th minute, Avayevu notched his third multi-goal-contribution match of 2025.

-The midfielder now has a team-high 15 goal contributions since joining Rising (6G, 9A).

-Forward Ihsan Sacko contributed his 6th assist of the season with his ball to Avayevu in the 25th minute.

-Notably, Sacko now has goal contributions in three consecutive league matches dating back to July 12.

-Midfielder Charlie Dennis netted his sixth goal in all competitions in the 90 th minute.

-Notably, Dennis has scored all three of his regular-season goals off the bench.

-The result marks the first draw between the cross-conference squads, with Rising 1-2-1 in the series.

-Rising has now taken a result in five of its eight regular-season home matches this season.

Next Game

Rising next kicks off a two-match road trip away against Lexington SC on Saturday, August 9. Kickoff is set for 3:00 p.m. (PT) at Lexington SC Stadium. The game is set to stream on 3TV as well as ESPN+ with radio coverage provided by Rising Radio (team socials).

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

Phoenix Rising (6-6-6, 24pts) at Birmingham Legion FC (4-8-7, 19pts)

August 2, 2025 - Phoenix Rising Stadium (Phoenix, Ariz.)

Goals by Half 1 2 FT

Phoenix Rising 2 1 3

Birmingham Legion FC 1 2 3

Scoring Summary:

PHX: Cuello (Avayevu), 16

PHX: Avayevu (Sacko), 25

BHM: Pasher, 39

BHM: Tregarthen (Shashoua), 54

BHM: Enzo Martinez, 64

PHX: Dennis (Avayevu), 90

Misconduct Summary:

BHM: Laszo (caution), 26

BHM: Shashoua (caution), 70

BHM: Howell (caution), 76

PHX: Rivera (caution), 83

BHM: Delgado (caution), 90+4

PHX: Okello (caution), 90+7

PHX: Ping (caution), 90+8

Lineups:

PHX: GK Rakovsky ©, D Cuello (Formella, 85), D Flood, D Essengue, D Rizzo (Ping, 75), M Sainté (Okello, 71), M Johnson, M Avayevu, M Emmers (Rivera, 71), M Dennis, F Sacko

Substitutes Not Used: GK Henry, GK Shaw, M De la Cruz, M Capetillo

TOTAL SHOTS: 8 (Multiple players, 2); SHOTS ON GOAL: 5 (Dennis, 2); FOULS: 14 (Multiple players, 2); OFFSIDES: 2; CORNER KICKS: 3; SAVES: 2

BHM: GK Delgado, D Hamouda (McCartney, 74), D Suarez, D Paterson, D Shashoua (Saucedo, 75), M Laszo (McIllhatton, 30), M Howell, M Tregarthen (Turnbull, 85), M Martinez ©, M Pasher, F Damus (Preston, 84)

Substitutes Not Used: GK KaVan Oekel, D Rufe, M Torres

TOTAL SHOTS: 8 (Multiple players, 2) SHOTS ON GOAL: 5 (Martinez, 2); FOULS: 12 (Howell, 3) OFFSIDES: 2; CORNER KICKS: 1; SAVES: 2

Referee: John Matto

Assistant Referees: Fernando Fierro, Peter Hanson

Fourth Official: Benjamin Davis

Attendance: 3,757

All statistics contained in this box score are unofficial.

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Images from this story

Phoenix Rising FC's Emil Cuello on the field
Phoenix Rising FC's Emil Cuello on the field
   



United Soccer League Championship Stories from August 3, 2025


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