{"id":283210,"date":"2026-05-25T01:20:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-25T01:20:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/283210\/"},"modified":"2026-05-25T01:20:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-25T01:20:13","slug":"phoenix-rising-drops-away-match-to-tampa-bay-rowdies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/283210\/","title":{"rendered":"Phoenix Rising drops away match to Tampa Bay Rowdies"},"content":{"rendered":"

Phoenix Rising<\/a>\u2018s league unbeaten run came to an end<\/a> at the hands of the Tampa Bay Rowdies in Florida<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Phoenix fell behind early in the match, and trailed by three goals at half-time to the only remaining unbeaten side in USL Championship<\/a>, while failing to score in the league for only the second time this season.<\/p>\n

Trailing early<\/p>\n

Less than 75 seconds into the match at Al Lang Stadium, and having touched the ball a total of four times, Phoenix Rising was behind.<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Unable to deal with an attacking throw in early in the match, Rising\u2019s defence ultimately left Pedro Dolabella with a little too much space on the edge of the goal area, and when picked out by MD Myers, the Brazilian made no mistake in putting it away.<\/p>\n

Pelayo joins the Phoenix Rising injury list<\/p>\n

Phoenix Rising has seriously struggled with injuries throughout the season, and entered the night with five players listed as out through either illness or injury. Charlie Dennis<\/a> also missed the match through suspension after being sent off in the draw against San Antonio FC.<\/p>\n

In Florida, Rising may have added to that list. Adrian Pelayo, who has yet to miss out on a matchday squad in 2026, went down early in the game and had to be substituted for. <\/p>\n

In Pelayo\u2019s absence, midfielder JP Scearce<\/a> dropped into the defensive line, with Jamison Ping entering the match in the middle of the park.<\/p>\n

Not enough<\/p>\n

Before the break, Phoenix Rising was down by not one, nor two, but three goals.<\/p>\n

MD Myers doubled the host\u2019s advantage with a well-taken strike in the 28th minute, before Louis Perez\u2019s effort made it three goals for Tampa Bay in just over half an hour.<\/p>\n

On the other end, Rising struggled to threaten. Of the three shots on target that Phoenix had all match, two came from outside of the penalty area. The third was a weakly-chested effort from Ihsan Sacko<\/a> that was easily gathered by Austin Pack and, in all honesty, stretched the definition of a \u201cshot.\u201d<\/p>\n

Owain\u2019s take<\/p>\n

Is it finally over? Oh, thank goodness.<\/p>\n

There are some games you want to forget as soon as they are over. Then, there are some games you want to forget while they\u2019re still ongoing. This match safely fell into the latter category.<\/p>\n

The defense made errors. The midfield didn\u2019t put up enough resistance. The forwards didn\u2019t create enough chances. If you read those three sentences together, you can probably guess why Phoenix Rising had a pretty rough Saturday night.<\/p>\n

All of that being said, it\u2019s not as though we should have ever expected things to go that much better than they did.<\/p>\n

Tampa Bay is the only unbeaten side remaining in the league, and there\u2019s a reason for that. They\u2019re genuinely a good team, and should be there or thereabouts come the end of the season. <\/p>\n

Expecting a win on the road against such a team is asking for too much. Sure, they could have pulled off an upset on another night, but it\u2019s not fair to expect it.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not sure how much there is to learn from this game, even if there will be moments that the coaching staff will pick out and look at on the training field.<\/p>\n

In many ways, it was less a learning exercise than simply a reminder of where these two teams are. Phoenix Rising may be on the up in some regards, and it\u2019s still a squad that shouldn\u2019t accept less than a home playoff match come the postseason. It isn\u2019t, however, the dominant team that it was five years ago. Tampa Bay may lay claim to such a title. Phoenix Rising cannot.<\/p>\n

Beyond that, I can\u2019t suggest that things are any different to how they were going into Saturday\u2019s match. Sure, Rising\u2019s confidence may have taken a knock, and the momentum alongside it, but this isn\u2019t a match that is going to define Phoenix\u2019s season. <\/p>\n

For now, I\u2019ll just enjoy the fact that that game was out of the way pretty quickly this holiday weekend.<\/p>\n

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