Rhode Island FC had a chance on Sunday evening to clinch a playoff berth in their inaugural season, and move into fourth place over Indy Eleven with a win against Loudoun United. Unfortunately, just like the reverse fixture when RIFC and Loudoun met on August 24th, this match ended in a 0-0 draw.

Rhode Island FC were missing their top scorer in Albert Dikwa, and their two primary creators in Noah Fuson and Jojea Kwizera – and it showed. When Tide Talk’s own Ryan correctly predicted the RIFC starting 11 earlier in the week, I responded that it “had 0-0 written all over it”. Just saying.

A home playoff game is still not mathematically off the table, but RIFC dropping points at home to Loudoun before traveling to Charleston next weekend may prove to be the final nail in that coffin.

Here are my player ratings for Rhode Island FC vs. Loudoun United FC on Sunday, October 13, 2024.

Koke Vegas (GK) – 6/10

Koke didn’t have a massive amount to do in this match, but he was perfect when called upon. Most significantly, he made two big saves in the second half – including a diving save on a headed chance that was traveling for the top right corner. Additionally, his long ball distribution was back over 50%, and he claimed a couple of dangerous Loudoun crosses as well. It was a well-earned clean sheet for Koke.

Grant Stoneman (D) – 6/10

In the first half, Loudoun had 60% of the ball and managed zero shots on target. The Rhode Island defensive unit, and Stoneman himself, deserve a lot of credit for the clean sheet and keeping Loudoun limited in their attack. It does help that both wingbacks were also defense-first players.

Stoneman did make a perfect lunging tackle in second half stoppage time to preserve the 0-0 scoreline.

Karifa Yao (D) – 7/10

Again, it was a solid defensive performance by the team unit and Yao was a big part of this. Per usual, being the central defender playing in the middle of the defense, Yao collected many of the statistics including a team-high 10 defensive actions and a game-high five clearances. These were not just empty stats though, as Yao truly did put out a lot of fires in and around our box in this match. He also continues to grow in confidence and competence with the ball at his feet.

Yao and Nodarse had one shaky moment in the 64th minute. Yao missed a clearance, and Nodarse attempted to cover but also missed the challenge. It led to a corner kick which yielded Loudoun’s best chance of the game… but, we got away with it with some help from the goal frame.

Frank Nodarse (D) – 6/10

Last but not least, Nodarse was a great contributor to Rhode Island’s solid team defense on Sunday night as well. Like many of our players, Nodarse seemed to come alive and join in on the attack for the final period of the game. He made a good run through the middle of the field leading to a Joe Brito shot that narrowly missed the net in the 78th minute.

Morris Duggan (MF) – 5/10

Duggan played very much like a centerback being asked to play as a wingback. He was absolutely fine, and especially comfortable defensively – but he was mostly pretty conservative in possession, and it highlighted how much we missed Jojea Kwizera. In the final 30-or-so minutes, recognizing the important of getting all three points, Duggan did start to get further forward and play some more progressive stuff.

Zachary Herivaux (MF) – 5/10

I am working hard to separate Herivaux’s performance as a midfielder vs. his performance “replacing” Noah Fuson in the lineup. In the midfield, Herivaux did everything that he usually does so well: lots of dirty work, solid ball progression and link up, endless amounts of running and tracking back, and an 80% success rate on ground duels.

However, I did think the team missed Fuson’s creativity and distribution in the attacking half. Herivaux did fine and picked up some good positions, but the killer pass wasn’t really there for him. I didn’t love his yellow card either, as he was running down a Loudoun player who had his back to our goal… the challenge really wasn’t necessary.

Marc Ybarra (MF) – 6/10

It was a typically solid performance for Ybarra. There isn’t much that jumps off the stat sheet, but he was doing his usual dirty work in the midfield. He was actually involved in several of the best attacking chances for RI in this match as well. He put in a great delivery for his one corner kick of the game, which Mark Doyle headed just barely over the net – and then later in the first half had his own headed opportunity that forced the Loudoun keeper into a great save at the bottom right corner of the net.

Clay Holstad (MF) – 5/10

I expected Clay to grab this game by the scruff of its neck with some of the other regular “first name on the team sheet” players missing. He certainly didn’t play poorly – but he didn’t impact the game like we know he can while playing in his preferred midfield position.

He did get one good opportunity after being moved out to the right wing in the second half. He received a well-weighted through ball from Jack Panayotou – but the cross from Clay was overhit and ultimately left a lot to be desired. There were a couple of sloppy moments due to the wet conditions in the second half – and likely tired legs as well, considering Clay has played the second most minutes on the team.

Stephen Turnbull (MF) – 5/10

Turnbull was perfectly average on Sunday, but I hoped for more. With Morris Duggan – a central defender – replacing Jojea Kwizera on the left flank, I expected Turnbull to make better use of his license to get forward and attack on the right. We’ve seen him do it at other times throughout this season. Unfortunately, it was not the case on Sunday night.

He did create a good chance in the 12th minute with a whipped cross that wasn’t too far over Herivaux’s head.

JJ Williams (F) – 6/10

RIFC didn’t have too many high quality scoring opportunities in this match, but most of the chances they did have involved JJ Williams. He used his head to flick on a dangerous ball in the box that led to a Marc Ybarra headed shot in the first half. Just a few minutes later, Williams forced a save with a long free kick that he put on net. Late in the second half, JJ had a great opportunity on a half volley from a deflected Jack P cross, which he put over the net but not by an enormous amount.

While the end product wasn’t there in this match, JJ was also one of the teams main outlets for progressing the ball – winning 8/14 aerial duels in the match. Not only was he instrumental to our (fairly toothless) offense, but he had the second most defensive actions on the team as well with nine, including three clearances – at least one of which was a crucial intervention late in the game.

Mark Doyle (F) – 3/10

This was a big opportunity for Mark Doyle as he replaced the injured Albert Dikwa in the lineup. They’re big shoes to fill, but this was an especially disappointing performance.

In Doyle’s minutes this season, he has generally put himself in the right place at the right time (even if the goal production hasn’t been there), and been helpful in build up play. He did neither of these things on Sunday night, and he squandered a couple of good opportunities in the first half with misplaced passes and/or holding the ball for too long. His positioning and runs off the ball didn’t appear to offer much for his teammates either.

Subs

Jack Panayotou (MF) (61st minute) – 6/10

This was probably Jack P’s best showing since returning to RIFC for his second stint. In fact, this substitution could’ve come even earlier (like at half time). He subbed on and immediately looked to attack – starting a good counter attack almost right away in the 62nd minute. A few minutes later, he had a clever flick to combine with Herivaux and create another scoring opportunity.

Shortly after, he hit a solid cross in that led to a good chance for JJ Williams. He followed these chances up with some crosses that were cleared out relatively easily – but at least he was trying something.

Joe Brito (MF) (70th minute) – 6/10

It wasn’t too long ago that Joe Brito would be starting for RIFC, and I would be waiting for him to get subbed off. How quickly things can change; now I’m waiting for him to get subbed ON, and I actually thought – like the Jack P sub – that this could have come even earlier.

Again, very much like Jack P, Brito comes on and looks to attack every time – plain and simple. It took a few minutes after coming on, but Brito had a very good shot from the top of the 18-yard box that went wide left of the net by mere inches. He also had some good build up with Clay Holstad on the right side of the field.

Kofi Twumasi (F) (84th minute) – 5/10

Really nothing to grade here. Twumasi is a great depth addition to have back on the bench, but I actually didn’t particularly like this substitution at the time – more out of frustration with the lack of attacking depth on the bench than anything to do with Kofi.

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.