Rhode Island FC v. Charlotte Independence: Five Thoughts

RIFC's Open Cup dreams are over, but they did score some beautiful goals.

Photo Courtesy of J. Alexander Dolan

Rhode Island FC were ousted from the U.S. Open Cup by the Charlotte Independence on Tuesday night. A 3-3 scoreline forced the game to extra time and penalties were needed to break the deadlock after both teams scored during the additional 30 minutes.

Here are five thoughts from the game.

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RIFC Scored Three Great Goals

Rhode Island scored in the 11th minute when Conor McGlynn’s late run led to a well-placed finish. 

RIFC’s second goal came from Nathan Messer, an alum of Providence College and Vermont Green FC. The defender’s blast was perfectly timed as it leveled the game just before halftime.

Their third goal was the best of the night as Clay Holstad made his presence known just five minutes after entering at halftime. It was an inch-perfect hit.

Rhode Island’s fourth goal—scored by Stephen Turnbull—was the most important as it brought the game back to level terms, but it wasn’t quite as nice as the others.

RIFC Conceded Three Poor Goals.

RIFC conceded three leads during the game.

Charlotte’s first goal came via a penalty after an unnecessary foul in the box.

Their second goal came via a long ball.

Their third came against the run of play when Holstad gave the ball away in a bad spot.

I wouldn’t put Charlotte’s fourth goal in the same category as the others because the home side did well to work the ball forward. Still, it was disappointing that RIFC gave away three leads to a lower-division team.

While RIFC have scored first in three of their six games, they still haven’t collected their first-ever win.

Mark Doyle Is A Hard-Nosed Player

Doyle didn’t get credit for RIFC’s first-ever goal, but he certainly played a big role in it as his pressure led to an own goal. In a lot of ways, that moment summarizes the striker.

Doyle is a target man who never quits. On Tuesday, he had a shot before the first goal, assisted Messer’s tally, and was a hold-up player on Holstad’s strike. He almost had a goal of his own here.

And here.

RIFC have many attacking options, including Albert Dikwa, last year’s Golden Boot winner for the USL Championship. That said, Doyle will be pushing for minutes.

The Independence GK Probably Deserved A Red Card

Speaking of Doyle, it certainly looked like Charlotte’s goalkeeper kicked him.

I’m not going to blame the referee on this one–and the Open Cup doesn’t have Video Review–but this looks like violent conduct to me. This is important because Austin Pack was sensational during the shootout.

Vang Wore The Captain’s Armband in his RIFC Debut

Kevin Vang, a Rhode Island native, played 76 minutes in his RIFC debut. Head coach Khano Smith obviously understood the gravity of the moment as he gave the midfielder the armband. 

I’m not going to lie, it was pretty cool to see.