RIFC are in a semifinal yet again. This time, it’s in the newly formatted Jägermeister Cup. With the team having a disappointing league season so far, the cup may be the only way for amber and blue to see some success in 2025. They’ll be looking to make their 2nd consecutive final appearance (after the 2024 USL Finals) when they take on Sacramento Republic at Centreville Bank Stadium on Wednesday night. To get ready for that matchup, we’ll take a look at the last meeting between these two teams, how they got to this stage of the cup, and what to watch out for Wednesday night.

The two teams last met at Tidewater Landing on June 21st. 2nd half goals from Rodrigo Lopez and Cristian Parano made the difference for Sacramento, while RIFC never really looked like scoring against a very tough Sacramento defense. The bigger story here was a starting 11 that saw RIFC start what one could argue was 7 defenders, with 5 recognized Center Backs and 2 Wing Backs. A lot of this was likely due to availability, as Herivaux, Ybarra, and Shapiro-Thompson were all out in midfield. That meant Grant Stoneman moved to a 6 role where he looked decent defensively but really didn’t offer anything going forward. This time around, RIFC will have ample defenders and midfielders ready. It’ll be interesting to see how Khano sets the team up in the rematch.

• Opener at Westchester
  • RIFC opened their Jägermeister Cup campaign with a thrashing of League One side Westchester SC. Goals from Frank Nodarse, Maxi Rodriguez and a brace for JJ Williams had RIFC up 4-0 within 65 minutes. Westchester did get a late consolation goal, but it was a dominant RIFC win to start things out
• All 3 points in Pittsburgh
  • An 18th minute Jojea Kwizera goal was the difference here against a tough Riverhounds team. Pittsburgh had 62% possession and created 2 big chances but RIFC’s tough defense was able to keep them out and ensure the team left round 2 of the group stage with 6 points
• Breaking the Hearts
  • Portland rotated some of their squad for this one and RIFC took full advantage. Albert Dikwa sealed his hat trick in the 58th minute to put RIFC up 3-0. Titus Washington would pull one back for Portland 5 minutes later, but Noah Fuson added a late goal to give RIFC their 2nd 4-1 win over League One opposition in this competition
• Just Enough vs Hartford
  • RIFC went a man up when Hartford’s Beverly Makangila got his 2nd yellow card just before the half hour mark. Despite this, TJ Presthus scored in first half stoppage time to give Hartford the 1-0 lead. Amos Shapiro-Thompson would level it in the 49th minute and a Maxi Rodriguez penalty in the 79th seemed to seal the 3 points. However, Adrian Diz Pe scored just 4 minutes later and this one went to penalties. The draw was enough for RIFC to win the group. Unfortunately, they lost the penalty shootout, giving Hartford a spot in the quarterfinals
• Busy beats Birmingham
  • RIFC dominated the game on a cold, wet night in Pawtucket. Birmingham didn’t create any big chances and only had 2 shots on target. RIFC created 3 big chances and Dwayne “Busy” Atkinson scored on his home debut in the 74th minute to put RIFC through to the Jägermeister Cup Semifinals

The Big Question

Can RIFC maintain their Jägermeister Cup form ahead of a huge league game on Saturday?

Cup competitions are a different thing altogether. Despite the disappointing league form, RIFC have 4 wins and 1 draw (loss on penalties) in 5 games in the cup so far. That’s compared to only 6 wins in 23 games in the league. However, even with RIFC’s good form in the cup, it’s going to be really difficult to progress through. Sacramento Republic are a tough matchup and RIFC have their biggest match of the USL Championship season coming up on Saturday when they take on Indy Eleven. I’m very curious to see if there will be any surprise changes to the starting 11 Wednesday night. I’m sure Khano would say you try to win the game in front of you, but at some point you have to choose to prioritize the league or the cup, at least a little bit.

• A Victory over AV Alta
  • Sac Republic started their Jägermeister Cup campaign with a 1-0 victory over new League One side AV Alta. A headed goal in first half stoppage time from Sebastian Herrera was the difference for Sacramento, who looked like the much better side and probably could have scored 2 or 3 on the night
• Too Bright for the Lights
  • Two weeks after trashing Las Vegas Lights 5-0 in the league, Sac Republic did it again in the Jägermeister Cup with a 4-0 win. Goals from Ryan Spaulding and Cristian Parano put Sacramento 2-0 up after the first 45. Michel Benitez and Russell Cicerone would each add goals of their own in the 2nd half to complete the rout
• Irritation in Irvine
  • It was heartbreak for Sac Republic at Orange County on Matchday 3, as 17 year old Pedro Guimaraes scored 5 minutes into 2nd half stoppage time to give Orange County the 1-0 win. It was a frustrating setback as it looked like Sacramento was going to be able to eke out a point
• Securing the Group in Spokane
  • A 10th minute goal for Michel Benitez proved to be enough for Sacramento to get their second 1-0 win over League One opposition in this competition and more importantly, secure first place in group 1. A Las Vegas win over Spokane in their final group game (bizarrely a month before this game) meant that Sacramento needed this win to equal the Lights on 9 points atop the group standings. Sac Republic had the head to head tiebreaker over Vegas due to their 4-0 win earlier in the group stage and therefore this win put them in the quarterfinals
• Survival at Segra
  • Sacramento survived at Segra Field against a Loudoun team that had 23 shots (5 on target) and created 5 big chances. Still, Sac Republic’s Jared Mazzola, who has been playing all of their Jägermeister Cup matches, was unbeatable in goal. He went on to save two penalties, Loudoun’s 2nd and 3rd attempts from Aboukoura and Ryan. It was a brilliant performance in goal that kept his team alive and put them in this semifinal

The Big Question

Can Sacramento continue their defensive dominance?

Sacramento Republic are the best defensive team in the league, with only 17 goals conceded this season. That fantastic defensive record has carried over in the Jägermeister Cup, as we’ve already seen. They’ve only conceded once in this competition and it was a goal 5 minutes into stoppage time against Orange County. Meanwhile, RIFC have scored the fewest goals in the league this season with 16. They’ve fared much better in this competition, with 12 goals in 5 games (4 in 3 games if you remove the two league one opponents). But in knockout games like this, defense is often more important than offense. If Sacramento can continue defending as they have all year, they will have a very good chance of going to the final.

I have RIFC losing a heartbreaker on penalties. I was torn between 0-0 and 1-1 for the result after 90 minutes, but I’m being optimistic here that RIFC can get a goal. They have been creating some more chances lately and hopefully the energy of the home crowd can pull a ball over the line and into the back of the net. However, I think Sacramento are built for this competition and will be able to get a goal of their own to make sure this goes to penalties. And after RIFC’s PK loss against Hartford and Sacramento’s victory over Loudoun, they have to be favored here, even if they’re on the road. Therefore, I think RIFC’s run in this competition sadly ends Wednesday night.

Up Next

I will be back with the Riptide Report immediately following the game. Sadly, this will be the 2nd straight game at Tidewater that I have to miss. It’s open house at my son’s school and my best option is to head home after so I can watch the whole match rather than try to run to Pawtucket and miss most of the first half. Regardless, the blog will be here, no matter what. As sad as I am to be missing out on the game in person, I’m even more upset to be missing out on this:

Make sure you get to High Motor early for this groundbreaking collaboration in the RIFC content world. It promises to be electric. As always, there will also be a postmatch pod and player ratings after the game, so be on the lookout for those. Until next time, UP THE TIDE!