There were plenty of moments for Phoenix Rising FC to crumble under the pressure and the difficult moments they found themselves in, but instead, the team faced its adversity head-on and ultimately emerged victorious.
While playing a man down since the 75th minute, then surrendering the tying goal in the 86th minute, Phoenix continued to battle and survived a shot off the goal post in overtime, and then a penalty shot against in the final minute of OT before prevailing 4-2 in the PK shootout over FC Tulsa in the Third Round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup tournament Wednesday night. The game was played at the Hurricane Soccer and Track Complex, on the campus of the University of Tulsa.
Rising FC advance to the Fourth Round (or the Round of 32) of the US Open Cup, where they are guaranteed to face an MLS team, in a game that will take place either May 6 or 7.
Coming off a disappointing loss on Saturday, 3-2 to Detroit City FC in which they led 2-0 into the 86th minute before surrendering three late goals to lose, Phoenix looked like they might falter late again once Tulsa’s Stefan Lukic tied the game in the 86th minute. But despite Tulsa generating the better scoring opportunities throughout the two 15-minute overtime periods, Phoenix goalkeeper Patrick Rakovsky made two key saves, then stopped FC Tulsa’s Taylor Calheira’s penalty shot in the 121st minute to keep the game going.
In the shootout, Rakovsky made another diving save on the first Tulsa shot (by Kalil ElMedkhar) and Phoenix won the PKs 4-2 to claim the victory.
“Incredible group, incredible performance,” said Rising FC coach Pa-Modou Kah. “Given what we had to deal with Saturday night, you’re 2-0 up and you lose, but the character shown and what this group is capable of, we saw it today. It’s an unbelievable team spirit from everybody, from the players, from the staff that is here, from the staff that is home, and for our fans, this is for you. This is what we’re about.”
Obviously, the key moment was Rakovsky’s save on Calheira on the PK just before overtime ended. After a handball was called on a Phoenix defender in the box, Calheira stepped to the dot, about five minutes after his shot from about 10 yards out rattled off the left goalpost. He had scored on PKs in each of the two previous rounds of the U.S. Open Cup and just about everyone in the stadium figured he was about to again.
Calheira shot low to the left side, but Rakovsky made the diving save.
“It feels amazing, it’s something you dream about, save a PK in the last minute, go to a PK shootout, you win,” Rakovsky said afterwards. “Obviously, unlucky that you concede a goal five minutes before the end, but I still thought we gave a great fight. We played almost 50 minutes one man down, we kept fighting. We also had a little bit of luck, they shot it off the post, but also they were lucky to get the PK. Obviously, he hits the ball with his hand, but he’s also falling down, so I know they have to take it, but okay, you can’t change it. Obviously, huge congratulations to the team, great fight, and also, to be that cool in front of the PKs, amazing for the team. Luckily it worked out.”
Kah was proud of Rakovsky for his clutch save on Calheira.
“Listen, these are the moments where you have a goalkeeper that is capable of doing this and Patrick was capable,” Kah said. “It’s tough, because when you look at the game in whole, I think we controlled the game. I think we had occasions to score in second half but we didn’t take the chances, and then in the 85th minute, they score, and you might think, ‘Here we go again,’ but the resilience of this group is unbelievable. The resilience of this group is unbelievable. And the work, the fight, the fighting spirit, they give everything for each other. I’m so extremely proud of this team.”
For Tulsa, it was a heart-breaking ending to their U.S. Open Cup run, the second straight season they reached the Third Round. They defeated local amateur club Tulsa Athletic of The League for Clubs 1-0 on March 18 in the First Round, then beat USL League One side Forward Madison FC 3-1 on April 2 in the Second Round. Last year, they advanced to the Fourth Round (Round of 32) before falling to Sporting Kansas City of MLS, 4-0.
Tulsa actually defeated Phoenix 1-0 in their USL Championship season opener back on March 8. But after opening with a 5-1-0 record across all competitions, Tulsa has now lost two in a row, following its 2-1 home loss to Oakland Roots SC on Saturday.
“It’s disappointing, but I thought the guys gave everything,” FC Tulsa coach Luke Spencer said. “We were pushing forward, were unlucky on a few, so they gave everything and we’re out of the Cup, but that’s life. Proud of the guys for their effort.”
FC Tulsa’s usual home stadium, ONEOK Field, which they share with minor league baseball’s Double-A Tulsa Drillers, wasn’t available due to the Drillers already playing there.
Following a scoreless first half in which FC Tulsa had the wind, featuring gusts of up to 25-30 miles per hour, behind them, Phoenix benefited from it in the second and struck for the game’s first goal in the 51st minute.
Jearl Margaritha received a nice pass from the left wing from Hope Avayevu and drilled a 10-yard shot into the upper right corner to give the Rising FC the 1-0 lead.
Pape Mar Boye almost made it 2-0 for Phoenix on a point-blank shot just four minutes later, but Tulsa goalkeeper Johan Penaranda made a nice save.
FC Tulsa began to gain the territorial advantage after that, and Rakovsky made a nice diving save near the right post in the 58th minute on a 20-yard blast from Owen Damm.
Things didn’t look good for Phoenix once Abdoulaye Cissoko received his second yellow card within six minutes, getting ejected from game in the 75th minute, and Tulsa tied it 11 minutes later. Marcos Certato delivered a nice cross from the right flank into the middle of the box, where Lukic fired it home from 8 yards out.
“Proud of the group, resilient to fight back, to keep pushing,” Spencer said of his team’s ability to tie it up late. “The subs impacted the game in a positive way, it just didn’t work out tonight.”
Phoenix nearly won it just before regulation ended when Margaritha drilled a 30-yard shot from the left side that forced Penaranda to make a nice diving stop.
Just six minutes into the first OT period, Rakovsky made another diving save on Calheira’s header from 12 yards out. Tulsa’s Al Hassan Toure nearly ended it in the 14th minute of overtime, but his point-blank header sailed just over the crossbar.
After Rakovsky’s save on Calheira’s PK late in the second OT period, every Phoenix shooter scored in the shootout: Emil Cuello, J.P. Scearce, Casey Wells, and then Carl Sainte clinched it.
For Tulsa, Arthur Rogers and Giordano Colli both scored.
