Phoenix Rising falls 2-1 to AV Alta, ends USL Cup run

Phoenix Rising’s 2-1 loss to AV Alta FC at Lancaster Municipal Stadium closed a Prinx Tires USL Cup run that never settled into rhythm. Adam Aoumaich and Cesar Bahena put AV Alta ahead with first-half goals, Gunnar Studenhofft pulled one back in the 70th minute, and Phoenix left Lancaster, California, without a late equalizer.

The defeat mattered beyond the final score because it came in the last game of a group stage built to punish every slip. The 2026 Prinx Tires USL Cup began on April 25 and ended Saturday, July 11, with only seven group winners and one wild-card team advancing and goals scored serving as the first tiebreaker. Phoenix finished its tournament slate 1-3-0 with 3 points and 3 goals, a line that reflected how thin the margin was and how often Rising failed to turn short stretches of control into results.

That uneven campaign featured one clear high point. On May 16, Phoenix beat Orange County SC 2-1 with one of its youngest starting lineups of 2026, including three PRFC Academy products. Jean-Éric Moursou and Eziah Ramirez scored their first goals for the club in that win, a reminder that the Cup was also being used to accelerate younger players into meaningful minutes. Studenhofft’s finish against AV Alta carried the same developmental thread, coming after the forward’s goal against Colorado Springs on July 4 had been identified by the club as Rising’s fastest USL Championship goal of the season and his second regular-season strike.

Still, the AV Alta result read as the final proof point in a group that never fully found balance. Phoenix entered the match knowing it was facing a first-time opponent that had gone 6-3-7 overall and 4-1-5 at home, and the home side used that edge early. AV Alta’s first-half cushion forced Phoenix to chase the game, and the visitors could not manufacture the equalizer in the closing stages despite trimming the deficit after the break.

Afterward, Pa-Modou Kah was blunt about the performance. “I think we could’ve been much better... it was not good enough. We have to get better,” the Phoenix coach said, a line that fit the broader evaluation of a Cup run that offered minutes, but also exposed how costly defensive lapses and slow starts can be when group-stage points are at a premium. Phoenix now turns back to league play and a July 18 home date with Monterey Bay FC at Phoenix Rising Soccer Stadium, with the Cup lessons carrying directly into the second half of the season.