• Saint Louis (13 wins, 10 draws/ties, 8 defeats) currently stand in 8^th position in the USL Western Conference, 6 places below and 10 points behind Rising in 2^nd position.
• The Toyota Stadium club currently need a maximum of 4 points from their remaining 3 games to clinch their first-ever playoff spot, but that could change depending on San Antonio’s results.
• Rising ran out 3-1 winners when both teams last met on May 30.  Goals from Cortez, Asante, and Johnson gave Rising a 3-goal lead, but Rudolph headed home a 74^th minute consolation.
• Tonight’s encounter is Saint Louis’ final regular season game on the road.  They’ve collected 4 wins away from Toyota Stadium, including an impressive 4-3 victory at Swope earlier this month.  Saint Louis’ other away victories were earned at Reno (2-1), Tulsa (3-0), and OKC Energy (1-0).

• 5 of Saint Louis’ 7 goals scored against their last 3 opponents have come from around the 6 yard box. They haven’t scored at all from outside of the penalty area in that same timeframe.

• Two players have appeared in every game for Saint Louis in 2018, although neither of them has clocked up all 2,790 minutes. Former Charlotte Independence midfielder Lewis Hilton has started every game and played 2,708 minutes.  The Englishmen has also chipped in with 3 goals, and collected the most yellow cards on the club (6).
• Florida-born defender Sean Reynolds has started 30 games, and also made 1 substitute appearance, clocking up 2,620 minutes.  Reynolds’ former clubs include VSI Tampa Bay, Louisville City, and Fimleikafélag Hafnarfjarðar (FH) in the Úrvalsdeild (Iceland).
• Over 40% of Saint Louis’ goals this season have been scored in the first 15 or final 15 minutes of games.

• The main goal threats tonight are Kyle Greig, Joey Calistri, and Wal Fall.
• Former OKC Energy, Whitecaps 2, and FC Cincinnati forward Greig is Saint Louis’ top scorer with 13 goals.  The 28-year-old has scored 6 goals with his right foot, 4 with his left foot, and 3 with his head.
• Midfielder Calistri played 16 games for Chicago Fire in the MLS in 2016, scoring 1 goal, but spent the 2017 season on loan at Tulsa Roughnecks.  The Illinois-born 24-year-old has scored all 5 goals this season from inside the penalty area.
• Fellow midfielder Wal Fall has also contributed 5 goals this season, including 1 injury time right-footed free kick from outside the box at Sacramento in June that earned Saint Louis a point.  The cousin of USMNT’s Jermaine Jones, the German was signed from Rochester Rhinos in the close season.  His former clubs include FC Nürnberg 2, SV Waldhof Mannheim, and BSV Schwarz-Weiß Rehden in Germany, plus SC Austria Lustenau.

• 21 of the 36 goals conceded by Saint Louis this season have been scored in the second half.
• Tomas Gomez played in goal against Rising back in May, and is likely to retain his place in front of Jake Fenlason tonight.  Signed from Rochester Rhinos in December 2017, where he kept a staggering 20 clean sheets in 38 appearances, the double USL Golden Glove recipient has a 67.9% save success rate and 6 clean sheets in 17 appearances for Saint Louis this season.
• Fenlason has only started in 5 of Saint Louis’ 19 games since the end of May, but his stats for the season are similar to Gomez: 18 goals conceded and 5 clean sheets in 15 appearances, with a 65.4% save success rate.
• August was a busy month at Toyota Stadium.  Midfielder Austin (Audi) Jepson was signed from Des Moines Menance in the PDL, where he made 16 appearances and scored 6 goals with 6 assists in 2018.  Defender Tyler Polak also joined from Miami FC. A former FC Cincinnati player, Polak has 36 caps for the United States at U17 and U20 levels.  USL contracts were also offered to Academy goalkeeper Patrick Schulte and defender Lawson Redmon.
• Two players familiar to Arizona soccer fans are Kadeem Dacres and Austin Ledbetter.   Ledbetter is a 23-year-old defender who spent 2 seasons at FC Tucson.  Winger/forward Dacres played 24 games for Arizona United in 2014, scoring 3 goals.  Dacres has since played for Louisville and FC Cincinnati, before moving to Toyota Stadium in 2018.
• Saint Louis are one of only 9 teams to receive a solitary red card in USL this season.  Defensive midfielder Jonathan Barden collected the injury time red for serious foul play away to Orange County on May 12, but his teammates held on for a point.  They’ve also received 49 cautions to date.

From the Ashes Prediction:  Rising to narrowly win again, to keep the pressure on Orange County at the top of the Western Conference.