Bacharach joins Ocean State club following first professional season in Minnesota
PAWTUCKET, R.I. (Dec. 31, 2024) – Rhode Island FC announced today it has signed midfielder Hugo Bacharach for the upcoming 2025 USL Championship season, pending league and federation approval. The Benicàssim, Spain native becomes the second new signing for the 2025 season and 26th all-time acquisition for RIFC.
“Hugo is a young defender that we believe has a lot of upside,” said Rhode Island FC Head Coach and General Manager Khano Smith. “He is very good in and out of possession and will add quality to our defensive unit.”
Bacharach, a 2024 first-round MLS Superdraft selection, joins RIFC after making his professional debut with Minnesota in 2024, finishing his first season with nine appearances for the club’s MLS Next Pro reserve side and tallying one goal and one assist. The 23-year-old defender’s first career goal came in a regular season matchup with Sporting Kansas City II on Sept. 22, where he opened the scoring down 2-0 and sparked a four-goal comeback en route to a 4-2 win.
Bacharach also made three appearances for Minnesota’s first team in 2024, going the full 90 minutes in his MLS debut on April 13 and playing 65 minutes across two appearances in the club’s 2024 Leagues Cup campaign.
Prior to his time as a professional, Bacharach played collegiately at Fairleigh Dickinson University (2020-2022) and Indiana University (2023). In his final season with Fairleigh Dickinson, the defender was named the Northeast Conference Defender of the Year. Following his transfer to Indiana for his final college season, Bacharach started in all 20 of his appearances for the Hoosiers en route to a Big Ten regular season championship, scoring four goals and assisting four in almost 1,700 minutes. He was named to the All-Big Ten Second Team and All-Big Ten Tournament Team after helping the Hoosiers to their 12th Big Ten Tournament Championship and 29th NCAA Tournament Quarterfinal appearance, before being selected ninth overall in the first round of the 2024 MLS Superdraft by Minnesota.
Bacharach also spent time with Flint City Bucks of USL League Two during his college years, playing two seasons with the club (2022-2023) including back-to-back USL League Two Central Conference Titles and a pair of national semifinal appearances. The defender was named Player of the Year for Flint City and to the USL League Two Central Conference Team of the Year in 2022. In 2023, he was named USL League Two Defender of the Year.
Originally from Spain, Bacharach spent twelve years in the Spanish Academy system in his youth development years, spending a decade with Villarreal before moving to CD Castellón for his final two years.
Name: Hugo Bacharach
Position: Defender
Height: 6-4
Weight: 210
Birthday: July 27, 2001
Hometown: Benicàssim, Spain
Previous teams: Minnesota United FC (MLS), Minnesota United FC 2 (MLSNP)
Pronunciation: Bac-Ah-Rack
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