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# The Riptide Report: Charleston Battery vs Rhode Island FC - 9/26/2026
- URL: https://tidetalkri.com/the-riptide-report-charleston-battery-vs-rhode-island-fc-9-26-2026/
- Published: 2026-09-27T01:19:34.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-29T20:53:56.000Z
- Author: Matt Hands
- Tags: Blog, Charleston Battery, The Riptide Report

Rhode Island FC fell 2-0 in Charleston tonight. Two second half goals from Emilio Ycaza made the difference for the Battery. They move to six points behind the Tampa Bay Rowdies at the time of writing, as they're currently drawing with San Antonio 0-0\. As for RIFC, we remain in 8th place. Not where we want to be at this point in the season. Here are my quick thoughts on tonight:

## **Vintage Setup**

We knew there would be changes to the starting 11 with Jojea Kwizera away on international duty. But what we didn't know was that Khano Smith would completely change the formation. He reverted back to the 3-5-2 that has been successful in the past. It looked something like this:

![](https://tidetalkri.com/content/images/2026/09/e4475cbc-9c18-4b4f-8ecf-d40cd0fef0ae-1_all_32093.png)

I thought the setup was good for most of the game. The defensive structure worked well to nullify the Charleston attack. The problem was that RIFC weren't creating much of anything going forward.

## **Hugo Returns** 

I have to at least take a moment to mention that Hugo Bacharach made his return in this one, coming on at halftime. I was really happy to see him in the squad after missing each of the last two games. He looked a little rusty out there but it is to be expected. Hopefully he's ok to get back to his normal standard as we head towards the end of the season. Hugo's appearance tonight is pretty much where the positives end, however.

## **Soft Pen**

I thought the game had been mostly going to plan for RIFC well into the second half. I was ok with where things were at and thought a couple late attacking subs might do the job and get RIFC a win. Instead, Emilio Ycaza won what I thought was a soft penalty in the 75th minute. It looked like contact started outside the box but once he got inside the area, he knew if he went down it would be called. And it was. Koke did well to guess the right way but he wasn't able to keep it out.

## **From Bad to Worse**

As if that penalty wasn't bad enough, Koke got a red card about 5 minutes later. He came way out of his goal to try to get to a ball over the top but got none of the ball and made contact with Charleston forward Colton Swan instead. It was an awful moment for Koke, especially after having a great game beforehand. And, it forced us to see Jacob Castro in goal for the first time. He proceeded to make a good stop on the ensuing free kick but left a huge rebound for Ycaza to take advantage of. Now, we get to see Castro start in a crucial midweek game against Indy Eleven. Catastrophe.

## **At least we have the Breeze Cup!!**

We can all look on the bright side here and acknowledge that we've won the inaugural Breeze Cup. A prestigious trophy that the players and entire staff should be honored to be hoisting. Just an incredible accomplishment that will likely be the only one the team has this year. Part of me wishes this was a home game so someone could ask Khano how it feels to win it. In any event, I'm about to run around outside in this torrential rain storm with my arms spread out like an airplane to celebrate. I hope you all will do the same.

---

Tide Talk will be back tomorrow with Player Ratings and the Postmatch Podcast. It's sure to be a great time, as we love our long funeral pods after a tough loss. I hope you'll all join us there in the chat or at the very least take a listen when you can. As for myself, I'll be back on Tuesday with a blog to preview the upcoming game against Indy Eleven. Until then, UP THE TIDE!