Rhode Island FC are back in action on Saturday night when they travel down to the 305 for a meeting with Miami FC.  It’ll be the 5th match between the two teams, with RIFC winning 3 and losing 1 so far in their short history.  It’s an intriguing one Saturday night with both teams coming off interesting results and missing some key players.  Here’s everything you need to watch out for heading into it:

Last Time Out

In their first road game of the season, RIFC fell 4-2 to Lou City last weekend.  Coming away from Lynn Family Stadium with anything is a monumental task.  Since RIFC entered the league in 2024, Lou City have only lost four times at home.  Two of those were against RIFC in 2024.  The other two were in 2025 with an Open Cup loss to MLS side Minnesota United and a first round playoff loss to Detroit City FC.  So while the result was frustrating, I don’t think it was a disaster by any means.

The main takeaways that are relevant to this weekend are that JJ Williams will miss the game due to a red card and that RIFC seem capable of getting goals when they get into the attacking third.  The second point here helps make up for the first.  JJ has looked very good to start the season but RIFC now appear to have enough attacking strength to be able to deal with him missing a game, something they couldn’t do in previous seasons.  In addition to JJ, Jojea Kwizera will also be unavailable as he was called up to his national team.  As for how the team is likely to deal with their absences….

Players to Watch

• Leo Afonso (FW)
  • With JJ Williams out, Leo will need to take on more responsibility in the front line.  I have full faith in his ability to do so.  It’s also a homecoming for Leo, as he grew up in Boca Raton and played with Inter Miami’s academy before playing collegiately at Virginia and getting drafted by Inter Miami ahead of the 2024 season
• Logan Dorsey (FW)
  • Logan has shown some flashes in his first three appearances, including netting RIFC’s first goal of the year.  Like Leo, JJ’s absence will put more on Logan’s shoulders which in his case likely means a start on Saturday.  He’ll need to be sharper than he was in his previous start against Faialense though, where he missed a sitter by hitting the post and generally looked a bit off
• Noah Fuson (MF/FW)
  • Noah was left out of the squad last weekend and was not listed on the availability report.  This seems to suggest that he may have just been outright benched by Khano after a subpar performance in the Open Cup.  Heading into this one, my first concern is to see if Noah is even in the squad.  He should have every chance to be involved with the absence of Jojea.  If he doesn’t get a start, he should at least be a good attacking option off the bench

Key to the Game

Chemistry with a new front line

The biggest question I have for RIFC as they head down to Miami revolves around how they’re going to deal with missing players.  No JJ and Jojea means they’re going to have to adjust in attacking areas.  I think the front 3 could be Pity at the 10 with Leo and Logan up top.  Pity limped off injured in Louisville but was seen in training per the team’s social media.  If Pity can’t start for some reason, Noah would likely be the next option.  Regardless of how it shakes out, the team will have a combination of players who haven’t started together yet.  Getting them in sync is going to be key

Last Time Out

After a 4-1 loss at Louisville and a 0-0 draw at Loudoun to start the season, Miami had their home opener on Wednesday night.  They came away 4-2 winners over Sporting Jax in what was a pretty wild game.  Miami conceded straight from kickoff (after the one minute player protest) to go down 1-0.  They tied it 10 minutes later before conceding a penalty in the 23rd and going down 2-1.  The game turned in the 2nd half and Miami scored 3 goals to take the 4-2 win and the 3 points.

Similar to RIFC, the big takeaway for Miami involves dealing with players being out.  Starting goalkeeper Eloy Room and forward Jurgen Locadia were both called up for Curaçao.  They missed Wednesday’s game and Miami saw zero negative effects.  You could even argue they were better off.  Both will still be out Saturday, so here is who you should look out for in their absence:

Players to Watch

• Alessandro Milesi (LB/LWB)
  • Milesi signed from Peruvian side Cusco FC ahead of this season.  He briefly played for Miami FC in the fall of 2019 when Miami were part of the NISA.  Milesi currently leads the team in goals (2) and is their highest rated player on fotmob (7.52).  He likes to get forward from left back and scored both his goals low and to the far post
• Mason Tunbridge (FW)
  • Tunbridge signed from former USL League One side South Georgia Tormenta (rip) this past offseason.  In 2025, he contributed 10 goals and 7 assists to the league’s best attack.  As for this season, he got off the mark on Wednesday with a goal and an assist.  Tunbridge looks like he’s immediately settled in to the championship and could be dangerous on Saturday
• Mathieu Ndongo (FW)
  • Our old friend Mathieu Ndongo, who played a grand total of 22 minutes in 2 appearances in his brief RIFC career, has gotten off to a decent start in Miami.  He’s played 182 minutes already across 3 games with 2 starts.  Like his fellow forward Tunbridge, he also got off the mark last time out with a goal.  For what it’s worth, it looked pretty clearly offside but he did do well with his finish.  I’d expect him to start Saturday and am very interested in seeing how he does

Key to the Game

Keep the attacking momentum

As mentioned earlier, Miami scored 4 goals Wednesday night.  Those came from four different players.  The question is: how much of that offensive success was due to poor defending and how much was due to Miami being dangerous?  For Miami, they’re going to hope that it’s the latter and that they can take the momentum from midweek into Saturday.  It feels like the talent in the league has improved this season, especially in attacking positions.  Miami are no exception and they’ll need to show that Saturday night

Analysis and Prediction

This is a weird one to call.  Miami have had a lot of turnover in their roster, as they typically do year to year, and it’s unclear how it will all come together.  Early signs have been mixed, but it’s only been 3 games.  What I can tell you is RIFC won’t be scoring 8 goals like we famously did in the 2024 home finale, despite the fact that Miami should have the same goalkeeper between the sticks (Felipe Rodriguez). 

While I do see RIFC getting goals in this one, I think the result here will actually be more down to the fact that RIFC have a solid defense and won’t be open at the back and concede 4 goals like Sporting Jax did on Wednesday.  Miami do have some talented players in their attack and I wouldn’t be surprised if they get a goal.  But in the end, RIFC will have too much for Miami FC

Final Thoughts

After the excitement of a home opener, Open Cup, and a trip to Louisville, I feel a bit of a come down heading into Saturday night.  That’s not to say I’m not excited for the game.  Like many of you, I live and breathe this team.  I just think it’s a good chance to reset after the early excitement.

Defiance 1636 will be at their usual spot at The Guild for their watch party Saturday night.  If you can make it, be sure to be there as there’s a raffle for club seats for next weekend’s game against Detroit City FC.  I will be back here after the game Saturday night with the Riptide Report to share my thoughts on the result.  Until then, all that’s left to say is UP THE TIDE!