There’s a spot sitting bare in Rising’s trophy cabinet.
“We’ve won, now, two Western Conference titles since I’ve been here,” Rising coach Rick Schantz said. “We won the Supporters’ Shield. Last year, I won some individual awards. But we’re missing the big one here, and everyone in the organisation knows it. The players know it, and we talk about it.”
Speaking to the press ahead of his second stab at a USL Championship title, Schantz was clear just how much a victory would mean to him.
“It would be the first major championship in soccer in Arizona, and I think that would be pretty cool,” the Tucson native said. “It would be something to be remembered by, and I would be extremely proud. It’s even better that it’s Arizona.
“So yeah, I’ve thought about it. I think about it every day. It helps me get up in the morning and keep going, and no matter what I’m feeling, whether I’m tired, family issues, whatever it is. You come in and you see these guys, and you just want to work for them. You just want to put in everything you can for them to be successful.”
Yet enthusiasm from the coaching staff won’t be enough to lift the trophy on Sunday. The players need to be prepared, too.
“It’s a good energy in the locker room, but they’re ready to rock and roll,” Schantz said. “They’re ready to fight. I told them all year long, you just want to be the last two teams training. Last week, I said we’re one of four. Let’s get to that final two, and they did so. I can’t say that any more, and it comes to an end this week win or lose.
“They’ll have a wonderful offseason. Hopefully they understand that it’ll be so much more wonderful with a championship. I think they all believe that, and they know that, and what they want to bring back to Phoenix and the state of Arizona is that sense of pride in a very, very difficult year for everybody. It’d be nice to say that we’re the champions.”
IN FORM?
It hasn’t been the easiest of routes to the final for Rising, with all three playoff matches extending beyond 90 minutes.
“When you get to this time of the year, every team is good both defensively and offensively,” Schantz said. “Statistically, I know it seems like we score a lot of goals, but this is a sport that requires 11 people to work together to accomplish that goal.”
A focus on 11 players is the difference from previous playoff campaigns, according to Schantz.
“If we were only good with a front three, teams would sit back in a low block like they did two years and we wouldn’t have the ability to break them down,” he said. “I think what you saw this year is this team is a little more well-balanced. If teams sat back, we were still able to get around them [and] create opportunities to score goals. So teams try to then pressure us, and Zac [Lubin]’s composure, Joey [Farrell]’s ability on the ball, A.J. [Cochran] and now Damion [Lowe], they’re passing into our midfielders. It’s almost like you have to pick your poison with Phoenix Rising.”
Earlier this week, former assistant coach Peter Ramage said that the team’s playoff performances hadn’t quite lived up to the heights seen during the regular season.
“While I want to be aggressive and I want to attack and I want to play beautiful soccer, I’m also not ignorant,” Schantz said.
He puts it down to tactical adjustments. Against Sacramento, they would have to contend with a dangerous counter attack. Against El Paso, the team would see one of the best midfields in the league.
Despite the perhaps uglier nature, Rising survived.
“That’s what championship teams do,” Schantz said. “They do whatever it takes to win in big moments.”
STARTING FROM THE BACK
This year has been difficult in many ways for Rising, yet one of the bigger hurdles has been finding a consistent back four.
“Everything has been a challenge,” defender Joey Farrell said. “It’s almost putting that puzzle together to find the right mixture of people, the right mixture of players, that gives us […] that balance and the ability to cover all areas of the field. Whether it be Corey Whelan locking down the right side, or Darnell King switching to the left, we’ve found a pretty consistent backline that’s balanced and covers each other perfectly.”
It’s not just the back four that seem to be settled in and pushing this team towards a potential championship, though.
“We have the big man behind us as well, which has been crucial this playoff run,” Farrell said. “He’s made big time saves at big time moments, and that’s what you look for from a goalkeeper and a back line in playoffs.”
Zac Lubin hasn’t just been making saves at big points in open play, though. In both penalty shootouts faced by Rising, he’s pulled out a stop to help his team advance.
But what does it take to stop one from 12 yards?
“It’s more or less just knowing things and picking up on cues throughout the game,” Lubin said. “That’s the most important thing. We see some of their spot kicks and everything, but really, it’s feeling in that moment, because you see our guys go in different directions almost every time. I don’t want to just be a robot, and rely on some of the studying we’ve done, but [it’s] really just kind of picking up on the small cues and taking video for what it is.”
It turns out Lubin’s approach to those kicks has impressed his coach more than just a little.
“Zac has really grown as a player,” Schantz said. “I think he was a little humble when he talked about penalty kicks and the amount of work he puts in. I remember two years ago in a penalty kick shootout, where Zac, I don’t know how confident he was going in, and we were like just dive the same way every single time. You’re a big dude. You’re going to save one.
“I remember the one he saved against Austin. He didn’t even move. He was so tired from diving 13 times that the ball hit him in the knee, and I was like ‘what a brilliant decision Zac!’ But he’s developed so much in his work.”