After 3 home games in a week to open Centreville Bank Stadium, RIFC are back out on the road.  They’re headed south to take on Birmingham Legion on Wednesday night at 8pm.  With both teams needing to pick up some points and move up the table, games are becoming increasingly important as we head towards the summer.  Here’s what to look out for from both teams Wednesday night:

RIFC head into this game 10th in the Eastern Conference with 6 points from 7 games. It’s been another slow start to the season and the team is actually behind where they were at this point last season when they had 7 points in their first 7 games. It’s an extremely disappointing start given that most of the team was brought back from last year. A slow start in an inaugural season can easily be somewhat justified by having a group that had never played competitive games together. But this team doesn’t have that excuse. Injuries have certainly been a concern but even with that factored in, the team is still at least a few points behind where they should be.

That being said, RIFC have started to put forth better performances since opening Centreville Bank Stadium. However, those performances haven’t yet produced wins and the team will need to start doing that soon in order to move up the table. I would expect it to be more difficult away from home and with injury concerns affecting the ability to rotate players. Given who should be available, this is how I think the team could set up:

• Goalkeeper:
  • Koke Vegas stays in goal as he is the team’s number 1 and has done nothing to lose that spot.
• Defense:
  • With Karifa Yao coming back from injury soon (may see him on the bench for this one) and Aime Mabika still getting up to full fitness, I think the back line stays the same. I would expect Mabika to get some minutes in this one and if Yao is back from injury, we may see a late cameo. But the starting 4 players should remain the same from the past few games.
• Midfield:
  • Amos Shapiro-Thompson gets a rest here and Clay Holstad returns to the 11 after starting last game on the bench. Marc Ybarra was off the injury report and on the bench last time out, so hopefully he can give some minutes late in this one.
• Attack:
  • No changes here as the team doesn’t have many viable options for replacements. Joe Brito scored a brilliant goal to rescue a point against Monterey Bay, but I don’t think he gets a start here. Albert Dikwa will need to be much better up front but is still the best option the team has for that spot.

You can probably spot a pattern with the lineup here. I expect Khano Smith to keep playing the same starters for the most part and use substitutions in the 2nd half to give some of them a rest. That is what he has been doing during this recent stretch and I think it makes the most sense.

For RIFC to get 3 points in this one they need to score some goals. Now, that may be the most obvious statement I’ve ever made in a blog. But really, it’s just the truth. The team has had some issues with defensive lapses this year but I think that has improved overall, despite the goal conceded last time out. The midfield has performed much better in recent games and the team should be able to keep winning in that area of the pitch. The real issue, as we all are well aware, is in attack. The players have been way too indecisive in the attacking third and the team lacks the presence of JJ Williams to occupy opposing CBs. I think the team will need Albert Dikwa to turn things around or it could be another very frustrating evening in Birmingham.

It’s been a very lackluster start to the season for Birmingham Legion. Like RIFC, they have 6 points through their first 7 games. Some big offseason signings made the team really strong on paper but it hasn’t yet come together for them on the field. Manager Tommy Soehn was let go after 2 draws and 2 losses in the team’s first 4 games this season. Soehn had been Legion’s manager since their inaugural season in 2019, so this marks a huge change. He’s been replaced by former Sacramento Republic manager Mark Briggs, whose first game in charge was their 2-2 draw at Tampa Bay Rowdies last time out. Briggs is a pretty well regarded manager within the USL and has a lot of experience having managed Sacramento for the last 5 seasons.

With a new manager and a lot of talent out of the field, Birmingham have an opportunity to turn things around in a big way. They also haven’t played in 11 days, so Briggs has had a good amount of time to coach the team in training and instill his ideas before his first home match in charge. As for the players he will have at his disposal, there are a lot that I could mention. But I’ve narrowed it down to these guys:

• Matt Van Oekel (GK)
  • 38 years old, has been with the team since their inaugural season in 2019.
• Ramiz Hamouda (DF)
  • 16 year old left-footer. Huge future ahead of him. Fast and athletic defender. 2 appearances and 1 goal for the United States U-17 National Team earlier this year.
• Kobe Hernandez-Foster (MF)
  • 22 year old midfielder in his 2nd season with Birmingham. Often takes a more defensive role but can get forward. 2 goals and 4 assists last season, 1 assist so far this season.
• Enzo Martinez (MF)
  • 7th season in the USL Championship, 4th with Birmingham. Feisty all-around midfielder who can get forward and create goals. 6 goals and 6 assists last season, 1 goal this season in 6 appearances. Matchup with Maxi Rodriguez could me must see TV.
• Ronaldo Damus (FW)
  • 3rd straight year on loan from Swedish side GIF Sundsvall to a USL Championship side. 12 goals in each of his last 2 seasons with San Diego Loyal and Colorado Springs Switchbacks respectively. 4 goals so far this season. One of the best strikers in the league.

Have to also give an honorable mention here to former RIFC player Stephen Turnbull, who has made 3 appearances this season, 2 of them being starts. It will be interesting to see if he gets more minutes under the new manager, although he only came on in the 89th minute last time out in Briggs’ first game in charge.

The future looks promising for Birmingham Legion, but they have to go out there and actually do it. They’ll be hoping that turnaround starts now after some time off and facing a tired RIFC team. They’ll need Ronaldo Damus to continue being dangerous going forward and will need a vintage Enzo Martinez game along with a strong performance from Kobe Hernandez-Foster to lock things down in the midfield. If they can do that, I can see Birmingham coming away with 3 points.

I’m going to try to remain positive and go with a 1-1 draw. I think this will be a really difficult game for RIFC. The lack of rest compared to the 11 days off for Birmingham I think is significant. Also, it’s easier to play with tired legs when you’re at home and spurred on by a huge crowd. It will not be the same away in Birmingham and I worry about the fitness of the players. The being said, Birmingham hasn’t yet shown what a lot of us thought they were capable of heading into the season. So it’s hard to assume they’re going to do so until we see it. I can see Ronaldo Damus getting a goal for Birmingham and Noah Fuson finally getting off the mark with a goal for RIFC.

I will be watching this one from home, probably starting up the Riptide Report during the game. If you want to get off your couch to watch the game, the best place to go is The Guild in Pawtucket where Defiance 1636 holds their watch parties. I’ll be back after the game with the aforementioned Riptide Report and Timmy will have his Player Ratings not long after. It’s been a grind here at Tide Talk but we love doing it. We all really appreciate anyone who consumes any of our content. As always, I leave you with….UP THE TIDE!