Facing a fourth meeting against a team that his side has already dropped points against twice, it was inevitable that Rising coach Rick Schantz was going to be asked where it went wrong before.
From Schantz’s view, though, that might be pointing the finger in the wrong place. He argued that not every dropped point can be considered more a failure of his team than a sign of just how difficult the league – against any opposition – can be.
“I think people don’t understand that LA Galaxy II is loaded with talented players, and for people to think that it’s just easy for us to go out and win games is kind of naive,” Schantz said. “It’s a very, very difficult league. Most of the teams are spending about the same amount of money, and it’s fun. It’s a great challenge.
“But there’s no one specific thing that I would turn to. I mean, everyone talks about us, what the problems are when we drop points, but no one says what did we do well when we take points.”
His side has gotten recognition, however, after an impressive 5-0 victory over Los Dos. Solomon Asante was named USL’s Player of the Week, but perhaps more notable was the inclusion of several defenders in the weekly lineup.
“[James] Musa was honorable mention because he got a goal, and I think Philly [Joe Farrell] had the assist and saved it off the line,” Schantz said. “Philly, I told him this morning at training and he was like ‘oh my gosh. Three years here, that’s the first time I’ve made Team of the Week.’ I said, no-one ever looks at our defence here at Phoenix Rising, so I was pretty happy for him.
“I think Ben and the back four have really taken a lot of pride in getting the shutouts and being part of our offence and helping our attack, so we’re getting there.”
“It feels great,” Farrell said of his spot in the Team of the Week. “Obviously getting personal recognition is always a good feeling, but I like to get the three points and the shutout more. That was the big thing for me this week.”
Now, the focus is on Saturday’s clash in California.
“Playing a team three or four times in a season is tough, and San Diego, we’re only less than halfway through our year and we’re about to be through four games with them,” Farrell said. “That definitely presents a challenge. Playing teams back-to-back-to-back, it kind of makes it a little bit more tactical than necessarily some of the other games [where] it’s just kind of spirit, emotion. Right now, it’s definitely going to be a tactical battle so we are preparing for that.
“We know what San Diego is going to try and throw at us, so we’re trying to prepare ourselves best for that. And they know what we’re going to throw at them, so hopefully we just get more punches in than they do.”
Rising faces San Diego Loyal at Torero Stadium on Satuday at 7:30 p.m.
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.