PRFC Look To Set American Pro Record With 16th Straight Win Away to bottom table Tacoma Defiance

Phoenix Rising Football Club (17W-5D-2L, 56 PTS, 1st Place USL West/Overall) begins the first stop in a two game road trip tonight against bottom of the table Tacoma Defiance (4W-5D-14L, 17 Pts, 18th, USL West). Kick off is 7:00 PM at Tacoma’s Cheney Stadium. The Defiance are the re-branded Seattle Sounders 2 USL side, and function as Seattle’s farm team for young playerse and developmental play, and have the 2nd worst overall record in the entire USL, 2nd to last place Swope Park Rangers in the East. The Rising are coming off of a 2-1 $1 Beer Night victory over Sacramento Republic FC at Casino Arizona Field, their 15th consecutive victory in league play – an impressive mark that tied the all-time American club soccer record for consecutive wins at 15 – however, PRFC are the only side to do it in one season, as the other side, the MLS’s LA Galaxy, set the mark over the course of two years, and with a “shootout win” – something that has been eliminated in American pro soccer. The Rising are also looking to extend their USL Championship record of 6 straight road victories. The Rising took their first home win in USL play this year from the Defiance 4-0 at Casino Arizona Field.

What To Know

The Rising’s lineup against the Defiance back on April 20th was dramatically different than the regular line-up we are used to looking at today. Devin Vega and Collin Fernandez started the match in mid-field, and the frontman was Jason Johnson. All three are either injured or no longer with the side (although Vega is on loan to FC Tucson and could be recalled). LAFC center-back Tristan Blackmon came off the bench and is now a featured choice for Bob Bradley’s first place side in MLS. The good news is that current Rising players Junior Flemmings (brace) and Solomon Asante were responsible for 3 of the 4 goals in the 4-0 win, with Jason Johnson bagging the other. The win was arguably the beginnings (although not the first in the series of 15) of the Rising’s current rise to the top of the table after 4 consecutive draws to open 2019.

Tacoma’s goal differential (-35) is the worst GD in the entire USL Championship, while PRFC features the best offense and defense in the league to combine for a goal differential of +41, tops in the Championship, and has outscored opponents by an astounding 49-12 ratio during their record 15 game winning streak. Despite featuring the USL’s leading goal and assist man with Solomon Asante bagging 18 on the year so far, 12 players have scored goals in the 15 match streak, including a brace from defender Amadou Dia vs. Portland, a goal from Mustapha Dumbuya vs. Reno, and contributions from others across the board.

SEATTLE, WA – JULY 17: Seattle Sounders forward Justin Dhillon (99) makes a move past Borussia Dortmund defender Leonardo Balerdi (18) during a match between the Seattle Sounders and Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday, July 17, 2019 at CenturyLink Field in Seattle, WA. (Photo by Christopher Mast/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

The Sounders will be lead in attack by Justin Dhillon, who has split time between the Sounders first team and Tacoma in 2019, scoring 7 goals in 16 matches this year for the Defiance, and Shannon Hopeau, who has 3 tallies in play this year for Tacoma. Predicting which players will and won’t feature for Tacoma will be difficult because the Sounders first team are sending players down in anticipation of high quality opposition in the USL’s top side coming to town, so to expect a push-over game and big win on a short turn around for the Rising may be a big ask. The Rising may look to give some players some rest, especially after GK Zac Lubin and some of our midfield and backline has looked shaky in recent weeks. Recent signing and former Liverpool FC U21 captain Corey Whelan joined PRFC on the trip after warming up in a match with FC Tucson last week. Peter Lee-Vassel, a midfielder on loan from LAFC, may also look to feature as the Rising look to integrate these new players into a cohesive lineup with the USL Cup Playoffs around the corner. Woz may get his first start in a few months after a blunder from Lubin lead to the only goal from the Republic in a 2-1 win in Scottsdale. Defender Doueugui Mala is also ineligible for the match due to a 90th minute red card in last week’s win, so expect to see the old backline paring of Farrell and Cochran against Tacoma, perhaps with Whelan on the wing or taking one of their spots.

What We’re Thinking

Despite some logistical challenges, PRFC are an extremely deep side with many players that play for FC Tucson that could start on mid-level USL Championship sides. While some of the new guys may present cohesion issues, the overall talent level and extremely poor level of play that Tacoma has shown this season make it hard to believe that the Rising will not come out of Tacoma with anything less than a 3-0 victory. Here’s the lineup I see Schantz with tonight:

With a win, PRFC would become grab sole possession of an hard to fathom record: all time wins by an American professional club in league play – 16. Probably will see a bit of a slow start, but these guys have surprised me before, but look for PRFC to grab all three before heading onto Colorado Springs later this week for a tricky matchup with the Switchbacks.