After falling 2-0 to Detroit City FC at home on Saturday, Rhode Island FC will prepare for a quick turnaround as it heads down south to face Memphis 901 FC in its first-ever midweek USL Championship match on Wednesday. With both clubs in need of vital points in their respective conferences, here is everything you need to know about the match.
AT A GLANCE
Date | Wednesday, June 12
Kickoff | 8 PM ET
Location | Autozone Park, Memphis TN
Broadcast | ESPN+
Social | @rhodeislandfc (X, Instagram, Facebook)
Match Hashtag | #MEMvRI
Watch Party | The Thirsty Beaver Hometown Pub & Grub
MEMPHIS 901 FC
Roster
GOALKEEPERS (3): 1-Tyler Deric, 26-Aren Seeger, 47-Taylor Bailey
DEFENDERS (7): 2-Walid “Tulu” Yacoubou, 3-Carson Vom Steeg, 8-Lucas Turci, 14-Akeem O’Connor-Ward, 19-Oscar Jiminez, 44-Nick DePuy, 91-Abdoulaye Cissoko
MIDFIELDERS (7): 4-Emerson Hyndman, 5-Samuel Careaga, 6-Zachary Duncan, 9-Luiz Fernando, 10-Bruno Lapa, 18-Alvaro Quezada, 23-Leston Paul
FORWARDS (5): 7-Noe Meza, 11-Marlon Santos, 15-Neco Brent, 20-Nighte Pickering, 77-Dylan Borczak
Home Sweet Home
Memphis 901 FC (5W-6L-2D) return to Autozone Park for its second of three-straight home matches on Wednesday following a 1-1 draw with Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC on Saturday. Two of Memphis’ last three wins have come in front of its home fans; the club has not dropped a match at home in more than a month, dating back to a tight 2-1 loss to Monterey Bay F.C. on April 20. In total, Memphis is unbeaten in six of its last seven (4W-1L-2D) matches heading into Wednesday’s contest. The Tennessee club will look to keep its momentum going against RIFC as it continues its stretch of three home matches in eight days.
Marlon, Lapa Dominate the Scoresheet
Together, Marlon and Bruno Lapa have combined for nine of Memphis’ 19 total goals on the season. Marlon leads the team with five goals in 2024 and his team-leading five assists are tied for second-most in the league, while Lapa isn’t far behind him with four goals. Lapa last scored on May 17 when he buried a last-minute winner in second-half stoppage time to hand Memphis a 2-1 road win over El Paso Locomotive FC. The strike was his fourth in four matches. Eight days later, Marlon found the back of the net for the fifth time in four matches in a 2-0 win over Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC. Samuel Careaga and Luiz Fernando have also netted a pair of goals, with Fernando scoring the equalizer in Memphis’ 1-1 draw against Colorado on Saturday. Five other players have found the back of the net once.
Climbing the Table
As the 2024 USL Championship season nears its halfway point, Memphis finds itself occupying the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference standings, narrowly separated from ninth-place Oakland Roots SC by only goal difference. Currently, a six-point gap separates 11th from third in an extremely close playoff race. With four teams clumped towards the bottom of the playoff picture with 17 points each, including Memphis 901 FC, picking up points during this three-match home stretch remains extremely important for Memphis, especially after picking up only a single point against Colorado Springs on Saturday.
RHODE ISLAND FC
Roster
GOALKEEPERS (3): 1-Koke Vegas, 22-Jackson Lee, 30-Nate Silveira
DEFENDERS (6): 2-Nathan Messer, 3-Stephen Turnbull, 4-Collin Smith, 5-Grant Stoneman, 15-Frank Nodarse, 16-Gabriel Alves, 24-Karifa Yao
MIDFIELDERS (8): 7-Prince Saydee, 12-Clay Holstad, 18-Joe Brito, 19-Kevin Vang, 21-Kofi Twumasi, 23-Marc Ybarra, 25-Kevin Orduy, 28-Conor McGlynn, 77-Amos Shapiro-Thompson, 80-Isaac Angking
FORWARDS (4): 9-JJ Williams, 10-Chico, 11-Noah Fuson, 14-Mark Doyle
Snapping the Streak
Although RIFC (1W-4L-8D) is winless in its last seven matches, the club picked up a pair of important draws against league-leading Louisville City FC and regional rivals Hartford Athletic in its last three matches, and has continued to show flashes of potential on the road in recent weeks. While RIFC has managed to pick up impressive results and take points from some of the most dangerous sides in the USL Championship, turning one point into three and finding its first win since its inaugural 2-1 victory in Las Vegas on April 20 is becoming more and more necessary as the Ocean State club finds itself separated from the final playoff position by just three points. While RIFC sits one win away from catapulting itself into the Eastern Conference playoff discussion, three other clubs remain in a similar position.
Doyle Finding His Form
In his last two matches, Irish winger Mark Doyle picked up a pair of consecutive starts for the first time and scored his first career USL Championship goal at Hartford. The starts were his third and fourth of the season, and marked the first time he played over 80 minutes in a match for RIFC. Making an immediate impact in his return to the starting 11, Doyle’s first USL Championship goal came during RIFC’s first-ever derby match as he found the back of the net just four minutes in. The following week, in his first full 90-minute shift for RIFC, Doyle led the attack with three shots, including a second-half header that came inches away from his second goal in as many matches when it struck the post.
Early Goals the Answer
Prior to its 2-0 loss to Detroit, Rhode Island FC displayed an impressive ability to jump out on the front foot early, scoring first in three of its last five matches. In its last two road outings, the Ocean State club scored within the first fifteen minutes, notching early goals against both Colorado Springs (13’) and Hartford (4’) to force the hosts to chase the match from the beginning. However, despite its attacking ability, the Ocean State club has taken just six points in the six matches where it has found the back of the net first. Against a Memphis side that has only one loss in seven matches, finding a way to set the tone with another high-intensity start, and protecting an early lead, will be critical in picking up a much-needed result on the road.