Rhode Island FC will make its inaugural trip to Hodges Stadium on Saturday to take on Sporting Club Jacksonville at 7 p.m., setting up just the second meeting between these two clubs. With the Eastern Conference playoff race heating up, RIFC will look to take its first win against a Sporting JAX side at the bottom of the Eastern Conference. The Ocean State club enters the weekend in eighth place in the Eastern Conference standings, six points out from a home playoff berth at Centreville Bank Stadium. Ahead of a critical clash on the road, here is everything you need to know.
AT A GLANCE
Date | Saturday, Sept. 12
Kickoff | 7 p.m. ET
Location | Hodges Stadium – Jacksonville, Fla.
Broadcast | NESN+, ESPN Select
Radio | 790 The Score (WPRV 790 AM)
Social | @rhodeislandfc (X, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok)
Game Hashtag | #JAXvsRI
Last Meeting | March 14, 2026: RI 1-1 JAX – Pawtucket, R.I.
SPORTING CLUB JACKSONVILLE
Roster
GOALKEEPERS (2): 1-Jake McGuire, 42-Esteban Casas
DEFENDERS (12): 2-Harvey Neville, 3-Tyshawn Rose, 4-Ethan Dudley, 12-Edgardo Rito, 13-Ventura Alvarado, 15-Ryan Edwards, 18-Wahab Ackwei, 21-Marcus Godinho, 22-Antonio Gomez, 27-Danny Wilson, 77-Dida Armstrong, 99-Mohamed Traore
MIDFIELDERS (13): 6-Jordan Rossiter, 7-Jacob Evans, 8-Wan Kuzain, 10-Kieran Sadlier, 14-Jean Mota, 17-Zeke Soto, 19-Rafferty Pedder, 23-Jack Proctor, 24-Thomas Roberts, 26-Luc Granitur, 28-Ethan Underwood, 32-Brem Soumaoro, 44-Raheem Somersall
FORWARDS (3): 9-Adam Luckhurst, 11-Ahmad Al-Qaq, 16-Emil Jääskeläinen
Comeback Kids
Sporting Club Jacksonville has taken to securing late comebacks to steal points in the final moments of games. Sporting JAX has secured 13 of its 14 points this season in-late game rallies, including comeback 3-2 wins against Birmingham Legion FC on Aug. 22 and Lexington SC on Sept. 5. Jacksonville scored a stoppage-time goal in each of its last two victories to secure six total points toward its inaugural season record.
Consistent Top Scoring
Of Sporting Club Jacksonville’s 29 regular season goals on the season, 17 have been scored by two players: Kieran Sadlier and Emil Jääskeläinen. Sadlier leads Sporting JAX with 10 goals in the regular season, good for seventh among all USL Championship scorers. Jääskeläinen follows behind with seven, including game-tying goals in the second half against Birmingham Legion FC and Lexington SC en route to two comeback wins. Just over 58 percent of all Jacksonville’s scoring this season comes from the boot of Sadlier and Jääskeläinen, and at least one of the two players has scored in each of the team’s three regular season victories.
Last Time Out
Sporting Club Jacksonville took a back-and-forth 3-2 win against Lexington SC on Saturday, scoring two goals after the 85th minute to take a late victory at home. The defensive struggles continued for Sporting JAX, who have conceded a league-leading 60 goals in 23 games, letting up two goals to let Lexington take the lead in the 84th minute. Despite the late deficit, Sporting Club Jacksonville stormed back to take a 3-2 win with two late goals from Emil Jääskeläinen and Ahmad Al-Qaq. Although Lexington dominated possession in the second half, Jacksonville took advantage of an 8-5 shots on target advantage to sneak two shots past goalkeeper Oliver Semmle and secure all three points at home.
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
MIDFIELDERS (8): 7-Dwayne Atkinson, 10-Agustín “Pity” Rodríguez, 12-Clay Holstad*, 16-Eric Klein, 17-Jojea Kwizera, 19-Kevin Vang, 21-Zachary Herivaux, 77-Amos Shapiro-Thompson
FORWARDS (6): 8-Leo Afonso, 11-Noah Fuson, 14-Yutaro Tsukada, 18-Osman Foyo, 20-Jamin Gogo Peters, 37-Stas Korzeniowski
*Out on loan for 2026 season
Critical Stretch
Rhode Island FC continues to push for a home playoff game, sitting six points behind Pittsburgh Riverhounds FC for fourth place in the Eastern Conference with two games in hand. Late-season playoff pushes are a staple for the Ocean State club in its first two seasons. In 2024, RIFC recorded a 4W-2L-2T record in September and October, finishing just short of a home playoff game in its inaugural season. Rhode Island FC finished with a similar 3W-2L-2T in 2025, charging into the playoffs in the home stretch of the season. Despite RIFC’s trips to the 2024 USL Championship Final and back-to-back Eastern Conference Finals in 2024 and 2025, Pawtucket patiently awaits Centreville Bank Stadium’s first taste of USL Championship Playoff soccer. RIFC is slated to match up against five of the seven teams ahead of them in the Eastern Conference playoff race in the final nine games of the regular season, making every point critical.
New Faces Getting Involved
RIFC’s newest signing, forward Stas Korzeniowski, is serving as a fresh jolt of energy for the forward core. After signing with RIFC from MLS club Philadelphia Union on Aug. 27, the striker has already made his mark on the Ocean State club. After recording 32 minutes and two shots in his RIFC debut at FC Tulsa on Aug. 29, Korzeniowski scored the equalizer in his Centreville Bank Stadium debut during RIFC’s 1-1 tie vs. Louisville City FC to split the points during a critical Eastern Conference contest last time out. He is the fourth player in RIFC history to score in his Centreville Bank Stadium debut, and third player to do so this season. The 6-4 forward also made his first RIFC start in that contest, playing the full 90 minute match.
For the Recordbooks
Rhode Island FC and Sporting Club Jacksonville have met just once before, contesting RIFC’s 2026 Home Opener at Centreville Bank Stadium on March 14. For much of the game, RIFC and Sporting JAX remained in a scoreless deadlock, even as the home side took attacking control. Rhode Island FC eventually took advantage in the 79th minute off the boot of Logan Dorsey against the expansion club. However, Sporting Club Jacksonville stormed back, scoring five minutes later to earn its first point in club history in the 1-1 tie.
