RIFC have done it again: back to back Eastern Conference Finals appearances. Being part of the final four in the USL Championship playoffs for each of your two seasons as a club is a phenomenal achievement. RIFC will look to take it one step further and secure back to back finals appearances when they take on the Riverhounds Saturday night at 6:30. Here, we’ll take a quick look at the previous meetings between the teams and how they match up heading into the game.

The two teams have met three times already this season with Jagermeister Cup game added this year in addition to the two league games. The first two matches were in back to back weeks at the end of May. RIFC, still looking for their first home win at the time, fell 1-0 via a Danny Griffin goal in their first meeting. The teams then turned around and headed to Pittsburgh the next weekend for the Jagermeister Cup and a Jojea Kwizera goal was the difference in that one. In August, the teams would meet for the final time of the regular season. Augie Williams and Bertin Jacquesson scored for the Riverhounds and JJ Williams was sent off for an elbow on the sidelines in the 2nd half.

How did we get here?

After finishing 7th in the Eastern Conference at the end of the regular season, RIFC were once again tasked with being Rhode Warriors for the 2025 playoffs, just they were in 2024. And they’ve succeeded yet again. Last season it was wins in Indy, Louisville, and Charleston that got RIFC to the final. This time around, the run started in Charleston. It was a hard fought game that really could’ve gone either way. It ended up finishing 0-0 and RIFC won 5-3 on penalties. Last weekend, RIFC traveled to Cary to take on North Carolina FC. There were some strange vibes going into the game after it was announced that NCFC would cease operations indefinitely following the season. But RIFC remained focused on the task at hand and won 2-0 via a Chicholio brace (yes, that’s his new nickname, at least for the playoff run). And now, RIFC find themselves travelling out to Pittsburgh.

The Riverhounds finished the season 4th in the Eastern Conference thanks to some movement in the 3 through 6 spots on the final weekend of the season. It meant they would host Hartford Athletic in the first round, who surely thought going into the last two weeks that they would finish third or at least host a playoff game. Hartford had a couple of chances early but as the game went on, they looked less and less likely to score. Pittsburgh weren’t able to get their goal either though and went through 4-2 on penalties. It was a similar story last weekend, where Pittsburgh got to host Detroit City FC after their massive first round upset win over Louisville City. While Detroit had more chances than Hartford in the first round, the result was the same. They couldn’t score against an impenetrable Pittsburgh defense. The Riverhounds once again couldn’t get a goal of their own and ended up winning on penalties 4-3.

The Matchup on the Field

As for what to expect in this one, it should be a physical battle out there. RIFC have gained a reputation for being the most physical team in the league. Charleston Battery manager Ben Pirmann said as much after his team’s first round loss. They’ve used that physicality along with a strong defense to get to this point. The attack really hasn’t been there all season.

For Pittsburgh, they look as defensively solid as ever. They haven’t conceded in 240 minutes in the playoffs this year. It’s the trademark of a Bob Lilley team, even if Lilley is on administrative leave. Since his assistant Rob Vincent has taken the reins, the team has been allowed a bit more freedom in going forward. The team is creating more chances but still haven’t been able to score in the playoffs.

So with that being said, this looks like it should be a defensive game with maybe one goal in it. Now that I’ve said that, I’m sure we’ll see a 4-3 game or something. But everything indicates a low-scoring game. There is also supposed to be cold, rainy weather Saturday night. I mean, if this ends up being a well played high scoring game we might as well just quit.

Yeah, It’s a boring pick. But you have to go with the evidence here. And evidence says this is going to either be a 1-0 or 0-0 that goes to penalties. I’m giving RIFC the slight edge here due to the depth off the bench. It wouldn’t surprise me to see Busy Atkinson get a late winner or Chicholio yet again.

Road Trip

I am heading out to the game this weekend yet again. Tide Talk will be well represented along with several other Defiance 1636 members. I can’t wait to hit the road to follow this team once again. It’s something I honestly didn’t expect to be doing. But such is the determination of both the team to get this far and us as fans to follow them through the playoffs.

Tickets?!

I already went on a rant about this on the pod but I’m going to say something here too. There was a lot of frustration among RIFC fans regarding the ticket allotment for this game. I’ve calmed down a bit since this whole debacle but I still think things need to be better. Very few tickets were set aside for RIFC fans for this game. I fully understand that Pittsburgh want to sell to their own fans and that if RIFC had a better regular season, maybe we wouldn’t be worried about this. But neither of those things is the fault of the fans. We want to travel to see our team play and our ticket allotment sold out in about 30 seconds. Since then, it’s been a bit of a mess with fans trying to find other ways to get seats. I think that overall the teams in this league need to do a better job of working together to make sure there are enough tickets for away fans. I’m not saying to set aside entire sections, but at least give us more than what we got here.

Up Next

Honestly, who knows what lies ahead? I will be here at some point after the game with the Riptide Report and Timmy will have his player ratings. We will also have the Postmatch Pod at some point, so stay tuned to our social media for updates. See you in Pittsburgh. UP THE TIDE!