Rhode Island FC traveled to Indianapolis to take on Indy Eleven on Wednesday night. Both teams were on a short rest, as Indy Eleven were coming off of a 5-0 loss to Charleston Battery on Friday, while Rhode Island FC played to a 1-1 draw against Detroit City FC on Saturday.

The Rhode Island FC unbeaten streak wasn’t going to last forever, but this was an especially disappointing way for it to end. Indy Eleven scored the lone goal of this match in the 34th minute, and Rhode Island FC really never threatened to score. In fact, the scoreline flattered RIFC.

Personally, I thought there were a few too many changes from the lineup that has been successful during this great run of form, and it led to us looking disjointed. But who am I to question the USL Championship Coach of the Month? The decision to rotate so heavily will age much better as long as we take out the trash from down the road on Saturday night.

Here are my player ratings for Rhode Island FC vs. Indy Eleven on Wednesday, August 7th, 2024.

I don’t rate the opposition players, but if I did, the Indy Eleven goalkeeper, Hunter Sulte, would automatically get a 0/10 based on his haircut alone.

Jackson Lee (GK) – 4/10

Lee made five saves in this match – the first was pretty impressive, the rest were fairly tame efforts. We missed Koke’s distribution in this match, and there were a couple of balls over the top from Indy Eleven that led to very dangerous situations in the final 15 minutes of the match. I think Koke would’ve snuffed these out with ease, due to his positioning higher up the field.

Frank Nodarse (D) – 5/10

Frank’s main contributions to this game were in build up play and in the opponent’s half of the field. He actually made some good runs to try to get something going offensively for RIFC, on a night where they needed it. He very nearly scored an equalizing goal in the 77th minute off of a corner kick.

Karifa Yao (D) – 7/10

Some fans may disagree, but Karifa Yao has quietly been a very reliable defender for us for the majority of the season now. In this match, he was constantly shutting down Indy threats and clearing the ball out of our box (eight times, to be exact). He might’ve benefited from a missed call in our box. For a player who I was convinced would be a walking yellow card due to his physical play, he hasn’t been carded since June 22 at Louisville City.

Grant Stoneman (D) – 4/10

Stoneman was fine tonight, but it was a slightly less impressive performance than his previous three starts. Nodarse seemed to take on more responsibilities in build up for this match, which left Stoneman less involved in my eyes. He was just 1/8 on long balls, which is way off from his past performances (but, again, so was the entire team).

I don’t have a huge issue with the yellow card – but if you’re going to pick up a yellow card trying to break up a counter attack, at least make sure the player doesn’t progress the ball first. It reminded me in basketball of a half-assed foul on a breakaway layup that leads to an and-one situation. At least get your money’s worth!

Conor McGlynn (MF) – 5/10

This was Conor McGlynn’s longest appearance since July 13th at 45 minutes. It was a fine performance that included a couple of clearances, an off target long shot (I didn’t hate it), and a missed long ball. Overall, he was tidy and did his job managing possession playing in a defensive midfield role.

Marc Ybarra (MF) – 5/10

Ybarra made way after 61 minutes in this one – again, I expect, to manage his minutes ahead of Saturday’s match. He seemed to be making more progressive runs tonight in the absence of his usual midfield partner, Clay Holstad. A few of his clearances or defensive interventions ended up going right back to Indy Eleven – not always entirely his fault though.

I do think he shoulders some of the blame for the Guenzatti goal in the 34rd minute. It was poor team defending, as there were four Rhode Island players surrounding Guenzatti, and it was a great finish. But someone should have been marking him – and Ybarra may have been the player in the best position to do that, in this case.

Gabriel Alves (MF) – 5/10

Fan favorite Gabi made his first appearance since June 12th. His best appearances for the club have come playing at left center back, but he was playing the left wingback/midfield role in this match. He made way after just 45 minutes, but had some decent moments – particularly in build up connecting with Mark Doyle on the left – for someone who hasn’t played a match in almost two months.

I assume his half time substitution was more about managing minutes – but it is worth noting that you could hear Khano Smith on at least one occasion yelling for him to get wider, as he was drifting towards the middle of the pitch.

Collin Smith (MF) – 5/10

In the first 30 minutes of this match Smith was fairly effective. He was doing a good job containing his man on the right flank, and also made a couple of good attacking runs. His involvement in the match trailed off after that.

Joe Brito (MF) – 4/10

My only two notes for Joe Brito was a nice cross that was very nearly finished by Mark Doyle, and a through ball in the 60th minute that was the right idea, but didn’t end up near any RIFC players. He didn’t do anything especially wrong in this match, he just didn’t make much of an impact on the game either.

JJ Williams (F) – 6/10

It was a pretty typical JJ performance, making contributions all over the field and doing a little bit (actually – a lot) of everything except getting on the score sheet. He competed in 25 duels, was fouled three times, chipped in with a headed clearance, and created two chances. Again – he really was everywhere. I still feel that the floodgates will open at some point and he’ll start hitting the scoresheet regularly.

Mark Doyle (F) – 6/10

I was happy with the showing from Mark Doyle in his first full 90 minute appearance since June 8th. He was a bit of a bright spot for me on the night (which really isn’t saying a whole lot). Similar to JJ, he did a little bit of everything and was just lacking the end product – although he came very close on a cross from Joe Brito in the 17th minute. He also won four fouls – and was weirdly good on 50/50 balls – winning 12 out of his 16 duels.

Subs

Zachary Herivaux (MF) (46th minute) –5/10

Compared to Zach’s incredible substitute appearances in July, this was a much quieter performance from him. As I’ve said for many players – he really didn’t do anything wrong, he just didn’t do anything to make himself stand out in a game where the whole team was struggling.

Jojea Kwizera (MF) (46th minute) – 6/10

Jojea didn’t really have a signature “turn and burn” moment on the left flank in this match – he didn’t have any touches in the attacking third – but he played in a couple of early crosses in that didn’t find an RIFC player in this match, but on another day might have. He also helped out defending the left wing with two successful tackles and ball recoveries, and was decent at taking set pieces.

Clay Holstad (MF) (61st minute) – 6/10

Clay came on with pretty good urgency, and I actually felt his teammates let him down a bit. He was pushing the ball, looking for passes up the field and there generally were just not many options for him. He also did a nice job stepping in briefly for Ybarra on the corner kicks, as he delivered two dangerous ones back to back.

Noah Fuson (MF) (68th minute) – 5/10

The crowd at Providence Brewing Company let out a collective sigh in the 86th minute, as RIFC were pushing for a goal, when Noah attempted a back heel in the midfield that went straight to an Indy Eleven player. Outside of that, he was mostly fine. He took one corner kick which looked very under hit, but actually made it to a streaking RIFC player. He also took a curling shot from outside of the box. It wasn’t his best effort, and maybe not his best option at that moment, but I appreciate that he put a shot on net.

Albert Dikwa (F) (72nd minute) – 5/10

I didn’t see much involvement from Dikwa here, other than winning a couple of fouls.

Stephen Turnbull (MF) (80th minute) – 5/10

It was a late, and unexpected, sub on for Turnbull to replace Frank Nodarse as a concussion substitute. There isn’t much to evaluate here!

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For reference, 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.