Rhode Island FC went down to Charleston and came out with a 2-1 victory in the Eastern Conference Finals. RIFC have now gone through the four seed, the one seed, and the two seed to come out as the champions of the Eastern Conference. Now they need one more win – against the Colorado Switchbacks next Saturday – to end their inaugural season with a championship.

The stats tell you everything you need to know about the impressive road win for Rhode Island. With just 34% possession of the ball, they had four times as many shots on target as Charleston. The game plan and execution on the field were damn-near perfect, as Charleston really never looked especially threatening – including the Golden Boot-winning Nick Markanich.

Here are my player ratings for Rhode Island FC’s playoff game against Charleston Battery on Saturday, November 16, 2024.

Koke Vegas (GK) — 6/10

Thanks to truly impressive team defending, RIFC limited Charleston to only two shots on target. Koke made one relatively straightforward save, and some other crucial interventions throughout the match. RIFC did concede one goal on a beautifully taken free kick – Koke looked to be maybe one or two steps off his line that may have impeded him from getting a glove to this… but no there’s no guarantee he would’ve stopped it anyway.

Grant Stoneman (D) — 6/10

Stoneman didn’t have an amazing statistical game – but, as they often say, sometimes the best game for a center back is a quiet game. Stoneman is a major part of keeping our back line organized, and it was very organized against Charleston. 67% pass accuracy is low for Stoneman (this was true of many of our players though), and winning just one out of his four ground duels isn’t great either – but Stoneman was perfectly good.

Karifa Yao (D) — 7/10

Yao was not only solid defensively, but had a couple of our best chances of the game in attack as well. At the time of writing this, it’s contested whether Yao or Herivaux scored the opening goal – but I’m calling it for Yao, as he scored on a headed shot off of a long throw from Clay Holstad. Mid-way through the second half, Yao had another golden opportunity around the six-yard box on a cutback pass from Marc Ybarra that he put just wide.

Yao also had nine total defensive actions, including four clearances, and one huge one-on-one block in the first ten minutes of the game when Charleston was looking threatening. He also won seven out of his 11 total aerial duels.

Morris Duggan (D) — 7/10

Duggan was our best defender – especially in the first 20 minutes, when Rhode Island FC was still settling into the match. He comfortably dealt with several different Charleston threats during that time.

As the game went on, Duggan chipped in with three interceptions and an unbelievable 11 ball recoveries – when he recovered, he constantly looked to carry or pass the ball forward. Duggan even put in a solid delivery off of a corner kick, which led to a JJ Williams headed shot attempt.

Frank Nodarse (MF) — 6/10

It was another solid performance at right wing back, in a growing list of them, for Frank Nodarse. There was a couple of shaky moments early – including one in the first five minutes where I felt he could’ve done more to track back – but he grew into the game and kept our right wing under control from any Charleston threats. He finished with eight defensive actions including two successful tackles, and winning six out of his eight aerial duels.

Clay Holstad (MF) — 7/10

This was one of the best Clay performances we’ve seen in several weeks – and not just because of his two assists. Starting with the obvious, Clay assisted on both goals with a long throw-in leading to Yao’s goal, and a great midfield run and ball into Noah Fuson for our second goal.

Outside of that, Clay was the best version of his usual self with endless energy in the midfield, breaking up Charleston counter attacks, progressive runs leading to solid attacking chances, and a couple of good shot attempts on top of it.

Zachary Herivaux (MF) — 6/10

In the interest of not giving every midfielder a 7/10 or higher, I think Zach has to be the one who drops a point. His midfield play was characteristically good – contributing to build up, breaking up Charleston attacking, winning 50/50 balls – but he did have me very nervous that he was going to pick up a second yellow card.

I’m still not 100% sure what his first yellow card was for. Was it for clipping the goalkeeper, or the foul after? Or was it for dissent after the foul? It was a bit unclear from the broadcast… I’m going with dissent, but I could be mistaken.

Marc Ybarra (MF) — 7/10

Ybarra was outstanding for the second week in a row. I actually have fewer comments on Ybarra defensively in this match, but he was a crucial part of our attack as he created three chances – the second most of all players in the match. He had several set piece deliveries and just about all of them were dangerous.

He had multiple moments of good build up play working up the left with Noah Fuson – one of which led to a great chance for Karifa Yao around the six-yard box in the 66th minute.

Noah Fuson (MF) — 8/10

Fuson had the tough job of moving out of his central position from the last several matches, and playing at left wing back in Jojea Kwizera’s absence. This meant not only was Fuson expected to maintain his impact on the offensive end, but also had significant defensive duties.

Fuson’s offensive output didn’t seem to suffer at all from being on the left wing, as he led all players with five chances created. Most importantly, Fuson scored our second goal of the game – which would prove to be the game winner – early in the second half.

Fuson paired up regularly with combinations of Duggan, Ybarra, JJ Williams, Dikwa, or Herivaux to work the ball up the left wing. Those same combinations of players also pressed with great coordination to win the ball back and/or pin Charleston back in their own half.

Equally importantly – Fuson led all Rhode Island players with 12 defensive actions as well, including four successful tackles and five ball recoveries. He also won six out of his 12 ground duels.

Albert Dikwa (F) — 7/10

Dikwa’s performance in his return to the starting lineup may fly a bit under the radar, but he had a great game and worked extremely hard to get this team over the finish line.

Dikwa used his body wisely and goaded Charleston into fouling him four times. Two of these came in the first twenty minutes when Charleston was largely on the attack, so it went a long way to calm down RIFC. Dikwa was not the primary striker on Saturday and he played the role perfectly, regularly dropping deep or moving out wide to help Rhode Island build up. He battled all night long, contesting a game-high 22 balls and winning 11 of them.

Dikwa had a shot attempt go just wide in the 20th minute, and nearly pressed Charleston into another mistake just moments after the first Rhode Island goal. Dikwa scored a goal in the 51st minute that would be called back due to a foul by Frank Nodarse during the build up… I don’t buy it at all, I think it was a good goal.

Finally, in the last 15 minutes of the game, with Rhode Island clinging to a one-goal lead, Dikwa killed clock absolutely masterfully. Between he, Joe Brito, and Mark Doyle, the trio would work themselves into a corner deep in the Charleston half, hold up the ball until the Charleston pressure came, and then hit it off a Charleston player to win a corner or a throw in.

JJ Williams (F) — 6/10

Obviously this was a bit of a more muted performance from JJ – considering it’s the first time he hasn’t scored multiple goals in a game for three weeks – but he still brought a lot to the table. Williams looked threatening in the air on the many set pieces and corners that Rhode Island had, and he did win 67% of his aerial duels. When Dikwa, or Fuson, were making runs out wide, JJ was making himself available inside the box to give them a target.

There was some questionable decision-making, including a few errant passes, and a high boot that I honestly thought could’ve been given as a red card… but nothing that can’t be forgiven. Crucially, we also saw JJ continue to play with the confidence that he’s had for the last several weeks – evidenced by him running straight at three Charleston defenders in the 65th minute. He honestly had all three of them just about beat, but the last man made a great lunging tackle to block JJ’s shot.

Subs

Joe Brito (MF) (72nd minute) — 7/10

Brito has done it again – he subs on with a lead, and is so incredibly effective at killing clock by holding up the ball. Even in our defensive half, Brito contributed by winning a foul at the top of our box to relieve pressure. I already mentioned for Albert Dikwa, but Brito’s ability to get into a dangerous position, assess if there is an opportunity to attack there, and – if not – then dribble out to the corner to hold up the ball and usually win a corner or a throw in.

He and Mark Doyle – his fellow time-wasting attack-minded sub – got up to a bit of Dark Arts. The “oopsie daisy. I’m a professional athlete but I’m so clumsy I accidentally threw the ball over your head” will never not be funny.

Mark Doyle (F) (82nd minute) — 6/10

Like Brito, Mark Doyle essentially came on to kill clock, and seize an opportunity if one presented itself. In stoppage time, he very nearly did with this shot that would’ve killed the game.

Kofi Twumasi (D) (90th minute) — 5/10

We were in full hunker-down mode by the time Twumasi came on as a defensive midfield substitution for Herivaux – who was on a yellow, and looked dangerously close to getting a second one a couple of times. Not much to report on!

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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.