Despite extending its unbeaten streak to five games with a 2-1 win over FC Tulsa, Phoenix Rising remains outside the playoff positions as the club enters its final stretch.

Dominique Badji and Gunnar Studenhofft found the net for the hosts, who prevailed despite a late consolation goal from Delentz Pierre.

An early start

Within just minutes of the game kicking off, Phoenix Rising had their lead.

Juan David Torres whipped in a curling cross from the right wing, which found the head of Dominique Badji at the far post to put the hosts up 1-0.

“I think first half, we were very good,” Rising coach Pa-Modou Kah said. “We were finding the spaces, and we were utilizing the spaces.”

Quiet, before goals late

From there, things seemed to quieten down, with Phoenix Rising not finding a shot on target again until much later in the match.

In fact, Rising didn’t even attempt another shot from within the penalty area until the 80th minute. In the second half, Rising was outpossessed by a margin of 70 percent to 30 percent.

But it was Phoenix that would strike next, with Gunnar Studenhofft finding the net off the bench in the 88th minute.

They still had to contend with a late scare, though, after FC Tulsa found a stoppage time goal of their own off the head of Delentz Pierre.

“It came because we were sloppy, and then we didn’t keep the ball,” Kah said. “You give a team like that a sniff, and that’s what they’re waiting for.”

Ihsan Sacko, Conrad Ambursley miss out for Phoenix Rising

While Damian Rivera and Kelvin Arase continued their comebacks from injury, there were also a few notable omissions from the matchday squad for Phoenix Rising. Among them was Ihsan Sacko, who leads the team in scoring.

“Ihsan felt a little bit in his groin, which is OK,” Kah said. “He’s played almost every minute. Obviously he wanted to be there to help his teammates, but we’re looking forward to seeing him next week.”

Youngster Conrad Ambursley, who joined Phoenix from Coventry this summer, also missed out on the matchday squad. Unlike Sacko, Ambursley simply didn’t make the cut of the limited bench size.

“I’ve been very pleased with his work,” Kah said. “He’s been fantastic with his work but again, it’s just one of those [times where] you have to make the hard choice as a coach.”

Owain’s take

It’s a win. Phoenix Rising’s unbeaten streak is now at five, with the club picking up 11 points out of a possible 15.

And yet, as we sit here contemplating on where this club is, you’re almost left asking for more.

Is that fair? Not really. But it’s incredibly hard to feel satisfied as you have to continue to look upwards at the playoff line.

It just feels incredibly odd. Sure, Rising was back a few points at the start of this five game stretch, but it didn’t exactly feel insurmountable. If you were to tell me that Phoenix Rising would take 11 of the next 15 points back then, I’d have presumed that they could have risen as high as sixth. Instead, they continue to sit in ninth place, on the outside of the playoff picture looking in.

The Western Conference is a bizarre place, with a handful of teams that you can perhaps put into categories of being good or bad. The rest — indeed, the bulk of teams — fall somewhere in the middle. They have good nights. They have bad nights. And for everything good that they do, they always seem to find a way to shoot themselves in the foot. That’s why the distances feel so slim: Rising is technically just three points off of a home playoff place, but only one point off of falling to tenth spot.

The biggest worry is that this run of form starts to fall apart. If there was ever going to be a time to rise up the table, it would have been these past few weeks. But this team hasn’t done that, and it’s not through any fault of their own. So if this stretch of results hasn’t moved the needle, and things start to falter, then where does that leave the club?

I don’t think that’s an implausible scenario. Look at it this way: how many of Rising’s performances have been completely dominant? I don’t think many of them have been, even where they take the three points.

Looking at this game against Tulsa, things should have been done and dusted in the 88th minute. Instead, Rising ended up giving a late scare, and it’s moments like this that make me question if this run of results will ultimately prove sustainable. It could be, but it’s also possible that it just doesn’t.

If the results keep coming, then the nature of victories is something that doesn’t really matter. But until we see Phoenix Rising actually crack the top eight, the club seems to just be stuck in this weird form of purgatory. Recent results should make everybody happy here, but it’s hard to be happy when you’re outside of the playoffs, and the longer it takes to get in there, the more I fear that things may not work out. They still should, of course, but with difficult games ahead and the risk of real six-pointers against Lexington and Las Vegas to come, it’s still a fear.

So will Phoenix Rising make the playoffs? I still think they probably will. But we’re not going to be in for an easy month ahead, are we?

Top image: Ashley Orellana / Phoenix Rising FC