When the news hit that Rising’s clash against Oakland Roots had been postponed, there was at least one person who was not disappointed: Rising coach Rick Schantz.
“We were a little beat up from that Charlotte trip, so having a midweek after a 2,000 mile flight and humidity on turf was not something we were excited about anyway,” Schantz said. “So there was a little bit of relief, I think, from the coaching staff.”
If it weren’t for multiple COVID-positives within the Oakland camp, Rising would have looked to heavily rotate its squad ahead of the clash at Las Positas College.
“The plan was, I think, six or seven changes,” Schantz said. “So now everybody can get a little bit more healthy. I gave them today off and we’ll get after it this weekend. Now, with it being scheduled on the 25 August, it’s in between a couple of games but it’s west coast games, and that makes life a little bit better.”
The added time allows for several players, among them Kevon Lambert, the time needed to recover from injuries. Lambert exited the game on Saturday after suffering headaches following a clash of heads. He has since followed protocols and been deemed to not have a concussion.
One of those likely changes, though: the goalkeeper. Andre Rawls has started the last three games for Rising, but would have been replaced in the lineup by Ben Lundt.
“I was actually going to start Ben in Oakland,” Schantz said. “Not because we were just flip-flopping. I’ve talked to both of them about performance. We were just alternating games for a little while, and I didn’t like that because that impacted their training. I said, well, we’re going to do it based on performance, and it’s based on my evaluation on Thursday after the performance. I thought Rawls was good. I don’t think he could have done anything about the goal, but we probably should have used him a little bit more in possession to draw Charlotte out a little bit. They were really content sitting deep. So, I haven’t decided about this Saturday yet, but the plan was to go with Ben in Oakland.”
With the match against Oakland postponed until August, the next match for Phoenix will be on Saturday 17 July against Los Angeles Galaxy II.
Want to hear more? Preview Saturday’s game with Rising Matchday – streaming at 9 a.m. Saturday morning on YouTube and Facebook, and available on demand shortly after.