RIFC drew 1-1 today in their season opener against Sporting Jax. Before getting into my thoughts on the occasion, I have to first acknowledge that this blog is….LATE. However, I’m going to provide two excuses. First, the cold weather numbed these blogging fingers. As for the second excuse, it requires me to take you behind the scenes really quick. I normally write a little bit at halftime, but the prime writing time is right after the final whistle while I’m waiting for the bus and while on said bus back to the lot. I spent a lot of that time catching up with some old friends, which is all part of a season opener and I feel like was a worthy tradeoff. Sometimes, there are things more important than the blog. But I digress. Here are my thoughts on opening day at Tidewater:
Prematch Vibes
I have to start this off with the energy before the game. It started in M7, where some successful negotiations earlier this week resulted in the lot opening 3 hours prior to kickoff. Vibes were high and it felt like we were never away for these past few months. Nothing could keep us down, not even the bitter cold wind. Inside the stadium, the team aptly gave away blankets at the gates. It did very little to keep me warm, but I’ll take what I can get. I wasn’t expecting a premium product from a gate giveaway. But kudos to the team for nailing the overall experience in the stadium, as usual.
My excitement rose even higher when the lineup was announced. Always a critical part of the prematch buildup. The 11 ended up looking something like this:
The key absentees were Amos and Hamady, who were both out per the availability report, and Hugo who was on the bench to start. I was excited to see Pity Rodriguez starting, as well as Scardina and Afonso. Overall, it was primarily the fact that we were going to see players in their natural positions that got me even more pumped for kickoff
A First 45 of Missed Chances
I thought the game started out slow for the first 15 minutes or so. But RIFC would soon turn up the tempo and looked pretty dominant for the rest of the half. We finished the first 45 with 60% possession and 10 shots with 2 on target including 1 big chance. JJ hit the post and on a separate occasion hit the back of the net but the goal was ruled out for a foul. I felt like the tactical structure worked well, with Nick Scardina often finding himself in a lot of space out wide. So going into the half, I was very happy about the performance outside of the missed chances and I felt pretty optimistic
A Disappointing End
RIFC started the 2nd half like they ended the first: completely on top of the game. However, more missed chances made me feel like a goal was never going to come. Eventually, one did as a result of some poor play from Sporting Jax:
It was a debut goal from 2nd half substitute Logan Dorsey, who I thought looked very good after coming on. You almost have to laugh though as with all the opportunities the team had, they end up scoring on an error like this. But as they always say, they all count.
At this point, it felt like RIFC were going to cruise to victory. Sporting Jax didn’t offer a whole lot and only looked dangerous on a few occasions. However, 3 points were not meant to be as this happened in the 84th minute:
There are a few things to say about this goal. First, I feel like the ball over the top could’ve been better dealt with. Second, credit to Emil Jååskelåinen for some awesome technique on the initial shot. Lastly, Koke did well to parry the ball wide but the reaction needed to be better from Stoneman to either get there first or block the follow up attempt.
In the end, RIFC would have even more opportunities to get a 2nd goal and the 3 points but were unable to do so. This is despite playing a man up for the last 10 or so minutes
Final Thoughts
It was incredible being back at Tidewater and seeing so many familiar faces. And it was great to see the team creating chances and looking like they had a very solid structure tactically. However, leaving with only one point is very frustrating. For me, it’s really all about performance vs result. Based on the performance, RIFC clearly deserved all 3 points. But if you don’t take your chances, it can come back to bite you. And that’s what happened here. There is also the question in the back of my mind of how much of the performance was due to Sporting Jax being poor vs RIFC being great. As it tends to be, it’s probably a bit of both. But I’m leaving this one more excited about the season ahead rather than confused as I did after the opener in 2025 at Charleston. And that definitely means a whole lot.
Tide Talk will be back with a postmatch pod tomorrow night and fellow blogger Timmy will have his Player Ratings. I will be back here on Monday for a preview of our US Open Cup match against CD Faialense. Until then, all that’s left to say is: UP THE TIDE!
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