Rhode Island FC, Maxi Rodriguez Can't Be Counted Out

“I don’t think I’m the most talented player. I’m not the fastest, I’m not the quickest. Hopefully I’m one of the smartest, but I think I just didn’t take no for an answer."

Photo By J. Alexander Dolan

Maxi Rodriguez has been counted out since the early days of his career. It’s part of what has made his first season with Rhode Island FC so poetic.

Rhode Island and Rodriguez both struggled to start the season. RIFC’s attack was stalling and the playmaker was still adjusting to a whole new environment. Prior to the start of the 2025 season, Rodriguez told media that he was a player who enjoyed having the freedom to roam and find open space. That is something that RIFC didn’t really have.

Beyond Rodriguez adjusting to a new squad, he also had to adjust to a new head coach in Khano Smith. The midfielder admitted that it took some time, but commended Smith for challenging him and holding him accountable.

But the learning process went both ways. Rodriguez said that eventually, Smith understood what the midfielder needed to be his best self.

“Yeah, he’s been good,” Rodriguez said of Smith. “He’s challenged me in the moments where I think I probably needed to step up and I like being coached like that. I like being held accountable when sometimes I’m not performing my best. I think he understood what he kind of needed to allow me to be my best self.

“So I think it was a matter of time,” Rodriguez continued. “Like I said, I’ve been playing in the same system for four years, and to find myself here, it was just going to take time to adjust and I think I’m still adjusting. I don’t think it’s as gradual as just two, three months. I think over a year’s time, I feel myself getting more and more comfortable with Khano, and I feel like it’s probably the other way around as well. So yeah, I feel like it was just a matter of time.”

It took Rhode Island four games to secure its first win. Rodriguez didn’t score his first goal until May — his eighth match — in the club’s U.S. Open Cup match against the New England Revolution and scored his first league goal two games later.

As Rodriguez continued to search for consistency, Rhode Island FC began a downturn. It lost three straight games in late May until mid-June and went five games without a win, starting with its home loss to the Sacramento Republic.

No matter the struggles, Rodriguez had confidence in his abilities and faith in his new squad to turn things around.

“For me, there’s been seasons where I feel really good consistently, and then there’s other seasons I’ve had in the past where I’ve had similar ups and downs, and it’s about learning how to not get too high in the highs and then not being too low, “ Rodriguez told The Blazing Musket. “Obviously, that takes time, and I’ve gotten better at it as I’ve gotten older. It’s still not easy to manage all the time.”

Athletes face the expectation of performing perfectly. While part of it is reasonable, considering they have risen to the top and get the privilege to get paid to play sports, they are also not robots and algorithims. Even Lionel Messi has made mistakes on the pitch.

During difficult moments, the midfielder likes to get “lost” in training. Instead of focusing on the table or how many goals he scored, Rodriguez enjoys just being able to kick the ball around with friends.

Rodriguez has been able to get close with Albert Dikwa and Koke Vegas since joining the Amber and Blue. Dikwa and Rodriguez are kindred spirits in how they have been able to defy the odds in 2025.

Dikwa only scored three goals in the regular season, far from what RIFC wants from a former Player of the Year. Then in the Eastern Conference semifinal, the striker scored two goals to propel RIFC to its second-straight Eastern Conference appearance.

After making it to the final in 2024, the fact that RIFC is back in the Eastern Conference Final shouldn’t be overlooked. Whether it be dealing with a short offseason or the obstacles it faced throughout the season, making it to the Eastern Conference Finals in your first two seasons as a club is something rarely — if ever — seen in professional sports.

Rodrigues had the confidence that he and the club would be able to perform when it mattered most. Once you are in the postseason, anything can happen.

“I think the supporters know, I think the players know, the coaching staff know, you give us a chance and we can go far,” he said. “I think this year is another representation where doing it once is easy, but doing it continuously and consistent, that’s the toughest part.”

While Rhode Island will be playing Dikwa’s former side, the Pittsburgh Riverhounds, there was a chance that Rodriguez faced his former side, Detroit City FC. It would have been the third time RIFC and Rodriguez would have played Detroit this season. After losing to Detroit on the road earlier in the season on the road, Rodriguez scored the pivotal goal in the club’s August victory over Detroit.

If Rhode Island had played Detroit, Centreville Bank Stadium would have hosted a playoff match. While playing at home would have been nice, Rodriguez is slightly relieved he doesn’t have to face his former team once again.

“Obviously, having a home game for playoffs would have been exciting for all of New England, for Providence, for obviously, the owners and the whole team,” he said. “So that was kind of a dream scenario, but for me, I didn’t love the idea of ending the dream of getting to a final for Detroit, while also achieving mine. So as much as I would have loved to have a home game, it was tough for me to see that scenario.”

Rodriguez’s time in Detroit has had a lasting impact on him. The midfielder was close to ending his career. After stints with San Antonio FC and the Richmond Kickers, the midfielder was without a club in 2020. Add in a global pandemic, and Rodriguez was forced to train on the side while door-dashing and working for UPS.

“At the end of my trial, San Antonio’s coach told me, ‘we don’t see you having the legs to fit our profile,’” Rodriguez told Rhode Island FC in an article on his time with the club so far. “I wasn’t fit enough and I didn’t have the legs to be one of their midfielders. During COVID, I took that seriously. I got the most fit I’ve ever been, and my goal was to make sure no coach ever said that again.”

The midfielder played with Detroit in 2021 as it rose from playing in the National Independent Soccer Association to the USL Championship beginning in 2022.

“Detroit, for me, was the perfect storm of a roster of guys that really had something to prove, whether it was in NISA or then going up to the USL Championship. If you look at the roster that we had going into the USL, it was made up of a bunch of guys from the NISA roster, as well as three or four other guys that came from different NISA teams that all kind of were in a position in their career where they had something to prove. Before that, I didn’t really have a name in the league and it was kind of perfect for me to have no pressure, because it’s a brand new team.

“I think that’s what made Detroit so special, is it’s made up of guys that are continuously having to prove to other people or to themselves that I belong here and I can thrive,” he added.

Rodriguez repaid the faith that Detroit put in him. He scored 36 goals and tallied 15 assists for the club. In what proved to be his last season with the club, the midfielder was named to the USL Championship’s All-League First Team.

“My message has always been that my career shows resilience and understanding that it’s not going to always go great, but it’s how you respond to that adversity that determines what’s next for you,” he said when asked about reflection on his career. “I don’t think I’m the most talented player. I’m not the fastest, I’m not the quickest. Hopefully, I’m one of the smartest, but I think I just didn’t take no for an answer. I think there was times where I was bending but I didn’t break.”

At 30 years old, Rodriguez has personal accolades, but now he is chasing a trophy. The midfielder is also proud to represent an entire state and the fighting spirit of the smallest state in the country.

“I think there’s something really special about that. It’s special about having Rhode Island, a small state, small community, supporting the club and the club doing what it’s doing. So I think that’s amazing, and it allows more spotlight on Rhode Island, the players, the people, and that’s what it’s really about.”

“For me, personally, it’s the reason why I came to Rhode Island,” Rodriguez said of being one win away from playing for a trophy. “I wanted to believe in the project and play for championships and get that last thing in my career that I’ve always wanted, which was to win the USL Championship and be a champion in it. So last year I checked off the first team all-league. That was a dream of mine and then I realized, look, individual stuff is amazing, and it’s great, and it’s great to get that recognition but for me, the best thing that you can do is end the year winning that last game and being the champion in the USL. So for me, it’s a dream come true.”