Rhode Island FC traveled to FIU Stadium in Miami, FL to take on last place Miami FC on Saturday. RIFC found themselves in good form, having scored 13 goals and going unbeaten in their last four games. Miami, on the other hand, have not won since April and lost their last two matches by a combined margin of 8-1. I really can’t overstate how poor this Miami team is on paper. They’re bottom of the league, or dangerously close to it, in nearly every major statistical category – most significantly, they concede the most goals in the league. 

In the end, Rhode Island FC was efficient with their scoring chances and ultimately turned a comfortable 3-0 lead into an uncomfortable 3-2 victory on the road. If Miami were more clinical with their 16 shots (compared to just seven for Rhode Island), and were able to keep themselves from going offsides more regularly, this could have been a very different game and scoreline.

Here are my player ratings for Rhode Island FC vs. Miami FC on Saturday, July 13th, 2024.

My rating scale is as follows:

• 1/10 – Abysmal. You might as well have me on the pitch.
• 2/10 – Very bad
• 3/10 – Bad
• 4/10 – Below Average
• 5/10 – Average. The player didn’t necessarily stand out, but did their job.
• 6/10 – Good
• 7/10 – Very good
• 8/10 – Great
• 9/10 – Outstanding
• 10/10 – Transcendent performance. Watch out, because Real Madrid may come knocking.

Koke Vegas – 6/10

Koke was solid in his return after making way for Jackson Lee in the last three matches. His three saves were all relatively comfortable, as many of Miami’s more dangerous chances did not force him into a save. 

On Miami’s second goal… I did find myself wondering: would Jackson Lee have stopped that? 

Frank Nodarse – 6/10

Frank’s goal scoring form continued when he opened the scoring with another very well-taken headed goal off of a set piece. Defensively it was a shaky start for Frank with two bad challenges in the first five minutes which led to him getting a yellow card. He recovered well after this and brought his usual intensity to the back line.

Karifa Yao – 7/10

Yao was our best defender on the day as he broke up several dangerous Miami attacks with two headed clearances and two blocks on scoring chances. Crucially, he also played a massive part in our second goal when he challenged for a ball in the box that the keeper would grab nine times out of ten – but because of Yao’s presence, it was fumbled and allowed Chico to slot it home.

Clay Holstad – 5/10

Clay struggled in this game, at least compared to the very high bar that he has set for himself. He contributed, as usual, to the defense with some interceptions and his strong ball carrying skills. However, I thought he mistimed a few challenges (he won just one out of six ground duels in this game) and/or won the ball back and then turned it back over in dangerous positions more than once. 

Conor McGlynn – 5/10 

McGlynn had a solid game defensively but I still believe that we are missing Clay’s ball-carrying abilities and attack-mindedness in the midfield. With only 23 touches in the game total, McGlynn was not hugely involved in possession. 

He had one run forward where he carried the ball and then took a hard shot – I wish that we got to see more of this (even if, on that particular occasion, I think there were better options than the long shot). 

Marc Ybarra – 6/10

Ybarra’s greatest contribution over the last two weeks has been his immaculate set piece deliveries. Again in this match both his corner and free kicks were incredibly dangerous. Of course, he found Nodarse again early leading to a goal (and an assist for Ybarra), but there were several deliveries after this that were near perfect – even if no RIFC player was there to be on the end of it. 

Jojea Kwizera – 6/10

Kwizera’s signature moment in this game was the great sequence leading up to Dikwa’s second goal. Kwizera started the move with a clever free kick into JJ Williams who had his back to goal – but Kwizera finished it as well, with an inch perfect cross on to Dikwa’s head and into the back of the net.

I thought perhaps he could have done more to defend the second Miami goal, but we’ll chalk it up to tired legs.

Noah Fuson – 5/10

I am a huge fan of Noah and was definitely advocating for him to start this game playing as the 10. Unfortunately, I didn’t think his best qualities really shined through in this game – especially in comparison to the great performances he’s been having off of the bench. Most notably, I thought Noah really struggled to beat his man in this match (whether it was centrally, or out on either wing) – he only completed one successful dribble out of four attempts. He did pick up the hockey assist with his layoff pass to Kwizera before the cross on the third goal.

Stephen Turnbull – 7/10

If you took goals and assists out of the equation, I thought Turnbull was arguably our best player. He was involved in most of the rare sequences where we did possess the ball and show some quality build up play, and had Miami resorting to hard fouls on him because he was regularly running and dribbling past them (he had a team high four successful dribbles). He was involved defensively with a crucial set piece clearance and a couple of interceptions as well. 

While he won’t be credited with the assist, it was Turnbull’s delivery that led to our second goal.

JJ Williams – 5/10

This was a below average JJ Williams game for me, but still saw him battling for every 50/50 ball up top. Miami kept him fairly quiet and competed hard for the long balls – as JJ won only four out of his nine contested aerial balls. His hold up play continues to be a huge asset for this team though – as it played a direct role in the build up to our third goal.

Albert Dikwa – 7/10

Here is the Albert Dikwa that’s been advertised to us, and we’ve seen glimpses of this season. He is in the right place, at the right time, and always ready to pounce on a loose ball in the box (for his first goal), or get on the end of a well-delivered cross (for his second goal).

Subs

Joe Brito (71st minute) – 6/10

Not a huge amount for Brito to be rated on here, but I enjoyed his time wasting / hold up sequences with Dikwa and Doyle in the dying minutes of the game. He also took a hard, quick turnaround shot that hit the side netting, which I’d like to see more of. 

Collin Smith (84th minute) – 6/10

I believe Collin’s only real contributions were hoofing the ball up the field a couple of times to ease pressure as Miami pushed for an equalizer.

Mark Doyle (71st minute) – 5/10

Again, it was a brief appearance and we didn’t have much of the ball during this time – but he was involved in some effective time-wasting play.

Zachary Herivaux (61st minute) – 6/10

Zach has looked to be a very competent option in the midfield in both of his substitute appearances so far. In this match, he looked very comfortable on the ball and relieved pressure both with his dribbling and passing out of our defensive third. 

Grant Stoneman (61st minute) – 5/10

I liked Stoneman’s presence in this game, although we do have to acknowledge that both goals were conceded after he came on for Nodarse (who had a yellow card). Certainly not to say that he was at fault for either goal. At worst, perhaps he could’ve gotten more involved in helping to defend the first goal. His job was pretty much to recover possession and boot the ball, which he did effectively.