What a night at Beirne Stadium. It was a brilliant send-off to the regular season on Saturday night as RIFC destroyed Miami FC 8-1. The win secured us 5th in the Eastern Conference with a trip to Indianapolis ahead of us. For Miami FC, it was fitting end to their disastrous season. Saturday night may very well have been the last time that we all got together at Beirne. So let’s take a look back on what happened on the field that complemented the party-like atmosphere in the stands.

RIFC got the party started early in this one with this 10th minute goal from Noah Fuson:

Noah produced a really composed finish on this one with JJ providing the assist after a long ball from Grant Stoneman. It was a sign of things to come from Miami’s defense, who were embarrassingly disorganized all game.

We would have our second goal around 5 minutes later:

This time, it was Noah proving the assist for JJ. The assist cemented Noah as top assist provider in the league and secured him the Golden Playmaker Award. Once again, Miami gave us acres of space to play the ball into and we made them pay.

We would get goal #3 in the 31st minute from an unlikely source:

It was a real forward’s finish there from Marc Ybarra, who found himself on the end of a low cross from Zach Herivaux. It was a little surprising to see Marc in that position because he normally sits further back and allows Zach and Clay to make those runs. But it was emblematic of a team full of confidence against a Miami team that just wanted to go home.

Number 4, which was the total number of goals I predicted that we would score in this one, came in the 40th minute:

We scored a penalty! JJ Williams took this one and buried it past the Miami goalkeeper who in his defense, did guess correctly. But JJ’s strike was too powerful and the rout was well and truly on.

Ok, the party did get paused when Miami’s Michael Lawrence put this one in:

It was another instance of us not being able to clear the ball out of our box and Lawrence’s shot deflected off of Karifa Yao and looped over the head of Koke.

Normalcy returned when JJ Williams immediately restored our 4 goal lead just before the break:

Look at the space between the last two Miami defenders. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like that. JJ did well to take advantage and secure his first half hat trick.

The onslaught continued in the 2nd half and at this point, I’m just going to put the remaining 3 goals here from Frank Nodarse, Albert Dikwa, and Jojea Kwizera:

Obviously, my favorite of those 3 goals was the first one from Frank Nodarse. Actually, that was my favorite goal on the night. It was a great finish to place the ball just inside the far post.

You’d be forgiven for losing count, but at the end of it all it was…

8-1 is just an insane score line, even against a team as bad as Miami.

Yeah I mean, there isn’t really much else to take away from this game. Our opposition was so bad that the game didn’t provide much insight as we head into the playoffs. I think it was great to see JJ get his 3 goals and it should be a major confidence boost for him. It was also great that Chico was able to get some minutes off the bench after coming back from injury and that he got a goal of his own. And lastly, I was so happy for Amos Shapiro-Thompson that he was able to get some time on the field.

I normally spend some time going over the lineup but again, this game really didn’t show us anything. The only thing to point out here is that Frank Nodarse got the start at RWB. I would’ve loved to ask Khano what went into that decision. Before Morris Duggan arrived on loan, we had a set back 3 of Nodarse, Yao and Stoneman. Duggan was always destined to be on the left side of that back 3, which would displace Nodarse. So I’m curious if Frank at RWB was something that was always in the cards or if it’s an adjustment that Khano has made in order to get our best players on the field.

I need to end this blog by reminiscing about this year. I’m really impressed with how everything has come together over the course of this season. It started out rough for us as we just couldn’t find ways to win games. But we also didn’t lose too many games and were able to grab vital points that helped us to get to where we are now. The turning point was the Memphis game, where we disastrously threw away a 2-0 lead late. It was after that where the team really came together and started to take off. Khano Smith deserves a lot of credit for making adjustments throughout the season and helping to make us a team no one wants to play in the playoffs.

I also want to look back at our time at Beirne Stadium as fans. I know that if there are some upsets we may return there in the playoffs. But if it was in fact our last game there, what a ride it has been. I’ve had the time of my life hanging out at the tailgates with all of you, especially this last one where I got to partake in some infamous Trunk Wine. Transformative, life-changing experience. The community that we’ve built around this team is special. We have people from all walks of life coming together with a singular focus: supporting RIFC. Long may it continue.

I’ll be back as usual later this week to preview our first ever playoff game at Indy Eleven. The game is on Sunday but as of now no time has been set. Some of us sickos at Tide Talk have figured out that the reason no time has been announced is likely because there is a possibility that the IU-Indy Women’s soccer will host a playoff game on Sunday. Indy Eleven play in the same stadium. And yes, I think I’ve figured out the tiebreakers for Horizon League Women’s Soccer, but I’m not going through that here so don’t worry. IU-Indy’s last game of the season is on Wednesday afternoon, so we should know more then. With that, until the next Prematch Lookout….UP THE TIDE!