Rhode Island FC's Impressive First-Ever Home Win
The Draw Kings have become winners
Only four days after the 5-2 drubbing of league-leaders Louisville City FC down in Kentucky, Rhode Island FC returned home to play El Paso Locomotive on little rest but plenty of confidence. Not only are Rhode Island FC the only team to beat Louisville on the road this season, they are also the only team to hold them to a clean sheet; which they did in Smithfield, Rhode Island, in May.
This stat belies Rhode Island’s positioning on the bottom of the table. Coming into tonight’s match they had only won twice while drawing nine and losing four. That wasn’t the Rhode Island FC that showed up to last Saturday’s match, and it wasn’t the RIFC who showed up on Wednesday evening. They dominated El Paso Locomotive en route to a 3-0 win where they never once looked threatened and could perhaps have won by a much larger margin.
It started in the 21st minute as RIFC winger Jojea Kwizera sent a cross in from the left that found the ice-cold Rhode Island striker Albert Dikwa who fired a shot that careened off El Paso goalkeeper Ramon Pasquel and into the back of the net giving Rhode Island a 1-0 lead that they would never look back from. Dikwa’s fourth goal of the season came after a 13-match drought and will hopefully give the striker the confidence to score more going forward.
That was not enough for Kwizera, though. He scored his first-ever USL Championship goal last match against Louisville and plainly was hungry for more.
Kwizera broke free down the left side once again in the 27th minute and beat four El Paso defenders with skill, determination, and sheer individual effort. He then ran across the front of goal from left to right and in doing so found an inch of space where he tapped the ball with his right foot, sending it past the bewildered Pasquel and into the right-hand corner of the net.
The score was 2-0 RIFC and a jubilant Rhode Island team took that score into the half with celebrations.
When Rhode Island came back out for the second half, the Tides dominated. El Paso faced endless shots and endless corners. The ball seemed rarely to leave their own box.
Finally, The Locos' frustration boiled over, and in the 87th minute El Paso midfielder Erik Calvillo two-footed Rhode Island defender Collin Smith near midfield, which resulted in his second yellow card of the match. He was sent off and El Paso was forced to play the remaining time down to ten men. The referee added only four minutes of stoppage time. Still, this paltry amount was too much for the depleted visitors as Rhode Island FC winger (and substitute) Noah Fuson ran down the left side in the first minute of second-half stoppage time and beat his man to fire a shot at a tight angle past Pasquel, giving him his second goal in two matches and Rhode Island FC a 3-0 lead, one that they saw out for their first ever shut-out victory.
More than that, it was also their first-ever consecutive victory. Most importantly, after 16 matches, it was finally their first-ever home victory, and the team and crowd celebrated commensurately.
Head Coach Khano Smith seems to have finally gotten Rhode Island FC into a groove. They’re burying all the chances they used to miss and Jackson Lee - having gotten another opportunity to start tonight – is very much commanding between the sticks, saving every shot he’s given a reasonable chance to. If Rhode Island FC can keep this up, they could be a dark horse for a significant playoff push in the second half of the USL Championship season.
Rhode Island FC next go into action on Friday, July 5th, as they take on the Indy Eleven at Beirne Stadium in Smithfield, Rhode Island, at 7:30 pm ET. Indy Eleven are third in the USL Championship’s Eastern Conference, but with the confidence earned from these dominant victories and a week-and-a-half’s rest, Rhode Island FC should be prepared to try and take all three points.
Hopefully they can keep this momentum going!