Rhode Island FC Loses USL Championship Final

Rhode Island FC came into this match with everything going for it. The Tide had destroyed the best team in the league in Louisville and they had beaten the second-best in Charleston. Over the last 23 matches, no one had scored more goals than Rhode Island FC, with 51. Absolutely none of that mattered today, as RIFC made every wrong choice and every wrong play possible en route to the most embarrassing loss in club history.

Frankly, the loss started early this week. Their opponents in the USL Championship Final, Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC, play at over 6,000 feet, where there is 21% less oxygen than there is in Smithfield, Rhode Island. It takes up to three days for a person to acclimatize to that oxygen difference but Rhode Island FC arrived in Colorado Springs only on mid-day Thursday. That failure lands squarely with management and ownership, which set up this entire team for failure for no discernible reason. Once the first whistle blew, their ill-preparedness for the match became blatantly evident.

The Switchbacks dominated Rhode Island in every phase of the game, and there is plenty of blame to go around for that. RIFC Head Coach Khano Smith opted to play the same lineup that he did against Charleston last week, leaving out winger Jojea Kwizera in favor of striker Albert “Chico” Dikwa. The offense has performed worse with Chico in the starting lineup as all of Rhode Island’s recent dominating wins occurred while Chico sat on the bench.

Colorado’s first goal came in the 22nd minute as winger Yosuke Hanya beat RIFC midfielder Marc Ybarra easily to send a cross in to the box that Colorado midfielder Juan Tejada tapped in. Goalkeeper Koke Vegas made no attempt to save either of the first two goals Colorado scored with the second being particularly egregious. Colorado midfielder Jairo Henriquez fired a ball that soared over a frozen Vegas for the second goal in the 42nd minute.

After the half, Rhode Island FC made several attacking subs, including finally bringing on Kwizera and midfielder Jack Panoyotou. These two provided Rhode Island’s only bright spots on the pitch as they won several balls and sent several potentially-dangerous crosses into the box.

Defender Frank Nodarse had the only threatening shot as he got onto a cross from forward Noah Fuson and headed it toward Colorado goalkeeper Christian Herrera, but Herrera made the kind of save Vegas did not and denied the goal. The nail in the coffin came in the 53rd minute, when Rhode Island FC pushed every single outfield player up for a corner and Colorado striker Ronaldo Dumas took advantage by getting the ball, running entirely uncontested to score a one-on-one against Vegas and giving Colorado a 3-0 lead. Vegas’ only good save came as he denied Dumas in stoppage time.

Too little, too late.

The loss reminded this writer of Rhode Island FC’s early playing performance when The Tide won only a single match — losing four and drawing nine – except that today they played even worse. They looked lost, without any coherent identity to speak of.

Colorado out-shot, out-passed, out-tackled, out-possessed, and especially out-scored Rhode Island. Ultimately, what had been perhaps the most promising season for an expansion side in USL Championship history will end on a sour note that erases all the goodwill and excitement that the team had generated over the last several months. The ignominious loss will hang over Smith, Vegas, and every RIFC player as they prepare for next season.