A pair of goals from local players lifted Phoenix Rising to its first home victory of the 2025 campaign. JP Scearce’s headed effort and Ryan Flood‘s strike from distance were sufficient to give Rising the full share of the spoils in a 2-0 win over Monterey Bay.

Goal contributions all come from local Arizona players

After a first half in which Phoenix Rising held a strong advantage in territory but failed to get more than a solitary shot on target, things finally started to click after the break.

By the 65th minute, Rising finally found their breakthrough through JP Scearce, who followed up a flick off a corner kick and ultimately won his header over Monterey Bay goalkeeper Nico Campuzano to turn the ball home.

“They were calling for a foul, but I don’t think I even touched him,” Scearce said after the match.

In his written response to a submitted pool question, match referee Trevor Wiseman said “the referee saw fair contact and a challenge for the ball. The attacker won the ball fairly and scored a clean goal.”

That marked Scearce’s second goal for the club since joining ahead of the 2024 season.

“I call JP my silent leader because he bleeds this club,” Rising coach Pa-Modou Kah said. “He’s from here. This club means a lot to him, and every day that he steps on the pitch, he’s grateful to be able to represent this club and also the community.”

20 minutes later, a fellow Arizonan doubled the advantage. Ryan Flood‘s long range strike also marked his first of the season, and with youngster Jamison Ping providing the pass to him, all goals and assists on the night came from local players.

“If you get into a position like that where you can affect the game by one strike, [Kah]’s always going to say yes,” Flood said. “He always recommends that we try to put shots on target, test the keeper.

“Look at Mo at the beginning of the year in El Paso. He shoots one and it goes in. Sometimes you’ve got to take chances.”

A night of Phoenix Rising 2025 firsts

Phoenix Rising hadn’t won a home match since September 2024. That marked nine homes games in a row in all competitions that Rising had failed to win.

That all changed against Monterey Bay.

“The mood [in the locker room] is crazy, because they’ve worked so hard for it,” Rising coach Pa-Modou Kah said. “We’ve been a little bit unlucky playing at home. Away, we’ve got a couple of victories, but it’s always great to get the monkey off your back at home and keep moving.”

Additionally, Rising’s defensive effort against Monterey Bay provided a first clean sheet for the club under Kah.

Overall, Phoenix managed to hold the visitors to just five shots in total, generating a total expected goals tally of 0.36. Not a single shot from Monterey Bay was on target.

Momentum going forward?

Phoenix Rising has now won back-to-back games for the first time this year. Still, the club will have to wait for at least a week and a half to add to that.

“It’s never optimal [having that long a gap between games],” Rising coach Pa-Modou Kah said. “You know why? Because now you have your momentum, and now you want to build off your momentum, but now you have to wait.”

Rising’s next match will take place on Wednesday May 28, away to Las Vegas Lights.

Despite the interruption to Rising’s building momentum, Kah, JP Scearce and Ryan Flood all acknowledged that the chance for added rest after a hectic few weeks could prove helpful, especially with several players still unavailable due to injury. Among those who were injured for Rising’s clash against Monterey Bay was Triston Henry, Rising’s backup goalkeeper, who could be available again in time for the clash against Las Vegas.

Owain’s take

Finally.

It’s taken some time, but Phoenix Rising has won at home this year. The last time that had happened was over 230 days ago.

Defensively, it felt as though Rising made light work of a Monterey Bay side that, frankly, offered very little up top.

At the other end, Phoenix may have enjoyed a hint of luck on their opening goal, but you can take nothing away from Ryan Flood’s strike for their second.

Simply put, Rising was the better team on the night, and it didn’t feel as though it was particularly close. The hosts deserved to come away with a victory, and they did just that.

It isn’t as though Rising has felt a million miles away from working things out through most of the season, but they often fell victim to the same kind of errors week in, week out. You could see the ideas from Pa-Modou Kah, but the results simply weren’t coming for the team.

Now, that’s starting to change.

After the success in New Mexico, I said it’d be critical for Rising to show that they can follow it up with another good result. Otherwise, despite the strides forward in Albuquerque, it would have felt as though Rising had gone straight back to square one.

And, at 38th and Washington against Monterey Bay, Phoenix Rising did not disappoint.

Top image: Phoenix Rising FC