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On a beer-less night at Wild Horse Pass, Rising played out a 2-2 draw against Louisville City in its only preseason match open to fans.
Joey Calistri’s set-piece goal rescued the game for the hosts after the first lineup fell behind 2-1. Despite grinding out a result, the performance still showed room for improvement.
Sometimes, preseason games expose flaws in teams. The lackluster Rising defending for Louisville’s equalizer seemed to be one of those, even if Rising’s coach provided reasoning for it after the match.
“We were kind of arguing with the referees because there were set minutes prescribed for each player, and they told us they were doing [stoppage] time and we weren’t prepared for it,” Rick Schantz explained. “I think it was kind of the coaching staff’s fault, we just got caught sleeping a little bit. The players were upset that they gave up the goal on the stroke of halftime.”
However, that lapse wasn’t simply in added time. It was visible from the first group on the resumption of play after the break, leading Schantz to note that “we started [the second half] really slow. We looked sluggish. We don’t look fit.”
While the result may be respectable, the performance felt lacking when compared to the previous match against Sporting Kansas City — something that Schantz attributed to a lack of focus and concentration.
“We weren’t collectively organized in our press and defending,” he said. “I think the back four got a little bit stretched at times, but overall it just comes down to falling asleep at the wrong moments.”
Rising employed a fairly straightforward rotation plan against Louisville, replacing the entire squad with a second unit as the clock hit the hour mark.
There was only one exception to that pattern: strikers Claudio Repetto and Greg Hurst both swapped at the halftime break, giving them equal playing time.
In his postgame comments, Schantz specified that he thought Hurst “was great with the second group.”
The rotation pattern suggests that as a clear first-choice XI takes shape, the battle for starting center-forward is the one most in contention. In particular, the differing playing styles of the two allows for experimentation as the squad approaches its season opener in March.
“Defensively, they’re both very similar,” Schantz said. “But I think with Claudio, we have the ability to play a little more direct. He’s good in the air. He can flick balls on. Greg, his off the ball movement, his first touch connecting with the midfield is very, very good.
“It’s so exciting to know that we have two very good forwards that are going to be able to change the way the team plays.”
For the second straight preseason match, emotions spilled over into a mass confrontation before the break.
“I was not surprised at all,” Schantz said. “I know that [Louisville] are a team with a lot of pride. They have a very good organization. They’ve won championships. They’ve got a lot of heart. Even though it’s preseason, for them to go down, at the second goal there’s a bit of a skirmish. I don’t expect anything less from both teams.
“Our guys, when they see something like that, they know they’re supposed to stand up for one another. None of the players from the bench got involved. None of the coaches were out of control. So again, no one got hurt, but it’s good to see a little bit of emotion.”
Two Rising players and one Louisville player received cautions for their actions in the melee. Then in the second half, Santi Moar was carded for his reaction to a foul.
“It says we’re competitive,” winger Joey Calistri said. “I mean, it’s a good thing. I think we keep it under control, but I mean, we’re competitors. We want to win. We want to win every header. It’s comforting to see that we stick up for each other and that we’ve got a little bite to us.”
Preseason can be a key part of roster construction, with options for the final spots on a team brought in as unsigned trialists. By convention, teams do not name players brought in on trial.
Following the match against Louisville City, the defender known as “Trialist 2” has been identified as Gabriel Claudio.
Claudio is a Yuma native. He attended Yavapai Community College where he was an NJCAA All-Region selection before transferring to play his final two collegiate seasons at UNLV. While with the Rebels, Claudio was an honorable mention for the All-WAC teams of the delayed 2020 season.
The defender played the final 30 minutes of Rising’s clash with Louisville, as well as the second half against Sporting Kansas City. Phoenix has not conceded a goal with him on the field for either of the two viewable preseason matches.
While Claudio is currently training with the team, there’s no guarantee that he’ll stay into the season. He’s currently one of two trialists at Rising who could provide depth at the center-back position with youngster Niall Dunn sidelined for an extended period of time.
“It’s late in the process,” Schantz said in a prior media availability with regard to trialists at center-back. “You don’t just want to bring someone in. Manu [Madrid] will be back in a few weeks, and Niall will probably be fully fit right at the perfect time for us.”
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