Rhode Island FC failed to capitalize on two separate leads in their match against Phoenix Rising FC, and left Phoenix with only a point following a 2-2 draw.

The result was disappointing for a handful of reasons. Firstly, Phoenix Rising FC is a fine team with a promising young core – but if Rhode Island are as good as we think they are, Phoenix is a team they should beat. On paper this may have been the most winnable game of our road trip to start the season.

Additionally, this was closer to our full strength lineup than what was rolled out in Charleston last weekend – so to see a similar lack of composure and control as we saw last week was frustrating.

On the bright side, there were some promising individual performances – so let’s get to the player ratings.

Rhode Island FC Player Ratings:

ESPN+ Graphics Coordinator – 0/10

Genuinely one of the most shocking, shambolic performances I’ve seen in my entire life. I simply can’t imagine showing up to my job and putting in this appalling of a shift.

Koke Vegas (GK) – 5/10

Koke’s distribution was quite good, and he made a big save on Damien Rivera in the 72nd minute to keep the score equal. Could he have done better on the second goal to cover that ball? Probably… ^{_{Lee Saves That}?}.

Grant Stoneman (D) – 5/10

Not the best night for our defensive unit overall, but I think Stoneman probably showed the most composure (as is often the case). This is more like a 5.5, as Stoneman made a few crucial interventions later in the game.

Karifa Yao (D) – 5/10

Again, mostly an average night for Yao. The backline in possession was pretty uninspired, and the defending was sloppy during the chances Phoenix Rising did get. Yao made a few key clearances, but I can’t unsee the moment in the first half where he recovered for a bad Frank turnover, then made an even worse turnover of his own.

Frank Nodarse (D) – 4/10

I’m sorry, Matt Hands, but this was a poor Frank performance. Closer to a 3/10 but I’m adding a point due to his contribution to our second goal.

There were several sloppy moments and I won’t harp on all of them… but, for the second Phoenix goal, Frank is half asleep defending the far post as two attacking players crash the net. It was a good cross, but the ball has practically already landed by the time Frank reacts.

Shortly after, Frank appears caught between two minds again as he is sort of stuck between stepping up to the ball, or covering Rovira on this attack. He makes a decent recovery once the ball is laid off to Rovira (which was inevitable), but could’ve done more to take away that option altogether.

Aldair Sanchez (MF) – 8/10

Aldair was the clear highlight of an otherwise frustrating match. I won’t crown him yet after just one performance, but I thought this was one of the most dynamic left wingback performances we’ve seen from a Rhode Island FC player.

Aldair offered something completely different than Jojea – he doesn’t beat his man with pace but with technical ability, and consistently sent in lethal crosses with a massive amount of variety in his deliveries. When you add to that his set piece deliveries – which weren’t quite Juan David Torres-quality, but maybe the next best thing – Aldair will be hard to drop with a couple more performances like this.

Aldair created the most chances in the match with five, and completed 10 out of his 14 attempted crosses (the next highest player in the game completed TWO). All of this and without even mentioning… he was also the youngest player on the pitch for RIFC.

Clay Holstad (MF) – 6/10

Clay immediately made his presence felt in his return to the midfield. He was good but not great – his ball-carrying and pressure on the ball was exceptional (as it always is) but some errant passes and a couple of loose touches crept in here as well.

Taimu Okiyoshi (MF) – 5/10

This was a big improvement over Taimu’s performance last week, and I’m excited to see him develop and become more comfortable. For a change, we were playing in a double pivot with both Taimu and Clay positioned in front of the defense, and Maxi playing ahead of them. Taimu seemed to benefit from having Clay at his side, as opposed to being the lone holding midfielder last weekend.

From that position, he should be getting more than just 25 touches. He did ping some beautiful long passes as well.

Maxi Rodriguez (MF) – 5/10

Maxi’s best contribution was a beautiful through ball to Albert Dikwa to set up our first goal. Outside of that – all the intangibles you’d expect from a player of Maxi’s quality (tidy in possession, great pressing, always hustling), but didn’t translate to much impact on the night.

He hit an absolute rocket in the 67th minute that would’ve blown the roof off of The Guild. The technique was clearly there though… feels like Maxi could give Clay a run for RIFC goal of the season this year.

Noah Fuson (MF) – 3/10

Honestly just a night where everything went wrong for one of my favorite players. He simply did not look comfortable playing in the right wingback position. He looked indecisive and lacked confidence whether he tried to take on his man, cut back, hit a cross, etc. – and most of the time just ended up passing backwards… or worse, losing the ball.

JJ Williams (F) – 8/10

The other major positive from last night was that we look like a much more dominant team with JJ Williams in the starting lineup. Right from kickoff (especially the first 10 minutes) we were so threatening and it was all running through JJ Williams – and in particular, his ability to use his head to flick on passes to other players and cause chaos in the opponent’s box.

The most outrageous stat of them all is that JJ won 12 out of his 19 aerial duels… the next highest player in the game – a Phoenix Rising centerback – won just five.

Albert Dikwa (F) – 6/10

Dikwa himself looked much improved with the addition of JJ Williams. The two were linking up beautifully – and having JJ central allowed Dikwa to wander out wide on either side and link up with the wingbacks at times. He missed a few shots that probably could’ve been goals on another night… but, the fact that he’s getting the opportunities is encouraging.

Dikwa also hit the inch-perfect lobbed ball to JJ Williams to open the scoring just under six minutes into the match.

“Fun” fact – this was the first time that Dikwa and Williams have combined to score a goal…

Subs

Marc Ybarra (MF) – 4/10

Ybarra’s entrance signaled our return to the standard single defensive holding midfielder flanked by two more progressive number eights. Nonetheless, Ybarra was eager to spring into the attack (which I always appreciate) but the quality was not quite there tonight.

Zachary Herivaux (MF) – 5/10

Perfectly average – I’m assuming we will continue to see midfield rotation and may see Herivaux get a start over the next one-two matches – especially if Clay picked up a knock (which looks very possible).

Amos Shapiro-Thompson (MF) – N/A (less than 10 touches)

Joe Brito (MF) – N/A (less than 10 touches)

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Rating Scale:

• 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 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.