It was the most disappointing night yet at Tidewater as Rhode Island FC fell 0-2 to a struggling Sacramento Republic FC team. It was a golden opportunity to build on a great performance and result against North Carolina the week prior, and the team came out absolutely flat.

We made Sacramento look great – which is pretty awful considering they came to Tidewater having failed to score a single goal and losing each of their last three matches. The Rhode Island FC faithful have now seen the team shutout in four out of seven matches played at home, resulting in four losses, two draws, and just one win.

None of the Rhode Island FC players looked good, and I think Khano got it all wrong – particularly with the decision to start the game with six defenders (more on this in Matt Hands’ Riptide Report). I understand that we have been struggling with injuries all season, and the latest injuries to Amos Shapiro-Thompson and Zach Herivaux in the midfield certainly don’t help. But to respond by rolling out MORE defenders, for a team that is struggling massively to score, is puzzling.

Do you know what makes me even more sad? After the second Sac Republic goal went in, there was not a single moment where I felt like Rhode Island FC was going to get back into this match.

The only bright side from this game was that I got to enjoy it with my family in their first time at the stadium. I hope they’ll come back for another game, even though there was absolutely nothing in this one to entice them… besides the pretzels and churros.

For those who are interested in comparing these ratings to other matches this season – here is a document tracking all of my player ratings for the season so far.

Rhode Island FC Player Ratings:

Jackson Lee (GK) – 5/10

No complaints from me on Jackson’s performance. There was not much he could’ve done about either of the Sacramento goals, and he stonewalled Jack Gurr in the first half to keep the game level.

Aime Mabika (D) – 4/10

I thought Mabika was having a below average match (both passing out of the back, and defensively), and then looked very bad on the second Sacramento goal.

First, he steps up into the midfield and gets easily passed around, then jogs back while the goal is being scored by Sacramento.

Karifa Yao (D) – 5/10

Yao was fine, with his team-high 10 defensive actions. On the second Sacramento goal… it’s not like he can be in two places at once. He needed help from his teammates to defend that situation and got none.

I guess you could say his “foul” also gives the free kick that leads to Sacramento’s first goal, but I think the ref got that call wrong.

Rio Hope-Gund (D) – 6/10

One of the only players who can hold their head up high after this match, Rio was reliable defensively and is gradually becoming more comfortable with his ball progression. He bailed his partners in defense out of a few questionable situations, particularly in the first half, with his responsible defending.

Aldair Sanchez (D) – 4/10

Nightmare matchup for Aldair going up against the formidable Jack Gurr. Gurr kept Sanchez busy (and got around him several times) with his relentless attacking, and limited Sanchez significantly on what he could accomplish in the final third.

Frank Nodarse (D) – 5/10

Frank occasionally tried to do too much with the ball after his excellent performance against North Carolina last week – but he generally put in a good shift on both sides of the field, including winning a game-high 15 out of his 19 total duels (nine on the ground, six in the air).

Here was one of our only good bits of productive build up play in the match, leading to a shot for Frank.

Grant Stoneman (D) – 4/10

I’m confused by the decision to play Grant in the midfield for the first half of this match, when Khano did have other options. As a result, Grant was relatively uninvolved aside from a couple of long balls, and it was causing Clay and Maxi to have to keep dropping deep to pick up the ball.

Maxi Rodriguez (MF) – 4/10

I thought Maxi was ok, but we need him to be better in a game like this. With the lack of organization and ball progression that playing six defenders brings, Maxi was left to do too much dirty work, and having to drop too deep to pick up the ball – restricting him from contributing meaningfully to build up and from creating chances in the final third.

Clay Holstad (MF) – 6/10

Clay put in a good performance on a disjointed night for the team. He was probably our most press resistant player and was willing to carry the ball or pass through the Sacramento pressure. It led to Clay creating a team-high two scoring chances for Rhode Island FC. He was also, as ever, difficult to play through in the midfield as he won nine out of his 11 total duels.

Jojea Kwizera (F) – 4/10

This is the duality of Jojea Kwizera. He led all players with four successful dribble take-ons – which is exactly what you want to see from him. But he also attempted eight dribble take-ons total, which means he lost the ball a handful of times as well.

Despite having a few bright moments where he beat his man, ultimately his decision-making in the final third, and what he did with the ball in those dangerous positions, was disappointing.

Albert Dikwa (F) – 4/10

It was another fairly characteristic Dikwa performance for 2025 this season. He got into some dangerous positions in the first half, and I thought had a couple of good moments in buildup as well. But18 touches is just too low, and he needs to be making himself more involved. Part of that lack of involvement comes from Dikwa losing five of his six duels in the match.

He had a solid goalscoring opportunity in the first half that I think an in-form striker probably finishes.

Subs

Taimu Okiyoshi (MF) – 4/10

I was looking forward to seeing a full half from Okiyoshi, as it’s been awhile since we’ve seen anything other than a late substitute performance from him.

I thought he was decent in possession and took good care of the ball while showing his passing range a couple of times, but seemed to be overwhelmed with his defensive assignments.

On the second Sacramento goal, you can see that he fails to track the runner and appeared to be getting an earful from some of his teammates after the goal.

Noah Fuson (FW) – 4/10

Disappointing – Noah was the closest thing that we had to a super sub to bring on when we needed to get back into the game, but he completed just 40% of his attempted passes, and didn’t look very threatening in the attacking third.

Joseph Brito (MF) – 5/10

Low impact, just not much to discuss.

Dani Rovira (D) – 5/10

It was a quick appearance but there were some definite signs of promise coming from Rovira, as he battled hard on both ends of the field. He and Isaac entered at the same time and immediately contributed to a Rhode Island FC attack.

Isaac Angking (MF) – 6/10

I would’ve liked to see Isaac come on earlier, or potentially even start – as at least he looked like he wanted to move the ball forward and attack (which is more than I can say for a lot of players on Saturday). Isaac came on and almost immediately earned a penalty shout via some good build up play down the right-hand side.

---

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.