Between New Mexico United and Phoenix Rising FC, there is never a shortage of drama. This was the first meeting between the two clubs in the playoffs and it lived up to the hype. Both clubs came in struggling to close out the regular season and needed momentum. Three second half goals, including a highly disputed one by United more than made up for a goalless first half before United went on to win, 2-1, and advance to the semifinals.
There was no love lost between the two rivals in the first home playoff match in United’s history. The hosts had the first chance in the 8th minute after winning the first corner of the evening. As the ball was delivered to the back post, Tony Herbert took a shove from a Rising defender, preventing him from getting under the ball. Inexplicably, the referee deemed that there was no foul and play was allowed to continue.
Aside from a Zico Bailey shot in the 37th minute, which was over the bar, United struggled to find any sort of rhythm going forward. Watching the Black & Yellow, they looked the less comfortable of the two sides.
Much of the action came from the visiting Rising club. They found more options going forward, seeing Tomas Angel in space multiple times. Their best chance arguably came in the 22nd minute when Angel was played in behind the defensive line of United. If not for a terrific recovery by Tony Herbert, Angel might have been in on goal. Herbert was able to step in between the forward and the ball, escorting it safely to the waiting hands of Alex Tambakis.
Despite having the first look of the second half, United quickly fell behind. In the 49th, Jearl Margaritha had a chance to shoot from inside the area, and Tambakis came up with a big save, keeping the match goalless. The problem was that the save pushed the ball back to the feet of Federico Varela, who put a right-footed shot into the right side of the goal for the lead, 0-1.
Finally awake, United knew they needed to find an answer. It took a little longer than the supporters would have hoped for, but it came, and it was not only an unlikely goalscorer, but also the goal itself was strange. In a sequence that saw United putting tremendous pressure on the Rising goal, the ball somehow made its way to Will Seymore in the 58th minute. Seymore had a chance to shoot from near the edge of the goal area and put it off the underside of the crossbar. From there, the ball struck the inside of the bottom left goal frame, which was beyond the goal line, and curved back to hit the right post.
Rising believed they had escaped the moment, United believed they had a goal. The assistant referee saw it as a goal as well and alerted the center that the ball had crossed the line for the equalizer, 1-1.
“I think I blacked out,” said Seymore. “I closed my eyes, hit it as hard as I could, and it went in. It was a team thing to get us there. But yeah, I mean, we responded well after that goal, got another one, and then we saw the game out. I think it was a good, professional performance, and that’s a playoff performance. So yeah, I mean, hit it like that. And then we scored another one.”
United found another spark in the 85th minute of the match. After the insertion of Avionne Flanagan to replace Marlon Vargas just a few minutes earlier, Flanagan proved to be the engine United needed for the rest of regulation. Streaking forward on the left, he held off making an early pass to Hurst, instead driving closer to the touch line. As he did, both Hurst and Mukwelle Akale ran their lines into the area and then the cross came.
A low cross went across the face of the goal, Hurst left his feet to try and tap it home, but came up just short. Akale didn’t. With his right, the Minnesota Messi put United ahead with his tap-in goal, 2-1.
From there it was just a matter of closing out the match. In the final minutes of stoppage time, Rising had chances to press the issue and came close, but Tambakis showed why he is the all-time saves leader in the USL and kept the visitors from equalizing and closed out the win.
Speaking after the match, Coach Eric Quill couldn’t say enough about the way his club performed. “Obviously, the first half was pretty quiet. It seemed like things got opened up quite a bit. Yeah, I mean, this thing is kind of how it’s done in playoff soccer and both teams kind of being tactically stingy in the first half. Not a lot of clear-cut chances for either side. But, you make your halftime adjustments and that’s what the game is. And they came out, scored on a little fortuitous offer. So, we’ve got to be better in those moments and make sure we’re following up. But I was so proud of the guys for their response back there. I mean, it’s not easy. We haven’t won in five games. It could have been an easy ‘put your head down and kind of here we go again’ moment. But they just showed resiliency. They showed heart and desire, and they got rewarded for that. Avionne Flanagan comes in, and we talk about how our subs have contributed so much to us this year. I don’t think there’s been one game where our subs have not raised the level of the game. And that’s just a credit to the culture that we’ve created here. They’re rooting for each other. They believe in each other. They’re ready when there are moments to be called upon. And I’m still in shock, but I just loved how we finished this game out.”
Player of the Match
Mukwelle Akale – Akale was a spark for United all night long. Driving the pace, he pushed United forward, trying to get the better of their rivals. It culimated with his goal in the 85th minute to give United their first-ever home playoff win and a trip to the semifinals.
Up Next
With the win, United advance to the USL Western Conference Semifinals, where they will host Las Vegas Lights FC. Coverage of the Western Conference semifinals will begin with Adam Diehl and Andy Hageman on the pregame show at 6:30 P.M. (MT). Kickoff will follow at 7:30 p.m. (MT) from The Lab. Catch every minute of every play all season long on ESPN Radio 101.7 FM The TEAM, The TEAM apps, and The TEAM website.