(Aaron Blau / Firebird Soccer)

Phoenix Rising goes for their 16th straight when they take on the Tacoma Defiance Tuesday Night.

Phoenix Rising (17-5-2, 56pts, 1st in West) vs. Tacoma Defiance (4-5-14, 17pts, 18th in West)

7:00pm, Cheney Stadium, Tacoma, Washington

TV: Your Phoenix CW

Stream: ESPN+

Radio: ArizonaSports.com

Matchcenter: #TACvPHX

Last Match

Despite a defensive mistake leading to a goal only 110 seconds into the match, Phoenix Rising continued a multitude of streaks with their 2-1 win over Sacramento Republic. Thanks to an own goal and a redemptive deflection from Joe Farrell, Phoenix led at the half and a much stronger second half saw the win come to fruition.

Team News

Not much news with the short turnaround. Corey Whelan did finally make his U.S. debut, when he started and played 63 minutes in FC Tucson’s 3-1 win over Orlando CIty B. Whelan lined up as the right centerback, completing 92% of his passes along with 2 interceptions, a 1 clearance, and 1 shot. Whelan made the trip with Rising but it remains to be seen if his debut will come in the next 5 days…….It was announced that we could see the return of Jason Johnson in the coming weeks. Johnson was injured on April 27th in a match against Sacramento Republic.

Tacoma Defiance

You already know the story of the Tacoma Defiance. The “2” of MLS’s Seattle Sounders, Tacoma has served as a proving ground for the academy as well as a place for MLS bench players to get some minutes. The young age and talent of the team is apparent when looking at the standings. While Phoenix took care of business when Tacoma came to town back in April, this match might look a little different when Rising looks over to the other sideline. Thanks to a couple of factors, including the fact that the game is in the Seattle suburb and that the Sounders don’t play until Sunday, there is a good chance that the Tacoma roster will be much older. Players like Harry Shipp, Will Bruin, Saad Abdul-Salaam (Hey, old friend!), and Handwalla Bwana could all feature along with Homegrowns Danny Levya, Trey Muse, and Alfonso Ocampo-Chavez. It is really hard to nail down what this will look like, even by going through their stats. For example, the leading scorer for Tacoma is Justin Dhillon, who while may still appear is signed to Seattle now. One threat that should be on the field in Tacoma is Shandon Hopeau. The 20-year-old has 3 goals and 1 assist on the year, including the game-tying goal in Tacoma’s 2-1 win over Orange County earlier this year.

Did You Know?

– Phoenix Rising has not given up a goal to Tacoma Defiance/S2 since the Arizona United SC days of 2016

– Phoenix has won more points during its current streak than all but 6 USL Championship teams have in their season

– The magic number for a clinched playoff spot is five points, which could be accomplished with two wins this week.

Projected Lineup

With 3 games in 8 days, the last two against teams far down the standings it should come as no surprise that Rick Schantz might rotate the squad. 13 players have played more than 1,000 minutes this season and this week would be a perfect opportunity to give them a quick rest. Along with the suspension to Doueugui Mala, there could be 5-8 changes made for this match.

What do you think? Will the streak continue? How many MLS players will come down? Let us know your thoughts below!