Rhode Island FC will return to Prinx Tires USL Cup action on Saturday on a quick turnaround, hosting Brooklyn FC at Centreville Bank Stadium after a 2-1 loss at Sacramento Republic FC on Wednesday. The Ocean State club will close out the group stage with a must-win game to keep its knockout stage hopes alive, currently sitting in third place in Group 5. RIFC sits just two points behind first-place Hartford Athletic, and a win could be enough to secure RIFC’s spot in the knockout stage for the second-straight season, depending on other results around the competition. Ahead of a crucial do-or-die battle on the final day of the group stage of the World Cup-style tournament, here is everything you need to know.
AT A GLANCE
Date | Saturday, July 11
Kickoff | 7:30 p.m. ET
Location | Centreville Bank Stadium – Pawtucket, R.I.
Broadcast | myRITV, WPRI 12+
Digital | WPRI 12+ App
Radio | 790 The Score (WPRV 790 AM)
Social | @rhodeislandfc (X, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok)
Game Hashtag | #RIvBKN
Last Meeting | May 23, 2026: RI 4-1 BKN – Pawtucket, R.I.
BROOKLYN FC
Roster
GOALKEEPERS (2): 1-Jackson Lee, 30-Lukas Burns
DEFENDERS (7): 3-Gabriel Alves, 4-Rocco Romeo, 6-Vuk Latinovih, 13-So Nishikawa, 23-Ryan McLaughlin, 24-Callum Frogson, 92-Thomas Vancaeyezeele
MIDFIELDERS (6): 5-Malik Pinto, 9-Johnny Klein, 27-Peter Mangione, 56-Christopher Olney Jr., 86-Taimu Okiyoshi, 95-Abdoulaye Kanté
FORWARDS (7): 7-Thomas McNamara, 9-Shaan Hundal, 11-Jaden Servania, 19-Stefan Stojanovic, 29-Juan Carlos Obregón Jr., 35-Markus Anderson, 98-Pierre Da Silva
Brooklyn in the Cup
Brooklyn FC enters its final group stage game in second place in Group 5 with six points, just one point ahead of Rhode Island FC and one point behind first-place Hartford Athletic. The club holds a 2W-1L-0T record in the group stage, out-scoring its opponents 8-3 through three games, beginning with a 3-0 win over USL League One club New York Cosmos on April 25. After falling to group leaders Hartford Athletic on May 16 in its second group stage game, Brooklyn emphatically bounced back with a 5-1 win over USL League One side Portland Hearts Pine to re-take the second place spot in the group. Should Hartford drop points vs. USL League One club Westchester SC, a Brooklyn win vs. Rhode Island FC on Saturday could see it leapfrog Hartford and advance in first place. If Hartford wins, a Brooklyn win would still put it in prime position to advance as the best second-place team in the competition, depending on other results around the tournament.
Last Time Out
Brooklyn picked up one of the biggest wins in its young history last time out, earning its first-ever road victory vs. defending USL Championship title-winners Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC. Brooklyn became the first Eastern Conference side to defeat Pittsburgh on the road since September 2025 with a commanding 2-0 win, handing the Riverhounds their second home loss of the season in the process and snapping a seven-game regular-season winless run in style. CJ Olney, who scored the lone goal in Brooklyn’s 4-1 loss at Rhode Island FC on May 23, opened the scoring in the second half with a highlight-reel strike from distance that picked out the top-left corner to make it 1-0. The goal was his second of the season, and marked his fifth-straight USL Championship road game with a goal contribution (2 goals, 3 assists). The game remained in a one-goal balance until the third minute of second-half stoppage time, when Abdoulaye Kanté put the game to bed with a composed close-range finish to secure Brooklyn’s first regular-season win since April 11.
Leading the Charge
Markus Anderson and Stefan Stojanovic have combined for 13 goals across the regular season and Prinx Tires USL Cup in 2026, leading Brooklyn with seven and six goals respectively. The pair each scored twice in Brooklyn’s 5-1 win over Portland Hearts of Pine in Brooklyn’s last USL Cup outing, combined for both goals in the club’s 2-2 road tie at Louisville City FC on June 13, and each scored a goal in Brooklyn’s statement 3-0 win vs. Charleston Battery on April 11. Anderson, a Philadelphia Union loanee, also leads the team with three assists in a breakout debut season in the USL Championship. Stojanovic is one goal from matching his career-high total in his third season in the league, which he set with FC Tulsa in 2024. Overall, Brooklyn are undefeated (1W-0L-2T) when both Stojanovic and Anderson have found the back of the net.
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 (4): 8-Leo Afonso, 9-JJ Williams, 11-Noah Fuson, 20-Jamin Gogo Peters
Cup Scenarios
Similarly to Brooklyn, Rhode Island FC faces a must-win scenario to keep its knockout stage hopes alive on Saturday. A win would move RIFC above Brooklyn and guarantee at least second place in the group, giving the club a chance to advance as either the group winner or the competition’s best second-place team, depending on how the other six groups play out. Should RIFC defeat Brooklyn and Hartford lose to Westchester, RIFC would automatically advance as the first-place team in Group 5. Should Hartford win vs. Westchester, RIFC would need to rely on results in the other six groups in order to advance as the best second-place team. Anything less than a win vs. Brooklyn would eliminate RIFC from the Prinx Tires USL Cup.
Dynamic Duo
Despite the 2-1 loss in Sacramento on Wednesday, Hugo Bacharach scored in his second-straight game, registering goal contributions in three-straight games (2 goals, 1 assist) for the first time in his professional career. Both of Bacharach’s goals came from a close-range header, and both were assisted by Amos Shapiro-Thompson, who has collected the first four assists of his career in RIFC’s last six games across all competitions. Bacharach leads the team with four headed shots and seven total shots across the last two games, and has established himself as an aerial threat on the attack since returning from the three-week break. Shapiro-Thompson ranks second on the team with 26 crosses this season, and leads RIFC with 15 in his last two games.
For the Recordbooks
Rhode Island FC and Brooklyn FC met for the first time less than two months ago at Centreville Bank Stadium, with the Ocean State club earning a dominant 4-1 win on May 23. Jojea Kwizera opened the scoring with his first career brace to put RIFC up 2-0 in 72 minutes, including a picturesque curling strike from long range that won USL Championship Week 12 Goal of the Week. JJ Williams added to the dominant display in the 83rd minute, knocking in two goals in less than two minutes to put the game to bed. The explosive win marked the first time in club history that two players have scored multiple goals in the same game for Rhode Island FC. The emphatic victory added to a near-perfect record at Centreville Bank Stadium: Rhode Island FC holds a 6W-1L-5T record through 12 games at home in 2026.
