After suffering its first home loss at Beirne Stadium this season, a 3-1 defeat to defending USL Championship title winners Phoenix Rising FC, Rhode Island FC travels to Cary, North Carolina on Saturday to take on 2023 USL League One Champions North Carolina FC. With both teams looking to rebound from losses last time out and pick up their second win of the season, here’s everything you need to know about the match.
AT A GLANCE
Date | Saturday, May 4
Kickoff | 7 PM ET
Location | WakeMed Soccer Park, Cary, NC
Broadcast | ESPN+
Social | @rhodeislandfc (X, Instagram, Facebook)
Match Hashtag | #NCvRI
NORTH CAROLINA FC
Roster
GOALKEEPERS (4): 1-Jake McGuire, 13-Antonio Carrera, 24-Trevor Mulqueen, 25-Akira Fitzgerald
DEFENDERS (9): 2-Paco Craig, 3-Nelson Flores Blanco, 4-Justin Malou, 5-Daniel Navarro, 7-Lamar Batista, 27-Bryce Washington, 28-Shaft Brewer Jr., 42-Ezra Armstrong, 86-Adrian Pelayo
MIDFIELDERS (8): 6-Jacori Hayes, 8-Louis Perez, 10-Jasen Servania, 115-Mikey Maldonado, 16-Rodrigo Da Costa, 17-Collin Martin, 44-Raheem Somersall, 48-Kyrome Lumsden
FORWARDS (5): 9-Oalex Anderson Jr., 11-Evan Conway, 14-Rafa Mentzingen, 19-Garrett McLaughlin, 49-Julian Placias
Snapping the Streak
North Carolina FC (1W-4L-3D) has struggled in USL Championship play through the month of April, as the club is currently riding a four-match winless run. NCFC’s only league win of 2024 came on March 25 in a 2-1 victory over Eastern Conference side Hartford Athletic. Since then, the club is 0W-3L-1D, and is coming off a narrow 2-1 loss to Indy Eleven. After a scoreless first 45 minutes, the teams exchanged blows early in the second half, with Rafa Mentzingen bagging a 50th-minute equalizer to become the first North Carolina FC player to net multiple goals this season. NCFC’s third own goal of the season combined with a 75th-minute Indy Eleven strike, however, resulted in the clubs second-straight loss.
Home Sweet Home
North Carolina FC’s return to WakeMed Soccer Park will be a sigh of relief for Head Coach John Bradford’s side, as the club earned its sole win and scored six of its eight total goals at home this season. The club’s last victory over Hartford Athletic, powered by a pair of first half goals from Louis Perez and Oalex Anderson, snapped the Connecticut side’s two-match winning run to start the season. The match was one of two multi-goal performances in 2024 for North Carolina, and it marked the club’s first league win since its 5-4 penalty shootout victory over Charlotte Independence in the USL League One Final on November 5, 2023.
Title-Winning Experience at the Helm
Despite its early struggles, North Carolina FC is led by the experienced pedigree of John Bradford, who entered his fourth season as North Carolina FC Head Coach and Sporting Director in 2024 after spending the last two seasons as an assistant coach. The club returned to the USL Championship this season after spending three seasons in USL League One, having previously competed in the Championship from 2018-2020. The three-year stint in the third division was capped off by one of the most memorable seasons in club history, as Bradford led the Eastern Conference side from the bottom of the table in 2022 to a penalty-shootout win over Charlotte Independence in the championship match in 2023. The team scored in 22 straight matches to end their magical title run and finished with a 19W-7L-6D overall record, spearheaded by Anderson’s team-leading 17 goals, good for second best in the league. North Carolina’s 19 wins was a regular season club record and more than doubled its eight-win season the year prior.
RHODE ISLAND FC
Roster
GOALKEEPERS (3): 1-Koke Vegas, 22-Jackson Lee, 30-Nate Silveira
DEFENDERS (6): 2-Nathan Messer, 3-Stephen Turnbull, 4-Collin Smith, 5-Grant Stoneman, 15-Frank Nodarse, 16-Gabriel Alves, 24-Karifa Yao
MIDFIELDERS (10): 7-Prince Saydee, 12-Clay Holstad, 17-Jojea Kwizera, 18-Joe Brito, 19-Kevin Vang, 21-Kofi Twumasi, 23-Marc Ybarra, 25-Kevin Orduy, 28-Conor McGlynn, 77-Amos Shapiro-Thompson, 80-Isaac Angking
FORWARDS (4): 9-JJ Williams, 10-Chico, 11-Noah Fuson, 14-Mark Doyle
Highlight Reel Holstad
After Albert Dikwa “Chico” was the only player to find the back of the net through the first month of Rhode Island FC’s (1W-2L-4D) inaugural season, the floodgates finally started to open during the club’s first-ever league win, a 2-1 victory in Las Vegas. In Saturday’s 3-1 loss to Phoenix Rising FC, Clay Holstad continued that trend when he became the fourth player to score for RIFC, and first in club history to do so at Beirne Stadium. Connecting with Noah Fuson’s short pass off an indirect free kick inside the box with less than two minutes to play in regulation, the midfielder curled the ball perfectly into the top right corner to give the Ocean State club a lifeline. The goal was Holstad’s second of the year, and first of his USL Championship career. The midfielder is no stranger to highlight-reel goals, as his first for the club was another curler during the club’s Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup loss to Charlotte Independence, which landed at number eight on SportsCenter’s Top 10 plays.
Bump in the Road
After earning three points for the first time in club history at Las Vegas Lights FC, a win that earned Head Coach and General Manager Khano Smith USL Coach of the Week honors, the Ocean State club looked poised to take advantage of a strong home crowd last week with an opportunity to build on the historic momentum. Instead, RIFC fell victim to a first-half Remi Cabral brace as Phoenix Rising FC, the defending USL Championship title-winners, put themselves ahead early and never looked back in a 3-1 win. The visitor’s first two goals represented the first time all season that Rhode Island FC conceded in the first half, and despite Holstad’s late curler, the club could not climb its way out of an early deficit as it suffered its second loss of the season. The loss also ended RIFC’s unbeaten start at Beirne Stadium through three matches.
Success in Enemy Territory
After picking up its first-ever win during its last road trip in Las Vegas, Rhode Island FC will look to continue its success away from home as the club heads to WakeMed Soccer Park on Saturday. This time, the 700-mile trip down the East Coast won’t be as distant as the near-2,700-mile outing to Cashman Field. With more space between matches this time around, RIFC has much more time to train and prepare. Rallying behind two first-half goals from Stephen Turnbull and Noah Fuson, the club showcased late defensive resilience in Las Vegas to protect its lead and come away with a narrow win. The 2-0 halftime advantage was the club’s first-ever multi-goal lead, and it came as a result of an efficient press that helped force several key Las Vegas turnovers in the attacking third. The Ocean State club will now aim to build on the positive flashes it has shown in its 1W-1D-1L record on the road while it searches for its second win of the season.