Rhode Island FC delivered their most convincing, complete victory of the season with a 5-0 win over Tampa Bay Rowdies in front of a sold out crowd on Saturday night.

It’d be hard to argue that the first half of this match was anything other than the best half of football we’ve ever seen Rhode Island FC play. Not only was the defense rock solid – as has been the case for most of the season – but for the only extended period of time all season, the attack was relentless, fluid, and clinical.

Rhode Island FC now finds itself in 7th place, with a comfortable five-point buffer over Indy Eleven in 9th place. This was a big step towards clinching a playoff berth, although anything could still happen over the next couple of weeks.

For those who are interested in comparing, here is a document tracking all of my player ratings for the season so far.

Rhode Island FC Player Ratings:

Do I have a reputation of being hard with my scoring, and now we put together one complete 90-minute end-to-end performance and I was giving out high scores like candy? Maybe. Do I care? Nope.

Koke Vegas (GK) – 6/10

A clean sheet is a clean sheet, but Koke really wasn’t tested at all tonight thanks to the combination of stellar defense, and a shorthanded, toothless Tampa Bay attack.

Karifa Yao (D) – 7/10

Excellent defensive performance from Yao, as he anchored the backline and didn’t let anything develop into a remotely dangerous chance for Tampa Bay. With the additional defenders around the pitch (Hugo and Clay in midfield, Nodarse at right wingback), Yao was able to play with a bit more freedom and step up to make challenges in the midfield more often. Unsurprisingly, He led all players with 12 defensive actions (including seven clearances) and winning eight out of his 11 duels.

Grant Stoneman (D) – 6/10

A standard, professional defensive match from Stoneman. Like most solid performances in central defense, Stoneman went largely unnoticed for the majority of the match.

Hamady Diop (D) – 7/10

After a performance last weekend that had some fans questioning Diop’s credentials, he followed up with a fantastic performance against Tampa Bay. Diop outhustled, outmuscled and outmaneuvered his man for every ball or challenge where he was involved. His distribution and build up was considerably better in this match, as well.

Aldair Sanchez (MF) – 7/10

Vintage Aldair performance, and certainly the best that we’ve seen from him in months. His chemistry on the left with Diop, Clay, Hugo and Fuson was noticeable as Aldair was great in buildup and bursting into free space on the left. Again, with defensive-minded Frank Nodarse playing as the right wingback, Aldair was the more free and progressive of the two wingbacks – and he did the job perfectly, tying Noah Fuson for a team-high three chances created.

Sanchez also had the assist to Albert Dikwa on the 4th goal (Dikwa didn’t have much to do but finish it, thanks to the ball from Aldair) – and he had a shot of his own that ended up in the back of the net after deflecting off of Frank Nodarse… but was ultimately ruled offside.

Hugo Bacharach (MF) – 6/10

Poor Hugo – he’s played so well over the last two months that he’s now officially in the category of being “penalized” when he plays to his usual level, only because we’re so used to him being the best player on the pitch on his best days.

Hugo was excellent again in the double pivot with Clay Holstad. And while Clay might receive more of the accolades for the midfield performance last night Hugo was also very good, and enabled Clay to play with as much freedom as he did. Hugo was especially crucial at recovering the ball, and he won the ball back regularly in all three sections of the pitch.

Clay Holstad (MF) – 8/10

Shocking how good the team looks with Clay back wreaking havoc in the center of the field. Based on the performance and the available personnel, I think Khano has to return to the Hugo / Clay double pivot for next match.

Just like that, Clay was back to leading the team in touches (78) and had a major impact on this match. He played the metronomic midfield role with his 95% pass accuracy, while not being conservative with his passing – also leading the team with 11 passes into the final third. Out of possession, he was a major disruptor in the midfield with 10 defensive contributions and a game-high six tackles, breaking up any and all Tampa Bay attacks coming though the middle.

Ryan wants to talk about Heat Maps? How about this one:

Perhaps Clay’s most significant contribution (and the list is quite extensive) was his winning of a penalty late in the first half – which JJ Williams converted – giving Rhode Island a three goal lead going into the half. Clay also caused the turnover that led to our fourth goal with a great high press at the top of Tampa’s box.

Frank Nodarse (MF) – 6/10

We’ve been waiting for Frank to start at right wingback for weeks now, and finally saw it last night. Frank didn’t offer much in attack for this match, but we really didn’t need him to. He was excellent defensively, however – chipping in with seven defensive contributions and tied for a game-high nine duels won. Frank secured the right side defensively and allowed our central and left-sided players to play more progressively.

Noah Fuson (F) – 9/10

Move over Big Papi, there may be a new Señor Octubre in New England.

Noah Fuson has found his form, once again, at the perfect time of year. He looks like an entirely different player than who we saw for the first six months of the season. It was on display almost immediately with Noah’s shifty turn directly into a dangerous position, where he ends up delivering a tight pass to JJ Williams who opens the scoring. 20 minutes later, Noah makes a great run for JJ to repay the favor and play him into space. Noah takes two touches towards the goal, and then calmly slots it home with his left foot. As I said last week – Noah makes the finish look easy, but it’s not one you would trust a lot of our team with after this season.

It’s more than just the direct goal contributions though (and the hockey assist on our fourth goal). Noah is overflowing with confidence and creativity on every single possession, and you can feel the anticipation in Tidewater every time the ball is at his feet. This is the dynamic, exciting forward who won the USL Golden Playmaker of the year last season.

JJ Williams (F) – 9/10

All of the praise above for Noah can also be said for JJ Williams. He is looking dominant, and hungry, at exactly the right time of year again. His passion after the first goal was something I don’t know that we’ve seen since the playoff game at Indy Eleven last season.

He only needed to play one half because he essentially sealed the deal within the first 45 minutes and earned a well-deserved rest. Take your pick on which was JJ’s best contribution on the night – he had a great curling shot to open the scoring after just 7 minutes. He followed it up 20 minutes later with a beautiful bit of skill and an even better pass to get Noah Fuson in alone with the keeper and score our second goal. Finally, JJ continued the work that Jojea started at Miami – getting the monkey off of this team’s back when it comes to non-Maxi penalty kicks.

Amos Shapiro-Thompson (F) – 5/10

Amos’s performance did not stand out relative to the several great performances elsewhere on the pitch. The right wing / right-sided forwarded position continues to be a bit of a blackhole, as none of Brito, Dikwa, or now Amos, have looked impactful in their starts there during the teams recent run of good form.

Congratulations to Amos on winning the Defiance 1636 Player of the Year award. I’m on record as having shared that my personal pick would’ve been Koke Vegas – but I’m thrilled to see Amos win it. It’s a beautiful story, especially with Amos returning from a nearly season-long injury right at the end of 2024. Amos endeared himself to the fans almost immediately with his unbelievable motor and effort, giving 110% effort at all times – and the infamous “it’s not f***ing good enough” to Section 116, as he let the fans know that he understands we are disappointed and that the team needs to be better.

Subs

Albert Dikwa – 7/10

Let’s all take these substitute ratings with a grain of salt, as there really wasn’t much to be done by the time they entered the match. I thought Dikwa was having a really quiet substitute performance, until the 69th minute when he was in the exact right position to clean up a loopy one-timed cross from Aldair and score our fourth goal. About 20 minutes later, Dikwa struck again with an assist to Maxi Rodriguez for our fifth goal of the night.

Marc Ybarra – N/A

There’s just not enough to talk about in these performances – Ybarra, Mabika, and Atkinson all did their jobs in helping to see out the match.

Aime Mabika – N/A

Dwayne Atkinson – N/A

Maxi Rodriguez – 6/10

Not a huge amount to see for Maxi either, but I do think it’s meaningful that he got on the scoresheet with a goal of his own. The commentator noted it as well – when the whole team is clicking as they did for the first 70 minutes (and first half, in particular), it’s important that we got Maxi going and involved as well.

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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.