I’m going to forego my usual introduction to the Player Ratings and instead try to add a bit of perspective following this very disappointing 2-0 loss at Pittsburgh.

First, there are some reasons we should feel bad:

• Rhode Island FC failed to register a single shot on target in this match.
• With the loss last night, Pittsburgh joins Detroit City FC and Indy Eleven in holding the head-to-head tiebreaker over Rhode Island FC in the Eastern Conference standings. With how congested the standings are currently, this is a significant blow to Rhode Island’s hopes of hosting a home playoff game.
• RIFC have scored just one goal in their last four away games – dating back to the 1-1 draw on August 3rd against Detroit City FC.
• This guy scored a goal against us…

But there are a handful of reasons not to hit the panic button just yet:

• For the second week in a row, most other results in the Eastern Conference went RIFC’s way this weekend to help mitigate the impact of this loss. Loudoun and Tampa Bay lost, and Hartford, Indy Eleven, and Detroit City FC all drew.
• Pittsburgh needed this game much more than RIFC did. They were fighting to keep their playoff hopes alive in front of 5,600 fans at home. They had everything to play for.
• The game was lost in a ~5 minute period between first half stoppage time and the 50th minute. Those are two of the absolute worst times in a match to concede goals, and we will (hopefully) learn from it.
• We got Lilley-balled, as many good teams do. Pittsburgh looked every bit deserving of the playoff spot that they now find themselves in. They have a very good keeper, they were incredibly organized, and it felt like every loose ball was falling their way.
• There were stretches in this game where we looked like ourselves and created chances that just needed the slightest touch to be a shot on target, and likely end up in the back of the net.

To hear more about the match, Ryan and Andrew unpacked the loss on the Tide Talk podcast on Sunday night.

With that said – here are my player ratings for Rhode Island FC vs. Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC on Saturday, September 7th, 2024. I feel the need to reiterate… I love these players, but feel that the whole team was off on the night.

Koke Vegas (GK) – 4/10

It was not a good night for Koke, but it doesn’t undo any of the great work that he did in August for the team. I’m sure he’d love to have the 2nd Pittsburgh goal back, as he got caught off his line by a headed “shot” from some distance. The distribution was not up to his usual standards either, with just 33% accuracy on long balls.

Morris Duggan (D) – 6/10

Despite the two goals conceded, this may have been Duggan’s best individual performance since joining the team in mid-August, with a team-high five defensive clearances and winning seven out of his eight duels. He also continues to be the primary defender when it comes to building out of the back – with a game-high 113 touches and 82 completed passes.

Karifa Yao (D) – 6/10

Yao was strong defensively in this match as well – and the defensive unit as a whole didn’t do much wrong in either of the two goals. Yao continues to fill up the stat sheet with his defensive actions, including a game-high four interceptions. He also won all of his aerial duels. He made one bad bid in the 20th minute that would’ve given Pittsburgh a major numbers advantage in attack, but was bailed out by winning a foul.

Yao also picked up a yellow card for his involvement in a late-game scuffle, which I have no issue with at all.

Grant Stoneman (D) – 5/10

Stoneman saw less of the ball than the other two defenders, but made more passes into the final third than either of them. He was also solid defensively, as usual, and chipped in with three clearances.

His one sketchy moment came in the 73rd minute when he played a loose pass across our own box which was easily picked off by a Pittsburgh player. We’re quite lucky not to have been punished with a third goal there.

Clay Holstad (MF) – 5/10

It was a mixed bag for Clay tonight – to his credit, there was at least a couple of times where he won the ball back in our third and looked to carry the ball forward and spring a counter attack – even if they didn’t amount to much. He had a good moment of link up with Jack Panayotou and JJ Williams that led to Clay taking one of our two shots in the match – which was blocked, from outside of the box.

Beyond this, I felt that he struggled to win a lot of midfield battles (even if he technically won five out of his eight duels) and is still building chemistry with Panayotou, the “new” addition to the midfield trio.

Marc Ybarra (MF) – 5/10

Similar to Clay, Marc Ybarra put in his typical (exceptional) shift on the defensive end of the pitch, but was neutralized by Lilley-ball when it came to build up play and chance creation.

Noah Fuson (MF) – 6/10

Fuson’s performance filling in as the left-sided wingback, with Jojea Kwizera out on international duty, was one bright spot in this match. Fuson filled in relatively seamlessly and offered some different ideas than what we’re used to from Kwizera. Of the handful of chances that RIFC did create, Fuson was at the heart of several of them – whether he was the one to deliver the cross, or heavily involved in the build up play.

Stephen Turnbull (MF) – 5/10

Turnbull delivered four crosses in this match, and none of them found an RIFC player. Nonetheless, I thought Turnbull’s performance was fine. At least two of those crosses were inches away from being very high quality scoring chances for RIFC if a forward could have gotten on the end of it instead.

Jack Panayotou (MF) – 5/10

Rhode Island FC fans know the impact Jack P can have on a match – and while he failed to do it in this match, now is the correct time to work through it and get him clicking with the team again, like he was in May.

JJ Williams (F) – 6/10

Williams looked like the RIFC player who played the most like himself in the face of the Pittsburgh pressure and system. In his first start since August 7, Williams led all RIFC players with six touches in the opposition box, and winning six out of his seven aerial duels. JJ was also solid in build up play and linked up with Noah Fuson and Albert Dikwa well – and, crucially, he was also extremely close to getting on the end of a few crosses in the first half that would’ve flipped the story of this match on its head.

The bad news is, JJ Williams looked to be in some pretty serious pain after a couple of the knocks that he took during the match.

Albert Dikwa (F) – 4/10

Tough night for Dikwa on his return to Pittsburgh. He was involved in two very good chances early on in the match – but both were ultimately deemed to be offsides. His involvement in the match really slowed down after the first 20 minutes (again – not totally his fault), as he finished with just 34 touches and won only four of his 12 duels.

It must also be said that Dikwa’s turnover in our own half, deep into first half stoppage time, was one of the main factors leading to Pittsburgh’s first goal.

Subs

Zachary Herivaux (MF) (58th minute) – 5/10

It’s tough to evaluate substitute performances when they come into a game down a pair of goals, but I was pleased to see Herivaux back and thought he generally looked ready to pick up right where he left off before his injury at the beginning of August.

Gabriel Alves (MF) (69th minute) – 5/10

He had only 20 touches so not a huge amount to go on – but I thought he looked like a player who has not seen consistent minutes since May: a bit tentative with the ball, and a couple of turnovers.

Frank Nodarse (D) (75th minute) – 5/10

Perfectly competent defensive substitute performance.

Mark Doyle (F) (75th minute) – 4/10

The game was essentially dead by the time Doyle came on – and he wasn’t able to do much to change that. He lost his three duels and was dispossessed once on just 13 total touches.

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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.