Rhode Island FC host the New England Revolution at Centreville Bank Stadium on Wednesday night. I can’t believe I just typed that out. This is a matchup that most of us have had in the back of our minds since before RIFC ever took the field. It’s unbelievable that we get this early on in RIFC’s 2nd season. There were no guarantees we’d see this game for years. Yet here we are. As I always do in the Lookout, we’re going to take a quick glance at what to expect from both teams. So here goes:

RIFC remain at home after opening Centreville Bank Stadium with a 0-0 draw against San Antonio FC this past Saturday. It was an experience that none of us will ever forget. Seeing a sold-out crowd and seeing Rhode Island embrace this team was the stuff of dreams. As for on the field, the team fought really hard and probably deserved 3 points. They were just lacking the final goal-scoring touch in the opposition box.

There’s some good team news as we head into this one. Frank Nodarse is available after sitting out Saturday’s game due to his red card suspension. Albert Dikwa should also be available after making a 30 minute appearance last time out. And we may see new defensive signing Aimé Mabika, who wasn’t registered in time for the San Antonio match having only officially signed the day before the game. So with this news, this is how I would expect RIFC to line up:

• Goalkeeper:
  • Jackson Lee gets the nod here as he did in the last Open Cup match against Portland Hearts of Pine and the Jagermeister Cup game against Westchester SC. I think it makes sense to keep giving Jackson the cup games, as he’s performed really well
• Defense
  • With Frank Nodarse back in the fold, he should come right back into the 11 at CB. The other 3 defenders keep their place from Saturday. I would also not be surprised to see Aimé Mabika in Frank’s position with Frank moved out wide to replace Rio Hope-Gund. I just don’t want to commit to that without seeing Mabika play first
• Midfield
  • Frank’s return also now allows Zachary Herivaux to move back into his preferred spot in midfield. He and Clay Holstad make a great pairing there and their defensive work allows more freedom for the attacking players in front of them
• Attack
  • Assuming Albert Dikwa is fully fit after going 30 minutes last time out, this frees Noah Fuson to go back to a more preferred left-sided attacking role. Maxi Rodriguez and Jojea Kwizera also find themselves in their preferred attacking spots as well.

I think this is probably the strongest lineup RIFC can go with on Wednesday. I would understand if Khano makes a couple of changes due to the quick turnaround and with another game coming up on Saturday. But this game is vitally important to us fans and I really want to see the team put their best out there.

And speaking of putting their best out there, Khano Smith had this to say after the home opener when asked about looking ahead to this matchup with the Revs:

We need to be the best version of ourselves. I don’t think that’s gonna be hard for them. The players are gonna be locked in and they’re going to have the extra little bit of focus and dial in. We’re going to have to get lucky, we’re going to have to suffer at times.

I think Khano’s assessment here is pretty spot on. It’s going to be difficult and the guys are going to have to suffer at times. But they will be ready and will give their all out their on the field. And really that’s all we can ask for. Especially when playing an opponent who is a division above us.

It’s been a bit of a journey for the New England Revolution over the past couple of seasons. The team had a tumultuous end to the 2023 season with the departure of Bruce Arena and followed that up with an awful 2024 campaign that saw them finish 14th out of 15 in the Eastern Conference (also 3rd worst in the whole league). But after a lot of player turover and a slow start to this season, the Revolution have started to turn things around in a big way.

The MLS side has won each of their past 4 games, recording 4 consecutive clean sheets. The defense has been there for the team all season with the team only conceding 7 goals so far this year in 10 games, which is the best defensive record in MLS. It’s scoring goals that had been the issue as they didn’t score from open play in their first 7 games. That issue seems to be solved now though, with the team scoring 6 goals during their 4 game win streak.

So what does this mean as they head into Wednesday night? Well…probably not a whole lot. Revolution coach Caleb Porter has alluded to the team making significant changes to the starting 11 for this game:

🎙️ Head Coach Caleb Porter and goalkeeper Alex Bono preview Wednesday’s U.S. Open Cup match vs. Rhode Island FC. #USOC2025 #RIvNE pic.twitter.com/5otxJZRa7s

— New England Revolution (@NERevolution) May 6, 2025

So as for players to watch out for, this is who we should look out for based on who may play:

• Alex Bono (GK)
  • MLS Cup winner in 2017 with Toronto FC (as a starter) and current Revolution backup
• Brandon Bye (Wingback)
  • Pacey wingback who has seemingly lost his starting role to new signing Ilay Feingold. Experienced and can cause big issues for opposing defenses
• Maxi Urruti (Attack)
  • MLS Cup winner in 2015 with Portland Timbers (came off the bench). Plenty of experience in MLS at 34 years old
• Tomas Chancalay (Attack)
  • Signed as a DP for the Revolution but hasn’t lived up to the price tag. Still a very dangerous player with something to prove
• Luca Langoni (Attack)
  • 3 goals and 2 assists in 11 appearances last season after signing in August. 9 appearances this season with 5 starts

There’s a pattern here with the players listed above. They’re all either former MLS starters or have the clear talent to be starters. The Revolution have a lot of depth and that should provide them with a lot of confidence heading into this game. There are sure to be some Revolution II players in the squad as well, but it remains to be seen if they are going to start or get minutes of the bench.

Regrettably, I’m going with 2-1 Revolution in this one. I just think the depth that they have is going to be too much for RIFC. If the Revolution were going to play mostly Revolution II players, it would be a different story. But it seems like the team is mostly going to be comprised of bench players from the first team. And a lot of those players could reasonably start in MLS.

Before I go, I need to touch on the significance of this match. For me, this is about much more than what happens on the field. I was a Revs fan from back in the late 2000s through the mid 2010s. I was never a die-hard and probably attended fewer than 10 games over that time. But I watched from afar and hoped the team did well. Before too long though, I became disillusioned with MLS as a whole. I had already been a long time European soccer fan at that point and made that my sole focus. Now that we have RIFC, I can definitively say that my passion for this team is so far beyond anything I’ve ever felt for any other team across any sport, never mind just the Revs.

Some will try to say that there’s no rivalry here or that the RIFC fanbase is just made up of former Revs fans. To that first point: there is a lot of animosity here. The Revolution never represented me the way that RIFC does. And I could write an entire blog on the USL vs MLS discourse. As for the second point: who cares? When there wasn’t a professional team here in Rhode Island, what else would you expect people to do?

At the end of the day, I think this match is about showing our opponents what kind of environment can come with a soccer-specific stadium. It’s about our players giving their all in a match that means so much to us as fans. We were all just there on Saturday, but I can’t wait to be there Wednesday night to once again cheer on our boys in amber and blue. Until then, UP THE TIDE!