Rising Digest: Playoff hopes ended in Phoenix's 2-1 loss Saturday at Rio Grande Valley
In their penultimate game of the 2022 season, Phoenix Rising FC fell 2-1 at Rio Grande Valley Toros Saturday night. With the loss, Phoenix officially was eliminated from USL Championship playoff contention.
Jonas Fjeldberg scored two goals for Rio Grande Valley, the first just before halftime. His tallies bookended Gabi Torres's second goal in a Phoenix uniform, which game just three minutes into the second half.
Baboucarr Njie earned a penalty kick for Rising FC in the 74th minute. Aodhan Quinn stepped in to take the kick, but RGV keeper Tyler Deric guessed correctly and made a diving save to his right.
Rising FC concludes the season at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Wild Horse Pass against Atlanta United 2.
Phoenix, playoff hopes flickering, plays at Rio Grande Valley Saturday
With just two games left on the schedule, and four points outside of the Western Conference playoff places, Phoenix Rising returns to action at 5:30 p.m. Saturday at Rio Grande Valley Toros. A loss would officially eliminate them, while a draw would virtually eliminate them. Even a win might not be enough to stay alive, depending on results elsewhere. The analytics website FiveThirtyEight gives Phoenix just a 2% chance of reaching the playoffs, illustrating the difficulty of the task ahead of them.
However, Rising have faced elimination in each of their previous two matches and won both, marking their first series of consecutive wins since April. Last time out was particularly impressive, as they dispatched New York Red Bulls II, 5-1.
If Rising is eliminated on Saturday, it would be to a familiar opponent. Last year, Phoenix entered the playoffs among the title favorites before being eliminated by RGV, 3-3 on penalty kicks, in the first round.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Rising Digest: Phoenix playoff hopes end in loss at Rio Grande Valley
