Captain, Solomon Asante bagged brace to propel his team Phoenix Rising Stars FC to a comprehensive 3-0 win at home over Tacoma Defiance on Saturday evening.
The 30-year-old Ghanaian versatile forward played 90 minutes of football before he was substituted when his side was cruising to victory in the United States League championship.
Rising broke through just before halftime when Asante took a pass from Joey Calistri in midfield and sprinted to his right. The two-time defending league MVP cracked a shot back across his body and the line-drive attempt skipped off the save attempt by Richey and deflected into the back of the net to make it 1-0.
Lundt came up huge for Rising again in the 53rd minute, when a poor turnover from Phoenix’s back line allowed Adenrian to dribble in-alone against the goalkeeper. One-on-one from 30 yards out, Lundt stood his ground and pounced on the striker’s attempt to put a low shot into the corner on the goalkeeper’s left side.
Asante grabbed his second goal of the match two-minutes later when Santi Moar and Arturo Rodriguez combined on the left flank. Rodriguez slipped a pass across the top of the box to Jeremy Kelly. The holding midfielder’s late run pulled apart Tacoma’s back line and Kelly snuck a short pass over to Asante, on the right. Asante had time to pick up his head and crack a hard shot towards goal but the attempt deflected off a Tacoma defender before finding the back of the net to make it 2-0.
Rising’s newest player, Tate Schmitt scored in his debut, just 17 minutes after coming on for Calistri. Moar set up the goal after bringing down a cross at the back post and sliding a pass between two Tacoma defenders. Schmitt muscled a third defender off the ball before beating Richey to make it a 3-0 final.
The Ghanaian international has found the back of the net for Phoenix Rising Stars FC five times this season in the USL Championship and has registered two assists so far in the league to his credit after playing in seven matches for the Red and Blacks outfit who sit top of the Western Pacific Division with 16 points with a game in hand.
