The time has come.  The matchup that has been dubbed El Clamico.  Part 3.  Rhode Island FC play host to Hartford Athletic Saturday at 4pm.  It’s a nationally televised game on CBS and the spotlight will be directly on Tidewater Landing.

Putting aside the spectacle for a moment, this is a matchup of two teams near the bottom of the Eastern Conference.  Hartford find themselves in a familiar position, dead last with 12 points from 14 games.  RIFC aren’t much better though with 16 points from 16 games, sitting in 10th.  Despite the form of both teams, this still feels like a momentous occasion.  That’s what happens in derbies. It’s what this sport is all about.  So as we head into this massive game, here’s what to watch for from both teams:

RIFC are coming off a perplexing 1-0 loss at Indy Eleven.  That was also the case the last time RIFC and Hartford met in Rhode Island in August of last year.  That match ended up a 3-0 win for the boys in amber and blue, so if you believe in that kind of thing, maybe it’s good sign.

As for what to expect this time around, RIFC have made it hard to predict.  They’ve most often had poor performances and/or results, but at times have given us glimmers of hope. A 4-1 thrashing of Westchester SC, a first win a Tidewater in a 2-1 victory over North Carolina FC on a late penalty kick, and a 4-1 win over Portland Hearts of Pine are some games that come to mind where the vibes were high. But those vibes have all been short-lived.

The good news coming into this one is that the team is getting healthy. JJ Williams made his first appearance in over 2 months last time out. Marc Ybarra and Amos Shapiro-Thompson have returned in the midfield, with Zachary Herivaux not too far behind them. And Koke Vegas is close to a return. But with these players returning, the additional challenge of figuring out where to fit them all in is placed on Khano’s shoulders. That is the biggest question that needs to be answered in order for this team to get things going in the right direction for the rest of the season. Here’s what I would go with tomorrow:

• Goalkeeper
  • Jackson Lee stays in goal with Koke nearing a return. Lee is likely to start in next weekend’s Jagermeister Cup match, so it makes sense to me to start him this weekend as well and bring Koke back in a couple of weeks
• Defense
  • Hugo Bacharach looked really promising last time out and I want to see what he can do getting a start. With Hartford’s pace up front, I don’t feel comfortable starting both Yao and Mabika, and I’m choosing Yao for this one in the middle. Rio has been the team’s best one-on-one defender and deserves a start
• Wingbacks
  • Sanchez gets a start over Kwizera, who can come on later in the game against tired legs. Nodarse starts on the right and is always an option to move into the back line if substitutions are needed later in the game
• Midfield
  • We all know how I feel about Ybarra. I’m desperate to see an Ybarra, Holstad and Rodriguez midfield 3. Ybarra can help protect the back line and in possession, quickly get the ball to Maxi to get the ball forward. Clay can continue to do his work as an engine in the midfield
• Forwards
  • I would love to see JJ Williams start, but I’m being cautious here as he’s coming back from a calf injury. Albert Dikwa gets the start and Noah Fuson plays off of him in the free role that brought him so much success last season

KEYS TO THE GAME

• Handle Pace in Transition
  • Hartford have pace in attacking areas and RIFC need to be sure to not get caught too far up field. They should control possession and Hartford will look to create chances in transition. A lot of this responsibility is going to fall on Nodarse and Sanchez in the lineup I put forth. We’ve seen with Frank that he has the ability to track back and cover, he just needs to make sure he’s on it for this game
• Create Some Chances
  • As we’ve been over in nearly every blog and podcast, RIFC are struggling to create chances this season. The team has to change this. It’s long overdue. With players like Noah Fuson, Maxi Rodriguez, Clay Holstad, Albert Dikwa and a returning JJ Williams, there isn’t any excuse. And they’re coming up against a Hartford team that has conceded a goal and half per game this season. It’s not terrible, but still 16th in the league
• Ride the Wave of the Crowd
  • The crowd is going to be up for this game. Not just Defiance 1636, who I’m sure have some special things planned. It’s another sellout and even the casual fans are aware how big of a game this is. The team needs to feed off of this energy and put forward a performance for us to all be proud of. Add in the fact that this is a nationally televised game and this makes for the biggest game of the season

Hartford Athletic enter this game having lost 1-0 on Wednesday night at home against the Tampa Bay Rowdies. Hartford were the better team in the first half and created plenty of chances but weren’t able to finish. They came out and laid an egg in the 2nd half and Tampa Bay got their goal through Woobens Pacius to secure the victory. The loss moved Hartford back below Tampa Bay and into their rightful place at the bottom of the conference.

Hartford have been inconsistent over their last 4 games. They impressively beat Loudoun United 3-0, drew and lost on penalties to Detroit City FC in the cup, and beat Detroit 2-1 last weekend before their midweek loss to Tampa Bay. Manager Brendan Burke has emphasized he wants his team to get up and down the field, using their athleticism and pace to play exciting soccer. For the most part this hasn’t come to fruition and he will be hoping this changes on Saturday.

Players to Watch

• Antony Siaha (GK)
  • First year in Hartford after spending last two seasons at Monterey Bay. 21 goals conceded in the league and 17th in save percentage. Still, has bailed out his team on occasion
• Jordan Scarlett (DF)
  • 6th season in the USL Championship, 2nd with Hartford. Captains the team, plays on left side of back 3
• Sebastian Anderson (WB)
  • First year in Hartford, previously spent career in Colorado between the Switchbacks and Colorado Rapids of MLS. Plays as a RWB, 3 assists so far this season
• Michee Ngalina (MF)
  • Attacking midfielder in his 2nd season with Hartford. 8 goals and 5 assists last season, 1 of each this year in 11 league appearances.
• Mamadou Dieng (FW)
  • Broke out 2nd half of last season and finished with 11 goals. 3 goals in the league so far this season. One of the more promising young players in the league at 21 years old

KEYS TO THE GAME

• Don’t Concede Early
  • With this game being in front of a large and rowdy crowd, Hartford need to say in the game as long as possible. They have to expect RIFC to come out with a ton of energy and need to match that from the outset. Weathering the early storm could give them a platform to get a positive result
• Use Your Pace
  • As mentioned earlier, Hartford have good pace and athleticism, particularly in attacking areas. They need to take advantage of this to make it difficult for RIFC to control the game with possession. Even if RIFC dominate possession as expected, Hartford can use their pace in transition to create some chances
• Finish Chances
  • Hartford had plenty of chances to score against Tampa Bay on Wednesday night but failed to put the ball in the back of the net. They don’t create a ton of big chances, sitting 14th in the league with 28 this season. But Hartford have missed 16 of those and are 21st in the league in shots on target per match. Simply put: they need to put the ball on target and stop being wasteful in front of goal

RIFC take this one and send us all home happy. At least I hope so. Hopefully I’ve provided some evidence in this blog that this can happen. RIFC have too much attacking talent to be this poor going forward. And Centreville Bank Stadium is going to be rocking for this one. It’s really now or never for the boys in amber and blue. And if they prove me wrong here, I think there will be major questions to be asked moving forward this season. But we’ll get to that whenever we get there (hopefully never).

Up Next

I’ll be back with the Riptide Report following the game regardless of the result. The podcast will be there Sunday night as always. And Timmy will have his player ratings, which I hope end up just being 10/10 for every player in amber and blue who touches the field. Until then, Huck Fartford and UP THE TIDE!