Rhode Island FC drew 0-0 with Hartford Athletic but won the penalty shootout 4-3. For the USL Cup, this means RIFC come away with an extra point (2) while Hartford leave with 1. It was another dramatic meeting between the two teams, so let’s get right into the takeaways.
Rotation
Coming into this one, I expected there to be a few changes from the 11 that started on Wednesday against Charleston. What I didn’t expect was six of them. The lineup ended up looking like this:
Stoneman, Scardina, Herivaux, Fuson, Atkinson and Dorsey are the six players who came in for this one. I would’ve been ok with Stoneman, Herivaux, and one of Noah or Busy starting tonight. But six total changes felt like a bit much.
When you rotate like this, you obviously want the players you bring on to make an impact. But if they don’t, at the very least you want to be level when you bring your normal starters on. And RIFC were able to do so, getting it to 0-0 at halftime and keeping it that way into the second half when they started to make subs. So in that way, it was a success.
Siaha Controversy (Again)
RIFC made some subs in the second half, bringing on some of the normal starters including JJ Williams in the 66th minute. Just a few minutes later, JJ found himself involved in the biggest and most controversial moment of the match:
This is a clear red card. It’s embarrassing that the assistant referee didn’t catch it. Yet again, Siaha was able to get away with something. Hartford did end up getting a red right on 90 minutes when forward Sadat Anaku stupidly got two yellows in quick succession. Unfortunately RIFC couldn’t take advantage and we went to pens after 0-0.
Who Says We Can’t Win on Pens?
Penalties are always rough for RIFC. Before tonight, we’d only won once in five shootouts. That came against the Charleston Battery in last year’s playoffs. In this one, both teams would convert their first attempts and have their second ones saved. The third and fourth attempts for each team were both scored, making it 3-3 heading into the fifth round. Hartford’s Samuel Carreaga would blast his attempt over the bar, setting up this chance to win it for Rhode Island:
I was honestly a bit surprised to see Karifa step up for this one. But he nailed it to send Hartford and their fans home unhappy. RIFC Director of Sports Performance Matt DelGreco really said it all here:
Final Thoughts
In the end, I thought RIFC were the better team tonight. Due to that fact, it’s a bit frustrating that this ended in a draw. There is an argument to be made that RIFC wins this outright without the rotation. My point of view is that Khano would’ve subbed players like JJ, Leo and Pity off early had they started. They wouldn’t have gone 90, and I would rather have them against more tired legs.
This result leaves RIFC third in the group after Brooklyn beat the Cosmos 3-0 and Westchester defeated Portland on penalties after a 2-2 draw. It’s not the best place to be after the first group game but RIFC still have everything to play for, especially since on paper Hartford was their toughest opponent in the group.
I’ll be back here Friday with a preview of the home game against Birmingham Legion on Saturday. Before that though, the postmatch pod will be back tomorrow night to recap this one and Timmy will have his player ratings. As always, we appreciate everyone who consumes any of our content. And until next time, UP THE TIDE!
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