Phoenix Rising welcomed former Manager Frank Yallop and his Monterey Bay FC to their new home on Saturday evening for a USL Championship fixture. Monterey came into the match with 7 points and a record of 2-1-2 , and coming off a win last weekend against New Mexico United 4-2.
Although not as large of a crowd as the home opener, the atmosphere was still electric as fans were there early to enjoy being able to fire of the bbq's and tailgate prior to kickoff.
From the opening kick off Rising was in control moving the ball well and playing the type of football that manager Juan Guerra seems to want them to play. Defender Daniel Krutzen got the attack started within the first 6 mins when he played a ball over the top and found Danny Trejo who brought the ball down nicely and tried to slip the ball past Monterey keeper Carlos Herrera, but the keeper was able to stop the ball as it came off Trejo's foot. Rising kept up the pressure and control and in the 10th minute Henry Uzochukwu showed his speed and ability when he received a ball on the right side and raced down towards the byline where he crossed a ball to the back post where Gabi Torres was waiting and met the ball with his head and placed it off the post before it was cleared away by a defender. Rising was not finished there they continued to move the ball and get forward when the time was right. Uzo continued to show why he is a starter on this team when he again took a ball out of the air in the 30th min and cleanly beat a defender and played another perfect ball that Manual Arteaga sent just wide of the goal. You could feel Phoenix was in control and in the 39th minute the stadium nearly erupted when Uzo once again played a ball across the front of the goal the ball fell perfectly to midfielder Erickson Gallardo who placed a volley just over the top of the goal.
As the teams headed into the locker rooms Phoenix had a commanding lead in possession and were playing some of their best football in this young season.
To start the second half Rising made no changes but Monterey took off Arizona's own Sam Gleadle. The second half started a bit different then then the 1st with Phoenix not looking as dominant as they did. Would this be a concern is what many of the supporters were starting to think. After about 15 minutes of play Monterey got a great opportunity in the 60th minute when Alex Dixon and Morey Doner combined and whenDixon received the ball back he tried to beat Rising keeper Rios Novo to the near post but Novo was able to make a diving save and push the ball out for a corner.
On the ensuing corner there was some controversy when referee Katja Koroleva felt there was contact made on the Union Attacker and she awarded a Penalty Kick. In real time it looked like the two Monterey Bay players took each other out but after seeing it on video it does appear that defender Alejandro Fuenmayor did have his arms on Monterey’s Hugh Roberts which caused the players to collide and led to the awarding of the penalty.
Alex Dixon stepped right up to take the PK and smoothly put into the back of the net for a 1-0 Monterey lead. An unfortunate goal but Fuenmayor had no reason to have his hands on Roberts, a mistake in defending for sure.
Rising seemed to have new life fed into them at this point and in the 67th min off a corner kick, they got the equalizer when Kevon Lambert used his strength and size to get in the end of the Erickson Gallardo ball and he headed it past the keeper to give Phoenix the 1-1 tie. Lambert was very excited and was pumping up the crowd as he went back to midfield for the kickoff. Play was back and forth from that point but Rising seemed to have some of the momentum back that had been missing.
Unable to find another goal, Phoenix will take the point and now turn their attention on the road trip vs the defending champions San Antonio. This will not be an easy game by any stretch as San Antonio sits on 11 points and in 3rd place in the West.
There is still lots of soccer to be played and it will be interesting to see if any changes will be made for the next match or ensuing matches.
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