With nine players unavailable due to injury alongside a pair of red cards, Phoenix Rising fell 3-1 away to Monterey Bay. Rising trailed 1-0 before battling back to level the match before half-time, but red cards for Pape Mar Boye and Carl Sainté preceded two more goals for the hosts.

Red cards derail the match

It was another slow start for Phoenix Rising as Monterey Bay came out on fire in the opening ten minutes. A third-minute goal rewarded the home side’s hot start, but Rising came clawing back. They flipped the match on its head through high-octane attack, one of the main principles of head coach Pa-Modou Kah’s system.

Rising turned defense into offense quickly and good combination play between Rémi Cabral and Ihsan Sacko led to Cabral’s equalizer. However, they struggled to generate chances of any substance for the rest of the first half, and only had two shots in the rest of the half — both coming in the 32nd minute.

On the bright side, Rising’s defense stood tall until the 62nd minute. That’s when former Rising academy standout Ilijah Paul burst ahead of Pape Mar Boye. Boye, already on a yellow, reached his arm too high and dragged Paul to the ground, leaving referee Brandon Stevis no choice but to give Boye a second yellow. With no natural center-backs on the bench, Carl Sainté was moved to the back line after starting as a defensive midfielder.

Just six minutes later, Sainté himself was sent off after dragging Paul to the ground and then brushing his boot against Paul’s head. Despite debate over the harshness of Sainté’s kick, it was a foolish mistake for the Haitian international to make.

Between the two red cards, Monterey Bay scored to pull ahead of a soon-to-be 9-man Rising side. For the final 20 minutes, both teams seemed like they were waiting for the final whistle, with neither having any clear-cut chances save for Anton Søjberg doubling the hosts’ advantage in the 73rd minute.

Injuries continue piling up

When the lineups were released an hour before the match, there was one familiar name to Phoenix Rising fans on the bench, but it was an unexpected one.

Assistant coach and former club captain Darnell King was listed as a substitute alongside five teenagers. King retired following the 2023 season, signing a 25-day contract for his first on-field action since Rising won the 2023 USL Championship Final.

Nine players in total were listed on Rising’s pregame availability report, with all but one first-choice center-back being listed. Mo Traore, Alex Araneda and Casey Walls were included in the list, meaning 18-year-old Braxton Montgomery got his first career start. Emil Cuello was also out after he was taken off in the 34th minute against Rhode Island. As a result, Rising had an average age of 20.5-year-olds on their backline, as Harvey Neville, Pape Mar Boye and Collin Smith were named to Pa-Modou Kah’s starting eleven.

In the midfield, Carl Sainté started on his return from international duty, but Charlie Dennis, Giulio Doratiotto and JP Scearce all missed out.

Naming six teenagers in total and an assistant coach to the matchday squad shows that this squad’s injury crisis has only gotten worse after last week. With two more out due to suspension for the squad’s upcoming trip to San Antonio, Rising may be forced into making more temporary signings — or relying increasingly on player youngsters.

Set piece struggles persist

Monterey Bay opened the scoring after earning a free kick about 35 yards away from the goal. Anton Søjberg played a slow rolling ball to Ilijah Paul, after Paul darted into space to the left of the goal. Paul was left unmarked and made a pass across goal towards Carlos Guzmán for an easy finish.

Following Pape Mar Boye’s red card, Rising was tested with another set piece, yet failed again. Ihsan Sacko attempted to head away Søjberg’s service, but it was directed right at Adrian Rebollar. Rebollar, on the volley, knocked it into the bottom right corner, leaving no way for Triston Henry to reach it.

Twice against El Paso, once against Rhode Island, and now two more times against Monterey Bay, Rising has conceded from set pieces. That accounts for five of the eight goals conceded by Rising, with most coming from similar stories. Their struggles almost always include Rising failing to mark an opposing player or clear the ball away, with the lone exception being an own-goal off Boye against Rhode Island.

While Rising’s defense has been mostly solid in open play, their struggles in defending set pieces are a large part as to why the squad remains winless through the opening four fixtures of this season.

Rees’ take

A 1-1 draw against Monterey Bay would have been a fine result for Phoenix Rising, especially given the construction of Rising’s lineup. Picking up points on the road in the USL Championship is no easy feat, so you need to take your points and drive off with them.

However, as Rising drove off against Monterey Bay, poor attention to detail saw them quickly pulled over. Boye and Sainté being given red cards unsurprisingly changed the match, but both infractions could have been easily avoided.

To pick up the first win of the Pa-Modou Kah-era, Rising needs to stop shooting themselves in the foot. Whether it be poor set piece defense, mistakes passing out of the back or picking up unnecessary red cards, Rising’s two-point start has been entirely of its own making.

There were some positives in Saturday’s match. Braxton Montgomery delivered a mature performance at center-back, coming up big multiple times to prevent Monterey Bay from scoring. Jearl Margaritha again looked good, regardless of whether he was on the left or right wing.

Four current or former academy players featured and, although it may not have been under ideal circumstances, it’s another sign of continued progress for this club’s youth setup. 18-year-old Montgomery started the match and played all 90 minutes, before being joined by 17-year-old Jamison Ping, 16-year-old Cryus Kowall and 18-year-old Pierce Rizzo.

Rising also didn’t allow too many opportunities in transition. That had been their Achilles’ heel against El Paso and Rhode Island, but the back line allowed few chances on the break.

Again Rising started slow, but came back quickly. However, after drawing the match level, Rising struggled going forward. They only had three shots for the rest of the match, two of which came within a minute of each other. Being able to play a full 90 minutes would do wonders for this side, but they just can’t quite find the path to a full game.

Rising haven’t had the lead at any point through the first four matches, and with a tough stretch over the next two months, their slow start could cost them. They’ll have to play San Antonio twice, Colorado Springs, New Mexico twice and more over the next two matches. That means Rising will have to play catchup against some of the best sides in the league.

Next is San Antonio, who have made teams pay for even the slightest of mistakes this season. Rising will have to limit its own mistakes, something we haven’t quite seen this season.

If it’s something we do see, Rising could be in a spot where they have their first win of the year. If not? We’re probably having a very similar conversation this time next week.