Phoenix Rising picks up Jägermeister Cup win in high scoring affair and hat trick

Texoma’s Brandon McManus started the scoring with a goal in the seventh minute. Rising’s Charlie Dennis and Darius Johnson brought Phoenix to its first lead of the match with goals in the 21st and 24th minutes, respectively.

Texoma answered right back two minutes later when Diego Pepi scored to even it up again. Pepi then scored in the 41st minute to give Texoma a 3-2 lead at halftime.

Dennis tied it up for Phoenix in the 52nd minute with his second goal of the night. Texoma’s Lamin Jawneh gave his team the lead once again in the 68th minute, 4-3. Dennis scored his third goal in the 71st minute off a penalty shot, completing his hat-trick and keeping Rising in the match once again.

When it looked like both clubs would reach a draw in extra time, Phoenix’s Emil Cuello scored the fifth goal of the night for his team in the 96th minute and sealed the victory.

Rising have five points in the tournament and are second in Group 2.

The Hat Trick

Dennis spoke to the media about the match and his performance that set up Rising’s win in the tournament.

“I’m delighted with that,” he said, referring to his hat trick. “Most importantly, we won the game at the end, but we made it difficult. A lot of lessons to be learned there.”

Dennis believes Rising can learn from the match, especially with the number of goals conceded to Texoma. He says the club needs to do better than they played on Saturday in future matches.

“We can’t turn up and expect to win,” Dennis said. “We have to be switched on and everyone needs to be way better than we were tonight. Conceding four goals against (Texoma) is just not good enough.”

Phoenix Rising will have their fourth match of the Jägermeister Cup against El Paso Locomotive FC on July 19.