Phoenix Rising opens home slate April 1 at new location near Sky Harbor airport
Phoenix Rising FC will open the home portion of its 2023 regular season on April 1 at a new location near Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix.
The club released its schedule for the 2023 season Monday. For the second year in a row, the regular season will consist of 34 matches, beginning March 11 and ending Oct. 14. The postseason will culminate with the USL Championship Final on a date to be determined between Nov. 9 and Nov. 13.
Rising kick off its campaign — the 10th in the club’s existence — with a trip to face the Charleston Battery on March 11. Their home opener will be on April 1 against San Diego Loyal. That game will also be the first at the new stadium, as Rising will not play any home preseason games, according to a team spokesperson.
The home slate concludes with a visit from New Mexico United on Oct. 7, a match that should come with much anticipation after Rising were controversially forced to play at New Mexico last season with a team severely depleted by COVID-19 absences. Rising’s regular season then ends with an away game against the Colorado Spring Switchbacks on Oct. 14.
This will be the first season since the USL split into conferences in 2015 in which every team will play each other. Clubs will face their 11 conference foes home and away and play the 12 teams from the other conference once.
The streamlined schedule was made possible by the league consolidating from 27 to 24 teams, with most MLS reserve teams splitting off to play in the new MLS Next Pro. Loudoun United, DC United’s affiliate, is the only remaining MLS reserve team in the USL.
For Rising’s part, the club announced its schedule with a video in the style of a flight board, a nod to its new stadium at the corner of 38th and Washington Streets, just north of Sky Harbor. The stadium will be Rising’s fifth since the club’s inception, but the first in the city of Phoenix — a departure from the prior location at Wild Horse Pass.
More:Phoenix City Council approves lease deal for Phoenix Rising soccer stadium near airport
This season represents a critical juncture for the club.
After dominating the USL — albeit without winning a USL Championship Final — from 2018 to 2021, Rising missed the playoffs for the first time since 2016 last year.
In August, those struggles led to the decision to mutually part ways with manager Rick Schantz and hire Juan Guerra, a former Schantz assistant. Guerra was unable to turn the season around sufficiently to reach the postseason but will enter 2023 having had a complete off-season to tailor the team to his desires.
Theo Mackie can be reached by email at theo.mackie@gannett.com and on Twitter @theo_mackie.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Phoenix Rising will open home slate April 1 at new location near Sky Harbor airport
