Rhode Island FC are back on the field at Tidewater on Wednesday night as they’re set to host the Charleston Battery.  The two teams already have 6 meetings all time with two regular season meetings and one playoff meeting in each of the last two years.  The matchup has been even in the regular season with two draws in 2024 and a win for each team last year.  The playoffs is where RIFC have come out on top, winning in the Eastern Conference Final in 2024 and drawing and winning on penalties in the first round in 2025.  As we get ready for the first meeting of 2026, here’s what you need to know:

Last Time Out

RIFC will have had plenty of rest when they come out on Wednesday night.  They had this past weekend off and last played last Tuesday night, giving them 8 days between games.  It was a tough loss on penalties in the Open Cup against the New England Revolution last time out after a hard fought 1-1 draw.  Before that, RIFC won 3-1 in Lexington in their last league game.

My big takeaway from these two games is that when JJ Williams is on, RIFC are at their most dangerous.  It is kind of an obvious talking point, and something we’ve been talking about as a fanbase since 2024.  But it is still just as relevant in our third season.  JJ didn’t score in Lexington but had an assist and was often the focal point in attack, opening up space for his teammates.  And against the Revs, the game completely changed after he came on.  He was a constant threat in the box and scored the equalizer deep into stoppage time that sent the game to extra time and eventually penalties.  If RIFC can get this JJ consistently this season, it’ll be a fun year.

Players to Watch

• Hugo Bacharach (MF)
  • Hugo has had a great past few games for RIFC.  He looked especially good against the Revs last time out, constantly driving through the midfield and controlling the game in the second half and beyond.  Hopefully his form keeps rolling into Wednesday night
• Zach Herivaux (MF)
  • Zach hasn’t played since he came off injured in the second half of the season opener against Sporting Jax.  However, he wasn’t listed in the availability report ahead of the Revs game and word has started to trickle out that he’s been seen in training.  I’d love to see him back in the squad for this one but we’ll all have to wait for the lineup to come out an hour before kickoff to see if he’s there
• Leo Afonso (FW)
  • I’ve already talked about how good JJ has been lately and Leo should be one of the biggest beneficiaries.  He should continue to have space to do his favorite thing (shoot), and hopefully his goal in Lexington is a sign of things to come

Key to the Game

Maintain Momentum

8 days isn’t actually that much of a break.  But given how the Revs game was managed, you could say this was really an 11 day break for RIFC in the sense that the Lexington game was the last time Khano started what is presumably his best 11.  Hopefully we see that same 11 on Wednesday night.  If we do, they’ll need to keep the momentum going from that 3-1 win in Lexington and continue to build consistency.  One of my biggest points of emphasis coming into this season is I wanted to see a mostly consistent 11 and style of play.  It seems like Khano has found something that works and hopefully he can stick with it as the season moves along.

Last Time Out

Charleston come into this one on short rest having drawn 1-1 at home with the Tampa Bay Rowdies this past Saturday.  There was some late drama with Tampa Bay scoring in the 79th minute only for Charleston to equalize two minutes later and ensure both teams left with a point. 

As for their form this season overall, Charleston started well with 3 wins in their first 3 games (2 in the league and 1 against an amateur side in the open cup).  But they’ve only won once in their last 5 games to go along with three losses and one draw.  The lone win was at Lou City 2-0 on April 4th. 

Players to Watch

• Nate Messer (DF)
  • Messer was with RIFC in 2024 but rarely saw the field.  He moved to League One and Portland Hearts of Pine ahead of last season and had a breakout year.  He was arguably Portland’s best player and it earned him another shot in the Championship, this time with Charleston.  So far this season, Messer has picked up where he left off in Portland and has been one of Charleston’s best players
• Houssou Landry (MF)
  • Landry is often an important part of Charleston’s double pivot in midfield.  Last season, he was paired with Aaron Molloy and this season it’s been new signing Kirill Pakhomov.  Neither will be there on Wednesday, as Molloy is now in Lexington and Pakhomov limped off injured this past weekend.  This increases Landry’s responsibilities in what should be a fascinating midfield battle
• Miguel Berry (FW)
  • Berry was one of Charleston’s biggest offseason signings, having spent the last two seasons in MLS with LA Galaxy.  On paper, he seemed the likely candidate to replace star forward Cal Jennings who now plies his trade in Japan.  But despite appearing in all 6 league games this season (4 starts), Berry hasn’t hit the ground running.  He’s yet to record a goal contribution and Charleston will likely need him to get going in order to get some consistent scoring

Key to the Game

Set Pieces, Set Pieces, Set Pieces

Charleston are tied with Loudoun United for the most set piece goals in the league this season (4).  With 8 goals total so far, that’s half of the Battery’s goals (all from corners).  During all of RIFC’s goal scoring troubles last season, one of the main frustrations was the inability to score from corners.  Charleston have stayed afloat early this season by getting those goals while their forwards haven’t yet got on track.  They may need to rely on corners again on Wednesday against a solid RIFC defense.

Analysis and Prediction

I expect Charleston to have more of the ball in this one, as they’re third in the league in average possession.  Meanwhile, RIFC should be difficult to break down.  Because of this, I think Charleston’s best opportunities to score will come from set pieces (corners in particular).  RIFC have yet to concede from a corner this season and have only conceded once from a set piece, which was a free kick against Louisville.  As for RIFC going forward, they’ve performed well when they haven’t dominated possession, most notably in their win over Lexington.  I could see something similar here with chances created in transition.  So with all that being said…

Final Thoughts

I’m excited to get back to Tidewater for this one.  While I was actually there this past weekend, it wasn’t to watch RIFC and I wasn’t 205.  I was there to catch some of the Northeast Spring Cup, a competition between 8 New England College Soccer teams.  It was a good time and of course the thought crossed my mind to do a blog but it was impossible to get accurate info on all the players and I really just wanted to relax.  Maybe next year, who knows?

As for RIFC, the actual purpose of this blog, I’ll be back here after the game with the Riptide Report to give my immediate takeaways.  I’ll attempt to be more punctual this time but we’ll have to wait and see how it goes.  Until then, as always, UP THE TIDE!