Rising fights back to beat Miami FC, 2-1, moving win streak to six

Luis Seijas backpedaled in the direction of the nook flag, wanting round as if he couldn’t fairly consider it.

Eighty-eight minutes into his self-described “terrible sport,” the midfielder had collected a cleared nook kick properly exterior the penalty space and brought a daring peak at objective. What got here subsequent is a second Seijas will seize in a bottle, hoping to conjure up each time he takes a shot for the remainder of the season.

Transferring onto his left foot, he let fly, ripping a missile in off the underside of the crossbar and giving Phoenix Rising a come-from-behind, 2-1, win over Miami FC.

“You understand me, I am unable to have any house as a result of I simply wish to smash the ball,” Seijas mentioned, nonetheless laughing from a mixture of disbelief and awe.

Phoenix’s win prolonged a streak that now sits at 4 straight wins in USL play and 6 in all competitions.

Early on, although, Rising had been staring within the face of their third lack of the season in simply their seventh sport. Doing so would’ve stood in stark distinction to the previous three years, when Rising have misplaced for the third time on Sept. 21, Sept. 19 and Aug. 25, respectively.

The lone vivid second of the early going for Phoenix got here off an Aodhan Quinn freekick, when striker Claudio Repetto rose above the Miami protection to go previous keeper Connor Sparrow. Repetto’s elation lasted till he turned his head, peered towards the sideline and noticed the linesman signaling for offside.

Rising’s irritating first half grew worse six minutes later, when Kevon Lambert and Ryan Flood misplaced observe of Joshua Perez within the field, leaving the Miami winger to go dwelling unmarked. It wasn’t the primary robust second for Lambert, Phoenix’s longtime defensive midfielder turned center-back, who failed to trace Romeo Parkes early within the sport, spurring a golden Miami likelihood that drew certainly one of goalkeeper Ben Lundt’s many sturdy saves on the night time.

“Kev, his man obtained on his again shoulder,” Rising supervisor Rick Schantz mentioned. “Lambert hasn’t performed a whole lot of center-back and when there’s service within the field like that, you have gotta be man-to-man, and I feel Kev is simply so massive and so dominant that he simply type of assaults the ball wherever it’s. And what an excellent service.”

If there was any method for Lambert to redeem himself, it got here on the precipice of halftime.

He received a ball in Phoenix’s half, showcasing his outdated midfield abilities to hold the ball ahead, beginning a harmful counterattack. Winger Joey Calistri, certainly one of Rising’s brightest spots, pressured a low save from Sparrow. On the far put up, Repetto turned the rebound into the trail of a storming Lambert, who couldn’t miss from two yards out.

“That objective proper earlier than halftime from Lambert, it turned the sport for us,” Schantz mentioned. “It gave us perception at halftime.”

Phoenix dominated the second half however, till Seijas’s magical shot, couldn’t break by means of.

That second almost didn’t come in any respect. When Schantz subbed off midfielder Arturo Rodriguez within the sixty fifth minute, he thought of eradicating Seijas, who struggled all night time till his objective, as a substitute.

“I saved going forwards and backwards with the employees,” Schantz mentioned. “Is it Arturo or Luis, which one am I bringing out? And I simply had a intestine feeling and he rewarded me.”

With that, Rising’s five-match win streak in all competitions turned to 6, pushing their early-season struggles additional into rearview mirror.

Theo Mackie covers Arizona highschool sports activities and Phoenix Rising FC. He will be reached by electronic mail at theo.mackie@gannett.com and on Twitter @theo_mackie.