Phoenix Rising fell 4-3 at home to Oakland Roots with all seven goals coming after the half-time interval.

Oakland took a 2-0 lead on the night before Ihsan Sacko and Diego Gomez levelled the scores, but Roots quickly retook the lead themselves, leaving Kelvin Arase’s late goal to be nothing more than a consolation.

Sloppy at the back

“We were sloppy from start to finish,” were the words from Phoenix Rising head coach Pa-Modou Kah.

When asked what the defensive issue was in this match, he replied “everything.”

Rising managed to make it into the break without conceding a goal, but frequently looked exposed in its press by an Oakland side that caused no end of trouble. Twice, Patrick Rakovsky was drawn off his line and caught in no man’s land, but the visitors failed to do anything of note to capitalize.

In the end, Oakland found their lead in the early stages of the second half, after which Rising finally seemed to grow into the match.

“Sometimes we just start sloppy,” Rising winger Kelvin Arase said. “Then once we concede a goal, we truly start playing football but it should be the other way around, and we’re trying to start better every game.”

Rising did find two goals to equalize, but shortly after conceded another two as Roots made Phoenix’s defence look as though they provided no obstacle.

While Rising would find another goal of their own as the game progressed, it ultimately proved too little, too late.

A game of two penalties

Both sides found themselves awarded a penalty kick in this match, with those penalties ultimately getting each team off the mark.

Early in the second half, Adrian Pelayo was adjudged to have fouled Peter Wilson as he connected into the forward’s back with his shoulder. Wilson himself stepped up to take the ensuing kick, burying it past Patrick Rakovsky.

Later on, Damian Rivera earned a penalty for Phoenix Rising after referee Ricardo Fierro adjudged Kendall McIntosh to have fouled him while punching the ball clear. Ihsan Sacko managed to score from the spot, bringing Rising back within a goal.

Phoenix Rising goes into mental health break

For Phoenix Rising, this marked the last game for a two week stretch. Players will be given a period of leave as part of their annual mental health break, a league initiative that has returned once again for the 2026 season.

Rising’s next match is on July 4th, against Colorado Springs Switchbacks.

Overall, the team goes into this break on shaky form. Of the last four Phoenix Rising games in all competitions, the club has lost three and drawn one.

Owain’s take

It’s not the momentum you want to take into a break. It’s not the kind of message you want to take out of a match, honestly ever.

Once again, we had the pleasure of watching a Phoenix Rising team that simply didn’t show up until after it had fallen behind. In this case, that was by two goals, at which point the squad was already facing an uphill battle.

It’s worth adding, of course, that this wasn’t quite like we’d seen in El Paso the week before. In that match, we saw a dire, frankly frustrating first half from both sides in which case neither seemed to really do very much of anything. At home against Oakland, we saw the visitors genuinely on top, exploiting Rising’s back line while somehow finding creative new ways to not put the ball in the back of the net, or even get shots off.

Roots could have genuinely had five, six or seven on the night, and it wasn’t through the performance of Phoenix Rising that they didn’t. It was purely because the visitors seemed to shoot themselves in the foot every time they had the upper hand in the final third. Rising simply couldn’t keep up.

A second half penalty proved enough to finally open the floodgates for Roots, and didn’t it just. Four goals in the final 45 minutes of play on the road.

Yes, Rising fought back once, but when you are constantly in a state where you’re having to fight back into games, you’re always going to run the risk of coming away with nothing. While Rising may have created a few more chances as the match went on, their defence didn’t exactly seem to shape up at any point.

Despite all of that, though, Phoenix Rising could still have walked away on Saturday night with a point despite trailing twice by multiple goals. Is that something to be proud of? To an extent, I’m sure, but it’s also clear that this can’t keep happening. Being the comeback team can be fun, but it’s never going to be a sustainable model for success overall.

That said, I do wonder if a few thousand more in the crowd could have roared the team on to a late comeback. We know the kind of energy that can be created when pushing for a late equalizer, and how it can help continue to swing momentum in your team’s favor. Of course, with the stands feeling pretty empty again, we didn’t see that happen.

Then, there’s the late antics. Luke Biasi has only himself to blame for a late violent conduct red card, I’m afraid, and frankly should count himself lucky that he’s playing in USL, where the starting point for a suspension of this variety is always seemingly lower than in other professional leagues around the world. We’ve seen his talent this season, but also know that the club will be without it for at least one game into the future now for something that felt so easily avoidable.

That game comes after a break, of course, and it’s like a much needed one. After the slide of the last few weeks, where this team has seemingly found endless ways to frustrate, they need to take a second to stop, breath, evaluate and reset.

Whether they do, or if they simply continue this form into the weeks and months ahead, will ultimately define Phoenix Rising’s season.