It’s another big game at Beirne as RIFC host Birmingham Legion Saturday night. We’re coming off a 0-0 draw at Loudoun United while Birmingham lost 3-0 at home to Pittsburgh last time out. I’ve been saying this in every blog for what seems like weeks now, but we’re in crunch time. The result on Saturday will likely go a long way in determining playoff position, assuming we can get there. So as I always do, let’s take a look at RIFC before getting into our opponents.

Our form has dipped a little bit coming into this one. We’ve won 1, lost 1, and drawn 3 over our last 5 games. These results are starting to make us look like the early season RIFC as opposed to the juggernaut we saw over that great run of form we went on. And this really all comes down to goals. Our big run started with the 5-2 win in Louisville. Starting with that game, we went on a 5 game run where we scored 17 goals. We’ve only scored 5 goals over these last 5 games.

Now, you could argue that I’m just cherry picking stats and I probably am to some extent. But I think these numbers highlight was has clearly been the issue for us lately. I went on about this at length in the Postmatch Beacon following our draw at Loudoun so I’m not going to keep harping on it here. I’ll just reiterate what I said there: we need our forwards to start getting some goals. Obviously I don’t expect us to start getting 3+ goals a game like we were during that earlier stretch. But I think we can definitely improve on what we’ve been doing recently.

As for our lineup coming into Saturday, I don’t think we’ll see many changes, if any. The one possibility that I’m most interested in is if Frank Nodarse comes back into the 11. I know I’ve just gone on about our attack, but I think we need Nodarse’s pace defensively and who knows, maybe he’ll get us a goal from a set piece. He is our second leading scorer after all. As for who he replaces from our last match, I honestly have no idea. If I had to guess, I’d say maybe play him on the right of the back 3 and give Grant Stoneman a break.

Looks like I’m getting rewarded for procrastinating on this blog. The news just dropped that Jack Panayotou is returning on loan from the New England Revolution. The last time we had Jack P, he seemed destined to be the answer at the number 10. Lately we’ve seen Noah Fuson play that role successfully but adding a player of Jack P’s quality is always a good thing as we head towards the finish line. It gives us more flexibility and maybe we’ll see Noah playing out wide a little bit more. I just hope Jack P stays for more than 4 games this time around. I think it’s more likely than not that he will stay though. The Revs are in a different place now and I don’t think they need Jack P, especially since they’ve been playing him at Revs II again. I think from a Revs perspective, it makes more sense to have him playing in a division 2 league against good competition rather than down in division 3.

For all of the talk about our lack of goals lately, Birmingham Legion have had that problem all season. The main difference is that while we have 3 strikers in the squad, Birmingham have none. This has been the major theme of every discussion about Birmingham Legion all year. I wrote about it back on the Prematch Lookout for our previous meeting and not much has changed since then.

They’ve been playing Stefano Pinho up front lately with some success. Pinho scored twice in a recent win against Orange County and once in a win over Monterey Bay. However, Birmingham haven’t scored in their last 2 games. It remains to be seen if Pinho is the answer there but I’m not sure they really have any other viable options.

Other players I’d look out for in this game are CB Phanuel Kavita, midfielder/forward Enzo Martinez and winger Prosper Kasim. Kavita is a tank at the back and has been one of the better defenders in the league over the past few years. Martinez is of course legendary in this league both for his ability on the field and his constant arguing with referees. And Kasim is a tricky winger who is equally as likely to fire a shot into orbit as he is to score a banger.

Despite their “struggles” this season, and I put that in quotations because they’re still sitting 6th in the Eastern Conference, I think coach Tommy Soehn has done a relatively good job. Apparently he’s been under some pressure from fans but I’m not really sure what he’s supposed to do. The team needs a striker and without one, there’s only so far you can go. The team is still in a playoff spot but as with everything else, we’ll have to see how the rest of the season plays out.

Before getting to any predictions…..

We played at Birmingham Legion on July 17th and ended up with a 3-1 win. A 1st minute goal from Noah Fuson and two second half goals from substitute Zach Herivaux got us the 3 points. Prosper Kasim got Birmingham Legion’s lone goal. Looking back at that game has given me some hope for this meeting. We did give up some chances but outside of a great individual effort from Kasim, Birmingham weren’t able to convert. On the attacking end, we were able to create plenty of chances of our own especially in that second half. We won’t have Herivaux for this one, but we should be able to rely on some other players to get the job done. Fingers crossed that Jack P can make that short journey down from Foxborough in time to get some minutes.

I’m going to get right to it: I think we win this 2-0. While it’s a little hard to imagine that Birmingham are going to go scoreless for 3 consecutive games, I just don’t see where they’re getting a goal from. And on our side of things, I think it’s about time we go back to getting some goals of our own. We have capable players, they just need to show it. I’ve spent some time recently criticizing JJ Williams both on the last blog and on the Quahog Corner. But hot take: JJ gets a goal in this one. Maybe a late goal as a second half substitute to put the game away. Also, if Jack P is available we might see him on some free kicks. If so, I want to see this:

It would be a great way to mark his return. And yes, speaking of returns I’m excited that Backyard Sports is coming back. Big part of my childhood. But I’m more excited about the game Saturday night. It’s a great opportunity for us to show our quality and move up the standings. It’s put up or shut up time now. So let’s go do it out on the field. I hope to see you all tomorrow and as always, UP THE TIDE!