Phoenix Rising FC took a 2-1 victory against New Mexico United on Saturday night before 10,884 fans at Isotopes Park, giving the visitors a third consecutive victory in the Championship regular season away from home against United and earning the side its first league victory since April 6 against San Antonio FC.

Here are three things we took away from the contest as Rising handed New Mexico its second consecutive defeat to a regional rival in as many outings.

1. HOPE AVAYEVU MAXIMIZES HIS MOMENTS

With Phoenix’s aim of being patient in defense before moving quickly into transition attacking moments, Hope Avayevu was going to have limited touches to deliver the threat the visitors needed to come away with victory. The 22-year-old did exactly that, scoring a narrow-angle chance in the 11th minute that set off a down night for United goalkeeper Alex Tambakis, and then set up Darius Johnson’s goal early in the second half that ended up as the game-winner for his first one-goal, one-assist performance in the Championship.

Avayevu only completed 10 of 13 passes overall but had five shots in 32 touches, putting three on target, as Rising delivered on its plan to come away with a third consecutive regular season victory at Isotopes Park.

“It’s always up to us to finish our chances,” said Avayevu of his goal. “At that moment right there, I just wanted to finish my chance, and I did. It was a tight angle, but I managed to squeeze the ball in there.”

Avayevu was a known commodity for Rising Head Coach Pa-Modou Kah, who had worked with him at North Texas SC previously. He now leads Rising with six goal contributions this season as Kah looks to find the right combination to deliver.

2. PHOENIX PUSHED NEW MEXICO TO THE EDGE

There was no surprise that New Mexico dominated the bulk of possession, a trait that’s been continued under new Head Coach Dennis Sanchez, but Phoenix Rising’s prioritization of clogging the center of midfield pushed United into wide areas consistently throughout the contest. Only 25.8 percent of New Mexico’s possession came in the central third of the field, and it wasn’t until late in the game when the hosts were pushing to find a result that they were able to create a pair of chances inside the penalty area from central passing positions.

Instead, Phoenix was willing to let New Mexico possess the ball in wide positions and attempt to deal with the crosses defensively. New Mexico’s 21 crosses were a season-high and well above the average of 12.5 crosses per game the side has averaged this season, and while United connected on six occasions none of them created a high-quality threat to Patrick Rakovsky’s goal.

“Defensively, we know New Mexico is a team that likes a lot of movement, so you want to be compact in the middle and force them to go out wide,” said Kah. “I don’t think they created a lot of chances. We were the better team with the more dangerous opportunities.”

Phoenix’s approach appeared to build on the same approach El Paso Locomotive took in its victory in Week 9 against New Mexico. In that contest, United took a then-season high 15 crosses and had 28.5 percent possession in the middle third of the field, compared to Locomotive’s 39.1 percent. It’s offering a blueprint for other opponents to try and follow, and leaves New Mexico with a challenge to try and figure out.

3. NEW MEXICO MISSES AN OPPORTUNITY TO RISE

Despite being down a player due to Tambakis’ second-half red card, New Mexico gave themselves a glimmer of hope on McKinze Gaines’ 84th-minute goal that set up a serious press for an equalizer in stoppage time. While that came up short, Sanchez was pleased with the energy the side showed as it tried to get a result.

“I think that in a lot of ways, we gave them the game tonight,” said Sanchez. “I really commended our guys at the end of the game, the energy and effort that they had going down a player. If we can be consistent with that, with 11, be a little bit more clinical, have a little more control, we're going to win games.”

The big challenge for New Mexico will now be to find a way to bounce back against Orange County SC next Saturday night. United only lost consecutive games on two occasions as it rose to the top of the Western Conference a season ago, with its last three-game losing run coming midway through the 2023 season. After missing out on the opportunity to move into first place at home after both San Antonio FC and Monterey Bay FC dropped points on Saturday, Sanchez’s side will need to start with the same energy it ended this outing to push on.