The last time Phoenix Rising FC won four consecutive games in the USL Championship regular season, it ended up as the last hurrah of a historic run that delivered two Western Conference titles and a Players’ Shield.

Rising’s run early in the 2022 season gave the side five wins in its first seven games and the prospect of another campaign of contention.

Instead, the side won only seven more times in its next 27 outings. Longtime Head Coach Rick Schantz departed midseason. The side missed the playoffs for the first time since it rebranded prior to the 2017 campaign.

While it rebounded to make a historic run to the 2023 Championship title, the side hasn’t been the Rising we knew. Even with that postseason run and its current winning streak, the side currently has more losses than wins in the Championship since it took a 2-1 win against Miami FC on April 23, 2022, going 38-42-32 since it last reeled off four consecutive wins.

What we could be experiencing now, though, is the prospect of Rising’s return as a Championship power.

• TIDYING UP DEFENSIVELY: Through its first eight games of the season, there might not have been a defense that struggled as much as Rising. The side ranked last in the league in both goals conceded (17) and Expected Goals Against (13.3xGA). While Phoenix has needed some heroics by goalkeeper Patrick Rakovsky over its four-game winning streak – see his penalty save against Las Vegas Lights – it has conceded only twice in four games while allowing only 0.95xGA/90 minutes.

• SHARPENING IN ATTACK: Over the past four league outings, Phoenix’s attack hasn’t been a chance creation machine. The chances Rising have made for themselves, though? They’ve made the most of them. Rising’s eight goals in four games have come on a 4.28xG mark, but that rises to 6.34xG on Target using post-shot data, highlighting the side’s precision – just look at the placement of Dariusz Formella’s and Charlie Dennis’ finishes in the club’s 3-1 win against Orange County SC on Saturday.

• HE SAID IT: “Football is a very simple sport, right? When you have new players, they take a little bit of time to jell with one another, and we’ve had our misfortunes on both ends. Today, I’m not very happy that we conceded a set-play goal. I think we could have done better, but again, going attacking, I think we've done a great job.” – Rising Head Coach Pa-Modou Kah after Saturday’s game

The rise in self-confidence might have been most evident on Saturday in veteran Rising forward Formella. His sprinting celebration to the team’s technical area after scoring his first goal since last October served as the culmination of a week in which his own concerns about his form had been broken down and addressed.

“For every offensive player, the long break from the goal is something you don't like,” said Formella. “After the last Jägermeister game, when I had the PK and I chipped it and missed it, I had to talk with one of the coaches because I saw it’s not going in a good direction, and I'm not myself.

“I had a very good week of training. I was trying to focus only on all simple things, and it worked. So, I’m very, very, very happy. Big game for me and a crucial moment.”

Formella added two assists in the second half, giving him his first outing with three goal contributions in the league since the 2020 season when he was at Sacramento Republic FC.

For Dennis, meanwhile, his first goal of the season after a long stint on the sidelines showed the qualities that Phoenix was looking for when it acquired him last season from the Tampa Bay Rowdies.

“That’s our identity, and that’s how we want to play moving forward, and that’s to play with confidence and dominate the whole game,” said Dennis. “We keep pushing, especially in the middle of the season, since there’s a lot of points to be made in more games this year.”

Rising might not be a finished product yet, but in a competitive top half of the Western Conference its vision has come into focus.

And while it might not reach the peaks of the club’s 2018-21 glory days, it’s moving in the right direction. That should be an exciting prospect for everyone around the club.