Phoenix Rising striker Tony Capetillo has undergone surgery ahead of the club’s trip to Pittsburgh this weekend.

The 16-year old forward recorded his first professional start with the team in the season opener, after making a brief substitute appearance in the USL Cup last season.

Youngster Tony Capetillo set for sideline spell

“Tony went in for surgery yesterday,” Rising coach Pa-Modou Kah said. “Everything went well, so we’re very happy with him. Doctors did great, so now it’s the recovery time for him. As we told him, now is the time, being a young player, to focus on your mind and body. Come back stronger. Come back better. Also, use this time to see the game and understand the game, and we’ll be waiting for him.”

Despite his young age, Capetillo has made seven appearances for the club in all competitions this season. He became the youngest-ever Rising goalscorer with his late strike against San Ramon in the U.S. Open Cup in March.

“The greatest thing that he also has is the foundation with the family,” Kah said. “The father, the mother, terrific people who trust us with Tony and we trust them. The message was the same from us and the parents, which is we are aligned, we trust you, but also this is the first time this thing is happening to him, and you learn and you get better from it.”

Capetillo is just one of several prospects from Rising’s academy to feature this season. In the club’s last match against Colorado Springs, four youngsters started for the team.

“He has a bright future ahead of him,” Kah said. “Listen, he’s just 16, so that means he has a bright future and we know what he can do. The biggest test for him is going to be how does he mentally recover, and how does he put his mind in a stage where every single day he sees improvement.”

Pittsburgh up next

Next up for Rising is an away trip to face the Pittsburgh Riverhounds, and it’ll be a familiar scene for one Phoenix defender.

“I’ll always have a soft spot for Pittsburgh,” Luke Biasi said. “It’s where I started my career, and it’s where I was very successful and won some silverware. People don’t always get the opportunity to do that, so it’s a bit surreal to be able to go back to where my career started and just play in front of those fans again and feel the environment. But at the same time, I’m on a new team, and I want to win more than probably any other game.”

Biasi joined Rising from Pittsburgh in the offseason, and has since become an important part of the club’s defensive plans.

“Luke has been fantastic for us,” Kah said. “I think he’s looking forward to it, and so are we. Any time you face the champion, you have to look forward to it, and that’s the aspiration that we have, becoming a champion.”

For Pittsburgh, 2026 marks the first full season under head coach Rob Vincent. The Englishman took over the team in mid-October after the previous head coach Bob Lilley was put on administrative leave just shy of the playoffs. Vincent led the team to the league title, and was ultimately offered the job permanently in December.

“They have good players, and they’re coached very well,” Biasi said. “They have an identity that they’ve had for many, many years which they try to stick with, which is going to be in your face, not going to be afraid to close in the field and they’re going to be aggressive and have a lot of fight. For the players that are still there, that I’m familiar with, they’re good players.”

Temperatures in Pittsburgh for Saturday are expected to peak in the low 50s, well below the current highs in the Valley. There is also a possibility of showers. According to Biasi, that could play to Rising’s advantage.

“I think the guys will be relieved if it’s a little cooler, you know, and some might even be excited to see some rain,” the defender said. “Honestly, the rain on that field, it might help us because it’ll be more like playing on grass. A lot of times, when you play on that field and it hasn’t rained, it’s going to be dry, the ball is going to stick up and that ultimately favors Pittsburgh’s play style.

“The dimensions of that field are going to be small. They are going to try to turn us over in our own half, so we have to play what the game gives us and be smart to get out of those tough situations.”

Penultimate east coast trip

Saturday’s trip to Pittsburgh marks the second of three trips to the East Coast on the schedule for Rising this season.

Rising’s last league match, an away game to Miami, marked the first of the fixtures, with the final one coming later in May against the Tampa Bay Rowdies.

“It’s good to get it over and done with quickly, and you don’t have those long travels like we had last year when we had to go to Pittsburgh, and you had to go to North Carolina,” Kah said. “Those are trips that you don’t want to do at the ending of the season. But if you can get it out in the beginning like we did […] that helps us from a physical and mental mindset as well.

“But also, hey, this country is big and we chose this profession, so that’s part of it. So there’s no excuse to it.”

Last season, Rising played four matches away against Eastern Conference opposition, with the first in June and the last in the final week of the season. In the prior three years, Rising played six Eastern Conference road games per season. However, the addition of the USL Cup along with an imbalance of teams due to league expansion has led to a decrease in cross-conference play.