RIFC grabbed another 3 points this past weekend, defeating the Tampa Bay Rowdies 3-1 at Beirne Stadium. The result highlighted the fact that these are two teams heading in opposite directions. RIFC have now won their third straight match while Tampa Bay have lost 6 of their last 8. The boys in amber and blue put out one of their best performances of the season, so I’m especially excited to take a look at how it all went down.

Well, it began with a brilliant start right out of the gate. It was a different kind of great start from last game, as we didn’t get a goal in the first minute in this one. But we looked dangerous in the attacking third with great movement from our forwards and midfielders. Without the ball, our press was energetic and effective. This paid off handsomely in the 21st minute:

Tampa Bay goalkeeper Jordan Farr was caught out by his former teammate and roommate Zach Herivaux. It was an especially entertaining goal from a fan perspective, as Farr was very animated towards the home supporter’s section behind his goal right before kickoff. The goal really epitomized the hard working, energetic way we started the game.

It was much of the same for the rest of the first half. We were the better team and deserved the 1-0 lead going into halftime. I will say that our energy did seem to drop a little bit after our goal and Tampa Bay were able to get into the game slightly more. They looked a little dangerous in attack at times but there wasn’t anything too concerning.

The second half was a continuation of the first half. We continued to win a lot of second balls and our counterpress was fantastic. We generated a lot of opportunities from quickly winning the ball back and putting Tampa Bay under pressure. Our 2nd goal of the game though came from a throw-in in the 69th minute:

JJ Williams did well there to win the header and flick it into Noah Fuson’s path. Noah then did what Noah does with another brilliant finish from out wide. I could see how some could see that and think it was a cross. But Noah has said previously that he works on that shot all the time, so I’m going to say he 100% meant that.

Just two minutes later though, Tampa Bay would pull one back:

Rhode Island native and New England Revolution youth product Damien Rivera provided a nice pass there and Manuel Arteaga took a good touch to get around Karifa Yao before he buried his shot.

We had some more defending to do and Tampa Bay almost scored an equalizer immediately after their first goal. But we dealt with the pressure and ended up putting the game away in the 85th minute:

This was another example of our press working wonders. We won the ball back, quickly got it to our playmaker Noah, and he slotted JJ through wonderfully for the goal. We would come close to getting another goal before all was said and done, but the game would end 3-1 and we would collect another massive 3 points.

You already know that for me, it starts with how we set up. I looked something like this:

Coach Khano elected to play Noah Fuson out wide and start JJ Williams at striker next to Albert Dikwa. The big question coming into this one was about what we were going to do without Jojea Kwizera at the LWB spot. I had suggested in the Prematch Lookout that we should play Gabi Alves at LWB and keep Noah up top with Dikwa. Once again, this is a reminder why Khano gets paid the big bucks and I sit here and write about the team for free in my spare time.

Khano definitely got it right here and Noah had a brilliant game. I thought that he might have less of an impact going forward if he had to play as a wingback and cover defensively. But we suffocated Tampa Bay at times with our press and Noah had plenty of opportunities going forward.

The 3 man midfield made a huge difference as well. Marc Ybarra did well to connect our defense with our midfield and attack. His play also enabled Clay Holstad and Zach Herivaux the freedom to make their runs and disrupt play further up the field. This of course helped lead to our first goal, where Zach closed down Tampa’s goalkeeper. Clay was also all over the field and as usual, had a big impact on our performance. It’s been so great to see this midfield come together the way that it has over our last few games. If things continue this way, we will be an extremely dangerous team come playoff time.

Speaking of the playoffs, this is where things currently stand in the Eastern Conference:

Looking at the standings, we do have a possibility of getting a home playoff match. This win over Tampa Bay puts us in 5th currently, level on points with the Rowdies. Tampa Bay does have the tiebreaker over us due to their 4-1 win earlier in the season giving them a 5-4 aggregate lead over our two matchups. The other team that we’re really competing with for a home playoff game is Indy Eleven. Indy have a game in hand on us but that game comes Tuesday night at Loudoun United. A win for Indy would put them ahead of us and into 5th. But a draw or loss keeps them behind us with the same number of games played. That puts destiny in our own hands as far as keeping ourselves ahead of them in the standings. This is especially important as just like Tampa Bay, Indy Eleven has the tiebreaker over us. For Indy, it’s due to our infamous loss against them earlier in the season in the game before our home derby against Hartford.

All of that being said, I think a home playoff game is still going to be really difficult to achieve. I say this because we’re going to be without Jojea Kwizera most likely until the last game of the season against Miami FC. Jojea is set to be going away on international duty with Rwanda. Noah Fuson is also going to miss our next game through suspension. Frustratingly, while his suspension was put on hold for this game due to an appeal, it is now in place for our next game against Loudoun. Khano Smith had a lot to say about it during the press conference after the game and it’s worth a listen:

I find the press conferences fascinating and if you have the time I would recommend listening to it in it’s entirety. But the first two and half minutes here are where Khano says his piece on the situation regarding Noah and Jojea.

I’ll have more on our upcoming match with Loudoun later this week. And for more on this win over Tampa Bay, check out Timmy’s Player Ratings (spoiler alert: I think he was a little too harsh overall).

Before I go though, I have to say that personally this was my favorite game I’ve gone to all year. There was just something different about it. Defiance 1636 absolutely brought it in the supporter’s section. They always do, but there was something extra on Saturday night. I said this a few times during the game but it really felt like a playoff atmosphere. We brought the energy in the stands, the players brought the energy on the field, and the two complemented each other to lead to a massive homefield advantage. I’m having the time of my life writing about this team and I can’t wait to see how we finish out the regular season. Until next time, UP THE TIDE!