The Riptide Report: Rhode Island FC vs Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC - 10/17/2026

Rhode Island FC drew Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC tonight 1-1. Osman Foyo got what looked like the winning goal in the 74th minute. But Eliot Goldthorp scored deep into stoppage time for Pittsburgh to ensure this one ended with a point for each side. It was a real punch to the gut that changes the outlook for this team heading into the playoffs. More on that soon though. Here are my takeaways from our home finale:

Small Rotation

The big question heading into this one was what Khano was going to do with Yutaro Tsukada unavailable due to his red card on Wednesday. He ended up starting Osman Foyo in Yutaro's customary left wing spot, which in the end worked out. The other two changes from Wednesday were Zachary Herivaux for Amos Shapiro-Thompson in midfield and Leo Afonso for Stas Korzeniowski up top. Both moves were ones I didn't have an issue with. I thought it made sense to give the guys a bit of a rest and Amos and Stas were first off the bench.

Finally Foyo

As the game went on it became clear that it was going to take a fortuitous bounce or a moment of class for RIFC to get a goal. We got that class moment from Osman Foyo:

What an individual play by the Englishman. I'd given him a hard time recently as I don't think he's impacted games enough but he shut me up with that goal.

Devastating Draw

RIFC were up 1-0 and it was looking like we were heading into 4th in the Eastern Conference at the end of the night. Instead, with virtually the last kick of the ball, this happened:

It was a crushing goal to give up and one that you have to feel the defense could have done better on. What a sour note to end the night on.

Where Things Stand

I'm going to go over this again in the Prematch Lookout ahead of our next game and things will likely have changed by then with Louisville City playing Wednesday night. But as things stand, RIFC are 6th in the conference and would be traveling to Detroit for a first round matchup. Mathematically fourth place is still in play but for all intents and purposes, that dream is over. Had RIFC hung on to win tonight, we'd still be relying on Lou City to drop points against either Sporting Jax on Wednesday or Detroit City next Saturday in order to have a shot at fourth. So it'll once again be an easy day to start off the USL Championship Playoffs. A disappointing finish.

We'll have Player Ratings and the Postmatch Podcast tomorrow to further dive in to this devastating result. It's bound to be a good time. I'll be back on Friday with the Prematch Lookout as we look ahead to the final regular season game at Hartford. Until then, always, UP THE TIDE!