Rhode Island FC’s six-game unbeaten streak came to an end on Friday night with a 2-1 loss to New Mexico United. After a season-best streak of 10 goals in three games, Rhode Island enters the postseason having scored just one goal in their final two matches.

At time of writing this, we are awaiting the result of Tampa Bay vs. Detroit City on Saturday night to determine whether we will face Louisville City (if Detroit City win, claiming 7th place in the standings and bumping us down to eighth), or Charleston Battery (if Detroit City lose or draw, keeping us in 7th place).

Personally, I don’t like that we are not only entering the postseason without the momentum that we started to see towards the end of the season – but that we also let our final placement slip out of our own control. I think finishing 8th and facing Louisville in the first round is a dramatically worse outcome than 7th, and we had it within our power to avoid this.

At the start of the second half – when we were already down 2-1 – it looked as if Khano planned to go for it. He replaced a holding midfielder, Marc Ybarra, with JJ Williams and shifted to a more attack-oriented back four formation. However, he later brought on Dani Rovira and Mathieu Ndongo, which – based on observations from the rest of the season – is basically the Khano equivalent of waving the white flag. As Matt Hands noted, it felt more like he was managing minutes to stay healthy for the playoffs, than going for a result.

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:

Koke Vegas (GK) – 5/10

There’s not much Koke could have done on either of the two New Mexico goals – he was left out to dry by his defense on the first, and the second was a well-taken penalty kick. He made two saves but wasn’t particularly challenged outside of the goals in this match.

Aime Mabika (D) – 5/10

Mabika replaced Yao in the lineup on Friday night as the central defender in the back three. Much like Yao, Mabika didn’t really have any on-ball responsibilities in this role, as he often ceded possession to Diop and Bacharach – which feels like a waste of Mabika’s passing ability.

The back line was disorganized for the first 20-or-so minutes of the match and Mabika’s man got in behind him a couple of times. In the 38th minute, however, Mabika finally used his height to get on the end of an attacking set piece delivery from Noah Fuson, which he headed toward goal. Apparently, it takes a deflection off Hugo Bacharach – who is credited with the goal – so I suppose that gives Mabika the assist. In my mind, Mabika made this goal happen.

Hugo Bacharach (D) – 5/10

It’s the second match that Hugo has started as the right-sided center back, and the second time that he hasn’t looked comfortable in that role. I’m not sure why, but on the right he looks poor defensively AND seemingly loses his ability to progress the ball by way of carrying or passing it.

The game did improve for Hugo, as he is credited with the goal – which he deflected, off of Mabika’s header – to equalize the game at 1-1. Hugo’s my guy but, outside of the goal, this performance was a bit of a nightmare…

In the second half, Hugo began to look more comfortable as he shifted to the midfield in a double pivot with Clay, and later slotted back into defense as a center back in a back four.

Hamady Diop (D) – 6/10

Diop was arguably our most involved player in the match. He led all Rhode Island players with 73 touches, and led all players in the match with seven duels won (and just one lost). The backline admittedly looked shaky for large periods of the first half, and Diop’s defending on the first goal was suspect – although, I’m not really sure the man that he was closing down should have been his responsibility.

On the ball, however, Diop contributed with some very decisive and progressive passing out from the back line. He continues to be involved with taking some of our set pieces and even had a threatening long-distance shot on net of his own.

Aldair Sanchez (MF) – 5/10

Not a hugely impactful performance for Aldair, but not a bad one either. He did attempt five crosses into the box and create one chance, which is what we like to see from Aldair.

Marc Ybarra (MF) – 5/10

Ybarra came off at half time to support a shift to a more attacking formation in the second half. His first half performance was inoffensive, but nothing that stood out.

He was also on a yellow card that he picked up for a tactical foul shortly before the second New Mexico goal. No one loves a tactical foul more than Marc Ybarra (who I’m internally referring to as Cliff Broward from now on – for the Task-heads).

Clay Holstad (MF) – 5/10

Clay started the game off brightly with a few key defensive ball recoveries, but his effectiveness waned throughout the match. He did ping some nice long passes into the attacking third to help us progress the ball.

I didn’t really notice Clay much in the second half – perhaps because the changes were coming hot and heavy, as far as the shape of the team and specifically who Clay’s midfield partner was in the double pivot.

Frank Nodarse (MF) – 4/10

I’m disappointed in the lack of impact coming from Frank on the right over the last two games. Defensively, I didn’t think it was anything to write home about on Friday – and offensively, it looked more clunky than we’ve seen at other times in the past.

I’m disgusted with myself for even thinking it – but in some ways, it made me yearn for Clay back out on the right. How has Khano done this to me?

Our entire right side in attack has been a bit of a nightmare all season long, quite honestly.

Noah Fuson (F) – 6/10

It wasn’t perfect, but at least Noah looked like he’s trying and wants to win out there. It was one of those nights where it didn’t always come off for Noah – as he too was moved around the pitch a decent amount in the second half due to substitutions – but he still managed to create a team-high four chances and two shots on target.

His set pieces were some good and some bad tonight, but of course his delivery leading to the Hugo goal in the first half was well taken. He did the important part, which is get the ball into an area where your tallest player (Mabika) can get his head on it.

Albert Dikwa (F) – 4/10

I don’t mean to harp on it every week, but this was not a good performance – neither as the central striker, nor out on the right in the second half. 15 touches in 60 minutes of game time is… one touch every four minutes. JJ Williams and Marc Ybarra both only played a half and had more touches. Herivaux played just 30 minutes and had more than 10 more touches than that.

I will say that Dikwa’s off ball work led to some key turnovers… but oftentimes the chances were wasted with poor decision-making.

Jojea Kwizera (F) – 5/10

Not to run this line into the ground, but Kwizera is another player who looked bright in flashes but was asked to move all over the pitch to different positions during the course of the game.

It’s interesting seeing him operate a bit more narrowly when he is playing in one of the right or left forward positions, rather than the wide wing back. He occasionally looked good moving through the midfield, but again, some of the final decision-making didn’t seem to quite be there, since it’s not his usual position.

Subs

Did we play a second half? Because what I saw was two managers who accepted the result and were trying to conserve energy and stay healthy for the playoffs. Understandable for New Mexico (who were already locked into the No. 3 seed before the result), but shameful for Rhode Island – who had a chance to clinch the No. 7 seed with a win.

JJ Williams – N/A

Maxi Rodriguez – N/A

Zach Herivaux – N/A

Dani Rovira – N/A

Mathieu Ndongo – N/A

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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.