Well folks, we’ve made it again. We all know it’s damn near impossible to keep March – October open, almost a year in advance, without concrete dates on the schedule to point to. At long last, we have the dates and we can begin blocking off our calendars.

What changed for 2026?

In 2025, each team played 30 regular season games; Home and Away against each inner-conference team (22 games), and then four home and four away against eight of the twelve remaining other conference teams.

For the 2026 season, “each club in the Eastern Conference will play 24 or 25 games against in-conference opposition, and 5 or 6 games against Western Conference opposition to complete a 30-game regular season schedule.” Rhode Island FC will play 24 in-conference and six against the West.

The schedule change serves to accommodate the additions of Brooklyn FC and Sporting Jacksonville SC to the Eastern Conference, and the departure of North Carolina FC from the league.

Each team will also play at least four additional games – two home, and two away – in the group stage of the Prinx Tires USL Cup, plus at least one game in the US Open Cup.

What are they key matchups for 2026?

Sure, for many of us every game is a key matchup. But if you had to prioritize, what would be the home and away matches that you absolutely cannot miss? These are the ones that are “non-negotiable” for me when it comes to conflicting plans.

Season Opener

Saturday, March 8 – Loudoun United (Home)

Does this require an explanation? It will be our first chance to return to Tidewater and watch Rhode Island FC in 147 days. It will also be our first time ever playing on the opening weekend of the USL Championship season.

As for the opponent? We’ve played Loudoun to three 0-0 draws, and one 0-2 loss. It’s crucial that we buck this trend and start the 2026 season off on the right foot.

Playoff Rematches

This year, I’d like to see the team significantly improve their record against the Eastern Conference. Because of tiebreaker rules and playoff seeding, these games very literally matter more. 

Here are some of the biggest Eastern Conference matchups: 

Wednesday, April 22 – Charleston Battery (Home)

Saturday, September 26 – Charleston Battery (Away)

Since entering the league, we’ve been one of very few boogie teams for the Charleston Battery – knocking them out of the playoffs in 2024 and 2025. Charleston lost a lot of key pieces that made them so dangerous in 2025, but I still expect this to be an intense matchup with some bad blood. 

Saturday, July 25 – Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC (Away)

Saturday, October 17 – Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC (Home)

The return of the league-champion Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC. Rhode Island FC have never beat Pittsburgh in the regular season, and most recently lost to them in the Eastern Conference Finals in 2025. 

Pittsburgh – like Charleston – lost several key pieces, but this matchup will still mean a lot to the players and fans.

Away Days

Season ticket holders will immediately pull out the home games from the 2026 schedule announcement and mark them on their calendars. The real sickos know to add these key road matches to their calendar as well. These are all roughly a three-hour drive or less, and there’s no reason not to show up and support the Tide. 

Saturday, May 16 – Portland Hearts of Pine (Away) / Prinx Tires USL Cup

For those who made the drive to Lewiston for the Open Cup on a Tuesday night in March 2025, this is an absolute no-brainer. Portland is 45 minutes closer, and 10x more of a destination than Lewiston was.

Enjoy the scenery, the food, and the beer in Portland – then remind a fanbase so high on the smell of its own farts that we beat them comfortably twice last season, and that making the Championship game in your first year isn’t for everyone.

Saturday, October 3 – Brooklyn FC (Away)

It’s our first chance to head to Coney Island for a match, as this will be Brooklyn FC’s inaugural season. It’s a quick three hour ride down 95 South, and possible stops at any of the New Haven Pizza heavyweights on the way there (or and back) make this an easy sell.

Personally, you’ll probably catch me stopping at Anthony & Son for an FDNY hero on the way down.

Derby Days

Rhode Island FC needs to exact revenge on Hartford Athletic after a series of poor showings against them in 2025. Lewd gestures, leaving the door open just enough for Hartford to win the Jägermeister Cup, and an embarrassing 3-0 defeat at Hartford… Rhode Island needs to re-establish dominance in this showcase rivalry for the league. 

Saturday, April 25 – Hartford Pathetic (Away) / Prinx Tires USL Cup

We’ll open up our 2026 Prinx Tires USL Cup campaign at Hartford. This is very much a must-win, as the structure of this competition means that losing a single group stage game makes your chances of qualifying for the knockout round a long shot.

Saturday, July 18 – Shartford Athletic (Home)

Hartford may be losing some villains in Antony Siaha and Joe Farrell – but the hatred and bad blood is transmitted through the hideous kit and the laughable badge. I doubt this game will end 0-0 like it did last year, but if Hartford are allowed to continue with their time-wasting antics, diving, and the shameless victim complex… who knows?

Saturday, October 24 – Shartford Pathetic (Away)

Let’s hope that this season finale doesn’t matter by the time it rolls around. If all goes well, Hartford will be out of playoff contention and we’ll be comfortably in a top four position.

The Best of the West

Wednesday, July 8 – Sacramento Republic FC (Home)

Sacramento is a reliably good team in the West. They gave us one of our worst losses of the season at Tidewater (0-2) in the league, followed by an embarrassing elimination via penalty kicks in the semifinals of the USL Jägermeister Cup.

Saturday, August 8 – Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC (Home)

This will be our first matchup with Colorado Springs since the 0-3 loss that saw them crowned the league champions in 2024. This was one of the only truly inexplicable matchups left off of the schedule for 2025. 

Other Key Matchups

Saturday, April 4 – Detroit City FC (Home)

Saturday, October 10 – Detroit City FC (Away)

Frankly, there is just absolutely nothing to like about this Detroit team. We finally got our first regular season win against them in our fourth meeting on August 6th with a game-winning penalty from their former star-player, Maxi Rodriguez, off the bench. How’s that for Charmin’ soft?

Saturday, May 9 – Tampa Bay Rowdies (Home)

Saturday, August 15 – Tampa Bay Rowdies (Away)

Tampa Bay has completely overhauled their roster this year with some massive additions, including Leland Archer, MD Myers and Russell Cicerone. This is like what Birmingham Legion did last season except adding players who are actually good, and make sense together. They’re almost sure to be in the mix for a home playoff game in the Eastern Conference.

Whoever is left from 2025 on Tampa may also want revenge for the combined 8-0 score line, favoring Rhode Island FC, over two matches last season.