Sainté's Late Equalizer Powers Rising to 2-2 Draw Against Loudoun United FC
USL Phoenix Rising FC

Sainté's Late Equalizer Powers Rising to 2-2 Draw Against Loudoun United FC

Published on September 21, 2025 under United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Phoenix Rising FC News Release


PHOENIX - For a second week in a row, Phoenix Rising clawed back from a multi-goal deficit to earn a point. Trailing by two goals, Rising scored twice after the 80th minute to draw Loudoun United FC by a score of 2-2 on September 20 at Phoenix Rising Stadium.

"The players are giving everything that we are asking (from) them," Head Coach Pa-Modou Kah said. "To come back again, that is a good thing. You didn't lose, which is something you want to turn into victories."

Defender Carl Sainté picked an opportune time to score his first goal in Rising red, netting 11 minutes into second-half stoppage time to complete Rising's comeback. The additional point keeps Rising in seventh in the Western Conference with 32 points, and just four points back of third place with five matches to play.

"I felt like the way we approached the game for the second half and the way we approached for the first half are completely different teams and different mentalities," Sainté said. "We have also been in situations where we know we must win. At the end of the day, we must keep our heads up because our next goal is to make it to the playoffs."

Sainté Opens His Rising Account

With the clock ticking past the 100th minute, Sainté put a header into the back of the net from a corner kick to equalize the game for Rising. It marked Sainté's first Rising goal, with midfielder Charlie Dennis notching his second assist of the year.

"I had that feeling, even in the 90th minute, we were not going to lose this game," Sainté said. "I feel like the first half, (Loudoun) was much better than us. The second half was a completely different team."

Dennis has had a knack for showing up in clutch time, with two of his three goals contributions being game winners or equalizers. On July 12, Dennis scored in the 69th minute to take the lead in Oakland. A few weeks later, Dennis scored in the 90 th minute to give Rising a draw against Birmingham Legion FC.

Goal-Scoring Plays

LDN - Florian Valot (Ben Mines), 9th minute: On a breakaway down the right, Ben Mines took the ball to the end line before sending a low cross back into the box that Florian Valot charged onto and used his right foot to lash into the bottom-right corner.

LDN - Ben Mines (Kwame Awuah), 45+9 minute: On a counterattack, Kwame Awuah found Mines in the box with a high-arching cross, who headed the ball into the right side of the net.

PHX - Yannis Leerman (Own Goal), 80th minute: Charlie Dennis' shot at goal from inside the box made it through traffic, deflecting off Loudoun's Yannis Leerman and into the back of the net.

PHX - Carl Sainté (Charlie Dennis), 90+11 minute: A last-minute corner kick taken by Charlie Dennis from the right found the head of Carl Sainté who leaned forward to direct a header back across goal and into the right side of the net.

Notes

-Saturday kicked off a stretch of three-straight home games, with the next two coming against Western Conference opponents Oakland Roots SC (9/27) and New Mexico United (10/4).

-Rising won't leave the Valley until Oct. 10, when it plays North Carolina FC (10/10).

-Rising netted its 53rd goal of the season with an 80th minute own goal.

-Carl Sainté's game-tying goal in the 90+11 minute marked his first with Rising.

-Notably, Charlie Dennis netted his third goal contribution of the regular season with his assist on the last-gasp goal (3G, 2A).

-The club's comeback result extended its unbeaten run to six matches, Rising's longest of the season.

-It's the second straight match where Phoenix came back from a two-goal deficit to draw and earn a point (2-2 D @SAC, 9/13).

Next Game

Rising next hosts Oakland Roots SC at 7:00 p.m. (PT) on Saturday, September 27, at Phoenix Rising Stadium. The match will be broadcast on AZFS and CBS Sports Golazo Network with radio coverage available via 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 (7-7-11, 32pts) vs Loudoun United FC (11-9-5, 38pts)

September 20, 2025 - Phoenix Rising Stadium (Phoenix, Ariz.)

Goals by Half 1 2 FT

Phoenix Rising 0 2 2

Loudoun United FC 2 0 2

Scoring Summary:

LDN: Valot (Mines), 9

LDN: Mines (Awuah), 45+9

PHX: Leerman (Own Goal), 80

PHX: Sainté (Dennis), 90+11

Misconduct Summary:

LDN: Mines (caution), 12

LDN: Tingey (caution), 25

PHX: Flores (caution), 30

LDN: Tubbs (caution), 41

PHX: Czichos (caution), 45+4

LDN: Valot (caution), 45+8

PHX: Cuello (caution), 55

LDN: Dambrot (caution), 90+9

PHX: Dennis (caution), 90+9

Lineups:

PHX: GK Rakovsky, D Flores (Cuello, 54), D Czichos (Sainté, 45), D Essengue, D Smith (Boye, 45), M Scearce, M Johnson, M Avayevu, M Okello (Emmers, 54), M Sacko, F Cabral (Dennis, 68)

Substitutes Not Used: GK Shaw, D Rizzo, D Flood, F Formella

TOTAL SHOTS: 17 (Scearce, 3); SHOTS ON GOAL: 3 (Multiple players, 1); FOULS: 10 (Dennis, 3); OFFSIDES: 2; CORNER KICKS: 5; SAVES: 1

LDN: GK Fauroux, D Awuah (Dambrot, 87), D Tubbs, D Leerman, D Tingey, M McCabe, M Skundrich, M Mines (Aboukoura, 61), M Valot (Akinyode, 87), M Ryan (Glasgow, 45), F Ordonez (Bidois, 74)

Substitutes Not Used: GK Jack, M Nyeman

TOTAL SHOTS: 12 (Multiple players, 2) SHOTS ON GOAL: 3 (Multiple players, 1); FOULS: 7 (Multiple players, 1) OFFSIDES: 1; CORNER KICKS: 4; SAVES: 1

Referee: Rodrigo Albuquerque

Assistant Referees: Bennett Savage, M Emmanuel Padilla

Fourth Official: Abdu Razzaq Juma

Attendance: 4,715

All statistics contained in this box score are unofficial.

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United Soccer League Championship Stories from September 21, 2025


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