Rising open playoffs against RGV Toros
Three years later, Rick Schantz still remembers a conversation with Didier Drogba when he was hired as Phoenix Rising’s full-time manager, back in the summer of 2018.
Back then, external expectations were minimal. Phoenix had never won a playoff game when Schantz arrived. The club, formerly known as Arizona United, had just rebranded. The raucous fanbase that now fills Wild Horse Pass to a degree rarely seen across USL was still in its nascent stages.
Schantz set out to change all that. That season, he succeeded in his mission, leading the Rising to the USL final. The next year, they won the regular season. In 2020, they reached the final again, only to see it wiped out by COVID-19. This season, they won the Western Conference.
Nearly four years into Schantz’s tenure, success is synonymous with Phoenix Rising. “Here we are, four years later, everyone’s telling us we have great expectations,” Schantz said, remembering that conversation with Drogba, the former star striker who is now among Phoenix’s minority owners.
Standing beside a field at the club’s new training facility Tuesday afternoon, Schantz recognized everything he has brought to this club over the past four years. He also recognized what’s missing: a USL title. “That’s the one trophy that’s missing from our case right now,” Schantz said. “So would we like to win a championship? Do we want to get a star? Absolutely.”
For Phoenix, the matchup brings comfort in familiarity. Though a pandemic-altered regular season schedule meant that teams played 28 of their 32 regular season games within their division, the Rising have played RGV once, a 3-1 win in July.
“We played already against them and I think we know already how they play and we’re gonna prepare,” midfielder Arturo Rodriguez said. “We know what we have to do to be able to beat them.”
In that game, Phoenix jumped out to a dominant start, leading 3-0 before the 30th minute. Since then, though, RGV has revamped its roster. Among its 11 starters in last week’s playoff-clinching 4-1 win over El Paso Locomotive, four were not with the club in July — right back Juan Carlos Azocar, midfielder Andres Flores, midfielder Emilio Ycaza and striker Jonas Fjeldberg.
As for RGV’s form — they’ve won three in a row, culminating with the win over El Paso — Schantz points out that they beat the Locomotive in June, too, a few weeks before coming to Phoenix. Rising’s talent won out.