Rhode Island FC hosted Oakland Roots SC on Saturday night in a clash between two teams who are very much in the mix to host a home playoff game. RIFC looked to build on their 3-0 home win against Hartford Athletic with a second consecutive win that would have seen them climb the standings in the Eastern Conference.

Ultimately, both teams came away with one point after a 1-1 draw at Beirne Stadium. Oakland Roots SC will be happier with the result, as they mustered just one shot on target compared to Rhode Island FC’s six. Rhode Island FC now find themselves in 8th place with 33 points and another huge game coming at them this weekend against Loudon United FC.

For additional Tide Talk post match content, you have several options:

• Ryan and Scott break down the draw with Oakland on the Tide Talk pod.
• Fans can also discuss the game with FQB (@FluffyQuahogBoi) tonight on Twitter on the Quahog Corner.
• The Post Match Beacon from Matt Hands.

Here are my player ratings for Rhode Island FC vs. Oakland Roots SC on Saturday, August 17th, 2024.

Koke Vegas (GK) – 6/10

It was a fine showing from Koke in a game where he faced just one shot on target… which, unfortunately, ended up in the back of the net. It was a poorly defended headed shot from inside the six-yard box with a lot of pace on it – so really nothing Koke could have done differently.

Frank Nodarse (D) – 6/10

Frank had some interesting moments in this match. He had one defensive clearance that he very nearly put in the back of his own net – and then later on he took a low shot inside of the Oakland box that he nearly put in the back of their net. The combination of Nodarse and Yao made it very hard for Oakland to win any of the long balls their keeper was sending their way. Nodarse won three out of four aerial duels on the night, but otherwise it was a more reserved performance from him.

Karifa Yao (D) – 7/10

We got a bit of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde from Yao’s performance on the night as well. To start with the bad… I believe he should have been responsible for marking Hackshaw on Oakland’s lone goal.

Besides that, Yao was absolutely everywhere on the defensive end of the pitch yet again. He had six ball recoveries, several of which came from smart positioning on Yao’s part. He also won seven duels, including five in the air.

Grant Stoneman (D) – 7/10

Add this to the list of strong Grant Stoneman performances since his return from injury at the beginning of July. He had a crucial sequence of last ditch defending where he blocked two consecutive shots before clearing the ball safely out of bounds. He also led all players in the match with 13 passes into the final third.

Clay Holstad (MF) – 7/10

Holstad played like the energizer bunny in this match (even more than he usually does). He was the engine of the team, whether he was connecting the ball between the defense and the forwards, or being involved in build up play with the wingbacks along the left and right flanks.

He had the most touches and most accurate passes of all players in the game, which shows that RIFC’s possession was largely running through Clay – and his 10 passes into the final third show how threatening he was with that possession.

Marc Ybarra (MF) – 6/10

With Zach Herivaux out for 2-4 weeks with a fracture in his foot, Ybarra was back in his starting position in the midfield. As you’d expect from Ybarra, he led the team in ball recoveries with six, along with Clay Holstad and Karifa Yao.

He was also very busy on corner kicks in this match. RIFC had 14 corners, and Ybarra took six of them. I thought his deliveries generally looked more dangerous than Kwizera’s.

Jojea Kwizera (MF) – 7/10

The easiest way to tell that I don’t know ball is because nearly every game, almost without fail, for the first 20 minutes I think “Kwizera is having a quiet night tonight.”, and then he spends the next 70 minutes proving me wrong.

He created a game-high four chances for the team, and attempted 15 crosses. Even if only five were successful, many of these were high quality crosses and led to dangerous situations. He wasn’t perfect – as he did commit four fouls and pick up a yellow card for one of them – but I thought he was very threatening on the attack, as we’ve become used to.

Stephen Turnbull (MF) – 6/10

I was surprised to see Turnbull make way as the first sub of this match, as I thought he was having a strong impact. He was causing all kinds of problems on the right side of the pitch – as he successfully dribbled his man four times on four attempts, recovered the ball four times, and won seven out of his eight duels.

Much like the game against Detroit City FC… Turnbull was in alone on goal in the 47th minute and failed to convert one of the game’s best chances. But again, I want to give Turnbull some credit here for being a defender by trade, but still putting himself into these aggressive attacking positions.

Noah Fuson (MF) – 6/10

I thought Noah had a decent game overall, but thought his performance improved when he started playing more of the right wingback role in the final 30 minutes of the game. He seemed to be very comfortable making runs down the right flank that ended with a cross, as he attempted the second most crosses of all players in the match with 10, and, like Kwizera, created four total chances in this match.

Mark Doyle (F) – 6/10

I think I liked Doyle’s performance more than perhaps the general consensus among many fans. He certainly wasn’t perfect… he had a couple of golden shot attempts that he put wide of the net, a great header opportunity in the dying minutes that he shot straight at the keeper, and he under hit a cross very early in the game that should’ve been basically a tap in for Noah Fuson.

But – I thought he was very active to earn himself those opportunities (he led all players with eight touches in the opposition box), partnered well with Dikwa off the ball to apply pressure on the Oakland center backs, and fought hard for 50/50 balls – he was exactly 50% on his duels for the night.

Albert Dikwa (F) – 7/10

Let’s start with the 87th minute equalizer that Dikwa scored for his 7th goal of the season. It was a lovely headed finish on a ball that you would expect Dikwa to finish 100 times out of 100. I give him all the credit in the world for being ready when the chance finally came after a very hard-fought 87 minutes.

To that point – Dikwa looked a bit like Harry Kane tonight with his play dropping into the midfield to distribute and create for his strike partner in Mark Doyle, or linking up with Fuson and Kwizera. It doesn’t show up in the stats as much as I hoped it would, but I really thought Dikwa put in a solid, hard-working shift.

Subs

JJ Williams (F) (63rd minute) – 5/10

Perhaps controversial, but based on what I saw tonight I would stick with Mark Doyle for another start. Both players work very hard and are just struggling with the end product at the moment.

I found JJ’s appearance tonight underwhelming, as he attempted three shots – ranging from fine to ill-advised – and successfully completed just one pass, and had a couple of turnovers to go along with it. His most important contribution of the night came in the form of a good run, on a great ball from Morris Duggan, that led to Oakland’s Neveal Hackshaw getting sent off with a red card.

Morris Duggan (D) (69th minute) – 6/10

Tonight I saw the flashes of what Duggan has been billed as. In just 21 minutes of play, Duggan passed into the final third seven times and played five accurate long balls. He looked very comfortable with the ball at his feet – never shying away from taking an extra touch or dribble to suck in the defense.

Khano really will have a tough decision to make regarding the back line, as Duggan is looking every bit as ready to start as we expected when he came in.

Joe Brito (MF) (84th minute) – 6/10

Brito had just seven touches in his 13 minute cameo, but one of them was the touch. Just three minutes after subbing on, Brito found himself in a lot of space at the top of the penalty area. He made the best of the opportunity with a perfect curling ball into the top of the six-yard box, which Albert Dikwa got on the end of for the equalizing goal.

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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.