We have arrived at the biggest game of the season so far for RIFC. The amber and blue will host Indy Eleven at Centreville Bank Stadium Saturday night at 7pm in what will be a crucial match for playoff qualification near the bottom of the standings. Indy Eleven are currently holding onto the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, sitting 8th on 26 points. RIFC are just behind in 9th place on 24 points. An RIFC win puts them ahead of Indy and a loss would severely damage playoff chances. So as we head into this crucial game, we’ll take a look at the previous meeting between these two teams and what to expect from both on Saturday.

The two teams last met on July 12th in Indianapolis. As has too often been the case in 2025, RIFC created very little going forward. They ended the game with 9 shots (0 on target) and 1 big chance created. Indy Eleven got their goal in the 55th minute via Romario Williams after a poor turnover in RIFC’s defensive third. Indy would go on to create a few more chances in the 2nd half and RIFC were probably lucky to only lose 1-0.

Availability

• Corcoran Recalled, Diop Signed
  • Midfielder Matthew Corcoran was recalled by parent club Nashville SC on Tuesday. It brought an end to his short-lived RIFC career, with him only making 5 appearances in amber and blue. Reports out of Nashville when he was initially loaned out to RIFC suggested that it was going to be a short-term move and that he would be recalled at some point before season’s end. It made logical sense that it would happen after Corcoran went away with the US U-20s earlier this month and that is what ended up happening. Best wishes Matthew, we hardly knew ye
  • Also on Tuesday, RIFC signed left-footed defender Hamady Diop to a multi-year contract. Diop was the number one overall pick in the 2023 MLS draft out of Clemson University. He had stints with Charlotte FC (who drafted him) and San Diego FC before coming to Rhode Island. While he played some LB in MLS, he has twice been referred to by Khano Smith as a CB and I would expect that’s where Khano wants to play him. Diop was not in the Matchday squad on Wednesday but it’ll be something to look out for when the lineup gets released an hour before kickoff Saturday night
• Frank Returns from Injury, Jojea from International Duty
  • Frank Nodarse returned to the bench last time out against Sacramento and played around 25 minutes including stoppage time. Yours truly was obviously thrilled to see him out there and the big question coming into this one is if he plays, does he move out to RWB? That could provide the opportunity to put Clay Holstad back in the midfield, where so many of us fans desperately want to see him
  • Jojea Kwizera will also be back after returning from international duty with Rwanda. He came on as a 2nd half sub in the 54th minute against Nigeria and started and played 80 minutes against Zimbabwe on Tuesday. This leads me to believe he’ll be on the bench for this one, but you never know

The Big Question

Can RIFC quickly move on from the disappointment of Wednesday night’s loss in the Jagermeister Cup Semifinal?

Cup competitions are tough. Late-round matches are often decided by fine margins and that’s what happened on Wednesday night. At least during the 90 minutes. I thought RIFC fought really hard against a Sacramento team that is one of the better sides in the league. The game was pretty even overall. The penalties were an absolute disaster, but hopefully the players can take some confidence from their recent performances. A close win over Charleston, close loss to Lou City and draw and subsequent loss on pks against Sacramento are not actually that bad for a team struggling near the bottom of the standings. I’d love to hold this team to higher standards than that but this is where we are with RIFC in 2025. And now, they have to move on quickly and approach Saturday night as if it’s a playoff game. It’s now or never.

• Loss to Lou City
  • Indy Eleven actually went ahead early in this game, with Romario Williams scoring in just the 2nd minute. Louisville did what they do though, and scored just before halftime and then twice early in the 2nd half to ensure they came away with 3 points
• Win at an in form Hartford
  • Indy scored another early goal, this time via Jack Blake in the 3rd minute. They would get a 2nd goal through Maalique Foster in the 76th minute to put the game away. It was an upset that ended a 9 game unbeaten run for Hartford in all competitions
• Loss in the Lowcountry
  • A Cal Jennings brace for Charleston was the difference in a game that saw Indy Eleven only have 22% possession. Jack Blake did score in the 72nd minute but it wasn’t enough to pull out what would have been a miracle result for Indy

The Big Question

Can Indy Eleven’s stars make the difference?

Indy Eleven have had a rough season so far. But one positive for them is that their two old reliables are still getting the job done. Jack Blake and Aodhan Quinn are both USL veterans who are in their 3rd seasons with Indy Eleven. Blake and Quinn lead the team in goal contributions, with 13 from Blake (9g, 4a) and 10 for Quinn (3g, 10a) in the league this season. If they can continue to step up, they can drag this team into the playoffs despite some poor team performances and numbers.

Indy Eleven have conceded the most goals in the league in 2025 with 42 while also having the lowest average possession in the league at 42.3%. There’s really no other way to put it than this indicates this is a bad team. Conceding possession to your opponent is fine but it needs to come with a defense that is at least average. This underscores the difference that Blake and Quinn have made for this team. Without them, it’s not a stretch to say that Indy could be at the bottom of the league.

I have RIFC taking this one Saturday night. I just can’t pick against us in the biggest game of the season. As I’ve indicated in this blog, this really comes down to the league’s worst attack vs the league’s worst defense. You’d have to think something will give here. And I think it’s going to be RIFC’s league worst attack getting a goal. On the flip side, Indy Eleven have scored the 7th most goals in the league this season. But RIFC have only conceded once in their last 6 home games. I think it’ll be another clean sheet for Koke here and we can all leave Tidewater happy and in a playoff spot Saturday night.

Up Next

I will be back here following the game Saturday night with the Riptide Report to give my immediate thoughts on the result. As always, the podcast will be there live Sunday night at 8:30 and Timmy will have his player ratings following the game as well. I look forward to seeing you all at Tidewater as we get together to support our beloved team. Until then, UP THE TIDE!