Nine goal thriller in Texoma keeps Phoenix Rising’s Jägermeister Cup hopes alive

In the highest-scoring match in USL Jägermeister Cup history, Phoenix Rising knocked off Texoma 5-4 through four goal contributions from Charlie Dennis and a late winner from Emil Cuello.

Rising’s hopes of advancing out of the group stage are still barely alive, with the side now up to five points and eight goals scored, the lead tiebreaker.

Nearly knocked themselves out

Rising came into Saturday’s fixture realistically needing three points to maintain any way of getting out of the group stage. There was a path forward if Rising won the two points through a penalty shootout win, but it required a win in their final group match vs. El Paso on July 19 and results coming from elsewhere.

Ultimately, Rising’s best path to advance was to handle business against the sides in front of them, which seemed like an easy task given Texoma play in USL League One, the division below the USL Championship. However, this proved to be anything but as the hosts opened the scoring in the seventh minute.

Following a poor giveaway by J.P. Scearce, Rising were disjointed in transition. Braxton Montgomery was caught playing Texoma forward Brandon McManus onside, who then put a slow roller past goalkeeper Triston Henry.

Henry showed signs of rust in his first match since conceding three late goals in a loss versus Detroit. There were multiple moments, whether Texoma scored or not, where Henry struggled coming off his line and was caught out.

One of those moments came right after Rising’s first two goals. Rising struggled to deal with a long goal kick from Texoma, as both Carl Sainté and Montgomery were caught out of position. Henry came off his line, but the shot ricocheted off Montgomery, falling for Diego Pepi, as he scored his first of two on the night.

“There’s a lot of lessons to be learned. We can’t turn up and expect to win,” Dennis said. “We have to be switched on and everyone needs to be way better than we were tonight. Conceding four goals (against Texoma) is just not good enough.”

The defensive struggles continued right before halftime as Pepi found his second. The youngster made an unmarked run into the box and fired a shot into the roof of the net, as Henry stayed low. In the second half, Sainté struggled with the pace of former Rising man Lamin Jawneh, who then went around Henry and scored into an open net.

Henry delivered some of the same struggles we have seen from him throughout his limited playing time this season; however, this time, the disjointed nature of the defense certainly didn’t help.

Attack saves rising yet again

Last time out in the Jägermeister Cup, Rising’s defense let up three goals to a New Mexico United squad that is not particularly known for their goalscoring. In that same match, Rising fought back to score three of their own, before taking an extra point through a penalty shootout win.

This match required much of the same for Rising, as they trailed on three separate occasions to come back and take the full three points. Charlie Dennis was the primary part of Rising’s attacking engine, as he netted a hat-trick and assisted another.

Dennis’ first goal came through a penalty, earned through a well-worked attacking sequence by Rising. Just three minutes later, the Englishman provided Darius Johnson with a perfect ball for the Grenadian to head home. Dennis’ five total chances created were substantially more than anyone else on the pitch attained.

Rising had 17 total shots, nine of which ended up on target. The attack just kept going, even when they trailed, in stark contrast how this club looked a year ago in similar circumstances.

The third for Rising came after the start of the second half, when Jamison Ping played a near-perfect ball of a corner for Dennis to head home with ease. After conceding yet again, Dennis would complete the hat-trick with a second penalty.

“It’s great to get on the scoresheet, especially three goals,” Dennis said. “I’m going to be working even harder now to keep that up.”

From there, the match somehow seemed like it would have another goal written into the books, especially when ten minutes of stoppage time were displayed on the fourth officials board. Rising brought on Hope Avayevu, Jearl Margaritha and Ihsan Sacko late in the match to keep their feet on the gas pedal.

However, it wasn’t any of Rising’s three attacking substitutes that would write the ending to this thriller. Instead, it was Emil Cuello, who delivered similar outcomes in the club’s 2023 playoff run.

Cuello had a shot at goal from the edge of the box within the left half-space, finding its way into the back of the net in the 96th minute of play.

In Cuello’s first full 90 minutes since May 7 vs. Houston Dynamo, finding a goal could be such a huge piece for him to find momentum in what has been a stop-start season for him due to injury.

Former Phoenix Rising Man causes trouble

In the week building up to Saturday’s fixture, Texoma had coined the week as “Solo Week” to honor their Phoenix Rising legend Solomon Asante, ahead of their matchup against his former club.

Asante scored 54 goals and assisted 43 more in his 114 USL Championship appearances with Phoenix, and led the side to two Western Conference crowns and a Supporters Shield. He also racked up his own accolades, racking up two USL Championship MVPs and three appearances in the All-League First Team.

Following the 2021 season, Asante departed Phoenix, first for two seasons with Indy Eleven, then for another with Las Vegas. This year, Asante made the drop down to League One, where he’s already scored four times in thirteen appearances.

However, he missed this match due to an injury suffered following his new side’s 3-2 win against Charlotte Independence just a week ago. Instead, it would be another former Rising man who created havoc for Texoma, Lamin Jawneh.

If Asante was memorable for the goals, assists or the flashy play, Jawneh was memorable for being the opposite. Jawneh was signed to revitalize a struggling side in 2022, but only made seven appearances for the side, struggling to make any notable impact.

In his first match against his former side, Jawneh delivered attacking bursts for Texoma when Rising wasn’t gift-wrapping them chances. His speed proved too tough for defenders to handle, and it all came together on his goal in the 68th minute, where he outpaced Carl Sainté.

Watching Jawneh play versus Rising felt like the realization of what he was meant to do for Rising three years ago. The goal marks Jawneh’s first in USL competition at any level.

Rees’ Take

It was bad but good, but mainly bad.

Conceding four goals to a League One side means this match is not one that Phoenix Rising can be too happy about. Yet, Rising’s attack created numerous chances and were able to scored five goals.

Still, they only had to score five goals because they conceded four.

The depth, or lack thereof, was on display Saturday night. Rising had only one center-back on the bench with no defensive midfielders. This was shown when Rising would have likely made a change at halftime, to take off one or more of Sainté, Montgomery and Scearce to provide more stability.

The rise of a healthy Charlie Dennis can only be good for this team, which went the bulk of this match without attacking stars Hope Avayevu, Jearl Margaritha and Ihsan Sacko. If all can be healthy and available at the same time, this attack could be even more fun than what we’ve already seen.

The result also means Rising stays alive in the cup. They’ll need to beat El Paso on the final day, likely requiring a decent number of goals scored, and if several results go their way elsewhere, they may sneak into the last eight of the Jägermeisrter Cup.

Again, though, they conceded four against a League One side. That needs to be the first thing remembered about this match.