Phoenix Rising’s players need to show more commitment after a second successive defeat to USL League One side Union Omaha, according to Rick Schantz.

Rising has yet to record a positive result in any of its friendlies to date.

“Our guys have to understand that every time they’re on the field, somebody’s going to try to beat them and somebody’s going to want their job,” Schantz said. “It comes down to commitment and desire, and I think right now, I’ve got to do something about that.”

As with their last encounter against the Owls, Rising struck first. A spectacular solo effort from new-signing Arturo Rodriguez saw him dance around the majority of Omaha’s side in the penalty area, before tapping the ball softly past the opposing goalkeeper.

“Up until then I teased him,” Schantz told media after the game. “I said ‘man you didn’t get a lot of touches. You were kind of shy. You were running around, we were struggling to find a goal and then you beat seven guys and put it in the back of the net.’

“He’s a good player. We know there’s something special about Arturo, and he still just has to pick up the speed of the game a little bit, play a little faster.”

Much like Wednesday, the game was an aggressive affair for a friendly, with trainers being called onto the pitch on several occasions.

“At the end of the day, this is great becasue it’s going to be chippy like this,” Schantz said. “It’s going to be physical in the season, so you better start preparing yourself mentally for it.”

Wholesale changes came for the hosts in the 60th minute, with an entire new lineup sent out onto the pitch. Omaha made the most of those changes, with a rocket of a strike drawing the sides level just nine minutes later. Then, deep into stoppage time, Rising failed to clear their lines after a free kick, gifting the visitors a second comeback win.

“The last 30, they were clearly the better team,” Schantz said. “I think our group that came on wasn’t ready for the intensity that they wanted to bring, so fair play to them.”

Phoenix now looks ahead to a trip to Seattle next weekend.

“We just have to keep training hard,” Schantz said. “There’s a lot of things to do. Final third is still not as sharp as we need it to be, but again, it’s always the last thing to come.

“I think defensively, we did another different pairing today. I thought with Musa and Farrell and Lambert in front of them, we were very good in the air, dominated first ball. Then Aodhan in our buildup is fantastic. It’s just finding the right combinations and getting them used to playing together.”

In Pictures: Rising falls 2-1 to Union Omaha for second straight game