New Mexico United prepares for battle against once-great Phoenix Rising FC

Phoenix Rising FC at New Mexico United, 7 p.m., Radio: 101.7 FM; TV:KASY (English), Estrella (Spanish); Streaming: KRQE.com, ESPN+

For New Mexico United, seeing Phoenix FC usually brings up visions of a tussle between USL Championship Western Conference contenders. Second-place New Mexico (5-0-2) is holding up its end of the bargain so far, but Rising (1-4-3) is lagging, scuffling along in tenth place.

But United coach Dennis Sanchez does not expect this to be an easy game by any means.

“I think that if you look at Phoenix in general, it's a lot of new players, new coach,” he said. “I've been there before. I know how difficult it can be, especially early in the season, to find your identity, but, as always, we want to respect our opposition.”

What Phoenix does present is an electric offense with 15 goals scored, nearly twice what United has mustered. But Rising’s defense is the worst in the USL with 17 goals allowed.

“From an attacking standpoint, they have some of the most dynamic players in the league,” Sanchez said. “You can see the trend that maybe it's not turning into wins right now, but they're in every game.”

And past performance is not necessarily indicative of future outcomes, said forward Mukwelle Akale.

“Some teams that have not given up goals will all of a sudden give up three like we did,” he said of New Mexico’s game last week, a 3-0 loss to El Paso. “I mean it, you never know what's going to happen. So I don't look at a team that's given up a lot of goals, like, I'm going to score a lot this game, or we're going to score a lot this game. I'm just focused on the game plan, controlling the game, trying to keep the ball, keep all the chances for us and not many for them, and hopefully we win the game.”

And the game plan, Sanchez said, is to try and thwart Phoenix’s prolific offense.

“With Phoenix specifically, controlling transitions is going to be really important,” he said. “How we arrive in our attacking half, how we have territorial advantage, how we control their dynamic players, and being aggressive in those moments, impeding their runs, is really going to force us to execute those plays consistently.”

The last thing United wants is to be trading goals with Phoenix.

“We don't want it to be a shootout,” Sanchez said. “I'll take one-zero wins all season long. Of course, we want to score goals, but we want to play a game of control.”

Maintaining emotional control, especially against what has always been a bitter rival, will be key, said defender Will Seymore.

“It is definitely hard when you're in the game and the emotions are kind of running through you,” he said. “It's in a competitive way. I don't think anyone goes out to just kind of fight on the field, but I think it is sometimes teams try to rile us up and vice versa. It's just kind of getting into the head of the opponent. ... I think we can just kind of keep our head and then focus on just getting the win. Then I think we'll be better for it instead of trying to play into fights and scuffles and tackles and rivalry kind of stuff.”

Phoenix is coming off a 4-1, double-overtime loss to Major League Soccer side Houston in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, conceding three goals in the extra session.

But that should in no way deter Rising’s determination to win, Sanchez said.

“To go overtime with against an MLS opponent shows you their strength,” he said. “So we're coming in with complete respect. I think that looking a little bit back to last week is going to really challenge us in the right way to improve upon some of the areas that we talked about as a group and how to fix that on the weekend. So we're looking forward to a good challenge.”

And the bottom line, Seymore said, is coming away with the victory.

“Every game you go into, you want to win, and there's like an edge to it,” he said. “But I'd say no more than any other game. I mean, they're a good team and they have a good history, and so do we. So I think it's just one of those things that we want to get three points and they need to get three points. So it's just two teams who are gonna go to battle.”

ROLLING AT HOME

Although New Mexico’s best-ever six-game winning streak is history, United still has a four-game, home win streak on the line. Another victory would put it halfway to the team’s all-time mark of 10 compiled over the 2023-24 seasons.

TABLETOPS

With its 15 points, New Mexico sits in second in the USL Championship Western Division, one point behind San Antonio, although NMU does have a game in hand. The teams will meet June 21 in Albuquerque.

HONORING GRANGE

New Mexico will be breaking out new ALS New Mexico kits before the game in recognition of local soccer star Pat Grange. Grange played soccer at Albuquerque High School and the University of New Mexico. He was later diagnosed with ALS and in 2012, died from the ailment at 29.

“While Pat has been gone for more than a decade, his legacy lives on in the hearts and minds of New Mexicans,” said Ron Patel, United president. “We honor his memory each and every season, and are honored to partner with ALS New Mexico to keep that memory alive.”

The warm-up kit features the orange, yellow and grey of ALS New Mexico and will include Grange’s No. 4 on the back.

Proceeds from the sale of the ALS kit will benefit ALS New Mexico and its the ongoing research for a cure for this disease.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Phoenix has spread its offense around, but Jearl Margaritha and Rémi Cabral have both registered three goals, while Damian Rivera and Hope Avayevu have two each.

Although United goalkeeper Alex Tambakis struggled in his last outing, he remains within two white washings of the league record of 58 owned by the now-retired Evan Newton. Tambakis has 18 saves, putting him fifth in the league.