It’s a trip up to Maine this weekend for Rhode Island FC as they’re set for a meeting with Portland Hearts of Pine on Saturday.  It’s the third game between the two teams after the two RIFC wins in the Open Cup and USL Cup last year.  It’ll also technically be RIFC’s first trip to Portland as their Open Cup game last year was played in Lewiston due to Portland’s Fitzpatrick Stadium not being ready. 

There’s always a bit extra, at least from a fan point of view, when two New England teams face off.  Defiance 1636 is traveling for the game so there will be a strong contingent of RIFC fans.  Here’s what to know and what to be on the lookout for whether you’re in the stands or watching back in RI:

Last Time Out

RIFC earned a 1-1 draw at home against the league leading Tampa Bay Rowdies last weekend.  It was JJ Williams who came in clutch yet again with a late equalizer.  My main takeaway from that one was a change Khano made to the midfield structure.  He brought Amos Shapiro-Thompson and Zach Herivaux in for Clay Holstad and Pity Rodriguez.  That altered the midfield from a double pivot with an attacking 10 in front of them to one holding midfielder with two box to box players slightly in front and either side of him.  I’m interested to see how that looks and Saturday and moving forward.

As for the USL Cup, RIFC heavily rotated in their group stage opener against Hartford Athletic.  The game ended in a 0-0 draw with RIFC winning the penalty shootout to get an extra point.  That leaves them third in the group behind Brooklyn and Westchester. 

Players to Watch

• Karifa Yao (DF)
  • Heading into last weekend, I assumed one of the two normal starting CBs would see the bench.  It ended up being Yao.  While I don’t think he’s been bad this season, I do think Karifa hasn’t been at his best.  Still, I expect him to return to the starting 11 on Saturday and hopefully the break last weekend did him some good
• Clay Holstad (MF)
  • Clay was another one of the usual starters who was rotated out against Tampa Bay.  He ended up playing the last 20 minutes plus stoppage time.  Like Karifa, I expect Clay to be back starting against Portland
• Logan Dorsey (FW)
  • Dorsey has underwhelmed in his time in Pawtucket so far but it wouldn’t surprise me if he starts on Saturday.  Three of his four starts have come in cup competitions, with the other coming in the league when JJ was suspended.  I think Khano sees this as an opportunity to get Logan more minutes and he’ll need to step up

Key to the Game

Subs, Not Reserves

I wrote a lot about rotation in the last lookout and I realize I’m doing the same here.  But the starting 11 has suddenly become an interesting point of discussion.  I think Khano uses this game as an opportunity to rest some of the big players, namely JJ Williams.  But I’ll be shocked if we see players who don’t normally see the field.  To me, this is a subs game and not a reserves game.  Meaning, I don’t think Khano puts too much stock into Portland being a league one team.  It’s not CD Faialense where he could play CJ Williams, Gogo Peters, Dani Rovira, Kevin Vang etc.  All of this being said, the key here is for the guys who don’t normally start to step up.  It’s an opportunity for them to give Khano something to think about when he sets the lineup week in and week out.

Last Time Out

Portland come into this one having drawn Union Omaha 2-2 last weekend.  They were up 2-0 at halftime but couldn’t hold the lead out in Omaha.  As for the USL Cup it was also a 2-2 draw last time out, this one against Westchester.  An 85th minute Ollie Wright goal earned Portland the point but they lost the subsequent shootout and find themselves fourth in the group currently.

Players to Watch

• Josh Drack (DF)
  • Drack was brought in as an option to replace left back Nate Messer, who moved to Charleston this past offseason.  He didn’t start from the beginning of the season but has started the last four games, providing one assist
• Ollie Wright (MF/FW)
  • Wright has been Portland’s best player this season.  He leads the team in both goals and assists with 3 of each.  To me, he’s a candidate to move on from League One and into the Championship next year if he so chooses
• Titus Washington (FW)
  • Portland have rotated a decent amount along their front line.  Washington started and scored last weekend, so I would think he’d get another opportunity to start here.  It’s worth noting that he’s the only Portland player to score against RIFC, with a goal in each of the two meetings in 2025

Key to the Game

Take Your Chances

When looking at the numbers, there’s nothing that sticks out as something Portland do really well.  They’re average or below average in League One in a lot of stats, both offensive and defensive.  It’s why they find themselves 10th in the league at the moment.  So I’m going to focus on the obvious here: they need to take their chances on Saturday.  To be fair, Portland have scored 5 goals in their last 3 games, which is more than half of their goals scored all season in the league.  Main man Ollie Wright got 2 of those to go along with 2 assists.  He’ll need to keep it rolling this weekend for Portland to have any chance of getting something from the game.

Analysis and Prediction

There’s a lot of buzz around this one from the fanbases.  It’ll likely be one of the biggest games at Fitzpatrick this year for Portland.  And speaking of Fitzpatrick Stadium, Portland have only played there three times this season but have yet to lose with one win and two draws.  I think that brief home unbeaten run ends here though.  RIFC are simply the better team top to bottom, even with some likely rotation.   At worst, RIFC should have some strong players to rely on to change the game late on.

Final Thoughts

Away Days are always a great time.  Most of my best memories supporting RIFC have come when we’ve traveled to see the team on the road.  Of course many of these were playoff games, with Louisville and Charleston in 2024 standing out.  But I also think back to Westchester last season in the USL Cup.  Just great times hanging out with friends and fellow supporters.  It obviously helps when you also get the result on the field and as I just noted, I expect that to happen on Saturday.  I can’t wait to see everyone there.

I’ll be back here as always after the game with the Riptide Report to go over my immediate thoughts on the game.  And I’ll do my best to get it out in a timely manner.  We’ll see how that goes.  Until then, UP THE TIDE!