For all the quality in its attack, however, New Mexico came away with just a point as Rising FC showed its resolve by battling back three times to earn a 3-3 draw for the second straight week.

While I could go on about Phoenix’s fighting spirit (or sloppy defending) over the opening two weeks, I’d prefer to point out just how wild these back-to-back results are. There were only eight 3-3 draws in the Championship during the 2018 season and just one – Las Vegas Lights FC’s Silver State Cup comeback against Reno 1868 FC in September – saw a team equalize on three separate occasions.

To do that twice in the span of eight days is crazy, but the fact Phoenix basically used the exact same formula against New Mexico as it did in San Antonio is even weirder. Solomon Asante scored from the penalty spot twice – after netting once from 12 yards last weekend – and Jason Johnson was Rick Schantz’s ace in the hole once again, coming off the bench to deliver Rising FC’s third goal late on.

With all the goals and late drama, Phoenix, for me, is the most fun to team to watch in the league at the moment.

While Rising FC was busy recreating a carbon copy of its Week 1 comeback, its 2018 Western Conference Final opponent, Orange County SC, was living out the exact opposite of its opening-week performance at Championship Soccer Stadium at OC Great Park.

After fighting back from two goals down to earn a draw in Reno last weekend, OCSC jumped out to a two-goal advantage in the opening half of its home opener against Tulsa Roughnecks FC. But, moments after Aodhan Quinn gave his side that lead with a penalty kick in first-half stoppage time, things started to fall apart for last season’s Western Conference table-toppers.

The Roughnecks responded before the break as Cristhian Altamirano converted a penalty of his own to give Tulsa some momentum and Janú Silva capitalized on an error by OCSC goalkeeper Carlos Lopez to level the contest in the 54th minute. Tulsa then delivered a decisive blow in a six-minute span that saw defender Luca Lobo bag a quick-fire brace from a pair of set pieces and substitute Fabián Bastidas send the visitors riding off into the California sunset with a tidy finish to a fast-break opportunity.