(OchoaShoots21) shot this one from field level at Phoenix Rising Stadium and it felt like a movie that should have had a different ending. Phoenix Rising and El Paso Locomotive split the points in a 3–3 draw on August 30. It was entertaining, loud, and chaotic, but it was also the kind of home match that a playoff team needs to finish off. Up two early in the second half, the stadium buzzing, the new guys cooking, and then the door got left open. El Paso walked right through it.
You could feel the tone get set in the seventh minute. Daniel Flores lifted a beautiful ball into space and Ihsan Sacko brought it down like he had all night to pick a corner. Calm finish, one nil, cameras up, everyone smiling. Right out of halftime, Kelvin Arase drove to the endline and put a pass on a platter for Sacko again. Two nil, forty seven minutes, and it looked like Rising were going to run away with it. A few minutes later Darius Johnson picked up the ball near midfield and went full video game, slicing through defenders before rounding the keeper. Three nil would have been greedy, so he settled for three one vibes, but the point is the attack was ruthless. Three shots on target, three goals. That is elite efficiency.
Then the energy flipped. The red card in the sixty third minute changed everything. From the sideline you could see El Paso start to stack set pieces and wave after wave of pressure. When a team has thirteen corners and twenty one shots, something will eventually fall. Amando Moreno pulled one back, Gabi Torres hit a low driver from distance, and in stoppage time Ricky Ruiz crashed a loose ball to steal a share. That late punch in the gut is the part that sticks with you while you pack your gear.
The bright side is real. The new additions matter. Flores put a welcome stamp on his first contribution with that assist to Sacko. Arase, in his first start, logged two assists and worked both sides of the ball. He held it, linked play, and brought speed and intent. You can build around that kind of profile. Rafael Czichos made his debut and you can see the leadership and positioning are going to settle things down as minutes stack. Xian Emmers is in the mix too. The squad is deeper than it was a month ago and that shows in how the team can punch in transition.
Here is the honest part. These are the nights that have to become wins. Home crowd behind you. Two goal cushion with momentum. New signings delivering. Even with a man down, game management has to slow things to your rhythm. That means fewer cheap fouls in the defensive third, clearer marks on the back post, and smart possession to take the air out of the match. Phoenix created quality without volume, so the rest has to be clean. If you only take four shots all night and score three, you have done the hard part. The last piece is closing the door.
There is also a theme with El Paso this year. Every meeting turns into a track meet. Four four in March. Two two in the cup with the wild penalty shootout. Three three tonight. That pattern is fun for neutrals and stressful for everyone in red. The growth step is turning the chaos into control. Pick your moments to go, draw a foul when the game is racing, take the extra touch to force their line to reset. It is not about being conservative. It is about being ruthless in the small details.
The table does not lie about what this group is doing. Unbeaten in this homestand, four positive results in the last five at home, and up to fifth in the West. The ceiling is higher than that when the performance matches the talent for ninety plus. Sacko is in form. Johnson is direct and fearless. Arase brings a new gear. Flores has quality on the ball. Add a steadying veteran in Czichos and there is every reason to expect a strong run.
Next up is Las Vegas on Friday, September 5. If Rising carry the attacking sharpness from this match and add a little more control after the hour mark, that is a three point opportunity. From my spot behind the lens, I want to be shooting celebrations at full time, not equalizers at the death. Nights like this are teachable. They should also be winnable.
