Rhode Island FC vs. Detroit City FC Player Ratings - 10/10/2026

Rhode Island FC fell 1-0 on the road to Detroit City FC on Saturday night.

This is one of the most disappointing performances of the season. Heading into the match, the deck was stacked against Rhode Island FC. Detroit City has the best defense in the league and is the second-best home team in the league.

For the first 20 minutes, the match looked as you'd expect. Detroit City was dominating possession, but Rhode Island had a couple of promising moments on the counter. In the 23rd minute, Detroit City's goalkeeper was sent off, and they played the remaining 67 minutes, plus stoppage, down a man.

Somehow, Rhode Island's best football (phrased generously) of the night was already long behind them by the time of the red card. They showed absolutely nothing for the rest of the match - even failing to register a single shot on target while playing with the man advantage.

I had a bad feeling after the red card that we would not respond well. But, it goes without saying, playing over two thirds of the match with a man advantage, you have to be taking at least a point - no matter how good the competition is.

We got the result many fans expected, but we took the worst path to get there. The loss finds Rhode Island FC back down to 7th place in the Eastern Conference, no longer with games in hand over Louisville or Hartford in the spots immediately above them.

Click below to see 2026 player historical ratings.

Rhode Island FC Player Ratings:

Koke Vegas (GK) - 5/10

He made zero saves on the night, but he couldn't have done much about Darren Smith's great goal.

Aldair Sanchez (D) - 5/10

In the words of Stringer Bell... Aldair's performance was a 40 degree day.

Frank Nodarse (D) - 6/10

Our best player on the night - and that's not high praise for Frank so much as an indictment on the rest of the team.

Frank did lead all players with 10 defensive contributions, won eight out of his nine duels. More importantly, he was THE only Rhode Island FC player out there who was willing to take on a man and drive with the ball. He did so consistently and effectively, while everyone else was content to smash it long and get back to defending.

Karifa Yao (D) - 5/10

Perfectly fine, an inoffensive night for Yao where he had much more defending to do than you would expect while playing with a man advantage.

Nick Scardina (D) - 3/10

This is one of my guys, but... bit of a disaster class, completing just 6 out of 18 passes and losing 3/4 ground duels. He did do well at times to progress the ball up the right flank, but overall just one of several players who was not good enough.

Grant Stoneman (MF) - 3/10

Not a great night for Stoneman, with 65% passing accuracy (quite low for a CB / holding midfielder - he played some of both) and, more notably, Darren Smith sending him in the complete wrong direction with his first touch leading to the lone goal of the night.

It's not entirely Stoneman's fault... as far as the team defending in general - remember Darren Smith? You know, that guy tied for 3rd place for the Golden Boot with 13 goals? Might be a good idea to mark him at the top of the 18-yard box.

Zach Herivaux (MF) - 4/10

It pains me to write it as a huge fan of Herivaux, but this was the first game since his return from injury where I've worried he just isn't who we thought he was - or isn't the guy who he was, at his best, in 2024, anymore.

He wasn't BAD by any means, but he had chances to drive with the ball or make a cutting pass forward and just didn't see it or refused to make it on multiple occasions.

Amos Shapiro-Thompson (F) - 5/10

One of the few other players who can be proud of their performance - you never get anything less than 100% effort from Amos. But, unfortunately, we needed more from Amos at Detroit. His abilities in the attacking third have come a long way this year, but they were nowhere to be seen in this match.

Leo Afonso (F) - 4/10

Leo both created and took our best chance of the game in the 20th minute when he won the ball back high up the field, played a perfect through ball for Scardina, and received the cutback cross for a high quality shot that was unfortunately blocked.

I appreciate Leo leading all players with four shots taken - especially when no one else for Rhode Island seemed willing to - but it was a pretty underwhelming night where we needed more from one of our best attacking players over the past several weeks. He was also tied for the most duels lost in the match, losing eight out of 10.

Stas Korzeniowski (F) - 4/10

I honestly can't believe Stas had 28 touches in this match. I can literally only remember a couple - one being his counterattacking opportunity in the 10th minute where he (somewhat selfishly - but I genuinely don't mind it) took a shot instead of crossing to the far post, and the other being a decent headed chance that went well over the crossbar in the 81st.

Osman Foyo (F) - 4/10

Relatively poor from Foyo as well - had a few promising moments early, but really waned in effectiveness as the game wore on. I would have much preferred to see Kwizera replace Foyo and play in his best position, rather than Foyo staying on and Kwizera playing left back.

Subs

Jojea Kwizera - 5/10

Yutaro Tsukada - 5/10

Tsukada was at least working hard and trying to make something happen. Unfortunately, the team around him was all out of sorts.

It'd be silly not to at least acknowledge the tussle between Tsukada and the Detroit City fans, players not dressed for the match, and front office staff (think there was a bit of all of these in that crowd) at the end of the match as Tsukada tried to take the final corner kick.

I don't know what happened, I don't know what was said, I don't know who instigated - but it is absolutely amateur of the league and Detroit City to allow ANYONE to be standing on the field - with no ad boards at all - that close to the corner. They're inviting all kinds of trouble, and they very nearly got it.

Dani Rovira - 5/10

I guess if the goal of this substitution was to manage the players on yellow cards and replace Nick Scardina to keep him from getting sent off... mission accomplished?

Noah Fuson - N/A

The less I say, the better.

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.