Rising is about to face what should be its toughest test of the playoffs: a Reno side that clinched the regular season title.
The narrative is simple. Lose, and go home. Win, and… go home, but that’s because Phoenix will host each remaining round if they are successful.
Reno is the only side that Phoenix faced in 2020 without beating them at least once, but what should we expect to see from the hosts?
THE SYSTEM
Reno has lined up in a 4-2-3-1 for every match this season. That’s slightly deceptive, as Corey Hertzog, who is being played as an attacking midfielder, is a perfectly capable center forward in his own right.
Throughout 2020, the hosts are averaging 57% of possession. They are also the highest scoring team in the league, averaging a goal roughly every 30 minutes.
“Reno is at their best when they push their fullbacks high,” Rising interim coach Blair Gavin said earlier this week. “They get a lot of numbers on the backline, and they have a lot of rotation between the front line and the inverted winger. So ideally, we can sniff that out, but it’s a really solid team, and we’re just going to have to make sure that the communication is very apparent throughout the match.”
Their biggest weakness appears to be their aerial game. Despite a heavily MLS 2 team loaded schedule, Reno has won less than half of all aerial duels this season (48.3%).
Of course, that weak schedule does leave an asterisk on Reno’s statistics for the season, but there are a few things you can glean.
First, Reno is outscoring its opponents during every phase of play. There is no 15 minute spell where it concedes more goals than it scores. The team is at its most lethal towards the end of each half. Perhaps this is due to the elevation of Greater Nevada Field, which Gavin raised as a potential concern going into the match.
Intriguingly, Reno has yet to have a player sent off this season, but has enjoyed a man advantage no less than three times at home. That’s interesting, given that studies in Europe have in the past found that closed stadiums have led to a decrease in decisions given in favor of the home team.
WEARING THE ARMBAND
Reno will be captained by full-back Brent Richards, who has been with the side since its very first season.
“I followed him [and] scouted him while I was with San Jose, and then when he was a free agent, he was one of the guys I went out and tried to get right away,” Reno coach Ian Russell said.
Prior to joining the Nevada side, Richards featured for Portland Timbers 2, where he played alongside none other than Blair Gavin. He’s something of a dual threat player, and has pitched in four goals this season.
Richards was one of three players to be named skipper last season, but, despite holding the title in his own right this year, still feels that his teammates bear their fair share of leadership responsibility.
“To wear the armband is obviously very special as well, but I don’t feel like I’m the only leader on this team,” Richards said earlier this week. “We’ve got guys that step up, and have big personalities and big voices in the locker room and on the field. It’s obviously an honor for me to wear the armband but we do it together.”
Those thoughts were echoed by his coach.
“Brent’s definitely a good captain,” Russell said. “There’s a couple of other guys, Kevin Partida, Corey Hertzog that are kind of the leaders on the field as well, so we have three of them out there. So that helps, especially when there’s fans, and it’s loud. They can’t always hear the coach when it’s loud, so the players have to take some responsibility, and I think Brent, Corey and Kevin do a really good job of that.”
So what is Richards’ style of leadership on the field?
“I’m not super vocal. i’ve never been a super loud person,” he said. “I try to be more of a lead by example kind of guy, and if I think I can get more out of guys, I’ll try and speak with them individually. I’m not going to be the rah-rah player that’s just screaming the whole match, but hopefully I’ve helped some of the younger players come along and shown guys how to be a professional.”
THE MAN BETWEEN THE STICKS
Perhaps the most important player in the defensive effort is Ben Beaury, who will be tasked with keeping Rising off the scoresheet tonight. Beaury is on loan from New Mexico, where he made just one appearance last year – in the 2-2 draw in Albuquerque against Rising.
“He’s a great player with a lot of things to prove,” said Rising winger Santi Moar, who played alongside Beaury last season. “A great goalkeeper with his feet, solid underneath the post.”
If he does keep Rising off the scoresheet, that’ll be the first time that Beaury has kept a clean sheet in his professional career. He’s conceded 15 goals this year in 11 appearances, but is third in the league for saves and has a respectable 74.1% save success rate.
“He’s playing with a lot of confidence right now, so he’s going to be really hard to beat,” Moar added. “But at the same time, we faced a lot of good goalkeepers throughout the year, and we’ll try to force him to make a mistake.”
LEADING THE CHARGE
At the other end of the field, you can look to Corey Hertzog and Foster Langsdorf to cause the most threat against Rising’s goal. In fact, both scored in the last meeting between these teams.
Hertzog is back after a 18-goal regular season last year. He only managed five in the shortened 16-game schedule in 2020, suffering from a slow start and a six-game dry spell heading into the postseason. The home fans won’t have any concern about him coming into this one, though, after he recorded a brace in the playoff opener against Los Dos.
“Corey is a special player, and he’s got a lot of goals on a lot of different teams,” Gavin said. “He plays really well with Foster underneath. He does well floating into a midfield position [and] to the front line, so it’s imperative that communication between our back line and our defensive midfielder to where he’s at [is good]. Also, if we can get pressure on the opponent higher up the field, we’re hoping that the play becomes a little more predictable for us.”
Foster Langsdorf is expected to lead the line for Reno tonight. He joined 1868 from Timbers 2 over the winter. Despite playing 11 games less than last year, his regular season goals tally (10) was an improvement on 2019 (8). For good measure, he also picked up an extra goal in last week’s playoff match.
“He’s a top player, a proven goalscorer in the USL,” Gavin said. “He did a lot at Timbers, and now with Reno, he holds the front line really well.”
“Him and Hertzog have a great relationship where they can rotate because Hertzog [is] familiar with the front line and Langsdorf can drop underneath. They really try and cause you stress by someone stepping into the midfield and [opening] up space for a guy to run through. His ability in the box to create space is pretty unique. So when they have the attacking minded full-backs, like they do, and serve balls in, and you’ve got Langsdorf and Hertzog in the box, you better be prepared to be tight with those guys.”
From the Ashes Prediction: A (goal-scoring) shootout in Northern Nevada that could very well end in a (penalty) shootout. You’d have just as much luck calling it as you do tossing a coin.
Missed the rest of our playoff coverage this week? Here’s what we ran: