LA Galaxy II fall to Phoenix Rising FC on the road

It just wasn’t Los Dos’ night tonight in the valley of the sun. They opened the scoring in the 52nd minute, but gave up two goals to a much more experienced Phoenix Rising FC, falling 2-1. This victory for Phoenix gave the club their first three points as a franchise.

The best chance of the opening half came off the foot of Sean Wright-Phillips, Bradley Wright-Phillips’ brother. In just the 22nd minute, Wright-Phillips blasts an effort from long range and nearly scored a screamer, but it smacked the wrong side of the post and bounced out.

Jon Kempin was the LA Galaxy II’s best player on the night. In the first 45 minutes alone, Kempin had to come up with four saves to keep things scoreless at the half. If it weren’t for the former Sporting Kansas City man, the scoreline could have been a whole lot worse than it actually was.

Los Dos withstood what was a barrage of attempts from Phoenix Rising in the first half to take the lead early in the second. Seven minutes after the restart, Adonis Amaya managed to pounce on a loose ball in the 18 yard box. The initial cross, from Ryo Fujii, deflected off of a Phoenix defender and it fell perfectly to Amaya who made no mistake from close range.

But that lead did not last very long at all. Omar Bravo was hauled down in the box and the ref pointed to the spot immediately. While Kempin guessed the right way, Luke Rooney netted Phoenix’s first ever goal to make it 1-1 right at the hour mark.

Omar Bravo, the former Mexican great, was influential in the final third and his decision making paid off for the hosts 12 minutes from full time. Bravo was inside the box and spotted Rooney at the top of it. The Englishman took a couple of touches before slotting one behind Kempin with ease.

LA Galaxy II return home next Saturday night when they host Seattle Sounders FC 2.