Rhode Island FC earned three tough points against Detroit City FC on Wednesday night.
PAWTUCKET — Rhode Island FC will take three points in any fashion the rest of the season.
If the Ocean State club makes a run in the back half of the summer, it’ll need to stack wins and Wednesday, Aug. 6 was a step in the right direction. The 1-0 triumph against Detroit City FC at Centreville Bank Stadium wasn’t a season-changing result, but it was a win that saw Maxi Rodriguez play hero with a penalty kick in the 60th minute.
After a hand ball in the box, Rodriguez entered the match, against his former team, and buried the chance low right in front of the 7,776 in attendance. It was one of just two shots on target for RIFC (5W-9L-5T), but the result held after Koke Vegas delivered a three-save shutout in his first game back from injury.
The win also halted a five-game winless streak across all competitions for the club.
“He was getting ready [to come in] anyway, but when it got called, I wanted to make sure,” RIFC coach, Khano Smith said of subbing in Rodriguez. “Those moments are tricky. He hasn’t touched the ball … it’s not a great decision, but he made it a great decision.
“I did tell him specifically, that if he was on the field and we got a penalty kick, that he’s taking it.”
Vegas made his first save in the 35th minute to keep the match level as Darren Smith found space at the top of the 6-yard box. The netminder came off his line and knocked away the opportunity. He mirrored the stop against Ates Diouf at the start of the second half as the striker sent in a chance in the run of play.
“It’s huge for us,” Vegas said of stacking wins late in the year. “At the end of the day, I can understand why people, maybe, don’t believe in us every single moment — it’s normal. We had some performances that were not our best performances, but I still believe we have an amazing team.”
It was just Rhode Island’s second USL Championship win at the new stadium. Rhode Island is ahead of the playoff line at 20 points as they pace just ahead of Hartford Athletic, Birmingham Legion FC and Miami FC for the final playoff spot.
“Soccer is hard and we dug in,” RIFC coach Khano Smith said. “I think we still could create more if I’m being hypercritical. We can still create more and be more dangerous and better with ball creativity.”
Turning Pawtucket into a homefield advantage the remainder of the season would be advantageous to the club’s playoff chase. They’ll return to Pawtucket on Saturday, Aug. 9 against Loudoun United FC.
“I think right now we need to play one game at a time,” Vegas said. “Today was huge and now we need to rest and prepare for the next game in two days.”
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Here's how Rhode Island FC topped Detroit City FC
Category: General Sports
