Jearl Margaritha scored the game-winning goal with 22 minutes to play as Phoenix Rising FC earned a 2-1 victory against San Antonio FC at Toyota Field on Sunday evening, earning the side its first win under new Head Coach Pa-Modou Kah and just its second away win against SAFC in club history.

A lively second half delivered all three goals in a seven-minute span as Phoenix took its first lead of the season through Remi Cabral’s penalty kick just past the hour-mark. SAFC’s Jorge Hernández leveled on another penalty kick minutes later before Margaritha put home his first goal of the campaign, ending San Antonio’s perfect start to the 2025 season

Here are three things we took away from the contest.

1. JEARL MARGARITHA MADE HIS MOMENT COUNT

The start to Phoenix Rising’s season has been hampered by absences to the line – through both injury and suspension – but a week after making his first start of the campaign in Monterey Bay, Jearl Margaritha showed more of the speed and execution in the final third he produced at the end of 2024 after arriving in Phoenix late in the campaign.

The Curacao international popped up on both sides of the field for Rising as the side looked to use his speed to try and stretch play against the more possession-heavy San Antonio approach. That paid off handsomely on his game-winner, where Phoenix moved quickly in transition through Damian Rivera and Ihsan Sacko to set up Margaritha for a wicked near-post finish from the right side of the penalty area.

Margaritha had two goals and two assists for Rising last season, and entered the offseason in good form for Curacao in Concacaf Nations League, putting up four goals and two assists in his last two outings for the side. This could be the jumpstart to his 2025 campaign.

2. QUIET FIRST HALF SUITED PHOENIX JUST FINE

You could make a good argument that of the back four Phoenix opened the game with, only Emil Cuello might have been the first choice at their respective positions. Collin Smith – regularly a full back – got the call to start alongside 18-year-old USL Academy signing Braxton Montgomery at center back with Harvey Neville deputizing for Ryan Flood at the other full back slot.

As slowly as Rising has started games this season, though, the manner in which the back line managed the game and limited San Antonio’s chances in the first half – holding the hosts to only two shots, neither of which was on target – was impressively done. Getting to the break scoreless and subsequently producing some key moments as San Antonio raised its level early in the second half including Montgomery’s goal line clearance off Alex Crognale’s header helped set up Rising for success. While it’s likely we see Pape Mar Boye and Mohamed Traore back in the lineup sooner rather than later, today’s group did themselves plenty of good in terms of consideration for opportunities as this season moves on.

3. SAN ANTONIO CAN’T FIND LATE PAYOFF

San Antonio FC’s perfect start to the season came to an end on Sunday evening as the hosts were unable to mount the same sort of comeback they had delivered against Lexington SC to close out March. There was no shortage of pressure – over the final 15 minutes and nine minutes of second-half stoppage time, 43.4 percent of the game was played in Phoenix’s defensive third – but the side was stymied as it took the final five shots of the contest, but was unable to serious test Triston Henry in the Rising net.

Diogo Pacheco’s came closest in stoppage time with a solid header that was easily smothered by the Canadian shot-stopper, and it left San Antonio to reflect on a second consecutive outing in which it didn’t get going early enough in terms of attack threat, and this time ended up paying the price.