The 2026 season is (finally) upon us. After a never-ending offseason, Rhode Island FC fans will get to see their boys back in action this weekend as they kick off the season at Centreville Bank Stadium Tidewater. 

I gathered the best and brightest minds I could find to give their predictions on how this upcoming season will play out. Unfortunately, those minds were busy, so I asked our Tide Talk contributors instead.

What follows are the results of a survey I created, asking our contributors a range of questions to get the official predictions on record. Later this season, everyone can use this as a reference guide to point and laugh.

Each question asked for a small piece of commentary to support the answers. I highlighted one or two of those responses per question, along with my take on the group’s overall thinking.

Now let’s get on with the show, as Tide Talk presents….

Where will RIFC finish in the regular season standings?

Timmy	2nd
Matt K	7th
Ryan	5th
Andrew	5th
Matt Hands	4th
Tyler	5th
Pat	3rd
Scott	7th

From Timmy:

I am seeing an insane amount of dooming in people’s regular season predictions. Last year was very weird, and a gross underperformance. We’ve reinforced our main positions of need and are primed to have our best regular season yet. Full season of JJ, full season of Hugo and Diop, full season of Clay in the midfield. Not to mention, the rest of the East (excepting a couple of teams) looks pretty mediocre.

Speaking of dooming, here is what Matt K had to say:

I said 8th on the Offseason Overview podcast, but I’ve come up a spot. Even with the additions of Afonso & Dorsey, I think this team will still struggle to score goals without a true creative midfielder, JJ’s injury history, and integration of two new forwards. I’ll happily eat my words if Afonso and/or Dorsey ball out. I think this is a big year for Noah, and a lot of the creativity could hinge on him returning to golden playmaker form….or not…

AQ’s take: Timmy is quite optimistic this season, but most of the predictions land in the middle to lower part of the playoff bracket. No one sees the team failing to make the playoffs, but there is definitely caution amongst the group after seeing the team fail to meet preseason expectations in 2025.

How far will RIFC get in the Jager Prinx Cup?

Timmy	Fail to advance from group
Matt K	Semifinal
Ryan	Fail to advance from group
Andrew	Fail to advance from group
Matt Hands	Semifinal
Tyler	Semifinal
Pat	Quarterfinal
Scott	Semifinal

From Matt Hands:

This is really a toss up. The way the group stage is set up RIFC could easily not qualify out. Assuming they do though, Semifinals

AQ’s Take:  Classic Matt Hands prediction arc. It starts off pessimistic and somehow lands in a pretty optimistic place. (For more of that, make sure to read Matt’s Prematch Lookout blogs all season long at TideTalkRI.com).  

I personally feel the group’s predictions here are overly lofty. The odds are stacked against ANY team making it out of the group given only the group winner plus one overall wild card team advances. One bad result early in the cup could quickly kill the chances of advancing.

Who will be RIFC’s leading goalscorer in 2026?

Timmy	JJ Williams
Matt K	Owen Goal…just kidding. Hopefully JJ, means he stayed health.
Ryan	Noah Fuson
Andrew	Leo Afonso
Matt Hands	JJ Williams
Tyler	Leo Afonso
Pat	JJ Williams
Scott	JJ Williams (barring injury)

From Tyler:

I think we’ll see the goals spread out a bit more like we did in 2024 with our trio of forwards each scoring 8-10 goals, but Leo edges them out and takes the title.

AQ’s Take:  I expected to see JJ Williams as the frontrunner, but the question will always be how many games he can play. This was noted across the commentary for most of the predictions. Like Tyler, I have a feeling Leo is going to make a big impact this year. And if JJ does miss some time, that just gives Leo more of an opportunity to lead the way in goals.

Who will be RIFC’s leader for minutes played (not including GKs)?

Timmy	Karifa Yao
Matt K	Diop
Ryan	Hugo Bacharach
Andrew	Karifa Yao
Matt Hands	Karifa Yao
Tyler	Karifa Yao
Pat	Karifa Yao
Scott	Amos Shapiro Thompson (this is not a serious answer), but pound for pound he has been the most valuable player, with the most energy last season. Absolute workhorse. It’s a crime that he was kept on the bench so much)

From Matt K:

Diop is going to be a mainstay in the back line and have a big year.

From Tyler:

Karifa Yao. He’s good for a full 90 every week as the mainstay on the back line. As long as he can stay healthy, there’s not a ton of competition for that central CB spot to displace him.

AQ’s Take:  We all seemingly agree it’s going to be one of our defenders, likely either Yao or Diop. I’ll be pretty surprised if it’s not one of those guys, although I wouldn’t mind seeing Clay Holstad as the team leader this season.

How many goals will RIFC score in league play this season?

Timmy	36-40
Matt K	31-35
Ryan	41-45
Andrew	41-45
Matt Hands	41-45
Tyler	36-40
Pat	31-35
Scott	30 or under

From Ryan:

I think the team will create more chances due to balanced attack on the wings but they’re susceptible to injuries at striker and RWB that could derail the offense

From Pat:

I hope I’m wrong, but even with my high expectations, last year has scared me. I hope I’m wrong. 

AQ’s Take: I hope you’re wrong too, Pat….

For context here, I also offered up 46-50 and 50+ as options. Shockingly, no one took those. Generally speaking, most of us feel the team will score closer to league average, which in fairness is a huge improvement over last season when the team only scored 29 goals.

How far will RIFC go in league play?

Timmy	Eastern Conference Semifinal
Matt K	Eastern Conference Quarterfinal
Ryan	Eastern Conference Quarterfinal
Andrew	Eastern Conference Semifinal
Matt Hands	Eastern Conference Semifinal
Tyler	Eastern Conference Semifinal
Pat	Eastern Conference Quarterfinal
Scott	Eastern Conference Quarterfinal

From Scott:

It feels like we are due a poor playoff performance, the last 2 seasons we have had fortuitous runs 

AQ’s Take:  Pretty similar answers here. The group definitely feels the team will fail to reach the heights it has in the past two seasons. Given the upsets we’ve seen in the playoffs, it makes sense why there is apprehension to predict another run to the Eastern Conference Finals or beyond. 

Tyler said it best with his comment:

RIFC should have no issues making the playoffs, but I’m not sure they’ll be able to make a 3rd consecutive run to the ECF with likely road games again

What prediction do you have regarding a former RIFC player for this season?

Timmy	Jack Panayotou 15 goals + assists for Loudoun
Matt K	Saturday April 4th Maxi bags a brace at Tidewater. Book it.
Ryan	Maxi Rodriguez top 10 in league in FotMob rating
Andrew	Maxi returns to being an All-League player.
Matt Hands	Albert Dikwa scores 12 league goals for Pittsburgh
Tyler	Jackson Lee will surpass his RIFC career clean sheets total of 5 (in 25 starts) in 2026 alone
Pat	Turnbull will continue to cook. I could see Maxi having a shit year back in Detroit. From afar, Ybarra will look to have a mediocre season, but I’m sure to those watching day in and day out, he’ll be the reliable guy he generally was for us.
Scott	Albert Dikwa played as an attacking midfielder/forward rather than a striker

AQ’s Take, specifically in reference to Matt Hands’ prediction:

Aside from that, it feels like many of the predictions revolve around underperforming players who find their top form again now that they have been unshackled from Coach Khano. It will certainly be interesting to see how all these guys do this season.

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That does it for the first edition of Tide Talk’s preseason predictions. I’m planning on this being a regular feature each year so let me know what questions I should add for next year and beyond.

I am thrilled to be back in section 205 this weekend and to reconnect with so many fellow RIFC fans and Defiance members. Be sure to stick with Tide Talk all season long as we hit you with a nonstop wave (tide?) of content before and after every match.

Now let’s go cheer on our boys and hope for a much more exciting season than we witnessed last year.

Up The Tide!