There are very few things that I would describe as “perfect”, but yesterday’s Rhode Island FC match was about as close as you can get. I am still in a state of disbelief over getting to see the stadium open after five long years of waiting. There are so many of us who have put any combination of time, effort, money, blood, sweat, and tears into supporting this team – even before they’d played a minute on the pitch – and yesterday was a culmination and celebration of all of that.

It was one of those days that, as it was unfolding, I knew I would remember for the rest of my life. I’m already nostalgic for it, when it was literally yesterday. Every single detail was perfect – the bike ride, the tailgate, the March to the Match, and getting to experience it all with my wife, friends, and football family.

As much as we all would’ve loved to see a Rhode Island FC win, I think a draw against the Western Conference leaders, San Antonio FC, was a solid result – especially considering our significantly depleted lineup.

I’m going to need to experience Tidewater several more times before I can put any kind of coherent thoughts together on the stadium. Fortunately, we all have two more opportunities to do exactly that within the next week with the New England Revolution coming to town on May 7 for our fourth round matchup in the U.S. Open Cup, followed by Monterey Bay FC on Saturday, May 10. With this in mind, let’s get to the footie.

Of course, you can also read Matt Hands’ Postmatch Points blog here, and tune in to the Tide Talk podcast post match reaction tonight.

Khano set up in a 4-2-3-1 formation – largely out of necessity – after it served us well in Westchester last time out. There were a couple of changes as Joe Brito and Amos Shapiro-Thompson were inserted into the lineup, while several other players played different positions including Zach Herivaux moving into central defense, and Noah Fuson playing as the primary striker.

Rhode Island FC Player Ratings:

Koke Vegas (GK) – 6/10

San Antonio didn’t do much to challenge Koke, but a clean sheet is a clean sheet. Koke’s distribution was above average in this game, and he made two saves including this one in the 62nd minute:

Grant Stoneman (D) – 5/10

Stoneman did (and does) a lot of thankless defensive work for Rhode Island FC, so I’m not going to knock him too hard… but in the moments that could’ve made the difference in this match, he was a bit shaky yesterday.

First, he was playing the San Antonio FC player onside in the Koke save shown above. Then, he made an absolute mess defending this ball late in the game. I think Stoneman is quite lucky that LaCava made a bad decision here and fluffed the opportunity, otherwise this would be getting a lot more attention.

Zachary Herivaux (D) – 5/10

I honestly barely noticed Herivaux yesterday, which is a good thing for a central defender. I’m really hopeful to see him back in the midfield on Wednesday against the Revolution, with Nodarse presumably coming back into central defense.

Rio Hope-Gund (D) – 5/10

I’m a big fan of the decision for Rhode Island FC to re-sign Rio, as I think he’s played his role perfectly since joining the club. Rio’s job in this current system is really to stay home and defend the right side (allowing other players like Kwizera in front of him, and Sanchez on the opposite flank, some latitude to attack), and he’s done it very competently.

Aldair Sanchez (D) – 6/10

Aldair’s crossing and set piece delivery caused San Antonio plenty of problems last night. My biggest takeaway was that his best strength (his crossing) is significantly hindered when we are without JJ Williams, Frank Nodarse, and Karifa Yao, as he went just 1/6 on cross attempts.

Clay Holstad (MF) – 7/10

First of all, head-wrap Clay was giving off Beric Dondarrion energy.

The single most important development with us switching to the 4-2-3-1 shape has been the return of Clay to the midfield, where he is most effective. He’s good everywhere on the pitch, but he completely changes the game in midfield.

Clay led the team with 73 touches (this is exactly what I want), and he also had four shot attempts. The broadcast made some comments implying that they weren’t great shots, or that he should stop taking them? I couldn’t disagree more. If there’s one person with unlimited license to have a crack from outside the box, it’s Clay – particularly when we didn’t have a big target inside the box.

Maxi Rodriguez (MF) – 7/10

Before anyone comes at me for the midfield player ratings… let me say this, I think Clay, Maxi, and Amos were all more like 7.5’s.

Maxi’s determination to score in the second half was palpable all around the stadium, and it’s incredibly unlucky that he didn’t on one of his seven total shots. The San Antonio FC keeper had a very, very good game in my opinion – not only making several key saves (including the one below on Maxi), but also snuffing out a lot of other dangerous chances before they became shots on target.

Amos Shapiro-Thompson (MF) – 8/10

What a journey it’s been for Amos. From being one of the club’s first-ever signings, to being sidelined for almost the entirety of last season with a knee injury, to receiving the Man of the Match paddle in front of Defiance 1636 following the inaugural game at Tidewater.

It’s a bit of a cliche for describing midfielders, but Amos fought like his life depended on it for every single inch of field, and every single 50/50 ball in the midfield yesterday – and it showed, as he won an absolutely ridiculous 11/13 ground duels. No other player won more than six.

When you out-dog Clay and Maxi in the midfield for a match… you’re doing something very, very right.

Jojea Kwizera (F) – 7/10

Kwizera led all players with four chances created and 4/5 accurate crosses, and contributed to a lot of our brightest moments in the second half in particular. It’s fascinating since crossing isn’t typically Kwizera’s strong suit, but he was whipping in really dangerous stuff when he would cut back and use his stronger left foot, including this one to set up another great Maxi chance. He made almost an identical cross leading to an equally good headed chance for Dikwa in the 92nd minute.

Joseph Brito (F) – 4/10

Brito unfortunately didn’t make much of a mark on this match. He was useful in some build up play, linking up with Aldair Sanchez and the midfield to progress the ball, and he always works hard – but for a forward to have only one touch in the opposition box is underwhelming.

Noah Fuson (F) – 4/10

Noah had the fewest touches of all outfield players who played the full 90 minutes, with just 32. This speaks to a lack of service to Noah, but I also thought his decision-making wasn’t quite up to his usual standard in the final third last night.

It happens to the best players, but it just felt like one of those nights where Noah would shoot when he should’ve passed, and passed when he should’ve shot – just lacking some of the killer instinct that we expect from Noah.

He looked much stronger playing as the left wing/left-sided forward last weekend at Westchester. I’m not sure if Dikwa will be ready to start on Wednesday – but if he is, I think it’d benefit the team overall and especially Fuson.

Subs

Unsurprisingly, we only used two subs in this game to bring on Albert Dikwa for Joe Brito (sliding Fuson out to replace Brito on the left wing, and Dikwa up top), and Taimu Okiyoshi as a like-for-like substition for Amos Shapiro-Thompson, who must’ve been completely spent from the shift that he put in.

Taimu played alright in his fifteen minutes, but somehow completed just two out of his eight attempted passes. We didn’t know much about Dikwa’s injury, so I was surprised to see him play over 30 minutes in his first appearance since Oakland on April 5.

I thought he looked a bit rusty as he re-adjusted to match speed, but put together this fantastic sequence and nearly won the game in the dying minutes:

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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.