Phoenix Rising’s head coach Pa-Modou Kah on loss to Monterey Bay

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PHOENIX — Phoenix Rising head coach Pa-Madou Kah sat with reporters yesterday afternoon to discuss the club’s loss to Monterey Bay last Saturday.

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“There are no trophies that are dealt out in the beginning of the year.” – Head Coach @PMKAH #TodosRojos pic.twitter.com/kA8h1Auohs

— Phoenix Rising FC (@PHXRisingFC) April 2, 2025

“I think we played well,” Kah told reporters. “The first half, we did very well. [We] obviously went down again, but we did come back. We had an opportunity to one-up this… We had no territorial dominance.”

Kah said mistakes within the game changed its course, referencing the two red cards that led to Monterey Bay scoring two more goals in the second half against Rising. He also noted scoring opportunities that were presented but not cashed in on.

“It could have been a whole different game,” Kah said.

With Rising dealing with multiple injuries, Rising’s head coach says he’s not the type of coach that complains.

“That’s part of the game. We saw players like Braxton [Montgomery] step up, which was amazing. He played a fantastic game.”

With his goal of limiting team mistakes on the field, Kah said he wants Rising to focus on themselves ahead of its match against San Antonio FC on Sunday. San Antonio is undefeated this season, scoring 12 goals in that frame.

“We try to get ourselves to the place that we need to get so that we also can start getting points. I think we’re close we just got to keep continuing on.”

Rising goes head to head against San Antonio this Sunday, April 6, at 1 p.m.

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Wendy Lopez is a reporter for Burn City Sports. You can follow her on her X account, @wlopezde