Rhode Island FC’s scoring struggles continue in loss to Birmingham

PAWTUCKET — Rhode Island FC was under pressure at the start of both opening whistles.

Goals in the fourth and 48th minute doomed the home side against Birmingham Legion FC. The visitors halted Rhode Island’s recent success in USL Championship and tournament play.

The 3-1 loss saw Birmingham score twice over the final 45 minutes in front of 7,596 at Centreville Bank Stadium on Saturday, May 2. Rhode Island (2-3-2) attempted to change its tempo with a triple substitution in the 66th minute. But it was too late against the two-goal deficit.

Rhode Island returns to Pawtucket on May 9 against the Tampa Bay Rowdies. Start time is slated for 7:30 p.m.

“I thought we started the game poorly,” RIFC coach Khano Smith said. “We worked our way back into the game and I thought we were the team with the intensity to close out the first half. And then the second half, just for me, it’s a couple of moments of ill-discipline. If you do that at this level, you get punished. If we want to be an elite team in this league, we cannot concede three goals at home.”

Rhode Island’s backline was leaky from the start as Dawson McCartney’s cross from the left side curled its way through the defense and Sebastian Tregarthen buried it to the far post for Birmingham. And in the 12th minute, before Rhode Island answered, Hamady Diop was stripped on the back line and Ronaldo Damus hit the post to nearly double the advantage on the sequence.

Birmingham’s second goal came off a set piece from the top of the box. It was punched away initially by Koke Vegas, but fell to Phanuel Kavita for an easy rebound score that proved to be the eventual winner.

“I’m sure we’ve made mistakes in games in the past,” Smith said. “And tonight we were just punished. We made mistakes on the second goal and the third goal. We talked about how we want to press on goal kicks, and that was not a goal-kick pressing structure.”

Damus’ goal in the 57th minute forced Vegas to rally the group at midfield. It’s an uncharacteristic loss for Rhode Island, which entered with just nine goals conceded on the year.

“There’s one thing we always talk about, it’s the intensity between the defense, midfield and forwards,” RIFC forward Leo Afonso said. “Everyone has to match the same intensity, and I think tonight it wasn’t matched between the three groups.”

The Ocean State club scored seven goals across its last two USL Championship games, with a penalty-shootout win over Hartford Athletic in the Prinx Tires USL Cup. The offensive side showed that confidence as Leo Afonso equalized Birmingham in the 17th minute. Clay Holstad carried possession up the middle before dropping off to Afonso for a right-footed shot to the near post.

JJ Williams had scoring chances in the second half and Rhode Island held a 19-11 shots margin and finished with 61% of the game’s possession. The three substitutions added Zach Herivaux and Dwayne Atkinson to the midfield and Nick Scardina to the defense as Smith tried to spark the back line. 

“It felt like we came off on the back foot a little bit,” Afonso said. “The rotation last week, most of the starting 11 didn’t start. So, I think maybe a little flat-footed from the beginning of the game and letting in easy goals that we were blocking in games before.”

“Just everybody has to be better,” Smith said. “Coaches need to be better. Players need to be better. We’re gonna have off nights. It’s normal. We had a fantastic night last time we were here … but just gotta get back to work.”