What. A. Game. What an experience. RIFC sent shockwaves through the USL Championship, taking down the best team in the league 3-0 at Lynn Family Stadium. RIFC 3. Louisville City 0. The win puts us in the Eastern Conference finals and sets up a meeting with the Charleston Battery down in South Carolina. For Louisville City, it’s the first time in their 9 year history that they are not in the Eastern Conference Finals. I had the privilege of being at this game but before getting into that whole experience, let’s take a quick look at what went down on the field.

I was expecting us to have to deal with some early pressure from Louisville but that wasn’t really the case. We acquitted ourselves well and quickly grew into the game. It only took until the 9th minute for the first major moment to happen:

JJ Williams. That’s all that needs to be said about that really. Well, actually I have to shout out my guy Frank Nodarse there for causing the turnover from the throw-in. But after that it was all JJ. It was another confident finish from him and we were going crazy in the stands.

I thought the balance of play was relatively even for the rest of the first half. And that’s actually a big compliment for our guys in amber and blue. Louisville normally dominates possession at home but we stood up to them in the first half and gave them a massive challenge. We almost went in to halftime up 2-0, as Noah Fuson had a great chance that was blocked by Louisville defender Kyle Adams just before the whistle.

Louisville brought on Phillip Goodrum to start the 2nd half to play next to Wilson Harris up front. They were not messing around. Goodrum and Harris rarely play together, so this was a statement of intent from Louisville by putting their two best forwards on the field at the same time. The 2nd half started how I expected the 1st half to start. Louisville put a ton of pressure on us and created several chances. There was some heroic defending, highlighted by a great sliding block from Grant Stoneman. And then in the 78th minute…..

It was JJ Williams yet again. It was a terrible pass across Louisville’s own goal and JJ took advantage. He’s so confident in front of goal right now that he was able to have the composure to take the touches he needed to free himself up to bury that shot.

Not too long after this, Louisville had a possible goal that was ruled out for the ball not crossing the line. All I can really say about that is that while I think it crossed the line, I can’t say definitively either way. We then closed the game out with this:

There’s a lot to talk about with this play but it starts with Mark Doyle. I didn’t even realize it was him in real time but he did a fantastic job to take the ball away and play a beautiful through ball across to Albert Dikwa. Dikwa did well to get to the ball first and draw the penalty. It was unfortunate that Noah Fuson didn’t bury the penalty but Dikwa was alert to follow it up and put the game away. Louisville did have a chance right at the end of stoppage time to get a goal with a penalty of their own, but Sean Totsch’s shot was pretty tame and Koke got down to make the save.

3-0 RIFC. As for how I felt at the final whistle…

But how did we do it?

Thanks to Khano, I haven’t had to make a new graphic in weeks. We kept the same lineup that’s been working for us and it continued to work wonders for us in Louisville. Our midfield 3 was yet again so important. They were able to break up play and win a lot of 2nd balls in the middle of the field. That limited a lot of what Louisville was trying to do.

Our back 3 was also incredible. They needed to be for the first 30 minutes or so of the 2nd half especially. Louisville had really cranked up the pressure but we were able to clear the ball away time and time again. The wingbacks however didn’t have the best game. I think a lot of that had to do with being pinned back by Louisville. Frank Nodarse especially struggled going forward and had some misplaced passes.

Koke Vegas was great in goal and our forwards were fantastic. Noah Fuson didn’t have a great game by his recent standards, but JJ Williams was unbelievable yet again. He was unstoppable when he had the ball going towards goal. And aside from his goals, he also was a beast in the air and almost always won his duels.

Lastly, I have to shout out the players who came off the bench in this one. Particularly Kofi Twumasi. Kofi was brilliant in this game just as he was the week before. It’s crazy to think that he hasn’t had major minutes in months but has turned up at the most important point of the season to give us great defensive minutes. Mark Doyle also showed up. As I mentioned earlier, he set up the Dikwa play that drew a penalty. And shoutout to Amos Shapiro-Thompson for getting some minutes too.

Overall, this was an incredible performance from the team. We were tactically sound. We withstood the inevitable pressure from Louisville. And we were carried to the finish line by the most in form player in the league, JJ Williams. But this is not where this blog ends. I made the trip down to Louisville and instead of making a separate travel blog, I figured I’d just put some words down in here. So without further ado…..

Yours truly and Tide Talk’s very own resident loudmouth clam Kevin (aka FQB), travelled down to Louisville, Kentucky for this game. FQB picked me up in a Dodge Charger on Friday night at 4:30 sharp. I could hear some rap music blasting from his car from my basement before I even got out of the house. We drove through Connecticut and somehow managed to not throw up. We made our way through New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and a tiny sliver of West Virginia before stopping off just over the border into Ohio to get a few hours of sleep.

We were back on the road Saturday morning, just 5 hours way from Louisville. Defiance 1636 and La Banda also drove down in a van. By some crazy coincidence, when we called to check on them, they were stopped at a McDonald’s that we were 1 mile away from. It was great to stop by and say hello to our fellow RIFC supporters who made the journey. Then, an hour or so later we flew by some other RIFC fans on the highway. This had to be a good omen.

After grabbing some barbecue in Louisville, we would all convene in the Gold Lot outside of Lynn Family Stadium where we were so graciously welcomed by the Louisville City supporters. I truly can’t say enough about how amazing those people were. They were passing out bourbon shots. They were talking soccer with us. It was a party.

We then headed into the stadium and the atmosphere that we created was lead by La Banda. They were drumming nonstop from an hour before the game until after the final whistle. We even won over some fans next to us who loved the passion and performance that was being put on. And as for Lynn Family Stadium: What. A. Venue. Unbelievable place to see a game. We had an amazing view from the stands even though we were all the way in the corner in the highest section. It made me even more excited for Tidewater next season.

As for what went on in the stands, it was nonstop drumming. We also had a random drunk Louisville fan join us before we kicked him out. And as for the celebrations, most of us lost our minds for all 3 goals. For me, I lost it for the first one but was pretty subdued for the final two. I think I was just in a state of shock.

Walking out of the stadium, the Louisville fans had nothing but kind words. They were all obviously very down about their team being eliminated but they all wished us the best and told us they hoped we go on to win it all. Once again, all class from the Louisville fans.

I don’t think the win really hit me until we were back at the hotel and I was trying to go to sleep. And when we were driving back on Sunday, I caught myself constantly saying “I can’t believe that just happened. We just beat Louisville”. The drive back was a grueling one, as it rained the entire 15 hours back to Rhode Island. For this, FQB is a hero. A legend. He drove the entire the way. It was a trip fueled by McDoubles and Red Bull. Electronic music and rap music. But it was also fueled by a shared love of RIFC. I will remember this trip for the rest of my life (especially that deer that ran in front of the car on the way down in West Virginia at 2am, 15 minutes from our stop).

Up next, we have a matchup with the Charleston Battery. Some more fans are making that trip as well. It is much easier to fly to Charleston from Rhode Island. But it is also a 15 hour drive. Just like Louisville. I’m not sure if I’m going to make it down there, but I will know by the time I write the Prematch Lookout. I will say now that I encourage anyone who has a chance to go to just make the trip. It’s worth it to follow your team. The worst case scenario is you see the team’s final game of the season. And the best case scenario is you see them win the conference and go to the finals. But until the Prematch Lookout later in the week, as always I will leave you with….UP THE TIDE!