Phoenix Rising relish chance to play Sacramento Republic FC in USL Western Conference Final

Two weeks ago it was the No. 3 seed on the road in San Diego.

Last week it was the No. 2 seed on the road in Orange County.

This week it’s the No. 1 seed on the road in Sacramento.

The 2023 USL Championship playoff run has been a gauntlet and a whirlwind for Phoenix Rising FC, which won in the 119th minute in the first round and in the 116th minute in the second round to advance to the Western Conference Final against Sacramento Republic FC on Saturday at 7 p.m. The game will stream on ESPN+.

Win that, and it's on to the championship match against the East winner.

Forward Darisuz Formella delivered the last-minute strike versus San Diego Loyal SC while midfielder Emil Cuello netted the goal last week against Orange County SC. This team has a flair for the dramatic.

But with those dramatics also comes an extra 60 minutes of time spent on the field compared to their opponent, as the Rising have played in back-to-back extra time games. Rising coach Juan Guerra and the training staff are working to help the players are able to recover physically with the additional mileage on their legs, but also checking on them emotionally after the thrilling victories.

They’ve been the underdog in every game and have come out on top. This time they’re not only playing the top seed in the conference, but the whole league.

“It’s key how well we can arrive to the game,” Guerra said. “Not only tactically, but also making sure players are fresh mentally too. This is going to be a game that has very little surprises. I don’t think there’s a lot of secrets between Sacramento and us.

"It’s going to be a game that needs a high level of focus, character and intensity. In order to do that, you have to make sure the players can go again,'' he added. "And that’s what we’ve done all week. But you’re also playing a final, and when you have a final, you have that extra push that allows you to recover faster to stay more focused than usual.”

It’s only fitting that the Rising are playing the team that played a key role in their turnaround this season. On July 26, the Rising traveled to Heart Health Park and walked away with an ugly 4-0 loss.

In their Thursday media availability session, both Guerra and defender Mohamed Traore pointed to that specific game as a moment when the team started to change.

“I think that game was a turning point for us,” Traore said. “It was a hard slap on the face to take. We didn’t play how we were supposed to. And if you don’t play well, then yeah, you see the result. But now, we’ve been different.”

The change was evident when Sacramento made the trip to Phoenix a month later on Aug. 30, which resulted in a 2-1 win for the Rising.

“Many people have asked me this question this week, ‘What was the turning point of the season?’” Guerra said. “I promise you, every time I say what the turning point is, people are looking at me weird and expecting me to say it was the 6-0 loss at home versus Memphis or the 5-0 versus El Paso, or Detroit. The turning point for us this season was losing to Sacramento 4-0 away.”

He said the way the team responded was the key.

“How you bounce back from adversity, how you fight back, how you can push forward when things are not going well, it’s what dictates how far you make it in anything,” Guerra added. “Not just pro sports, but life. How I saw the players in the locker room after the game and at breakfast the next day before we headed to Monterey, that to me was the turning point.

"How much they could absorb adversity, how committed they were, how upset they were after the performance we had. And I’m going to say something that I’ve been saying the last three weeks, if there was a place — besides playing at home — that you would have asked me, you’re going to play a final versus a rival in the West, I would say to you, ‘We want to go back to Sacramento.’”

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Rising ready to face Sacramento in USL Western Conference Final