Phoenix Rising wants to take the next step towards the division title

Rick Schantz could be forgiven if he finds a title in the Pacific Division inevitable. With nine games remaining in the regular season, Phoenix Rising has a 16-point lead over San Diego Loyal and Orange County SC. If the results go well, Phoenix could claim a playoff spot on Wednesday and a division title by next Saturday.

With that in mind, Saturday’s game against Orange County could be a time for Schantz to experiment. Instead, Schantz withholds such changes until the division is mathematically secured.

“It would be nice to get some wins here and maybe San Diego and Tacoma (Defiance) will lose some points and we can finish the division,” said Schantz. “That has always been our primary goal to win our division.”

The Rising have many incentives to complete the division as soon as possible. The club have signed three new players in recent weeks – striker Darren Mattocks and midfielders David Loera and Luis Manuel Seijas. The ability to experiment regardless of short-term results would allow Schantz to try each of these players in different roles and perfect a formula before the November playoffs.

“(Solidifying the division) will allow us to do some things, maybe play a 3-5-2, a 4-4-2, maybe experiment a little,” said Schantz. “But now it’s important for us that we have guys with Darren, Luis and David who can play a different style. … And that could be exciting for people, because I think I haven’t played anything other than a 4-3-3 for four years. “

Among Phoenix’s three newest players, only Mattocks has seen any significant season. However, after starting two games in a row, he suspended Wednesday’s 4-1 win against the Las Vegas Lights with sore muscles. Schantz said after the game that the striker would have been available in an emergency, adding that he hoped he would be ready to go on Saturday.

In other injury news, winger Solomon Asante returned with a replacement on Wednesday after missing four weeks with a hamstring injury of his own. It is likely to start on Saturday, in a match that opens a track in which Phoenix plays Orange County three times in six days.

The first meeting of the teams led to a 1-1 draw on August 14th. That would be the penultimate game of Braeden Cloutier’s five-year tenure in Orange County. Cloutier was fired five days later after winning just once in eight games, and was replaced by interim manager Richard Chaplow.

“(Chaplow) turned the team back more to a 4-3-3 itself and I think it helped them,” said Schantz. “I think he plays some of the veterans that you normally do. Trust me, I’ve been there, I know that as an interim coach, you want to go with the guys you trust and the guys you know can get the job done. So he plays the veterans and he plays a pretty consistent group.

“We always knew they were very talented. I hope that given their recent successes in a 4-3-3 and their ability to open up and beat behind teams, he comes here with an aggressive mentality because that’s what the teams need to do rather than sit back and defend. “

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