Rhode Island FC equalized in the 85th minute to earn a point in a 1-1 draw against the undefeated Tampa Bay Rowdies at Tidewater on Saturday night.

Tampa Bay entered the night leading the league with 17 points. Personally, I have very high expectations for Rhode Island FC and especially expect us to win every game at home – so I think it’s fair for me to simultaneously be disappointed but also acknowledge that it’s a decent result against a very good team.

Unfortunately, this result finds Rhode Island FC in 10th place – three points out of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. While we’ve only lost once in the league at home… we’ve also only won once. Every 0-0 and 1-1 result at home feels a bit too eerily similar to last year.

Ultimately, this roster is simply too talented to be operating barely above a point-per-game pace.

Click below if you’re interested in seeing 2026 player historical ratings.

Rhode Island FC Player Ratings:

Koke Vegas (GK) – 5/10

Koke made his only save of the match in the 9th minute on a very dangerous counter attacking chance for Tampa. On the Tampa Bay goal, the attacking player should never have been left that wide open at the far post.

Koke wasn’t tested besides that other than being quick off of his line a few times, but had the goal covered on several chances that narrowly missed the target.

Aldair Sanchez (D) – 6/10

Another solid game on both sides of the ball, as has been routine for Aldair Sanchez in 2026. He led Rhode Island with two chances created, 11 passes into the final third, and three accurate crosses. In the 26th minute, Hugo Bacharach played Sanchez into acres of space with a great diagonal through ball, and Aldair delivered a dangerous ball in for Leo Afonso.

Hamady Diop (D) – 5/10

An improved defensive performance for Hamady Diop, though he still has not found his form from 2025.

A bad read by Diop leads to Koke’s only save of the night in the 9th minute, and despite leading the team in touches (88) and accurate passes (60), there were some poor decisions in possession mixed in there as well. On the bright side, he led all players with 10 duels won, and led Rhode Island with nine defensive contributions. Diop and Stoneman deserve a lot of credit for limiting a high-powered Tampa Bay offense to just one shot on target.

Grant Stoneman (D) – 6/10

I owe Grant Stoneman an apology – I’ve doubted and questioned him in the past, but he has been excellent this season in a more rotational role. He’s finally playing like the calming veteran presence that I always expected him to be.

Stoneman has a nose for late game heroics, and Saturday was no different as he made a perfectly timed tackle inside of our box to close down what would’ve been a golden opportunity for Tampa Bay to reclaim the lead in the 87th minute.

Frank Nodarse (D) – 4/10

Not only did Frank lose track of Dolabella at the far post for Tampa Bay’s opening goal (and what’s especially frustrating is – you can see Frank check over his shoulder moments before Dolabella makes the run), but his ball progression and defensive play left something to be desired as well.

He was rightfully hooked after 63 minutes – although, knowing Khano, this was probably a planned substitution regardless of performance.

Hugo Bacharach (MF) – 5/10

The formation was slightly tweaked as Hugo played more like a lone holding midfielder with Amos and Zach ahead of him, rather than the double pivot we’re used to seeing.

As for his defensive responsibilities, Hugo was perfectly adequate with eight defensive contributions and seven ball recoveries. He had a great headed chance in the 13th minute off of a set piece delivery from Jojea Kwizera, which requires a great save from Tampa’s Jahmali Waite.

Unfortunately, the build up play still left something to be desired, with only 66% passing accuracy (47% in the opposition half).

Zach Herivaux (MF) – 5/10

My only real wish is for Zach to have been more involved, as he finished the match with only 27 touches. A few times per match he just makes very “adult” plays (shout out the original Adult Midfield) that make you appreciate him being out there.

He was great in build up during the 15-or-so minutes that we were dominating the match (roughly minute 10 through 25), including a cross through the box that found Kwizera for a solid shot on target.

Amos Shapiro-Thompson (MF) – 5/10

I’ve notoriously advocated against playing Amos in a more progressive or attacking role, including the “box-to-box” role that he was tasked with playing on Saturday.

While his total ball progression distance of -3.4m didn’t exactly prove me wrong, he did create the best chance of the match: Amos plays a one-touched perfect cross into the box right to the feet of JJ Williams, who might’ve broken a window in the Team Store with the resulting shot.

Leo Afonso (F) – 4/10

Leo had a couple of dangerous moments – again, mostly coming in the first 25 minutes of the match. He put in a decent long-distance set piece attempt for a shot on target, and also attempted a back heel (didn’t quite come off) on a cross from Aldair Sanchez.

Curiously, Khano switched Kwizera and Afonso again right around the 35th minute. Learning that the switch is planned – rather than a reaction to the game itself – is… interesting. It certainly hasn’t been effective so far, as both players fumbled their first involvements after the switch.

JJ Williams (F) – 6/10

Mixed performance from JJ, as he a mostly pretty frustrating evening but put the ball in the back of the net when it mattered most. Early in the match, JJ missed a golden opportunity that was served up on a platter by Amos Shapiro-Thompson.

In addition to that chance and the goal, there was a combination of heavy touches, miscued passes, and winning just 2/12 ground duels. To his credit, however, he was rock solid on aerial duels on the night (7/11), even if his teammates regularly failed to win the second ball.

Jojea Kwizera (F) – 5/10

Much like Leo, Kwizera’s best moments came early in the first half. His set piece delivery early in the match leads to a great headed chance for Hugo Bacharach, and he had a high-quality shot chance of his own about five minutes later.

Unfortunately, as the game wore on, Kwizera looked short on ideas and displayed some slow (or, at times, poor) decision making during promising counterattacks. Kwizera, like Leo, suffered when Khano had them swap sides to end the first half.

Kwizera made way early in the second half – and it’s tough to say whether it was performance, fresh legs, the fact that he was on a yellow, or just a Khano pre-planned sub… probably a mixture.

Subs

Pity Rodriguez – 5/10

Pity replaced Hugo Bacharach (on a yellow), signaling the change back to a double pivot with Pity playing as a 10. The ball was caught in Pity’s feet a couple of times, but he continues to show flashes of technical quality above most of the other players in the league.

One such example is a great cross-field pass to switch the play to Nick Scardina on the right, starting the move for JJ’s equalizing goal.

Noah Fuson – 5/10

Noah is still playing with low confidence, but deserves credit for coming on and – along with the other subs – immediately making the right side look dangerous again. Straight away, Scardina and Fuson linked up to win a corner kick – and Fuson is also later involved in the build up for JJ’s goal.

Nick Scardina – 6/10

Scardina’s best cameo aside from the first round of the US Open Cup, as he came on and immediately linked up well with his team mates, looked dangerous going forward, and defended well.

Scardina’s efforts going forward were rewarded in the 85th minute when he played a nice give-and-go with Noah Fuson to get a bit of space out wide, and earned his first league assist of the season with a great cross in for JJ Williams to tie the game.

Clay Holstad – 5/10

In fairness to Clay, the ball was barely in play for most of his time on the field as Tampa Bay was flexing their Dark Arts degree throughout the second half (well… until Rhode Island scored and they decided now they wanted to play). It was a typical high-energy performance, but not much noteworthy.

He did close the game with a long distance attempt; it wasn’t especially close but he kept it lower than the majority of his other attempts so far this year, which is a good sign.

Logan Dorsey – N/A

My mother taught me (Happy Mother’s Day!) if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say it at all.

---

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.