Rhode Island FC were eliminated in the third round of the US Open Cup after falling to the New England Revolution in a penalty shootout after playing to a 1-1 draw through 120 minutes.

I think the story of this game could easily be the heavy rotation from both teams – with Rhode Island making six changes from the lineup that won 3-1 at Lexington over the weekend.

But the larger takeaway for me was that it was a really proud night for Tidewater. Where the first half was relatively even with not much attacking threat going either way, Rhode Island had extended periods where they were really taking it to the Revs in the second half and extra time.

The gravity and importance of this matchup was plainly not lost on the Rhode Island players, nor the fans. I’ve never seen the supporters section (sections 115 – 117) as packed, as loud, and as passionate as they were on Tuesday night.

The limbs when JJ scored his 90+11 minute equalizer may be the best that I’ve seen at Tidewater in its relatively short history. It really felt like we had a chance to go on and win the match after that.

Unfortunately, Rhode Island’s old penalty woes resurfaced – as we can add this to the list of stinkers along with Sacramento and Hartford, both in the USL Cup, both at home last season. We thought maybe we’d gotten the monkey off our backs at Charleston in the first round of the playoffs last year, but, alas.

Rhode Island FC Player Ratings:

The Salty Knot (Pretzel Stand) – N/A

This transcends the rating scale entirely. Otherworldly good pretzel in a 2026 Open Cup debut for The Salty Knot. Delectably warm, perfectly buttered, soft and doughy like my physique. And something I never say about any food; no sauce required. They were firing on all cylinders last night.

Koke Vegas (GK) – 6/10

Excellent distribution tonight by Koke (I find it easier to appreciate his vision and accuracy when sitting directly behind him, in 116). As for goalkeeping… only conceded the one goal – which was not Koke’s fault – and no other shots required a save.

Aldair Sanchez (D) – 6/10

Fair play to all of the RIFC players who went a full 120 minutes tonight. Sanchez was especially solid defensively as a left back, and never let the Revolution work down his side easily.

Grant Stoneman (D) – 7/10

One of Grant’s best defensive performances in a Rhode Island FC kit – as he led all Rhode Island players with nine defensive contributions (including six clearances) and won 4/5 aerial duels. Most importantly, Stoneman had an amazing goal line clearance in the 103rd minute to keep the score even at 1-1.

Karifa Yao (D) – 6/10

The defensive unit was very impressive at neutralizing the Revs in the first half, and Yao was integral to that. He did eventually make way for Hamady Diop after picking up a yellow card in the second half (it’s entirely possible that this sub was planned either way). Yao put in some clean but absolutely crunching challenges.

Nick Scardina (D) – 6/10

Much like Aldair Sanchez, Scardina battled all night to protect our right side from any Revolution threats. Particularly in the first half, the entire defensive unit was working perfectly in sync together to frustrate the Revs.

Clay Holstad (MF) – 7/10

Performances like this are why we all clamored for Clay to be in the midfield for the majority of last year. It’s not just the work that he does in the midfield – chipping in with eight ball recoveries and leading the team in touches (96) as he was a crucial part of build up – but it’s the positions that he pops up in all over the field to provide an outlet and put out fires.

Here’s his heat map, for reference:

Amos Shapiro-Thompson (MF) – 6/10

Amazing to see Amos back in the starting line up, and always expected him to only go about 45 minutes as he works back to fitness. Because Amos played only the first half, his duties were primarily defensive and he performed the job characteristically well.

Pity Rodriguez (MF) – 5/10

Bit of a tough spot for Pity, as he was the only player from our regular “front four” to start in this match. He and Noah like to occupy similar-ish positions, and didn’t feel like the chemistry was quite there between the two of them just yet. The effort was on clear display in this performance, which I’ll always appreciate.

Noah Fuson (F) – 5/10

Nice to see a full 120 minute performance from Noah, as I think he likely just needs some consistent minutes to find his form again. There were flashes of peak Noah in the performance on Tuesday night, but not quite consistently enough to be really threatening.

In fairness to Noah, much like Clay, he did a lot of everything over the course of his 120 minute performance, even if the quality that we expect in the final third wasn’t always there. I think it’s a performance to build upon.

Logan Dorsey (F) – 5/10

Dorsey really just wasn’t involved a whole lot in the first half other than once nice piece of build up play with his back to goal that stuck in my mind. I think it would’ve been beneficial to have him paired with JJ or Leo in a strike partnership to start the match.

Dwayne Atkinson (F) – 5/10

Like most of the players who primarily played in the first half – there wasn’t much threat in the attacking third from Rhode Island to speak of.

Subs

Hugo Bacharach – 8/10

Vintage Hugo performance. Wow. Hugo had the benefit of coming on the pitch to replace Amos to start the second half – with a lot of our impact subs to follow shortly after – but Hugo was a monster in his 75 minutes played.

Defensively, Hugo was a brick wall that the Revs mostly couldn’t break through with eight defensive actions, four tackles won, and a game-high 12 duels won out of 17 total. In the attacking third, Hugo was pressing high up the field and heavily involved in the attack and quarterbacking or shuttling the ball around the edge of the box into dangerous positions.

Jojea Kwizera – 7/10

I’m perfectly willing to admit that I may just have a bias towards the players who were attacking towards me in 116 during the second half – but I thought Kwizera looked very dangerous with his double threat of a whipped cross into the box, or a cut inside towards the top of the box.

Kwizera created a huge counter chance for Leo Afonso with a crafty outside of the boot pass from the center of the park. He also blew the rest of the Rhode Island FC players out of the water in terms of ball progression and progressive carrying distance in just 66 minutes played.

JJ Williams – 7/10

I really don’t need to check JJ’s stats because I saw with my own eyes the impact that he had as soon as he came on in the second half. The chances started flowing literally almost immediately after he came on.

It never could have been anyone else to score that towering header to equalize in the final seconds of regular time. As I mentioned – this has to be the best moment to date at Tidewater.

Leo Afonso – 6/10

Not quite as impressive as JJ and Kwizera on the whole, but Leo had a strong attacking night. He probably had Rhode Island’s best chance of the night on a breakaway chance in the second half, which Parisian did very well to make a save on.

Hamady Diop – 6/10

Diop was solid defensively when he entered in the second half, but equally importantly he was crucial to Rhode Island’s build up play as we pushed for the equalizing goal. In just 52 minutes he led all players with 14 passes into the final third. There were a few errant passes along the way – but that impact absolutely cannot be ignored.

Diop was also the only RI player to bury his penalty shot.

Frank Nodarse – 6/10

The Nodarsessaince continues.

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Rating Scale:

• 1/10 – Abysmal. You might as well have me on the pitch.
• 2/10 – Very bad
• 3/10 – Bad
• 4/10 – Below Average
• 5/10 – Average. The player did their job.
• 6/10 – Good
• 7/10 – Very good
• 8/10 – Great
• 9/10 – Outstanding
• 10/10 – Transcendent performance. Watch out, because Real Madrid may come knocking.