As the World’s Biggest Soccer Tournament kicks off and excitement surrounding the sport is at an all-time high, Rhode Island FC will return to regular-season action on Saturday when it travels to Segra Field to take on Loudoun United FC. After a dominant 3-0 win in the Prinx Tires USL Cup over Westchester SC in front of a sellout crowd at Centreville Bank Stadium on June 6, RIFC will look to build momentum with its first-ever win in Virginia before taking a three-week break. If other results go RIFC’s way, a win could go a long way in helping it break into the top eight playoff places in the Eastern Conference standings ahead of the break as the halfway point of the regular season approaches. Ahead of an important Eastern Conference test at Loudoun United FC, here is everything you need to know.
AT A GLANCE
Date | Saturday, June 13
Kickoff | 6 p.m. ET
Location | Segra Field – Leesburg, Va.
Broadcast | NESN+, ESPN Select
Radio | 790 The Score (WPRV 790 AM)
Social | @rhodeislandfc (X, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok)
Game Hashtag | #LDNvRI
Last Meeting | Aug, 9, 2025: RI 0-0 LDN – Pawtucket, R.I.
LOUDOUN UNITED FC
Roster
GOALKEEPERS (4): 13-Jordan Farr, 27-Oliver Reece, 41-Ethan Bandré, 89-Lorenzo Herrera-Rauda
DEFENDERS (10): 2-Noah Adnan, 4-Aidan O’Connor, 5-Salvatore Mazzaferro, 6-Kwame Awuah, 12-Ezra Armstrong, 21-Bolu Akinyode, 24-Jacob Erlandson, 33-Lucas Piras, 38-Liam Barrus, 51-Ascel Essengue
MIDFIELDERS (7): 7-Pacifique Niyongabire, 8-James Murphy, 10-Pedro Santos, 14-Andrés Souper, 16-Jack Panayotou, 20-Sean Young, 22-Christian Torres
FORWARDS (5): 9-Arquímides Ordóñez, 11-Abdellatif Aboukoura, 17-Thor Úlfarsson, 19-Richie Aman, 39-Marcos Dias
Back on Track
After a two-game stint in the Prinx Tires USL Cup, Loudoun United FC will return to regular-season action on Saturday for the first time since May. Its last league outing saw it suffer its heaviest defeat of the season, losing 4-1 at Monterey Bay FC on May 30. Loudoun is 1W-3L-6T in the league this season, and winless (0W-1L-5T) at home, with its lone win in the regular season coming in a 1-0 win over expansion club Brooklyn FC at Maimonides Park on May 9. Despite being winless at Segra Field, Loudoun United is unbeaten in five regular-season games dating back to its home opener on March 14, playing to five-straight ties in front of its home fans, including a scoreless battle with Detroit City FC in its last regular-season home game on May 23. Outside of the regular season, Loudoun’s only other home win in 2026 took place in the Prinx Tires USL Cup just one week ago on June 6, when it scored two late goals to shut out USL League One side Richmond Kickers 2-0.
Putting it All Together
Loudoun United FC has shown separate flashes of strength on both defense and offense this season. In the regular season, Loudoun United FC has dropped seven points from winning positions through 10 games, which is the third-most in the USL Championship. It won just once in three instances when it has scored the opening goal in regular-season action, and has dropped points in all four regular-season games in which it has scored multiple goals. On the defensive end, Loudoun United FC is tied for third in the league with four clean sheets, but three of those have ended in scoreless ties. If Loudoun can combine its strong attacking potential with its resolute defensive structure in one complete performance, it has the potential to turn its season around at home, beginning on Saturday.
Last Time Out
Loudoun enters Saturday’s contest off the back of a 3-1 midweek loss to USL League One side Greenville Triumph SC on June 10 in the Prinx Tires USL Cup. Despite out-shooting the hosts 15-10, holding 67 percent possession and forcing Greenville goalkeeper Amal Knight to make seven impressive saves, Loudoun conceded three unanswered goals in 85 minutes and could not climb out of the deficit. Despite pulling back a goal in the 93rd minute with an impressive long-range strike from James Murphy, Loudoun’s comeback efforts were too little, too late, as it will now need to rely on outside results to keep its slim knockout stage hopes alive.
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, 20-Jamin Gogo Peters
Last Time Out
In last weekend’s 3-0 shutout win vs. USL League One side Westchester SC in the Prinx Tires USL Cup, three different players found the back of the net in a comprehensive attacking performance for the Ocean State club. Clay Holstad and JJ Williams got the party started just before halftime, netting a pair of goals three minutes apart to put the hosts in the driver’s seat at the break. A second-half Leo Afonso goal put the game to bed, and a lockdown performance from Koke Vegas and the Ocean State club’s defensive line led the club to its sixth clean sheet of the season across all competitions. The win highlighted a positive attacking trend for the Ocean State club: in the regular season, the club ranks fourth in the league with 165 shots, while it has faced a league-low 95 shots, and is the only team to face fewer than 100 shots through ten games. Williams, who is RIFC’s all-time leading scorer with 27 career RIFC goals and leads the way this season with eight goals across all competitions, leads the USL Championship with 37 shots, while Afonso ranks second with 34.
Road Woes
Although RIFC has been near-unbeatable at home this season, losing just once in 11 games, it will need to carry that form into its road games at Loudoun on Saturday. RIFC is 1W-4L-1T on the road this season across all competitions, and is winless in its last four road games dating back to a 3-1 win at Lexington SC on April 11. That streak includes RIFC’s 1-0 loss at Indy Eleven on May 30 in its last regular season contest. With a comprehensive 3-0 win over Westchester in the rearview mirror that saw three different players find the back of the net, RIFC will look to carry its momentum into Saturday’s game to string together back-to-back wins across all competitions for the first time in 2026.
For the Recordbooks
The all-time series between Rhode Island FC and Loudoun United FC features just two goals through four meetings, with the teams splitting three scoreless ties. Loudoun owns the only win of the series, defeating RIFC 2-0 at Segra Field in the third all-time meeting between the two clubs on March 29, 2025. Loudoun United remains the only team in the Eastern Conference that Rhode Island FC has never scored against across all competitions, and one of just two Eastern Conference teams that Rhode Island FC has never beaten. Saturday will mark the first time RIFC faces Loudoun under the management of first-year USL Championship head coach Anthony Limbrick, after the originally-scheduled season opener between the two clubs on March 7 was postponed to Oct. 14.
