Phoenix Rising FC needs U.S. Open Cup win in Sacramento for shot at MLS club

Phoenix Rising FC is one tournament win away from facing a Major League Soccer club, the recently crowned CONCACAF Champions League winner Seattle Sounders FC or the San José Earthquakes.

That's what the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup allows for, the tournament that crowns an American club team champion having made its return after a two-year hiatus. Rising FC has wins over local side Valley United and USL rival New Mexico United, both at home last month, and now heads to Northern California to face Sacramento Republic FC Wednesday night for the right to advance to the Round of 16.

There, the Sounders or Earthquakes await. Should Rising FC get past Sacramento, it will be the furthest the team has gone in the Open Cup, as either Arizona United SC or Phoenix Rising FC.

The Open Cup games are scheduled within Rising FC's USL regular season, and the team had hoped for a shot to play an MLS club in the Round of 32, or fourth round, where it sits now. But last month's draw not only pitted the team against a league foe, but also on the road even though all four teams in their pot (Seattle, San José, Sacramento, Phoenix) put forth bids to host the match.

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Head coach Rick Schantz feels U.S. Soccer should take a look at the drawing process, which places teams into regions to cut down on travel time and distance. He said in England's FA Cup, lower-division teams get to play higher division teams in each round, which he thinks would be more fun for American soccer fans.

"I think that it easily can be done, especially with USL now (with) the budgets these teams have for travel and whatnot. Regionalizing it at this level I think is not a good thing to do," Schantz said.

When Schantz was coaching at FC Tucson, the then fourth-division club knew it always would play a team a level up in the U.S. Open Cup. In FC Tucson's run through the Cup tournament in 2013, the club defeated third-division Phoenix FC at home, then went all the way to San Antonio a week later and stunned the second-division Scorpions on penalty kicks.

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Tucson's third-round opponent was the Houston Dynamo of top division MLS, and the run ended with a road loss. But FC Tucson scored $15,000 in prize money for being the club at its league level that advanced the farthest in the Open Cup.

"We drove for two days and played 120 minutes, and then penalty kicks shootout. And I want to say it was like mid-90s (temperature), with about 80 percent humidity and managed to pull off a penalty kick shootout," Schantz recalled.

On the pitch in Houston with his father after the game, Schantz first began to believe he could coach at a higher level.

"I liked working with FC Tucson, but I felt like there might be a shot that I can really go after it," Schantz said. "So it was probably the US Open Cup that that gave me a little bit of another goal and another thing to chase in a career. So that was a great memory."

Rising FC is in the midst of a stretch of three games in nine days. The trip to Sacramento is sandwiched between home matches last Saturday and this Sunday against the Tampa Bay Rowdies, traditionally a top team in USL but not playing as well this season.

Phoenix has not played Sacramento in the regular season yet in 2022. Schantz was asked if playing a USL team in the fourth round gives his team a better chance to advance in the Open Cup.

"We know a lot of their players really well, they're a very good team. And for us to say that it improves our chances of winning would be extremely arrogant," Schantz said. "But being on the road against a good team with, you know, three games in nine days, or whatever it is ... look, our backs are up against the wall, it's going to be a challenge. But I think this is where we thrive."

Get in touch with Jose Romero at Jose.Romero@gannett.com. Find him on Twitter at @RomeroJoseM.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Phoenix Rising set for fourth-round U.S. Open Cup match at Sacramento