Rhode Island FC vs. Tampa Bay Rowdies Player Ratings - 08/15/2026

Rhode Island FC fell 0-2 on Saturday night to the league-leading Tampa Bay Rowdies.

While I'd like to see us go toe-to-toe with any and every team in the league, this performance bothers me so, so much less than the losses to Birmingham Legion, Indy Eleven, and Miami FC (just to name a few).

Tampa Bay was incredibly organized defensively, and relatively clinical with their chances. We, on the other hand, defended well but weren't able to generate enough chances to really stretch Tampa or make them sweat.

Despite that, we had a good opportunity to get out of here with a point, but were eventually overwhelmed by the quality off of Tampa's bench. We have a good chance to start re-building some momentum against a bad Monterey Bay side at home next weekend.

Click below to see 2026 player historical ratings.

Rhode Island FC Player Ratings:

Koke Vegas (GK) - 5/10

Koke made four saves on six total shots, and there was not much he could have done on either of the Tampa Bay goals.

For the second or third time in the last few weeks, I find myself suspecting that Koke is nursing some kind of upper body injury. Suddenly, he seems to be bobbling or spilling a lot of his saves into dangerous areas that previously I would've expected him to catch.

Aldair Sanchez (D) - 5/10

Aldair Sanchez was solid defensively, limiting the number of opportunities and crosses that came in from his flank. There wasn't much buildup from his side, but I also don't think that was his responsibility in this game plan.

Frank Nodarse (D) - 7/10

Frank was one of the few bright spots on the pitch on Saturday night. Not only did he lead the team with eight defensive contributions, but a couple of these were last-ditch interventions on dangerous Tampa Bay counterattacks. Frank may have saved a couple of goals with his defensive work in this match.

I also thought he showed some good flashes and progressive carrying in buildup play that I haven't seen too often from Frank this year.

Grant Stoneman (D) - 6/10

Besides getting burned by Cicerone on Tampa Bay's second goal, I thought Stoneman had a quietly solid defensive match. He racked up a couple of clearances in the first ten or twenty minutes to help keep the game in control early.

Nick Scardina (D) - 6/10

Scardina continued his trend of solid defensive play, and played a crucial role in our buildup play. He led all Rhode Island players by a considerable amount, with 16 passes into the final third.

Hugo Bacharach (MF) - 5/10

Most of the buildup play in this match didn't run through midfield, but Hugo made a couple of good carries nonetheless. Otherwise, it was a solid but more subdued performance from Hugo. He did make a great cover run and lunging defensive block late in the second half to keep the game 1-0.

He also picked up a yellow card for a missed challenge at the end of the first half, which made him play a bit more conservatively in the second. That's six yellow cards for Hugo on accumulation - which means he's just two away from a one-match suspension.

Amos Shapiro-Thompson (MF) - 5/10

There was not a tremendous amount for Amos to do in this match - as a result, it was a much quieter performance than we're used to seeing from one of our most energetic players.

Noah Fuson (MF) - 4/10

Like most of our attacking players, Noah didn't have many ideas for how to play around or through Tampa Bay's well-organized defense.

Yutaro Tsukada (F) - 6/10

Tsukada was our most promising attacking player on the night by a long shot - which is more an indictment on the rest of our offense than praise for Tsukada.

In his 67 minutes, he got in on net twice and put high-quality shots on target both times. He also chipped in with a few decent moments on set pieces - including a couple of good corners and a long-range shot on target from a free kick.

JJ Williams (F) - 4/10

You can absolutely chalk this up to a lack of service (and you would be right), but JJ offered nothing at all in this match.

Jojea Kwizera (F) - 4/10

One of the best signs of how organized and prepared Tampa Bay were was how quiet they kept Kwizera. There are basically two directions Kwizera is ever going to go: down to the endline, or cut inside onto his left foot, and Tampa Bay did not let him do either.

Subs

Pity Rodriguez - 5/10

Last week, Pity and Leo coming on was enough to change the game and outlast Colorado. This week, Pity and Leo were fairly ineffective, and instead it was the Tampa substitutions who changed the game.

Leo Afonso - 5/10

As mentioned above, largely ineffective attacking substitute performance - and, I thought, could've done more to track Cicerone back as he set up Tampa's second goal.

Dwayne Atkinson - 5/10

Busy showed some creativity, quality, and drive - which is more than I can say for the last couple of weeks.

Eric Klein - 6/10

A reasonably promising debut in midfield for the 19-year-old from New England Revolution. While I share in Matt Hands' concerns with loan players in the USL Championship, Klein displayed good, fast decision-making and a willingness to push the ball forward.

Dani Rovira - N/A

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.