Rising wins first home game since split with former head coach.

On Friday night, Phoenix Rising defeated El Paso Locomotive 2-0.

Before tonight’s game, Phoenix Rising was struggling. They were humiliated by a 5-1 loss to Memphis 901, and then lost 2-1 to San Antonio. They also fired head coach Danny Stone after the loss to Memphis 901, and interim head coach Diego Gomez has stepped into that role.

Rising has also transferred Erickson Gallardo to Carabobo FC of Liga FUTVE. Since leaving Gallardo, Rising has signed midfielder Charlie Dennis, Damien Barker John on loan from Real Monarchs and Jamison Ping to the USL academy.

Emerging fans would panic in the 3rd minute when Rocco Rios Novo was surprised by a counter-attack far outside the penalty area after a missed free kick from Rising.

Just before half-time, midfielder JP Scearce scored the first goal via a beautiful free kick from Renzo Zambrano in the penalty area.

“It was exciting to score my first goal here, at home in front of the fans and in front of my own house—in front of my family. I’m just happy that we won in the end,” Scearce said after the game.

At half time Phoenix led with 55% possession to 45%. Despite leading by one point at half time, Rising still struggled in the first half with poor first touches and several instances of miscommunication.

Rising almost scored a goal in the 70se minute, but El Paso goalkeeper Jahmali Waite made an incredibly timely save to give the ball a potential 2-0 lead.

Mar Boye would score on a similar play in the 87e minute, and the stadium was in a festive mood as drinks flew and red chalk lit up the sky.

Interim head coach Diego Gomez secured his first home win as Rising defeated El Paso 2-0.

After the match, Gomez spoke about his first home win, saying: “It’s the first one, so it feels special because it’s at home. It feels special because I think we came from a period where we didn’t get the three points, so that made it even more special,” Gomez said after his first home win as interim head coach.

Phoenix will be back at age 38e st/Washington on August 10 to play the Tampa Bay Rowdies.