Rhode Island FC earned three points with a comfortable 4-1 victory over Loudoun United FC on Saturday night.

We don’t often get the luxury of calling a win “comfortable” for Rhode Island FC, and certainly not often on the road – where they’d picked up just three points from their first four road matches leading into tonight.

Despite Loudoun having 66% of possession, Rhode Island dictated this game and really never looked in much danger other than a couple of moments at the start of the first and second halves.

On one hand – it can feel like a bummer to have this momentum building up right as we head into a three week “international break”. But I can assure you – as a veteran of this exact feeling – it is far worse to be dwelling on a loss heading into the international break. The vibes should remain high, as Rhode Island FC will be back at it at home on the Fourth of July.

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

Rhode Island FC Player Ratings:

Koke Vegas (GK) – 6/10

A relatively quiet night for Koke, partially due to good defending and partially due to Loudoun really not offering much of a threat. He did make a nice diving save on a dangerous Loudoun free kick in the 17th minute.

On Loudoun’s goal, I thought maybe a goalkeeper as aggressive as Koke had a chance at claiming that cross. Thankfully, it didn’t come back to bite us.

Frank Nodarse (D) – 6/10

Frank looked a bit casual in his effort to defend the cross that leads to Loudoun’s lone goal, but solid defensive performance otherwise. He had a couple of crucial blocked shots early in the first half when the game was hanging in the balance. Frank and Koke together stopped Loudoun from scoring first, which almost surely would’ve led to a very different result.

Grant Stoneman (D) – 6/10

It was a remarkably quiet game for both central defenders, but during a brief period of Loudoun pressure following our second goal, Stoneman thwarted a series of Loudoun chances with some very good emergency defending.

Karifa Yao (D) – 5/10

Again, our central defenders really weren’t asked any questions in this match. Yao’s most notable moment was a knockdown at the edge of our box that came off his hand in the first half. For a moment, I thought he’d given away a penalty – but instead, it was only a free kick (which did force Koke into a diving save).

Nick Scardina (D) – 7/10

Another great Scardina performance on both sides of the ball. Scardina got his first league goal of the season – essentially a tap in off of a great pass across the goal from JJ Williams, to put us up 2-0 in the 47th minute.

The only blemish on the night is that Scardina was marking the run of the Loudoun goal scorer in our box. It’s not really his job in this scenario – I would rather see one of our center backs pick him up making that run into the box. On the other hand, Scardina did lead all Rhode Island players with nine defensive contributions.

Hugo Bacharach (MF) – 6/10

Hugo earned his first league assist of the season with a flicked-on header to JJ Williams, off of a Clay long throw, in the 22nd minute. This is a very dangerous, legitimate avenue to us scoring and is basically an additional set piece in our repertoire – making use of Hugo’s physicality and size.

Hugo was otherwise active going both ways, and led all players with nine duels won.

Not a huge deal yet, but something to keep an eye on: Bacharach has picked up four yellow cards in his last five matches.

Clay Holstad (MF) – 8/10

What a night for Clay Holstad, as he was busy on both sides of the ball, and most importantly contributed with two “hockey assists”.

First, Clay’s long throws continue to be a weapon for this team, as it led to a goal on a 22nd minute throw-in (when the throw was flicked on by Hugo, and then headed in by JJ Williams).

Later, while holding on to a two-goal lead and staving off some Loudoun pressure for an equalizer, Clay makes an incredible run through the midfield – breaking through a series of Loudoun tackles along the way – before playing in Noah Fuson who assists the third goal.

Amos Shapiro-Thompson (MF) – 6/10

It was a relatively subdued offensive performance from Amos playing in the number 10 role, until his moment came shortly after the start of the second half. In the 47th minute, Amos drifts out wide on the right and plays a beautiful one-timed cross into a dangerous area in the box, that JJ lays off to Scardina for our second goal of the night.

I’m surprised to see Amos get the nod at the number 10 spot while Pity Rodriguez is also in the starting lineup. To me, that role is much more suited to a tight, technical, progressive player of Pity’s profile than it is to the hard-working, high-pressing, metronomic profile of Amos.

Jojea Kwizera (F) – 5/10

Not a whole lot to write home about for Kwizera in his return from a brief stint with the Rwandan national team. I actually thought some of his best moments of the night were in his work tracking back and recovering the ball in our own third. Notably, Kwizera spent most of his time back on the left in this match, rather than on the right where most of his success has come this season.

JJ Williams (F) – 8/10

Insanely clinical night from JJ Williams, as he made the absolute most of the chances that came his way. Three goal contributions on the night, nine in his last six league matches, and joint 4th top goal scorer in the league.

JJ has regularly spoken about how he needs to contribute more consistently, and he’s matching those words with his actions now.

He scored a headed goal in the 22nd minute, and then created a tap-in for Nick Scardina and a tap-in for Busy all just by being faster, stronger, and smarter than the Loudoun opposition. My personal favorite was the assist to Scardina… if you watch it back, JJ had a lot to do to lay that ball off so perfectly for Scardina to finish.

Pity Rodriguez (F) – 6/10

Pity had a frustrating first half playing on the right wing, but played a bright 15 minutes to start the second half after moving to the left and getting a bit more freedom in the attack. Pity was essential in the build up to Scardina’s goal, as he does very well to hold up the ball and lay it off to Amos to make a cross. He followed this up just two minutes later with a shot at the bottom left corner that required a diving save from the Loudoun keeper.

Subs

Leo Afonso – 6/10

Great cameo for Leo Afonso – the game was, again, hanging in the balance as Loudoun was chasing an equalizer when Afonso and Noah came on. They changed the dynamic of the game, and within 10 minutes the pair linked up to put Rhode Island ahead 3-1.

It was a very nice finish by Leo, and he very nearly scored a 2nd in the 90th minute with a shot that missed the far post by mere inches.

Noah Fuson – 6/10

Also a great cameo for Noah Fuson – as previously mentioned, he and Afonso came on and immediately made the attack more dangerous at a time when Loudoun was pushing for an equalizer. He showed great composure to slightly cut back a slow rolling cross through the Loudoun box, leading to Afonso’s goal (but the pass could easily have found Holstad, or Williams as well).

Aldair Sanchez – N/A

Zach Herivaux – 5/10

A safe, reliable pair of hands to see out the last 15 minutes of the match (replacing Hugo Bacharach with a yellow card).

Dwayne Atkinson – 6/10

We love to see a Busy goal. It’s a relatively straight-forward finish that any forward should score, but the important part is that Busy made the well-timed run and got himself in the right position to capitalize.

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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.