For the fifth time since the end of July, Phoenix Rising is preparing for a run of three games in eight days.
Things are a little bit different this time, though.
“Being division champion […] makes it a lot easier,” Rising coach Rick Schantz said.
Phoenix sealed the spot with a 1-0 win away to Orange County, marking the first time that the Arizona club has won a regular season match there since rebranding from Arizona United.
“It was nice, especially against a team like Orange County,” Rising defender James Musa said. “To clinch the series against them and obviously secure that first spot, it kind of takes a little bit of weight off the shoulders, but we know that that’s not really what we want to achieve. We want the Supporters Shield, so obviously still got a lot of work to do to get there.”
Rising has rotated heavily so far in some midweek games, with as many as eight changes to the starting lineup in the Wednesday night match against LA Galaxy II last week.
“We have some guys that are coming back off an injury,” Schantz said. “Noah Billingsley’s almost ready. David Egbo should be, I think, fit by the weekend, but he’ll be available for Wednesday. We’ll be able to give some guys rest on Wednesday, for sure, but still want to be competitive when we go to Orange County.”
One area where rotation has been seen: the full-back positions. Four different players featured as full-backs during Rising’s previous three games.
“Right now, Tate Schmitt’s the starting left-back, and Darnell [King] the starting right-back,” Schantz said. “But this is why you have as many players as you do. Aodhan [Quinn] has accumulated some good games. Musa is on six, and I think that Kevon Lambert is on six yellow cards. So you have to have a team that has players that can play multiple positions, and we do.”
Immediate games aside, Rising’s early clinch – the first team to guarantee top spot in one of the four USL Championship divisions – allows it to look further into the future.
“What we have already started doing is looking at who the potential playoff matchup is,” Schantz said. “Whether it’s New Mexico, Austin, RGV, San Antonio, and we’ll start breaking them down. They can’t do that, and that’s the advantage you have when you’ve locked it up early, is that you can start spending more of your time and resources preparing for that particular game.”
Rising will next face Oakland Roots on Saturday October 9 at Wild Horse Pass.
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.