The boys are back in town, but they won’t be the only ones making a return to Casino Arizona Field after a long absence.
Up to 1,000 season ticket holders will be allowed to attend a sporting event in Arizona for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic brought sport to a halt back in March.
“We are really excited, and the fans, I think they’re excited too to see us back on the pitch,” Rising forward Rufat Dadashov said on Thursday. “We want to have a good game for the fans.”
But what can they expect as Rising gets set to take on Las Vegas Lights?
PREVIOUS MEETINGS
This is the third meeting between Vegas and Rising this season, with the previous two taking place at Cashman Field.
Rising held a 3-1 lead as the clock hit 90 in the first match, but ultimately failed to hang on as Vegas pegged the teams level in the 99th minute.
“When you were two or three minutes away from [the win], I think it’s frustrating to the team,” Rising coach Rick Schantz told reporters in the week after that match. “They were upset by the manner of which we gave up the goals.”
Two weeks later the sides met again, but goals from Dadashov and Junior Flemmings combined with a clean sheet lifted Rising to a safe, albeit dogged at times, 2-0 victory.
“I think that’s the game which you have to play away,” Dadashov added. “They are not always really nice to look at, but [what’s] important is that we have the three points at the end.”
His coach agreed, pointing out that such tough wins are needed by teams with championship aspirations.
“It was massive, because it’s been a long time since Phoenix Rising has had a victory like that,” Schantz said. “We had to really grind it out. I think in the past, in a game like that, we would have scored a couple of those extra goals around the 55th, 60th minute, and that might have been a 4-0 win. But the fact that we didn’t, and we still kept them off the board and we didn’t show frustration. We just kept working through it.”
TACTICAL EXPECTATIONS
When you play the same team for the third time in the space of three weeks, it’s not easy to keep secrets.
“You come into the third game of a series like this, you don’t have to do a ton of film on the opponent,” Schantz said. “It’s really an opportunity for us to look at what we need to improve; and whether they sit back in a mid block or they press, we know what to expect from their players.”
Research may not be the most important part of the preparation for this game, but it certaintly played a big role in the previous matches. Dadashov credited his goal in each of the two matches to that preparation, rather than anything particular about Vegas’ playing style.
“We know what we have to do against this team, and we have a really, really good coaching staff […] who tell me what I can do against these defenders,” the Azerbaijani said.
Vegas typically lines up in a 4-2-3-1 formation, and has done so in both games against Rising this season. Expect Lights to attack by playing the ball to its wingers out wide, and then crossing it into the penalty area.
Don’t show up or tune in late for the game, though! Almost all of the goals Vegas has conceded in the first half this season came less than 15 minutes into the match.
A LITTLE ADDED EDGE
Schantz told media this week that he was proud of Dadashov’s work rate and finishing to seal the victory on Saturday. He also added that he noticed “Rufat’s celebration was more to the other team.”
It’s not hard to see that looking back. As Dadashov approaches the Phoenix bench, he points up the field, before imitating a talking mouth with his right hand.
“There was a guy who came in the game from Vegas and he talked too much,” Dadashov explained. “He said some things that I didn’t like that’s against me and my team.”
The message was simple: “He doesn’t have to talk so much in the game.”
Will it be remembered? There’s a pause from Dadashov. “I think … yeah.” He explains that sometimes these things are just forgotten after the match, “but in the games, there are so many emotions, and yeah, I scored and I did this.”
But who is the mystery Lights player behind the celebration?
“I don’t want to say the name,” Dadashov smirked, “but I know the player and I think he knows.”
WHO TO WATCH FOR
Earlier this week, Schantz played up the strength of Rising’s Junior Flemmings, describing him as looking “like a Greek god” when he takes his shirt off. That’s quite an endorsement for the Jamaican international, but was only ultimately used to show how impressed he was with Vegas’ Seth Moses.
“Moses is massive, man. His arms were huge,” Schantz said. “I was like, ‘oh my gosh, can you take it easy on our guys?'”
The defensive midfielder certainly uses that to his advantage, and has won over 53% of duels this season. Don’t expect him to just rely on that physicality, though, as the former Fresno man leads Vegas’ squad in passing accuracy (86.2%).
It’d be a mistake for Rising’s defence to sleep on Vegas’ 25-year-old rookie striker Blake Frischkencht this week. Vegas’ super-sub is still yet to make his first start, but you have to feel that it’s only a matter of time before he does.
“This guy’s been a thorn in my side forever,” Schantz said before the second Vegas-Phoenix clash. “He played in the PDL at BYU while I was coaching at Tucson. I’ve probably coached against him for like eight years now, and every time I see him, I’m just wondering when is he going to stop scoring goals against me.”
Frischkencht didn’t score against Rising in the last match, nor did he in the first (although he did record two assists). Between those matches, though, he scored three goals off three shots – one per match. That’s enough to make him Lights’ top scorer on the season.
Finally, new signing Quincy Amarikwa made his Lights debut off the bench against Rising on Saturday night.
“I played against Quincy in the past, in the MLS, and he’s a threat up there,” Rising defender A.J. Cochran said before lat week’s match.
Amarikwa didn’t look too sharp during his 25 minutes off the bench last week, losing all five aerial challenges. He also barely fared any better at winning the ball on the ground, and picked up a yellow card in the 90th minute. That said, Amarikwa is a player with over 200 appearances in the top flight, and while he may have looked slow to get off the mark in his first game this calendar year, don’t be surprised to see some flashes of talent over the remainder of the season.
From the Ashes Prediction: Rising has the quality, and the much better pitch, to ensure that business is taken care of. The fans will go home happy after a fairly simple victory.