As exciting a prospect as Phoenix Rising FC’s Guilio Doratiotto promised to be, coming out of Juventus’ Academy and with experience in Italy’s youth national team ranks, there was always likely to be a period of adaptation to his new surroundings.

Over the last few weeks, however, the 19-year-old has found his feet while providing a pair of key goals in the past seven days to earn Rising results on the road.

Coming on as a substitute ahead of extra time on Wednesday night against North Carolina FC in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, Doratiotto’s first goal in the professional ranks delivered victory with nine minutes to go to send the side into the Round of 16 for the first time in its history.

“It feels amazing, because it’s my first professional goal,” he said postgame. “I was waiting for that moment and I’m so happy to help the team get a win, that’s it.”

Three days later, having moved into the starting lineup as Phoenix wrapped up its week on the road against Detroit City FC, he produced an imaginative finish, flicking home a near-post corner kick from Emil Cuello to earn his side a point on the road in a 1-1 draw at Keyworth Stadium.

A starter in each of Phoenix’s past three league outings – which also included victory on the road at Rhode Island FC and a home draw with current Western Conference leader Sacramento Republic FC – Doratiotto is coming into his own in Rising’s midfield. Only goalkeeper Rocco Ríos Novo has logged more minutes, while Doratiotto has completed 96 of 114 passes and won 16 of 26 duels as he works and continues to learn alongside his more experienced counterparts.

“Guilio this week has obviously had a good week in terms of adding a couple of goals to his name, and he’s done well with the group that have done well collectively, honestly,” said Stone. “I’m happy for him, but I’m happy for him in terms of [the fact that] he’s becoming a little bit more fluid in the way that he plays in his role in the team.

“I think he’s starting to understand what his role is in the team in that midfield area, and he’s got experienced players around him in Jose [Hernandez] tonight, captaining the team, and Renzo [Zambrano] coming on and JP [Scearce], who I thought did a very good job as well on Wednesday in Carolina. … Guilio’s done a good job, as have the other three, and as have the whole team collectively.”

Doratiotto’s move to Phoenix was one of the more fascinating of the offseason. Now we’re starting to see why both he and Rising saw each other as an ideal fit.

 “The first month, the first two months it was a little bit difficult because it’s a big change for me,” said Doratiotto. “I came so far, and I’m being far from my family, but now I’m doing great, I’m getting better.”

Now here are some other young standouts who stood out over the past weekend of action

- Ray Serrano, Louisville City FC – The 21-year-old bagged his fourth goal of the season as part of another energetic attacking performance in which he had four shots and four chances created in LouCity’s 3-0 win against Orange County SC.

- Jack Panayotou, Rhode Island FC – The 19-year-old made an instant impact in his debut for Rhode Island FC, notching an assist and four chances created in the side’s 2-2 draw against Sacramento Republic FC.

- Coleman Gannon, Las Vegas Lights FC – The 21-year-old was key to Las Vegas’ attacking opportunities against San Antonio FC, recording an assist and four chances created as the visitors were the better side in a 1-1 draw at Toyota Field.

- Kobe Hernandez-Foster, Birmingham Legion FC: The 21-year-old was solid at the base of Legion’s midfield in a 1-0 win on the road against the Tampa Bay Rowdies, completing 36 of 45 passes and 6 of 9 long passes while making two interceptions and four clearances.

- Brandan Craig, El Paso Locomotive FC – The 20-year-old had a positive return to the Locomotive lineup after injury, winning 2 of 2 tackles and making two clearances while completing 17 of 20 passes in the side’s first win of the season against Loudoun United FC on Friday night.