'They don't give up': Rising's resiliency has paved way to USL Final against Charleston

Magical.

There’s really no other way to describe how these four past weeks have been for Phoenix Rising FC in the United Soccer League playoffs. Three trips to California resulted in three wins and a berth in the USL Final this Sunday against the Charleston Battery. The game is at 5 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN2.

Each of those three tips have come with the Rising as the lower seed in hostile environments on the road.

First they went to No. 3 San Diego and ended the existence of their long-time rival on a dramatic 119th-minute goal from Darisuz Formella.

Next they headed over to No. 2 Orange County, went up 1-0 early, then conceded a late goal to tie up the game, before midfielder Emil Cuello delivered the winning strike in the 116th minute.

Last week, they traveled to No. 1 Sacramento Republic FC – also the top team in USL – and scored twice in the last 12 minutes, winning on a goal from Cuello in the 92nd minute, shocking a stunned Heart Health Park crowd in the process.

Noticing a trend?

This is a team that no matter what, when all hope seems to be lost, is able to pull itself together in moments of high stress. That comes with months of preparation.

“They don’t give up,” coach Juan Guerra said at his Thursday media availability session. “But they don’t just give up in games – it’s not about a team that turns it on when the referee blows the whistle. On Monday after games, the first thing we put on the board for the guys to see when they walk in is, ‘The game starts today.’ That’s been key, especially in the final stretch of the season, is understanding that the game just doesn’t start on game day.”

It’s obvious there is a fuel burning in the hearts of these Rising players. They want this championship bad, especially after the club missed out on a chance to win it in 2020 when they advanced to the final but had the game cancelled due to COVID-19 complications.

It’s the competitive nature that drives this team.

“We try to make sure we put them in scenarios that they’re going to see,” Guerra said. “We push them during the week, we challenge them in activities and exercises. They compete. Every time we have a small side activity, I’m looking at my watch, and I just want this side to finish because I’m thinking they’re going to kill each other. It’s painful sometimes as a coach because I want everybody to stay healthy, and I don’t want to them to kill each other. But then I also see how that translates on game days. We have a group of guys that just doesn’t understand how to give up. They don’t stop until the game is done.”

The run isn’t over. There’s still work to be done with the final against the Charleston Battery coming up.

But there’s still be some time for reflection. Midfielder Panos Armenakas, whose 19th-minute penalty tied the game against San Diego in the first round, offered up his thoughts on the team’s run in the playoffs.

“It just shows the mentality of the group and the fight that never stops,” Armenakas said. “We’re a team that doesn’t give up. We’ve shown that when we can score early, we can hurt you. We’ve shown that when we’ve gone down, we’re not going to go away.”

While there’s an unwritten rule in sports that every game should be treated the same, it’s hard to do that when so much is on the line.

“Everyone knows what’s at stake,” Armenakas said. “It’s not another regular season game. If we can play beautiful football on the weekend and win, that’s great. If not, at the end of the day, we need to do whatever it takes to lift that trophy at the end.”

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: 'They don't give up': Rising's resiliency has paved way to USL Final