Rising welcomed rivals New Mexico United on Saturday night for the USL Jägermeister Cup.
Rising had lost their first game in the cup 1-0 against San Antonio, while New Mexico beat Union Omaha 2-0.
Both teams brought momentum heading into the match, as New Mexico was coming off back-to-back 3-0 wins and Rising was on a three-game winning streak.
This would be a massive game for both sides, as they had already played each other earlier in the league, with Rising beating New Mexico 2-1.
That result had also been New Mexico’s most recent defeat.
With only four games, and being both teams second game, every point mattered—a fact that only heightened the rivalry.
“Derby games are important,” said Rising head coach Pa-Modou Kah. “I know what it is to play in a derby game, and you want the bragging rights. You want our fans to have the bragging rights; you want our club to have the bragging rights. It’s good for the game of football and that’s what you need. Yes, we don’t like each other but we respect each other.”
Due to the rules of the cup, if both teams tie after 90 minutes, the game goes to a penalty would shootout.
Phoenix brought heavy pressure with lots of physicality and set an early tone.
It only took eight minutes to see the first caution when New Mexico defender Ousman Jabang was booked after a tackle from behind.
Rising gave up a free kick on the edge of the box after John Scearce would give away a foul, leading to a yellow card.
New Mexico capitalized, as Mukwelle Akale hit it over the wall and past Rising goalkeeper Peter Rakovsky—making it 1-0 in favor of New Mexico.
Rising didn’t let one goal phase them, and looked for ways to equalize.
Tensions were building, as Rising’s physical approach led to many fouls.
In the 38th minute, Rising forward Darius Johnson was brought down in the box, and the ref pointed to the spot.
New Mexico rushed the ref in protest believing it was a dive—Rising forward Ihsan Sacko stepped up to take it.
Sacko smashed it into the top right to make it 1-1.
Two minutes later, it seemed as if New Mexico had scored, but the ref deemed a foul had occurred leading up to the goal against New Mexico, keeping the score level.
It would only get worse for New Mexico, after Jearl Margaritha faked a shot, sending New Mexico goalkeeper Alexandros Tabakis the wrong way, Margaritha would cross it to Hope Avayevu, who headed it into the back of the net to give Rising a 2-1 lead before halftime.
Rising kept the physical approach heading into the second half, unfortunately, the lead wouldn’t last, as clever passing by New Mexico saw forward Luiz Fernando smash it into the top right, giving New Mexico the equalizer at 2-2.
New Mexico showed life and added much needed pressure.
In the 62nd minute, the pressure was enough to force an error by Phoenix, and after some quick passes, McKinze Gaines had given New Mexico the lead at 3-2.
Rising wasn’t going down without a fight, and it showed in their style of play.
It wouldn’t take long for Rising to answer, as off a corner, midfielder Noble Okello would header it home, making it 3-3.
“Noble is a gentle giant, but he has something deep inside and once he releases it, he’s unstoppable,” Kah said of Okello. “That’s what we want him to be. He possesses a lot of qualities, he knows he has our support. We’re very happy for him.”
The game had been filled to the brim with goals, but with a tie game, it seemed as if it was headed to penalties.
“I think we had two chances after 3-3,” said forward Jearl Margaritha. “We’re not trying to defend our lead from the first half. We’re just trying to score more, get the third goal, get the fourth goal.”
Entering the final 15 minutes, it was anyone’s game, and both teams were trying to take it.
Rising and New Mexico made chances, but neither team could capitalize.
“Great game from two great teams,” Kah said. “Very proud of my boys, I think we should’ve killed it off. We had a couple of chances; we didn’t need to go to penalties. It’s bittersweet but again, we’re getting better—but these are those moments that are going to define us.”
Rising’s long ball game had surprisingly worked, but then struggled to finish.
“We want to beat every team,” Rakovsky said. “We’ve got the quality to beat everyone in this league. The league is really tight, someone up top can lose someone on the bottom.”
With penalty kicks seeming inevitable, Avayevu was subbed off for Charlie Dennis.
With the game tied at 3-3—penalties would decide it.
According to the point system, both teams would earn at least a point.
The loser via penalties would grab one point, while the winner would grab two.
The shootout couldn’t have started better for Rising—not only did they convert their first two penalties, but Rakovsky saved the first three penalties that New Mexico took.
“I’ll give him credit,” Kah said in regard of Rakovsky’s penalty saves. “Unbelievable.”
However, Rising nearly let it slip as once they entered match point, they’d miss two, leaving Sacko, the man who’d already taken a penalty, to try and score it again to win the game.
Tension was high but Sacko would score, and Phoenix won the shootout.
“Mixed feelings,” Rakovsky said. “Feel like the first 20-25 minutes we were not good. After that, much better, I felt like we were pushing, and I feel like we deserved at least a tie, we picked up the momentum just before the half. Second half was not good enough. We can be lucky that we tied the game. Happy we won but- not the best.”
“You get what you deserve,” Kah said. “For five months, they’ve been doing the work we’ve been asking them to do. You have your ups and downs in football, you have your momentum, but the biggest thing is we stuck to who we are, and we are progressing as who we are.”
Rising meets Orange County at Phoenix Rising Stadium, June 7.
