PRFC Wins 5-3 Behind Spencer Brace At Providence Park

PRFC 5 – 3 Timbers 2 PRFC Goalscorers: Lambert 4′, Spencer 35′ & 70′, Flemmings 54′, Aginauga 88′ Timbers 2: Calixtro 24′, Hurtado 73′, Ledbetter 76′ (OG)

Records: PRFC (23W-6D-3L, 75 PTS, 1st – USL West) Timbers 2: (10W-8D-13L. 38 PTS, 13th – USL West)

Phoenix Rising Football Club headed to the Pacific Northwest for their final road match of 2019, emerging with a odd but entertaining 5-3 road win against Portland Timbers 2 at Providence Park despite the Rising featuring a mostly untested and backup starting XI that included 3 players that featured for USL1 affiliate FC Tucson the week before. (Ledbetter, Bjornthun and Spencer). The win pushed PRFC’s record to 23-6-3, good for 75 points and a 19 point lead on the rest of the USL’s Western Conference, while the loss severely hampered T2’s playoff ambitions, dropping them to 10-8-13, good for 38 points and 13th in the West – after sitting in 2nd place coming into their last meeting with PRFC, a 4-2 Rising victory at Casino Arizona Field two months ago.

How They Won

PRFC’s 5-3 win on the road ended their 2019 road campaign with a team record 11-3-3 record – the best road record in USL Championship history. The tone was set early as Jamaican MNT midfielder Kevon Lambert took Kyle Bjornthun’s perfectly placed cross and slashed into the back of the net in just the 5th minute to put PRFC up 1-0:

The Rising controlled most of the first 20 minutes of play; but against the run of play and due to a defensive mix-up between backup GK Carl Woszczynski and his backfield, forward Gio Calixtro was allowed an easy tap-in to draw the home side level at 1-1. The tie didn’t last for long – as Rising superstar and future USL MVP Solomon Asante placed a cross to Ben Spencer – in the XI for the first time in a few months – for the first of his two goals on the evening, giving the Rising a 2-1 lead they would not relinquish:

The Rising never looked seriously threatened from there on out, especially after the Timbers lost a man and PRFC’s Junior Flemmings scored his 15th goal of 2019 to give the Rising a 4-1. However, a late mistake by RB Austin Ledbetter could give Coach Schantz some concerns going into the playoffs as his airheaded back pass to Woz was a total biff – with both players on a different frequency, it took the 10 man Timbers side from a 4-1 deficit to a 4-3 deficit with plenty of time to play:

Ledbetter has had his moments for Rising this year, but it’s very clear that Dumbuya is the obvious first choice fullback for Rising – and he came on late in the game in addition to CM Jon Bakero, who’s presence was immediately felt after a month’s absence. His offensive prowess was evident in the 30 or so minutes he played, and Jose Aguinaga finished off Portland in the 88th minute on a beautiful finish to give the Rising a 5-3 road win.

Takes From The Win

This is an encouraging, if not somewhat disjointed, performance by PRFC. They were playing with a starting XI that was more or less the PRFC “2” side – featuring three players (Bjornthun, Ledbetter, and Spencer), who had featured for FC Tucson in the prior week, our backup GK, and backup target man in Ben Spencer (who scored a brace, giving him 3 goals in the last 4 games). Despite all this, the Rising went out on the road and grabbed 5 goals despite a total line-up rotation. This bodes well for the two game home-stand to close out the year, as players like Bakero, Dumbuya, PLV, and others who haven’t seen much action should return to the pitch as a warm-up for the start of the 2019 USL Cup Playoffs.

Austin Ledbetter was VERY unimpressive from the back, and minus the game at Las Vegas Lights, hasn’t done much all season to change that perception. Not sure how I feel about him taking the pitch during the USL playoffs, and hopefully he’ll be used sparingly.

Jon Bakero and Dumbuya are KEY to this team’s offensive and defensive games. Keeping them healthy and on the pitch makes this team very close to unbeatable.

Expect the Rising to win out with two final home games against Real Monarchs (13-7-10, 6th Pl, USL West) and OKC Energy (9-11-12, 14th, USL West), to give them the best record in USL Championship history and remain unbeaten at home in 2019 USL play. The Rising take the field on Saturday, October 12th at 7:30 PM at Casino Arizona Field against Real Monarchs SLC, the USL affiliate of Real Salt Lake.