Rhode Island FC picked up its first point of the 2025 season on Saturday, battling to a 2-2 tie at Western Conference club Phoenix Rising FC. After finding the back of the net for the first time, leading twice through the first half and outshooting Phoenix on the road, the Ocean State club will look to capitalize on its attacking momentum when it returns to the east coast to take on Loudoun United FC on Saturday, March 29. Ahead of the third all-time meeting between the two clubs, here is everything you need to know.
AT A GLANCE
Date | Saturday, March 29
Kickoff | 4 p.m. ET
Location | Segra Field – Leesburg, Va.
Broadcast | ESPN+
Radio | 790 The Score (WPRV 790 AM)
Social | @rhodeislandfc (X, Instagram, Facebook)
Game Hashtag | #LDNvRI
Last Meeting | Oct. 13, 2024: RI 0-0 LDN – Smithfield, R.I.
LOUDOUN UNITED FC
Roster
GOALKEEPERS (3): 1-Dane Jacomen, 23-Hugo Fauroux, 30-Ryan Jack
DEFENDERS (8): 3-Keegan Tingey, 5-Yanis Leerman, 6-Kwame Awuah, 16-Cole Turner, 22-Robby Dambrot, 24-Jacob Erlandson, 35-Ethan Pendleton, 55-Joshua Erlandson
MIDFIELDERS (8): 4-Tommy McCabe, 8-Moses Nyeman, 10-Florian Valot, 12-Drew Skundrich, 13-Alex Nagy, 19-Surafel Dagnachew, 20-Ben Mines, 88-Aaron Hurge
FORWARDS (5): 7-Wesley Leggett, 11-Abdellatif Aboukoura, 14-Zach Ryan, 15-Riley Bidois, 99-Christian Sorto
Finally Back Home
After playing its first three games of the 2025 USL Championship season on the road, Loudoun United FC will make its 2025 home debut at Segra Field vs. Rhode Island FC. The club picked up eight of its 11 wins in 2024 on its home turf in 2024, finishing with an 8W-6L-3T record and earning 27 of its 42 points. That stretch included a 0-0 tie with Rhode Island FC on Aug. 24, which was one of five shutouts goalkeeper Hugo Fauroux kept in Leesburg last season.
Starting Strong
Loudoun got off to a hot start to 2025, scoring five goals in two games and picking up back-to-back road wins to kick off the season, a first in club history. Although the efficient streak saw the club finish Week 2 at the top of the Eastern Conference standings, it couldn’t carry its momentum into Week 3, where it dropped points for the first time in a 2-0 loss at defending Players’ Shield winners Louisville City FC. Despite being shutout in LouCity, Loudoun enters Saturday’s matchup third in the USL Championship with 38 shots and 16 on target, and sixth with a 61.54 percent shooting accuracy.
Hometown Kid
After joining the club on a USL Academy Contract in 2021, Fairfax, Va., native Abdellatif Aboukoura officially signed his first professional contract with Loudoun ahead of the 2025 season. In his first two appearances, the 19-year-old emerging talent scored two goals, including the game-winner in the club’s first-ever win at Protective Stadium vs. Birmingham Legion FC in Week 1. In 2024, Aboukoura finished fourth on the team with five goals, which stood as the highest tally of any USL Championship player under age 20.
RHODE ISLAND FC
Roster
GOALKEEPERS (3): 22-Jackson Lee, 1-Koke Vegas, 13-Will Meyer
DEFENDERS (7): 4-Hugo Bacharach, 15-Frank Nodarse, 2-Dani Rovira, 3-Aldair Sanchez, 5-Grant Stoneman, 24-Karifa Yao, 16-Cole Dewhurst
MIDFIELDERS (10): 80-Isaac Angking, 18-Joe Brito, 20-Zachary Herivaux, 12-Clay Holstad, 17-Jojea Kwizera, 8-Taimu Okiyoshi, 21-Maxi Rodriguez, 77-Amos Shapiro-Thompson, 19-Kevin Vang, 23-Marc Ybarra
FORWARDS (3): 10-Albert Dikwa, 11-Noah Fuson, 9-JJ Williams
Jumpin’ JJ
Making his first start of the season at Phoenix Rising FC, JJ Williams wasted no time opening his 2025 scoring account, netting the first goal of the season for Rhode Island FC with a powerful close-range header six minutes into the game. The goal was the 12th of Williams’ RIFC career, which officially made him the club’s all-time leading goalscorer. Williams also played a vital role in forcing a Phoenix own goal for RIFC’s second score, delivering a dangerous aerial threat that forced an attempted clearance that ended up in the back of the net. Dating back to last year’s historic playoff run, nine of those goals have come in his last seven games, a stretch that includes three multi-goal performances and back-to-back hat tricks.
Getting on the Scoresheet
Loudoun United are one of just two Eastern Conference conference clubs that Rhode Island FC did not score against in two meetings last season, as the clubs fought to a pair of 0-0 ties in 2024. In the first meeting between the sides in Leesburg on Aug. 24, Koke Vegas made a vital penalty save in second-half stoppage time to preserve his fourth clean sheet of the season, capping off an RIFC career-high five-save performance. Vegas went on to make three saves and keep his seventh clean sheet in the reverse fixture in Smithfield on Oct. 24. As Rhode Island FC searches for its first win of the season on Saturday, it will look to continue its attacking momentum from Phoenix in order to score against Loudoun for the first time ever.
Start Strong
In its opening two games of the season, Rhode Island FC conceded three of its four goals in the first half, and all four came before the 56th minute. Including two set piece goals vs. Charleston Battery in the season opener, all four of the goals RIFC has given up have come from dangerous crosses into the box. In order to avoid conceding early, RIFC will need to tighten up its close-range defense and avoid giving opponents space in the 18-yard box, especially after taking the lead.