PEORIA, Ariz. – After six weeks out due to injury, Arizona United SC forward Chris Cortez breathed “a huge sigh of relief” on Saturday night as his first-half goal paved the way for the club’s first home win of the season.

Cortez’s finish was followed by a late goal by Tony Cascio that put away a 2-0 victory against Orange County Blues FC at the Peoria Sports Complex, as United broke a five-game winless streak.

“It has been a lot of rehab, a lot of training and working on preventing the injury from happening again, which is the important part,” Cortez said following the game. “A lot of frustrations at times, it felt great. Super exciting this whole week to be training, very happy to be here.”

Facing an Orange County side that had knocked in five goals a week ago against Seattle Sounders FC 2, Arizona was focused on making sure it kept its defensive discipline. The side was able to accomplish just that, as rookie goalkeeper Jordan Stagmiller was not called upon to make a save in the first start of his professional career.

A native of Phoenix, Stagmiller was delighted to record his first professional shutout in front of friends and family in the stands.

“It’s exciting you know and it’s great to do it at home,” Stagmiller said. “That’s the biggest thing for me. I mean, if it would have been on the road it would have been great but to be able to do it where I grew up and to have all my family and friends come out and see it’s nothing you can, I just can’t describe it. It’s just the best feeling you can get in the world.”

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Arizona still has work to do if it’s to get back into the playoff picture, as it now sits four points out of the eighth and final playoff berth in the Western Conference. With four of the team’s next six games on home turf, however, Saturday night’s result could provide a platform for the side to build on as it nears the midpoint of the season.

“For us it is a big game,” said Cortez. “I think more than anything it is important to turn around a couple bad results. I think it wasn’t obviously ideal and this is a great way to bounce back. Obviously for me as a forward, I am trying to help and score goals. Luckily I am able to get on the end of a great ball from Long [Tan] today and make that happen.”