Rising ousted from US Open Cup in loss to Sacramento Republic
Eight years ago, Phoenix Rising — then Arizona United — made the U.S. Open Cup fourth round for the first time, losing at home to MLS club LA Galaxy. On Wednesday, they finally returned to that stage, this time with a more favorable matchup, albeit away from home, against Sacramento Republic.
With a berth in the round of 16 on the line, though, Rising lost, 2-0, to a club that sits one spot below it in the USL Championship Western Conference standings.
Sacramento opened the scoring in the 30th minute, punishing Phoenix for a lackluster start when Luis Felipe Fernandes scored off a set piece. Set pieces again proved to be the undoing in the 88th minute, with Douglas Martinez sealing the game for Republic on a header off a corner kick.
On the other end, Rising couldn’t take advantage of their own opportunities.
The most glaring miss came in the 42nd minute, after midfielder Arturo Rodriguez was brought down in the box for a penalty. Striker Greg Hurst stepped up and hit a weak shot that
proved a comfortable save for goalkeeper Danny Vitiello. The ball squirmed back to Hurst on the rebound but again, he wasn’t able to beat Vitiello to the near post.
Vitiello again came up big for Sacramento on a close-range header from Marcus Epps, pushing it off the crossbar before it bounced off the goal-line and out, preserving Sacramento’s lead.
That was as close as Phoenix would get on the night, ending its cup dream short of the round of 16, when it likely would have played an MLS opponent for the first time since 2014.