After Rhode Island FC picked up its first win of the season in style on Saturday, defeating Lexington SC 3-1 on the road, the Ocean State club will return to Centreville Bank Stadium for a Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Round of 32 matchup vs. Major League Soccer club New England Revolution on Tuesday. The highly-anticipated cup clash sets the stage for a rematch of last year’s Round of 32 fixture that saw New England take a 2-1 win over RIFC in front of a packed Centreville Bank Stadium. This year, the Ocean State club will be hungry for another shot at glory as it looks to add to what has already been a historic run in the cup. Ahead of Tuesday’s regional knockout battle, here is everything you need to know.
AT A GLANCE
Date | Tuesday, April 14
Kickoff | 7:00 p.m. ET
Location | Centreville Bank Stadium – Pawtucket, R.I.
Broadcast | Paramount+
Radio | 790 The Score (WPRV 790 AM)
Social | @rhodeislandfc (X, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok)
Game Hashtag | #NERvRI
Last Meeting | May 7, 2025: RI 1-2 NER – Pawtucket, R.I.
ABOUT THE U.S. OPEN CUP
The U.S. Open Cup is the only competition in USA-based team sports where amateurs have the chance to play professionals in direct competition. It is the oldest active professional soccer tournament in the country and the third-longest continuously run national cup competition in the world. Conducted on a single-game, knockout basis, the tournament has crowned a champion every year since 1914, with the exception of 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19. The first-ever Final of the tournament took place at Coats Field in Pawtucket, Rhode Island in 1914, and RIFC’s Round of 32 matchup on May 7, 2025, marked the first time in more than 80 years the tournament returned to the Ocean State.
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION
Roster
GOALKEEPERS (3): 30-Matt Turner, 33-Donovan Parisian, 73-John David Gunn
DEFENDERS (8): 2-Mamadou Fofana, 3-Brayan Ceballos, 4-Tanner Beason, 8-Matt Polster, 12-Ilay Feingold, 23-William Sands, 25-Peyton Miller, 88-Andrew Farrell
MIDFIELDERS (8): 10-Carles Gil, 14-Jackson Yueill, 21-Brooklyn Raines, 22-Ethan Kohler, 35-Cristiano Oliveira, 38-Eric Klein, 77-Diego Fagúendez, 80-Alhassan Yusuf
FORWARDS (6): 7-Griffin Yow, 9-Leonardo Campana, 11-Dor Turgeman, 17-Marcos Zambrano, 32-Malcolm Fry, 41-Luca Langoni
Unbeaten at Home
The New England Revolution has accrued a stellar home record early in the MLS regular season, out-scoring its opponents 10-1 with a perfect 3W-0L-0T record. The Revs kicked off their home slate with a commanding 6-1 win vs. FC Cincinnati on March 15. The historic result matched the largest margin of victory in club history, and saw the club score six goals in a game for the first time in more than two decades. The win was the first for newly-appointed Head Coach Marko Mitrović, who went on to lead the Revs to back-to-back clean sheet victories at home vs. CF Montréal (3-0) on April 4 and DC United (1-0) on April 11. New England has scored 10 goals from seven different players this season, balancing an attack that has shown depth and firepower early in the season. Mitrović has yet to lead the Revs astray on home turf, and will look to keep the momentum going at New England’s home away from home as he takes charge of his first competitive cup game on Tuesday.
New Man in Charge
Mitrović was appointed as the 10th head coach in New England Revolution history in November 2025. Prior to his time with the Revs, he led the U.S. Under-20 National Team in its memorable run to the quarterfinals of the 2025 U-20 FIFA World Cup, which included statement victories over France and Italy. The previous year, the Serbian led the U.S. U-23’s to the quarterfinals of the 2024 Olympic Games in France. His 15 years of coaching experience include several years in youth development: he began his coaching career with Serbia’s Youth National Teams, where he served as an assistant coach for the team that won the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup and finished third at the UEFA European U-19 Championship. With a decorated background in youth development, Tuesday’s U.S. Open Cup clash will present a valuable opportunity for Mitrović to show off his squad’s depth and give his younger talent competitive minutes, which will be crucial just four days removed from New England’s 1-0 win over DC.
Weathering an Early Storm
After a pair of back-to-back road losses to start the season, New England is 3W-1L-0T in its last four games. It has scored inside of 35 minutes in each of its last four contests to turn its early-season struggles around. On the defensive end, New England struggled mightily to open up the season, conceding five goals in two games before tightening up the back line. Since the beginning of March, it has conceded just four goals in as many games, including back-to-back shutout wins in its last two home games. After a tough start, Mitrović’s side has seen almost a complete 180° on both ends of the ball, ironing out the kinks on defense while increasing its goalscoring production tenfold to shoot itself up to eight in the Eastern Conference standings. The Revolution will look to carry that momentum into Tuesday as it searches for a second-straight berth in the Round of 16.
RHODE ISLAND FC
Roster
GOALKEEPERS (3): 1-Koke Vegas, 13-Will Meyer, 29-Jacob Castro
DEFENDERS (8): 2-Dani Rovira, 3-Aldair Sanchez, 4-Hugo Bacharach, 5-Grant Stoneman, 15-Frank Nodarse, 22-Nick Scardina, 24-Karifa Yao, 25-CJ Williams, 32-Hamady Diop
MIDFIELDERS (7): 7-Dwayne Atkinson, 10-Agustín “Pity” Rodríguez, 12-Clay Holstad, 17-Jojea Kwizera, 19-Kevin Vang, 21-Zachary Herivaux, 77-Amos Shapiro-Thompson
FORWARDS (5): 8-Leo Afonso, 9-JJ Williams, 11-Noah Fuson, 14-Logan Dorsey, 20-Jamin Gogo Peters.
Making History in the Cup
Rhode Island FC advanced to the Round of 32 after earning back-to-back shutout wins in the competition for the first time. It first dispatched amateur side CD Faialense 4-0 in the First Round on March 17 before blanking regional rival Hartford Athletic 2-0 in the Second Round on April 1. RIFC scored its six goals through five different goalscorers – defenders Aldair Sanchez, Dani Rovira, Nick Scardina and CJ Williams all scored their first career RIFC goals in this year’s Open Cup. Defender Hugo Bacharach and midfielder Kevin Vang also recorded their first career RIFC assists in the competition. This year’s run matches RIFC’s farthest run in its three U.S. Open Cup appearances. Last season, it advanced to the Round of 32 with a 2-1 win at USL League One side Portland Hearts of Pine before falling 2-1 to the New England Revolution on May 7.
Attack in Form
In RIFC’s 2-0 win against Hartford, forward JJ Williams led the effort with a goal and an assist in just 30 minutes, becoming the first RIFC player to register multiple goal contributions in a single game this season. After earning an assist in Saturday’s win at Lexington, Williams now leads the team with three assists across all competitions, two of which have come in his last three games. Sanchez has also come alive in that stretch, scoring his first two career goals for the club in RIFC’s last three games. The second-year RIFC defender opened his account for the Ocean State club vs. Hartford, putting the homeside ahead with a powerful close-range finish just 12 minutes in. Two games later, he opened the scoring once again vs. Lexington, netting his first career USL Championship goal for RIFC with a long-range laser that rippled the top-left corner. Jojea Kwizera followed up Sanchez’s effort in Lexington with his second goal of the season, before Leo Afonso tallied his first career RIFC goal in the second half to seal Saturday’s 3-1 win.
For the Recordbooks
Rhode Island FC has faced the New England Revolution one previous time, falling 2-1 in the U.S. Open Cup Round of 32 on May 7, 2025, in its first-ever game against MLS competition. After returning to the Round of 32 for the second-straight season, and picking up back-to-back shutout wins in the competition for the first time, RIFC will get another chance to pick up its first-ever win over an MLS club and punch its ticket to the Round of 16 for the first time. Following this week’s U.S. Open Cup action, the 16 winners from the Round of 32 will face each other in a single-elimination bracket, beginning with the Round of 16 from April 28-29. Should Rhode Island FC advance past the Revolution, it would either host MLS club Orlando City SC or travel to USL League One side FC Naples.
