Ex-Phoenix Rising players help secure Charleston's place in title match

CHARLESTON, S.C. — When Phoenix Rising takes the field in Sunday’s USL Championship title match, there will be a few familiar faces in the opposition camp.

“We all get along [in Charleston],” defender A.J. Cochran said. “It’s funny, because I’ve been in the league for a little bit now and the teams that I’ve been on that have had success, it’s all about the locker room, the guys and how well they gel together over the ten months, hanging out off the field and the banter in the locker room. Just knowing that when you go out for the games, that it’s going to be a family going out there together.”

Cochran spent two seasons with Phoenix Rising as a center-back, winning the 2019 USL Championship regular season title and helping the team to the 2020 final, which was later canceled. He later joined Indy Eleven, before signing for Charleston for the 2023 season.

Cochran was joined in South Carolina by another former Phoenix Rising player in Arturo Rodriguez, around a month into the season. Originally brought in to fill a need in the attacking midfield position, Rodriguez has proved pivotal for the club across its postseason push. So far in the playoffs, he’s chipped in with two goals and two assists.

“Arturo was on fire,” Cochran said. “He was probably our best player before his injury. He came back right before the final string of games before playoffs, and he was starting to get his form back and his fitness back up. As we were going into playoffs, you could tell his fitness was there, and his hunger was back. He felt healthy and it just was the perfect recipe, perfect timing for him coming back.”

“He’s a leader,” Charleston coach Ben Pirmann said. “He’s selfless. He just wants the team to win, and he’s fiery. I think with the occasion of playing, I don’t want to say more meaningful games, but there is an element of win or your season’s done, he’s taken that fierceness, that competitiveness to the next level. That in turn has made his football ability come out and be forthright. “

That contribution has been needed, and will be needed on Sunday. Fidel Barajas, who has provided a substantial spark in the attack despite being only 17 years old, will remain out on international duty. In the first playoff match that Barajas missed, Rodriguez’s performance against Louisville was sufficiently good that tactical analyst and Backheeled journalist John Morrissey described him as being the player of the match.

“I think during the whole season, all the players have adapted at every position,” Rodriguez said. “Obviously Fidel is a big piece for us, but I think we have players that adapt quickly and know their role.”

For Cochran, the role he’ll likely play on Sunday will prove vastly different. The center-back has rarely cracked the starting XI across the entire year, but finds opportunities to contribute to the team’s success in other ways.

“[The 2023 season has] been a rollercoaster, that’s for sure,” Cochran said. “I came down here with the expectation of playing more than I have, but the role that this team has needed me to play has been more of a locker room, leadership, training field, coming on late in the games.

“That’s the role I’ve had to take on this year. It’s been an adjustment for me, but it’s extremely rewarding, knowing that that sacrifice and what I’ve done to help the team get to this point. I’m just very grateful to be on a squad like this.”

Top image: Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports

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