Rhode Island’s new professional soccer team kicks off for the first time ever – The Boston Globe

The new team is playing in the USL Championship league, the second tier of American men’s soccer, a notch below Major League Soccer.

On Saturday, hundreds of fans crowded the parking lot grilling burgers and chicken wings and sipping beers as they waited for Rhode Island soccer history. Then, thousands more filed in as the 4 p.m. game time approached. The roughly 5,000-seat stadium was packed by the time people had a chance to navigate the challenging parking situation at the university campus.

Fans who came from around Rhode Island said they were there to watch a game they enjoy, to support a state that took a big hit with the loss of the Pawtucket Red Sox, or just to have a good time on a mild spring-like day.

As the competition against New Mexico United neared, the anticipation built: fireworks shot off in the distance, kids squirmed on metal bleachers, and the merch line inched forward under partly cloudy skies. The fan section drummed and chanted “RI! FC!” Then the whistle blew for kickoff.

It took 67 minutes, then New Mexico United netted the game’s first goal.

The Rhode Island soccer project has seen its fair share of setbacks over the years. Construction on the soccer stadium in Pawtucket was delayed, so the team is now playing in a temporary home this season in Smithfield. The permanent stadium has also gotten much more expensive for Rhode Island taxpayers, leading one economist, Victor Matheson of Holy Cross, to describe the deal as “pure insanity.”

Governor Dan McKee, a supporter of the project, came out on Saturday in a Rhode Island FC jersey. “I guess I’m going to learn soccer,” McKee joked. “I guess we’re all going to learn soccer.”

Despite the difficulties getting the stadium built, as well as other problems hampering the state, McKee said he’s looking forward, not backward, putting the state’s issues — from 38 Studios to “Cooler and Warmer,” a disastrous tourism campaign — “in the rearview mirror.”

The controversy, the cynicism, the “pure insanity” over the soccer stadium – they were all in the rearview, too, at least at Beirne Stadium on Saturday.

Standing nearby was team owner Brett Johnson. With his characteristic sunny southern California demeanor, Johnson said the stadium, when it’s done, will transform Pawtucket. Until then, they’d try to win in Smithfield.

As for the housing that’s supposed to come along with the stadium, Johnson said he expected some “traction” on that subject in 90 days. Saturday, though, was about Saturday – not 90 days, but 90 minutes of soccer. He pointed to the lines of fans that were growing outside.

“Pulling up and seeing a packed parking lot, seeing a sold-out crowd – whatever my expectations were, they were exceeded,” Johnson said.

Even after the local team went down a goal, they kept pressing, with big chance after big chance. Headers went into New Mexico’s keeper’s arms. Shots blasted into the crowd. One wayward ball nearly hit people’s beers and flew past a man carrying a baby strapped to his chest.

“Nevermind the baby,” the man said, presumably joking. “Not the Modelos!”

As the game entered the 90th of 90 minutes, then into stoppage time, Mark Doyle scored the first ever Rhode Island FC goal in the 92nd.

The crowd exploded as Rhode Island FC drew level, earning what would ultimately end in a 1-1 draw. Rhode Island’s soccer team ran over and celebrated with each other, and also with the Rhode Island fans, including 13-year-old Michael Denham, from Lincoln, who was nearby.

Michael was out of breath as he described the scene: “That was insane!”

Brian Amaral can be reached at brian.amaral@globe.com. Follow him @bamaral44.