What we learned in Phoenix Rising's win over Miami FC

Phoenix Rising won its sixth straight in all competitions Saturday night, coming from behind to top Miami FC, 2-1. Here are five takeaways from the win:

Early season struggles behind Rising

A month ago, Rising lost consecutive games, dropping to 1-0-2 on the season and raising questions about the direction of their season. Six games later, those questions seem foolish.

Phoenix still hasn’t been the dominant attacking side it has been in years past — it’s only scored three goals once since the opener. But manager Rick Schantz has repeatedly highlighted a new focus on pragmatism, with the idea being that Rising have enough attacking talent to win games so long as they concede one or fewer goals.

Saturday’s win vindicated that belief.

Rising were never at their best. They only had 49% possession and appeared disjointed for large parts of the game, especially in the first half. But, outside of a few first-half miscues, they were stout defensively, opening the door for midfielder Luis Seijas to win the game with an 88th minute rocket off the underside of the crossbar.

“We played not the way we did the last few games,” Seijas said. “We struggled a little bit. First, I half, I think we ran bad. We weren't synchronized. And we suffered. But sometimes, you need to have something else and I think this team has it.”

As a result, Rising are now fourth in the Western Conference, just three points off the top spot, and again looking like a USL title contender.

Joey Calistri shows versatility

He didn’t score a goal. He didn’t even assist a goal. But, just three days after going 93 minutes in the midfield in Rising’s U.S. Open Cup win over New Mexico United, Calistri may have been Phoenix’s man of the match on the right wing Saturday night.

On Phoenix’s first goal, Calistri picked up the ball near midfield on the counter attack, cut inside and forced a save out of goalkeeper Connor Sparrow, creating the rebound that led to Kevon Lambert’s goal. Ten minutes later, on the other side of halftime, he made a perfectly-timed run into the box and placed a powerful header in the bottom corner, forcing another good save out of Sparrow. And then, in the 63rd minute, he had the best individual moment of the game to that point, putting Stanley in a blender with a series of shoulder fakes before making Sparrow acrobatically save a shot that was destined for the top corner.

“He's deceptively fast,” Schantz said. “This kid, you don't know it, he's got a touch and then he turns on the jets. There's a couple times where I think that when you can beat guys and you can get behind teams and you can make things happen on the dribble like he does, it gives the team confidence. It gives them belief that we're okay, we're gonna get a chance, we're gonna get a moment.”

In the 65th minute, Schantz made a series of substitutions, moving Calistri to the midfield. Although he didn’t have the same highlight moments there, he helped Phoenix control the final half hour, ultimately leading to Seijas’ winner.

Lambert redeems defensive miscues

Since moving to center-back six games ago, Lambert — a defensive midfielder by trade — has been nearly flawless. In the first half, though, his inexperience at the position shone through.

First, he failed to track the run of striker Romeo Parkes, leading to a golden chance for Miami. Then, in the 27th minute, he was culpable for the goal when he didn’t spot the run of Joshua Perez on his back shoulder, leaving the Miami winger with a wide-open header.

Although Schantz demurred after the game, saying, “I believe most goals come from three mistakes and it's not just Kev,” he did admit that the Jamaican should’ve been tighter on Perez on the goal.

Just 18 minutes later, though, Lambert showed the skillset that makes his presence at center-back so appealing. He won the ball in his own half, carrying it forward and starting a counterattack that he eventually finished off, rewarding a 60-yard sprint into the penalty area.

“It's unbelievable what he's doing,” Schantz said. “He's dominant in the air, he's good in one-v.-ones, he's great on the ball, he's composed, he's willing.”

Seijas rewards Schantz’s faith

Before the season, Seijas wasn’t expected to be a part of Schantz’s starting 11. Through seven USL games, though, the 35-year old has played 69% of available minutes and, incredibly, contributed on 27% of Rising’s goals.

“He's a guy that, in the big moments, is not gonna get scared,” Schantz said. “He's played in front of 60,000 fans in South America. I know that and I know that no matter what the game is like, Luis will be fine.”

That experience ultimately led Schantz to leave Seijas in the game Saturday, even though player and manager alike admitted that he struggled for large stretches of the game. Seijas, as he has all season, rewarded the faith with his unbelievable winner.

Ben Lundt comes up big again

What a week for Ben Lundt.

Last Saturday, the Rising goalkeeper saved a penalty and made an even better stop, leading to Phoenix scoring on the counter attack when New Mexico United had numbers up. On Wednesday, against the same opponent in the cup, he helped Rising to a 2-1 win. And, three days later, he came up huge in Phoenix’s third win of the week.

On Parkes’ aforementioned early chance, Lundt made a textbook kick save to deny the one-on-one opportunity. In the second half, he made a similar save on Florian Valot, reading an awkward ball in the box perfectly and closing down Valot’s angle to prevent a backbreaking goal that would have given Miami the lead just five minutes after Lambert’s equalizer.

Theo Mackie covers Arizona high school sports and Phoenix Rising FC. He can be reached by email at theo.mackie@gannett.com and on Twitter @theo_mackie.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: What we learned in Phoenix Rising's win over Miami FC