SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Professional sports returned to greater Phoenix Saturday night, as Phoenix Rising FC became the city’s first team to play a true home game since the COVID-19 pandemic put a sudden stop to all team sports four months ago.
It wasn’t the typical atmosphere for the local side. Casino Arizona Field, normally filled to capacity with as many as 7,000 fans on match nights, was instead empty save for hundreds of fans’ cardboard cutouts and handmade signs the club placed in the stands.
But the result — in 110-degree heat at kickoff — was a typical one for the hosts, as Rising FC (2-0-0) posted a 4-0 win over archival LA Galaxy II (1-1-0). Phoenix, which last year set the USL Championship record for most wins and points with 24 and 78 in a single season, raised its winning streak over Los Dos to eight straight games.
Phoenix captain Solomon Asante, last season’s USL Championship Most Valuable Player, scored two goals and assisted on another. His forward mate Junior Flemmings added a goal, and Jon Bakero converted a 40th-minute penalty as Rising FC took a 3-0 lead into halftime and coasted in the second half.
“I’m glad people were able to see what I see the boys do every day, but we miss the fans,” Phoenix coach Rick Schantz said. “It was hard. It was hot. Today, I think was the hottest we’ve ever played in. It took our guys a bit to get going, I think, and that’s where I could see that we missed the energy of the crowd.”
Back on March 7, Phoenix Rising opened the season with a 6-1 drubbing of Portland Timbers 2 at home. Then the pandemic shutdown came.
In June, USL clubs were allowed to resume workouts, but by the end of the month, Arizona became a hotspot for coronavirus cases in the wake of a May re-opening of businesses and little government enforcement of wearing masks.
Rising FC general manager Bobby Dulle said earlier in the week that eight players had tested positive for COVID-19, with five having recovered and rejoined the team. But they didn’t seem affected by off-field matters against a very young Galaxy II club.
The Phoenix players took the pitch wearing T-shirts bearing the slogan “Rising Against Racism,” another sign of the current times. All players on both teams took a knee, Los Angeles during the national anthem and Phoenix Rising after it.
The players were glad to have put on a good show for a national TV audience on ESPN Deportes.
“The experience of playing in Arizona is always special because of the fans,” Bakero said. “But the situation is what it is. So we did what we could to make it happen here at home.
“First professional team back in Arizona, first win. This is how Phoenix Rising does it,” Bakero added. “That is the culture that has been set here over the past few years. We want to keep it going.”
No team that calls greater Phoenix home has returned to playing games before Phoenix Rising. The NBA Suns are training in a “bubble” in Orlando, the NHL Coyotes are still in training camp, the WNBA Mercury have yet to restart and baseball’s Diamondbacks are in “summer camp” preparing for a return to games later this month.
Soccer has been at the vanguard of the re-opening of team sports nationwide, with the NWSL tournament having started in June, the MLS Is Back tournament under way in Florida and now, the return of USL games in a regionalized group format. Rising FC will face Los Dos, El Paso Locomotive, Las Vegas Lights FC, Orange County SC, Reno 1868 FC, New Mexico United and San Diego Loyal FC over 16 regular season games
Phoenix Rising FC
USL
