Three games, three wins for Phoenix Rising has seen them catapult themselves into the USL Championship Playoff Final.
It’s not been easy, especially as each game has required either extra time or a stoppage time winner.
But let’s take a quick look at some of the numbers behind those Phoenix Rising playoff performances, and how that could shape up as they look to their final opponent, Charleston Battery.
637 attempted passes
That’s how many passes Rising has averaged over the three playoff matches so far, and it’s a lot. In fact, it’s over 150 more than the team averaged in the regular season (466). It’s aso the highest of any team in the playoffs other than Memphis (683), who played only one game.
Not only are Phoenix Rising racking up a large number of passes, they also have the highest completion percentage of any team in the playoffs (86.2 percent), which is even higher than their regular season mark of 84.4 percent. In large part, that’s thanks to Rising’s emphasis on shorter passes, with less than nine percent of pass attempts going long: again, remarkable among teams in the playoffs as the lowest tally.
Still, Rising’s methodical approach to the game does mean they’re spending more time with the ball in their own half, with only 43 percent of successful passes coming past the halfway line. That may be less than most of their conference opponents, but is actually marginally higher than fellow finalist Charleston Battery.
0.1 Expected goals
That’s the difference between Phoenix Rising’s xG and their opponents xG, not accounting for the wild opening round match against San Diego. These games have been cagey affairs, and the numbers reflect that.
In all games except that San Diego Loyal opener, Rising has had the advantage in terms of Expected Goals. But ever since that first match, the xG totals have steadily decreased, as the games become cagier yet.
Now, as Rising come up against a very structured, disciplined Charleston side, chances will remain hard to come by. Plus, Charleston have yet to record less than 1 xG in a playoff game this year. But can Rising still find a way to make the small chances count?
11 Goals from subs
That’s the highest among teams in USL Championship. Phoenix Rising has come up clutch throughout the playoffs, and a large part of it has come thanks to contributions from the bench. In particular, Emil Cuello has shone in his late cameos.
It speaks volumes to the depth that Rising has at its disposal. Another league leading goal tally to note: 19 goals coming in the last 15 minutes of the second half. That simply doesn’t happen if talented, fresh legs aren’t available on the bench to provide reinforcement.
2 Assists
That’s Carlos Harvey’s contribution to this postseason, setting up Danny Trejo in two different matches with perfectly weighted balls up to Phoenix Rising’s top scorer.
Perhaps it doesn’t sound too impressive, but that’s still an assist on a quarter of Rising’s postseason matches and is the most on the team. Plus, his involvement in the own goal scored by Sacramento’s Conor Donovan shouldn’t be overlooked either.
Coming up against Charleston, that ability to take advantage of Trejo’s pace could prove critical, and it means Harvey has to pick out those perfect balls to give Rising their best shot of a result.
84.6 percent tackle success
That’s an impressive number, and even more impressive when considering he’s attempted more than twice as many tackles as any other individual Phoenix Rising player. It’s Mo Traore’s playoff stat line, winning 11 of 13 tackles, while also winning 59 percent of duels and 60 percent of aerial duels.
It isn’t just Traore that’s stepped up defensively in the playoffs, though. John Stenberg has yet to be beaten in the air in the playoffs, and has a 76.5 percent duel success rate. Alejandro Fuenmayor has won 8 of his 9 aerial duels. If Rising can keep up that aerial dominance, they may well cut out one strand of Charleston’s trademark approach of looking for Augustine Williams on longer balls.
