You're listening to Raising Anchor on 990 WBOB.
Welcome to the Raising Anchor Soccer Show with
Matt Entrigan and Jason Carey. Your home for
news, analysis, and everything Rhode Island FC.
Each week they take you inside the locker room,
inside the tactics, and inside the storyline
shaping RIFC. That's right we are live officially
coming off of the Saudi Arabia Uruguay game ending
1 -1 and doing a live podcast in the middle of
World Cup action and World Cup fever. Listen
if you were watching the Brazil -Morocco game
last weekend you missed Rhode Island FC conquer
Loudon United 4 -1 in a win. During that action
on the weekend, we're going to unpack this historic
victory for Rhode Island FC and discuss one why
this team isn't higher in the standings. What's
in store for this club during this break and
how is that going to impact the momentum that
they've started to create as they have seen?
back -to -back wins for the first time in this
2026 campaign. We're going to talk a little bit
of World Cup, because why not? We're right between
two matches as we speak, strategically positioned
to be able to do this. And I think it's only
fair we talk about the biggest sporting tournament
to ever hit our shores. Back in action, of course,
as always, is Mr. Jason Carey. Jason, how are
you doing, my friend? I'm doing fantastic, but
simultaneously exhausted. This is going to be
a tournament. It's going to... It's going to
challenge our sleep schedules. You know what's
funny is we were talking about this the other
night and it didn't dawn on me until we got into
the nooks and crannies of exploring this World
Cup. Didn't realize that despite this being a
host nation. We are still succumbing to some
very terrible watch times. One o 'clock and three
o 'clock trying to work and, you know, be able
to watch these games. But then having a 12 a
.m. game for the East Coast side of things, I
would have thought that, you know, I know we
are already afflicted with that when it comes
to like Eastern, Western Coast sports, NBA finals,
whatever like. But I kind of thought for the
World Cup, we'd have games more strategically
positioned right in the middle, so that at least
as a host nation, we wouldn't have a 12 AM pajama
party to watch Tunisia versus Japan. Yeah, it
makes you wonder, are they trying to be favorable
to kind of the rest of the world in regards to
what their watch times are? I don't put too much
thought into that, but it could be. I mean, especially
considering the. hydration breaks that are actually
just commercial breaks now. So yeah, I don't
know. It is a little weird the way that they
time those. Be interesting to see what the timelines
are going to look like for the next one. Portugal,
Morocco, Spain. Are they all going to be late
at night or? Well, the the nine o 'clock Scotland
Haiti game saw my entire feet has been invaded
by the Tartan army and saw a bunch of Scots that
didn't get to make it to America for the game,
talking about how they had never been more, let's
say, intoxicated in their life at three thirty
four thirty in the morning. I don't believe that
from a Scottish side of things, but massive win
for Scotland over Haiti. Overall thoughts on
the tournament so far. It's been a lot of fun.
I mean, we only just had our first no no draw
today. We've seen plenty of goals already to
42 goals so far. I think that's a record for
any World Cup before the first round is over
in the group stage. And despite the the annoying
commercial break thing that they've been doing,
you could also just watch Telemundo. They don't
do that. But I've kind of like the changes. None
of the games have really dragged. There's definitely
been a few where it took a little while for the
teams to get in. But then you saw really exciting
second halves where they kind of opened up there.
And they're really keeping the game flowing so.
So far so good, I'm I'm having a blast. I think
one of the big changes and we've seen it with
the way players take injuries is they do not
stay down on the pitch anymore. I think we've
had what three games where they've had to apply
the minute of like you're off to the sideline
waiting to come back into the game. It's been
kind of enjoyable to like because you've seen
in so many. I'm thinking like back to conquer
calf matches where you get to those last 10 minutes
of a match and when one team is holding on, it's
just injury after injury, fatigue after fatigue,
a stretch here. I really have enjoyed the pace
to that point. I also think though the level
of competition, you know, we just watched the
Saudi game and I think everyone thought Uruguay
was the shoe in and you know the. Kudos to the
KSA. They were putting it to him for the entirety
of all 90 minutes. It tells you that the quality
of these teams are elevating all across. Like,
I don't think we can continue to just say that,
oh, these are always going to be the best teams,
whether it's in Europe, South America, North
America, Asia, like other teams are starting
to rise to the occasion. Yeah. So, so far the
expansion has done well in that regards that
even some of the smaller teams have like showed
up in a big way. Sure. You know, curse out. Maybe
got a little little hammered there but for them
to uh to get that that goal To kind of keep it
alive there for a moment, too And you saw how
they're how their fans were elated. I mean you've
seen the joke on Twitter about He's like I can't
even score against Neuer's and FIFA You know
he did it in real life. I mean it's and then
the story earlier with Cape Verde holding Spain
to a moment Like people don't realize just yet
that the first nil -nil of the tournament might
actually have dire consequences for Spain down
the stretch, depending on positioning. Yeah.
And that was a no way shaper or form a boring
nil -nil draw. I mean, Spain was, was putting
on work there to, to make them really earn that
draw. And then, you know, Cape bird, when they
got the chance, they were adventurous. I mean,
they, they ultimately didn't have that kind of
final touch to get a complete upset, but you
know, they didn't give it. They didn't make it
easy for Spain. Spain should maybe play their
starters to the beginning of a game and not disrespect
their opponents. We've also had some drama around
the first separation of a coach in this World
Cup cycle. I don't I don't know what you do when
you only have three games and you say, hey, we
can't even keep our gaffer for the entirety of
those three group stage matches. But Tunisia's
head coach departs the club after a thumping
from Sweden and a five one. Again, if you stayed
up late enough to watch that game. Uh, it was,
it was quite the, quite the great time for, if
you're a Swedish fan or just, you know, you want
to see a team get murdered. Yeah, just a neutral
getting to watch some goals before we get into
Rhode Island stuff. I want to ask you this question
though. What's been the most impressive match
of the tournament so far for you made their performance.
Maybe it was a particular goal. What, what game
is resonating with you more than anything right
now? I mean, I have to side with the fact that
the Scotland Haiti, it maybe wasn't the best
match, but attending it in person is. Something
very special, like no other match. So that's
kind of going to be the match I always go back
to. If we think maybe quality, it's tough to
say right now. It's gotta be Netherlands, Japan.
Yeah. I think that's a good shout. Um, that one,
that was a great match. I mean, you know, also
on a heart to the USA match just because of,
that was maybe the single best us performance
I think I've ever seen. And maybe even in their,
in their history, if you go back, if not the
best, like a top three game ever. And you finally
get to tell the world you're a Raina apologist
as you've been shouting from the rooftops for
decades, clearly. Yeah. To come on there and
score such a, such a fantastic goal outside of
the booth there. It was, it was so sick. Yeah.
Unfortunately, Luna wasn't there to, uh, you
know, maybe give him the assist there or something,
but you know, maybe next tournament we'll see
Luna would have scored all of those goals. That's
all that matters. Uh, real fast. Then you talked
about the world cup. We did get the privilege
of going to the Scotland Haiti game. I won't
wax on it too much, but you're right. It was
a once in a lifetime experience. I challenge
anyone. If you're looking at prices, it's just
money. Sell a kidney, sell, donate blood, you
know, donate. something, sell a car, whatever
you have to do. But it truly was special. And
it wasn't just the Scottish. I mean, the Tartan
Army did show up. They are continuing to show
up. There's going to be a march next week right
before the June 19th game. But even the Haitians,
they showed up in force, too, and they were having
a blast. And that game was close. Haiti was in
it for a majority of that game as well. It was
never Scotland's to run away with. But hearing
Boogie Oogie at the end of that game, I didn't
know I had a favorite song in my life. And it's
either that or I would walk. 500 miles by the
proctor. So life is complete, Jason. We don't
even need to do the show anymore. It's over now.
Oh, that's weird. We're just done, I guess. OK,
let's wrap it up. As for watch parties, I know
we've been talking about places we've been going.
I will just give a shout out to G Pub. They've
been doing a lot to host both the Tartan Army,
making sure that the TVs are all going. The food
is flowing. Drinks could flow a little faster,
but it's been doing well. And a fan zone. I didn't
think it was going to be well coordinated. I
thought it came together very last minute. The
PVD fan zone is an incredible experience. So
if you've been thinking about going to a game
there, highly recommend you do, but maybe wait
till it gets dark because those daylight games
in that 80 to 90 degree weather with humidity
has been a bit much unless you're lubricating.
So just take that for what it's worth. And then
we did confirm if you are interested in going
to any of the 12 AM games, we are going to the
Tunisia -Japan game at High Motor. So for those
of you that have been trying to find a place
to go and partake in enjoying that match out
in the wild, we'll be there. I think we've already
got like five or six Defiance members who have
locked in with us. So something to think about.
Any final thoughts on watch parties before we
get into the real stuff, which is Rhode Island
FC? No, let's just jump into RFC so then we can
get back to this World Cup. All right. So listen,
we won a game, Jason, but we didn't move on the
table. We moved on the table and then we moved
right back into the table positioning. It's crazy.
So RFC cross the playoff line threshold early
into the weekend. But just for a brief moment
there, Hartford went and did the impossible.
I honestly, because of the World Cup, I was paying
attention to the Rhode Island game to see what's
happening. But I did not look at any of the other
league scores and come back later to see that
they actually gave Tampa Bay their first loss
at ally. That is insane. So because of RFC are
still in ninth, like you said, not moving anywhere
on the table up to 15 points now, but it's still
like we're broken record versus keep saying this,
but it is still very tight. There's still just
two points out of playoff in six points out of
four position. That's just two wins. So It's
unless you are Tampa or you're. You know, maybe
Jacksonville at the very bottom like they're
running the right wrong directions there It's
it's still very open there in the middle. So
I think it's anyone's game. So I wouldn't be
too concerned just yet It's funny you mentioned
and the Hartford stuff does just it just disgusts
me I hate having to even bring it up, you know
that they have defender goalkeeper of the year
potential honors coming their way now the they
upset Tampa at all Lang to it wasn't even score
goal for a whole month for me It's OK. We have
a question in the mail bag tonight that's going
to come back and we're going to be able to to
to rain on Hartford's parade a little bit. But
until then, talking about Jax for a second, you
mentioned something and it came to my mind. We
look at the table standings and you talk about
how tight the Eastern Conference really is this
season. I didn't realize it until just now that
Tampa Bay, Miami and Detroit have all gone through
sporting Jax for both their home and away legs
or fixtures of the season. So we talk about.
You know that benefit has a stat padding there.
Unfortunately, again, we are one of the few teams
that has not been able to accomplish that. But
like it reminds me of the first year where when
we were first watching the league in 23 and Hartford
was kind of the kicking bag, right? And we said,
oh. guaranteed two wins. The first season we
entered the league, it was Miami, and we did
that in our fan appreciation game. So it's interesting
to see some of these teams all take advantage
of seeing a win or even two so far against Sporting
Jacks. What that tells me, though, is that they've
got until September, when we see them to write
their ship, they'll figure it out and everything
will be fine. You said something also, though,
a second ago about how we're six points basically
away from a fourth place positioning. Got to
tell fans that they need to Maybe pump the brakes
a little bit. Because we have a buy and we have
the coordinated mental health week, we aren't
playing until July 4th. A lot of our fans know
that. What they might not realize is that it's
not a league, you know, two to three week break.
Other teams are playing multiple games during
this World Cup cycle. That's why USL is not respecting
the international calendar or the FIFA window
here. So while unfortunately it feels like we're
knocking on the door of both cracking into the
playoffs and then also maybe making a jump deeper
into fourth or fifth place. Unfortunately, the
teams below us in Loudon and Birmingham both
have enough matches and they both have three
matches. One of them is against each other, but
they also have enough points available that should
they win all of their games and then draw or
even if one team wins and the other team loses.
both teams could jump us. So by the time we get
back into USL championship action, we could be
back in 11th position, despite the fact we're
coming off of back to back wins simply because
we haven't played games in three weeks. Brooklyn
could even catch us on points. We'd still have
the tiebreaker. Otherwise we'd be sitting in
12th second to last right behind sport or right
in front of sporting Jacks. And, and there's
nothing we can do about it. It's hilarious. You
know, what else can you do? I mean, you look
back and think, man, maybe we. Maybe we wanted
some of those matches and to think that we could
be as low as 11th and also be like the second
best offense in the country right now, like in
the league, I should say, like it's probably
the country, too. It's US. They got a four one.
We got a four one. Why not? Why not? We're right
there, right behind them. It I mean, is this
just setting us up then for the that? You know,
it's probably going to be a slog, but that second
half kind of come back that we have seen the
last two years. I mean, it's going to have to
be right because of the way the schedule is going
to work. And if you think about, okay, where
do we make these games up? Where do those games
in hand work for us or work against us? There's
three weeks where there's midweek games that
would help us close the gap. We do have one immediately
coming back in the beginning of July. So we'll
have a three game in seven days set. But then
the next two are in September, second week of
September, and then third week of October. Last
week when we were talking with Ryan Davis, we
asked, like, where is the toughest part of the
schedule? It still remains. That last October
month is really going to be a test because despite
not only being tough opposition, in addition
to that might be that point where we need that
game in hand to go our way. And games in hand
are only good on the stat line until you win
said game. So imagine where we're possibly in
like a sixth place pole position. We have the
points available because of games in hand to
get to fourth or third. But then we've got to
go through getting wins against teams like Pittsburgh
or Tampa. Tampa is not in the mix at that point,
but we could have some stiff opponents. It's
going to feel like we're either chasing down
something even. Hartford could play spoiler on
the last day of the the season depending on how
like how close it is. Could you imagine if Hartford
is the the team that gets to set up to try to
take us out of a home playoff berth like just
the diabolicalness of it. But yeah it's gonna
be a weird time and it's why really we can't
wait till September when we can start catching
up those games because other teams are gonna
go through their buys and we'll eventually start
to even things out. We really need to see this
team take the next step. when it comes to this
July, August corridor, I don't think we want
to be asking ourselves in September, is it still
within reach just because we have a couple extra
games going our way. But when we got to go to
break and when we return, we're going to break
down how Coach Cano completed this roster for
the game against Loudon and talk about some of
the biggest talking points in that match all
here on the Raising Anchor Soccer Show. Thank
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All right, getting into this game. We're going
to talk about our initial impressions here in
a moment. Obviously, we were splitting duty between
the Brazil -Morocco game and the Loudon match,
so we had to kind of go back and watch this again.
First thing that we were still tweeting live
as it was happening. First surprise of the night,
though, this starting 11. I think that has to
be the loudest talking point of the night. And
the weirdest thing is it worked when you look
at the score line with no graphics. It's World
Cup time. But walk listeners through who we saw
on the night. Yeah. So we had a Koke Vegas there
in net with a back four of Nick Skardina, Kareefa
Yow, Grant Stoneman and Frank Nodarse. Holy midfielders
there. Clay Olstad, Hugo Baccarac. You're attacking
midfielders of Joe J Quisera, Amish Shapiro Thompson,
and Augustine Rodriguez with JJ Williams up top
there. So we'll talk about Frank Nadarse at length
because it was the biggest mailbag question we
got unrelated to the World Cup. But I do want
to talk more about why we thought Aldair Sanchez
wouldn't have gotten in this. And are we surprised
to see Frank go from right back to left center
back to now to left back to I mean, he's obviously
utility player, and he did well on the night.
But when it was all working with Sanchez, unless
there's something we don't understand about Sanchez's
game, if you're Kano Smith, why are you? Why
are you rotating your back line like this? I
don't know. I think, you know, like I said, I
was a little initially surprised by the lineup,
too. I think that Kano is very much a matchups
kind of guy at times, and I think maybe he just
saw something and wanted some extra physicality
there. to bring in a larger dude like frank nodarse
into the mixer there i think that's kind of what
it is like you said it ultimately ended up working
he played he played well i mean honestly even
grant played well too in this game so i mean
you kind of got to give him the kudos there for
his selection I don't disagree. I think it might
have been a matchup, not trying to jump into
the mailbag. But I also think maybe it might
have had something to do with Jack Panayiotou
out on the right side as that attacking midfielder
slash forward. He was kind of roaming all on
the right side. Maybe Nodar Seh knows his game
a bit more, a bit better than Sanchez does. Sanchez
has never seen him in league play. At least I
don't think he has. I know Rivera has. I don't
think Sanchez has. So it could have been a better
matchup and lineup for that. The other one, though.
Quisera obviously is going to return to the starting
11. We had asked ourselves, Amish Shapiro -Thompson
or Augustin Rodriguez, thinking Leo Afonso would
potentially return to his rightful spot on the
other side of that attacking midfield trio. Not
the case. AST stays in the center and it's Pitti
who's out on the wing inverting and rotating
with Quisera throughout the match. Thoughts on
Afonso and why we're seeing him, I don't want
to say relegated to super sub, but This more
because we don't have a backup striker with Dorsey
gone Or is this just that this was the right
play for Rodriguez to come into this game. I
Think we've seen Some good minutes there between
AST and Rodriguez. So I think they're trying
to he's trying to kind of develop that that right
there and Despite Leo getting the goal. I think
he's been a bit wasteful with his chances I wonder
if he's trying so him let's say being slightly
out of form despite scoring a goal Maybe coaches
just trying to kind of kind of rotate, keep them
fresh and kind of keep that offense potent. Interesting
thoughts. I wonder if there's something else
to what he sees in what he needs for 65 minutes
versus what he needs to close down games. Obviously,
you know, at the time of Fonzo gets substituted
in, it's only a two one game. It's not like we've
ran away with it yet. Rodriguez, there's a question
about him too on his contributions so far. We'll
talk about that a little later, but I don't hate
it and obviously it worked on the night. It's
just weird that this isn't the best starting
11 we had been saying all season, and yet this
is a starting 11 that's capable of going out
only allowing one against them, and it was. It
was it was a good enough goal on loud inside
to like. They earned it, but then us getting
four on this team like something we've again
never done in the history of what I see is when
we saved all those goals from those little matches,
cash them all in once. It's just so then I'll
ask this question. Is this the best starting
11? I don't know it at this point. I thought
what we previously established as the the best
starting 11 was, but then you know we saw Omidy
joke. Maybe have a slight kind of dip there.
Then he's also potentially injured. So we don't
know what's going on. He's got to be injured
at this point, unless he just went home to Senegal
to watch all of the matches for the World Cup.
And he's just been a super fan for the entirety
of the time. He's got to be injured. Yeah. So
it's tough to say with the with the evolution
of the squad. I think it could be close to it.
I still think that while Grant Stoneman can clearly
still do a job for us, I think our best starting
lineup maybe doesn't have him in there. He's
definitely like the B plus like a minus kind
of version of the squad So it's very close though.
All right, who are your heroes and zeros of this
match? I want to I've given a lot of praise to
JJ and clearly he is he is a monster But I want
to give a shout out to Nick Scardino We questioned
whether or not he was gonna we initially thought
he was part on the team lock on Then he was clearly
not and now he's back in so he had a good game
there took his goal well so nice to see um zero
did you see how many of the tartan army were
at the red sox game yeah imagine if we actually
had a game this weekend how many i mean clearly
on saturday wouldn't have worked because there
was a game then but if it was you know a friday
or a sunday or something you know and i think
that's the biggest oof from the from the team
specifically is they They knew enough of the
World Cup schedule at that point. They knew that
the Tartan Army was coming. You know, a lot of
fans have asked, and in fact, even Redditors
for that, just around like the Rhode Island and
Providence Reddits, they've they're like not
they don't represent the club. They don't they're
they're fans or they're like lukewarm fans. It's
like something to go do. They're not defiance
members. And even they were saying it's a shame
we don't have a Rhode Island FC game so that
you could come and watch us because they would
have shown up just to watch local soccer. And
that would have been a sellout game, because
there's at least five to ten thousand of them
around the Providence area. It is a big miss
on behalf of the club to not get a game that
then was also not conflicting with any of the
World Cup matches. Maybe that's a day game where
it's, you know, an 11 a .m. game on a Saturday
or it's a one o 'clock game. I don't remember
the earliest ones. I think Friday's games started
at three. Do a one o 'clock game on Friday. I
don't have all the answers in this world. For
instance, for Saturday, the first game was 3
p .m. You could have had a one o 'clock game
or something. I don't know for the Tardin Army.
They were already at Boston Stadium at like four
o 'clock. But even if it wasn't for that, I mean,
you could kind of still with the buzz that is
maybe in a more soccer centric city like Providence.
It could have worked. Yeah, I agree with that.
My hero's JJ Williams. He just did too much in
this game. He even had an offside goal and another
assist that was called called back. So like to
me this guy is exactly where we need him. We
need him to stay hot. We need him stay healthy
now more than ever, but you gotta give JJ his
praise. I'm gonna go the opposite of not having
the Tartan Army see a game. I'm gonna just say
having Loudon. play this game directly at the
Brazil's time. Like of all the games to probably
go for where this country is invested in, it
can't be Brazil. Like you could have slotted
this game at a different time within the day
and had maybe a different outcome. There was
only probably 200 fans at that stadium. So that's
the zero, Loudon gets the zero. But wanting to
get into the goals, break down the kind of first
and second halves here. We've talked at length
that this team needs to start becoming a first
half goal scoring machine. Over 90 % of their
goals so far this season, it's a trend that continues,
are coming in the second half of matches. It's
a great thing to see in the opening, but before
we even get there, I had a panic attack in this
game. We see Jack P. miss an open net in the
first 90 seconds of the match and then five seconds
later, Grant Stoneman assassinates Frank D 'Arcy
with a kick to the back of the head from from
a ball, of course, but like we felt so discombobulated
in those first five minutes. The early impressions
were this is this is our boogeyman. This is a
team that's going to destroy us. It was definitely
a rough start and you were starting to think
this could be a long night here. Maybe I'm just
going to turn this off, you know. See what Vinny's
doing over there. But, uh, you know, it, we got
a first half goal there. I mean, that was a great
throw in there from clay, a redirect there from,
from back Iraq and Williams is there. And I mean,
within the first 30 minutes, it puts us in a
great position there. We have talked at length
that Rhode Island FC does not really have the
ability to chase down games because what happens
when they get scored on first, the other team
sets up the low block. They start getting compact.
They don't try to score multiple goals against
us. And then if anything, they have a breakout
counter as we continue to try to find new creative
options to break past these defenses. We've seen
it in every game that we go behind initially
in. starting with this level of intent, it set
the narrative that Loudon, Loudon might have
looked good in the first five minutes, but for
the rest of the first half, they were not looking
good at all. They felt disjointed in much of
their attack. It felt like Erlandson and Abukura
came back too early in these games, like they
weren't really ready to play a full 90, and it
felt like they still hadn't gotten their legs
back under them from the talent that we've seen
in the past. And so, yeah, it's no surprise Williams
getting that header. It's what he does best in
this league. Fun facts about the header, by the
way, it's his ninth goal of the year across all
comps, sixth in the regular season. He's now
not only has he surpassed the all of the records,
right? He's the highest goal scoring player on
the team. We've talked about that at length.
But what's interesting, he's already eclipsed
his 2025 season high when you look at all comps.
So It's kind of crazy to think about what he's
already done when he's healthy and we don't have
these prolonged injuries. We have to keep him
there. Back rack, of course, getting his first
assist of the season. It's a second total career
assist there. And then that's kind of the first
half, Jay. That's where we see things. We're
on a good feeling. But we also know this loud
and team, you know, after that first, you know,
obviously they score the goal there. But after
that first kind of scare, they start to grow
into the game and really kind of put themselves
in a good position to Kind of deal with anything
that loud and was thrown at them. But I mean,
surprisingly, though, I mean Nick Scardina getting
the 40th minute goal. We're getting right into
the second half and it's just right away. Punch
in the nose like getting those early goals, doing
that damage. It changes the way loud and has
to play. Thoughts on how Scardina scored that
goal. What I loved about this goal was that after
the overlap run he stayed in the box there. was
so he was in a dangerous position. We never see
that from our outside backs, right? It does feel
like too often our team is too far back. And
not there to kind of get those easy tap ins there.
The Chico tap in merchant goals as we used to
hear all the time. No, it's fantastic. I mean,
Scardina could have easily recycled. You know
how many times do those fullbacks they they go
out wide? They send the cross or they recombine
with a two person system to then redistribute
the ball, recycle it to the other side. Instead,
Scardina gives it and then just goes and. We
haven't lost possession of the ball yet. He's
like I'm going to stay up here and he's right
place, right time. I think we would have scored
at least 15 more goals last season had we had
that second runner or just that player that's
not being positioned and marked as well. Because
you know those defenders, they're not looking
for Scardina to be there. He's brand completely
into a position that's not normal for them. They
see him, and then it gets too late. They missed
the cross, the ability to block the cross, I
should say, and Scardina picks it up and cleans
it up. Second career goal now for ROC. Like you
said, Jason, he's just getting better and better.
And then, of course, Williams picking up his
fourth and fifth assists of the season. Obviously,
this first one, the fourth one, and then the
fifth one coming a little bit later. Rhode Island
have seen now flying high two nil you think that
they can't ever be touched by loud and again
and then of course Thorol for some touches them.
Yeah thoughts on Thor's goal. I Mean, you know,
it was low right -wing cross. They said he they
kind of earned it They took it well and he had
he'd been kind of threatening us I think for
the most part we are able to contain him. There's
that free kick He took earlier on the match to
that He kind of sat down low. Koke was able to
get it. So, you know, I think ultimately it was
fair for them to get one and we kind of responded.
We did respond, but it took a while to get those
responses on there from the from the 58th to
about the 70. What fifth is when the 71st is
when Leo got his goal. But in that about 15 minutes
between. I noticed something, and I'm curious
from your tactical mindset because John Morrissey
has crowned you the smartest person on the show.
Did you notice that we transitioned from what
we had in the 4 -2 -3 -1 to a back five immediately
after Thor scored that goal and we were down
to just a one goal difference? Yeah, it was interesting.
So we rotate our wide players. Alfonso and Pisan,
they're coming on. Um, for Quasar and Pitti,
but Sanchez first comes on for AST. So that's,
you know, kind of midfielder for winger wing
back there. So definitely some kind of lineup
changes there. Looking at the players, they brought
on Fusan as an engine and Alfonso's got, you
know, he's technical enough that he can kind
of move the ball up there at pretty well up there
without a lot of support. I'd say, you know,
it worked. Conno's tinkering like got it right
in this time, you know, with With loud and rotating
their center backs and they're they're kind of
attacking threats like you said abacore upon
do to in the second half they're being taken
out like There wasn't a huge kind of threat from
them anymore with maybe Thor and I'm on So I
think this is where he was able to to kind of
take control of the game there Yeah, I mean if
Thor's your only attacking threat and you've
got five players including your three of your
center backs They're ready to contain. I mean
it did kind of stifle Loudoun. They definitely
had a lion's share of the possession through
that 20 -minute circuit, but it was all mostly,
you know, it wasn't before final third. It was
very much in, you know, the second or their own
third. I do think that that is something we could
see more of. The thing I don't like is that it
comes at the expense of Aldair Sanchez being
relegated to possibly a substitute role. I don't
know if Frank made enough of a case to, you know,
Strip Aldair of his starting role again, like
you said, it was kind of a match to match thing
But it was interesting seeing us go to a back
five against the team that has one of the worst
offenses in the league That was a big shocker
for me, but really quickly going to talk about
the final two goals the nails in the coffin Afonso
71st minute across from Noah Fuson it's It's
a goal where, like, the ball's just floating
through the box. Like, no one wants to put a
foot to it. It's just rolling through. Afonso
comes in from the top left corner, goes, I can
bury this if no one's going to stop me. And it
was a textbook goal. It's a goal that he should
be scoring every time. But we've seen him not
do that time and time again. How much of a confidence
booster is that goal for him? It's got to be
huge. It's now his fourth career goal for RFC.
And he scored off the bench in two straight games
across all competitions. That's now know a few
songs their third assist speaking of someone
else so kind of getting that confidence Maybe
getting back to his 2024 type of season You know
Noah's now the ease the clubs all -time assist
leader with 18 there impressive But beyond the
stats there too. It's just good to see you know
two of the substitute wingers kind of Combine
and score together and then a cue another substitute
here in the 89th year with Atkinson tapping in
a close range cross there from Williams to kind
of just seal the final nail in the coffin there.
Listen, if you're a Reina apologist, I'm an Atkinson
apologist. We can we can both live in these worlds
together. It's a shame he couldn't do a substitute
goal like within five minutes like he normally
does, but. Fun fact about Dwayne Atkinson, not
only is it his third goal this season, it's like
it's so easy to forget that he's scored as many
goals as Afonso, at least in regular season.
Afonso has one more in time with the Prinks Cup,
but it's crazy that he scored every single one
of goals off the bench and he has the highest
goals per 90 in the entirety of the league by
like the widest margin. Like he's basically,
who was Hartford's player last year? Was it Kyle
Adams? No, who was there? Who was their guy that
like would come in for 15 minutes and score goals
less? I try not to remember Hartford stats, but
he was one of the reasons like he couldn't be
a player of the year was because he wasn't a
starter. He wasn't even starting minutes and
oh Kyle Edwards. There you go. Not Adams Kyle
Edwards. That the Wayne Atkins is making a case
for being that type of player across the league
this season and you love to see it. I'm curious
what he could do with more time or if. just being
a super sub is just the role he has to prepare
to play. Maybe it's the kind of role that kind
of gets him motivated to give that little bit
of extra to give us those performances. But then
you guys, like you said, you wonder what does
that look like for him to be able to maybe get
himself some more, you know, time out there on
the pitch? Time will tell, but we've got to go
to our break. And when we return, we're going
to break down the biggest storylines out of this
match. Don't go anywhere. It's the Raising Anchor
Soccer Show. Fans, as the weather becomes more
and more unpredictable, be sure to check out
990 WBOB's weather page for all your temperatures,
storm, and travel info. Stay prepared for whatever
Mother Nature has in store with the 990 WBOB
weather page. Now, let's get back to the raising
anchor soccer ship on 990 WBOB with Matt Entrickett
and Jason Carey. The Boogeyman in Loudon is no
more. We've kind of got that curse off our back.
We can move on. He can't hurt you anymore. I
mean, it's almost like a tale of two different
things here, right? Like one, we finally score
a goal and we finally win against Loudon. But
then the larger conversation is like, are we
back? Like is this team? We've been asked so
many times in the mailbag. We also just talked
about how we could be an 11th. But I know what
you mean, though, like. Table table standings
aside like because at the end of the day like
if you don't look at that and just Focus on form
and how the team is doing the table standings
will just correct themselves eventually, right?
I'm gonna pull up Nicholas Murray's power rankings
right now. I didn't even do it We are in ninth
in power rankings. We went up three positions
since the game against Loudon That puts us especially
when I look at the teams that are in the Western
Conference listed here That puts us in a home
playoff position. And by Nicholas Murray, I stand
third highest rated statistically in FOMO. I
don't know what that means either. But but like,
okay, consistently performance wise, like if
we ask ourselves that question, are we back?
Because we've gone and we've now taken down one
of the final two giants that we have not slayed.
The other one being Pittsburgh, of course. And
I go and I look at the I look at some of the
key details. We're outpacing our win percentage
for 2024. which was arguably the better season
between last year's and the first season the
club we have a 1 .4 ppg it's not as high as 1
.5 because of the 25 uh excuse me because of
the games in in 2024 we have to it's it maneuvers
that prinks cup removal of those four matches
so yeah the numbers are off but technically on
the stat lines but then also on the results columns
we are doing better as a team than we did at
this time. And for the regular season in its
entirety when we were draw kings right now here
in this 2026 season, is this team flying higher
than it ever has? Possibly. And I think another
thing to tie into that was RFC was able to snap
a winless road streak here and kind of turn that
into a win streak. I was surprised when you put
this in the notes. I had no idea that we were
that bad at home, but then also that good or
sorry, that bad away and that good at home. Yeah.
Um, you know, when this is far back as their
last loss and penalties against the home team
in the new England revolution, when we, uh, we
all traveled up to Boston stadium to watch that.
Um, but RSC has not seen, you know, much success
if they, they've been, you know, known for the
season, dropping points in the open cup pranks
of tire championship play. You know, we, we used
to be the road warriors, but it, it kind of faded.
I want to say, and it was like, like you said,
maybe, maybe we're back. Maybe this is just kind
of turning the screw there, if you will. And
I think on top of that, it kind of dovetails
perfectly into talking about why we haven't seen
back to back wins yet this season. You know,
the league is there's enough schedule parity
that it's usually one home, one away. If you
do have a midweek game, normally you'll be favored
for two home matches that week. So it minimizes
the travel. If we've been that bad on the road,
then of course we won't normally have seen any
kind of consistency in that momentum. It's a
lot of start and then stop, a lot of start then
stop. I mean, look at, just look at how we've
played since the Lexington game where we won
3 -1, win, then we lose in Penns in the Open
Cup to New England, then we win Charleston at
home, then we travel to Hartford, we again go
to penalties, we win that one, but it's a loss.
It's not at least a win, I should say. Come home,
we lose to Birmingham. Then we draw to Tampa
Bay the next time. Then we lose to Portland,
hearts of pine. And then we win against Brooklyn.
So you'd think, OK, momentum again. Nope, we're
going to lose to Indy 11 on the road. We're going
to come home. We're going to beat Westchester.
And now we've beaten Loudon. I know some people
are going to say, hey, That's a Prinks Tires
Cup game. That's not a back -to -back yet. There
needs to be better momentum than beating a USL
One team. But remember what Clay told us, sometimes
these games become just momentum builders. The
Rhode Island of C knows they may not, and they
probably won't advance out of Prinks Tires Cups.
They're gonna use these matches as tune -ups
to continue to improve their form and be the
best version of themselves. So in that regard,
I think it does count, but still the first time
in the season that we put two back -to -back
games together and victories and getting three
points. I think that's got to be a bigger statement
than just, oh, it's a USL one side that you whooped
on and then you beat up a pretty deflated loud
and it doesn't matter. We drew to sporting jacks.
It does not matter. And I mean, part of the reason
this is happening is because apparently we are
on our goals galore era. I mean, it's it's perfectly
tying into folklore night when it comes later
on in the season. I think we're doing that again,
right? I think we already did it, buddy. I think
we've already did folklore this year. I don't
know. The theme nights mean nothing to me at
this point. The results are all... In fact, the
theme nights only mean something because we typically
don't win theme nights. That's the reason why
theme nights don't matter. But yes, you're right.
Rhode Island FC is in its goals -glor era, pulling
up the stats. Last four games, all competitions.
We've outscored opponents 11 -3, and we've scored
at least three goals in three of the last four
matches. Jason, I went and looked... we have
won every game this season across all comps by
three goals or more. So it's like when we're
on and we're winning, the goals cometh. When
we're not doing good or maybe we've been scored
on first, the reservoir dries up a little bit.
But we have the third most goals in the league
right now. We have the fourth most shots we've
started to dip down. Louisville's been eclipsing
us a little bit there. we have this we have a
six a positive six or plus six goal differential
that's second best in the league and we are in
ninth place and outside playoffs right now make
that make sense it's wild i i don't know if you
can um i mean we talked about a little bit earlier
here nix gardena making his presence known on
the pitch to the fans he's starting to make you
know a lot of work there he's been doing on the
defensive side too Which is is huge for this
team? Because we've seen a slight dip in our
defensive performance compared to the previous
years Which is probably what's keeping us in
a ninth place position in cocaine Vegas only
two clean sheets so far this season There's a
stat that we're gonna pull up here in its completion
a user or fan Excuse me reached out and asked
the question about but I think it's probably
our defense has slipped a bit To get this better
offensive production and the worst part is Jason.
This is exactly what we asked for We talked and
said we want more goals. We want more exciting
games. We don't care about clean sheets and now
we're not in a playoff position. The only the
only part that like you said just doesn't make
any sense is when you look at the table settings,
but like I I'm enjoying watching the goals flow.
But back to Skardina here real quick. And speaking
of goals, the offensive like aspect that he's
bringing to the game is pushed him into a top
five fullback in the league with. Half as many
starts because of the limited amount of minutes
these plays, you know Who leaves the league in
offensive production as a fullback in this league
right now? Is it a certain left back from If
it's not Rhode Island I want it to always be
all there Sanchez, but it is a former Rhode Island
left back. Oh, yeah, of course Charleston's one
and only. Nathan Messer, Charleston's only. No,
I agree. And listen, you're so right, though,
about talking about Scardino's growth and how
fans have now started to codify him and really
get behind what he is doing for this team. It's
interesting because it always goes back to immediately
what they were talking about with Logan Dorsey
leaving the squad in the last conversation we
had with Kano, where he said, hey, yeah, we've
lost a player, but I'm only going to upgrade
if... If it's an upgrade, I'm not going to go
get a player just because we're a body short
on the on the head count on the roster. This
feels kind of like that thing too. Last year
we had, you know, we had Franklin Darcy fly in
on the right side. We had Danny Rivera returning
to health. And when we got Scardino, we remember
Charlotte FC fans were reaching out and saying,
oh, he's the greatest player ever. You're so
lucky to get him. That's always a good sign,
right? Versus like, oh, good luck that he didn't
work out for us. Now we're seeing that upgrade
come true, right? It's paying its dividends.
I always wonder like what other positions he's
looking at to give it like the Nick Scardina
effect because if Nick Scardina continues on
this trajectory, he's going to be a top player.
He should be in the running for at least one
of the internal Rhode Island FC player stats
of the year as long as he continues to start.
He's going to have to get more starts to do that.
Want to ask this question then before we go to
the mailbag. We talked a minute ago about Afonso's
impact now off the bench as a super sub, two
goals in two games. We talked about The impact
busy Atkinson is having in his season three goals
now all coming from the bench. Is this going
to be a battle of the super subs? Like is this
something we're going to have to start watching?
Is a is a Fonzo going to be relegated to this
role for the near future? It's possible. I think
part of it and you know someone mentioned in
a question here in the mailbag kind of. I think
it also maybe it depends on how pity. Continues
to perform. I don't think he's been bad in any
way, shape or form, but maybe the contributions
that. some of us expected him to be like putting
up those numbers haven't really come just yet.
Is it selfish of me to say this isn't a bad problem
to have because if you have quality options coming
off like Afonso, Poussin and Atkinson and they're
all contributing to a goal or an assist to keep
the I mean again we've seen 90 % of the goals
come in the second half whether that's them or
them helping influence it to me this just says
like if we can wear a team down These guys will
be primed to go and do the most maximum lethal
damage they possibly can. Yeah, no, it is a great
problem to have, honestly. Yeah. All right. Well,
we got to go to the mailbag and when we return,
we're going to answer your questions, whether
they're hot takes or burning, burning things
that you need to know. Don't go anywhere. It
is the Raising Anchor Soccer Show. Now let's
get back to the Raising Anchor Soccer Show on
990 WBOB with Matt Entrickett and Jason Carey.
Right Lisa V wants to know whether the chicken
or the egg came first. Was it the US M &T game
scheduled first or was Bill Burr scheduled? You
know, I I'd assume it was the US men's national
team game as that schedule came out back in December
I think is when we did the draw January that
sounds right. I don't know, but I certainly know
it was not bill burr I think you know, you probably
have to look at a comedian schedule. That's the
spot that he had available And listen, I heard
a lot of complaints about it. I also heard some
really good things about it. It feels like Centreville
Bank Stadium is going to have to fight the identity
of one being a soccer specific stadium, but how
they coordinate and educate people on their first
time coming to that stadium. We all know the
pain points of trying to get into the stadium,
whether it's the march to the match, finding
parking in the local community area. and how
all that works, go back to game one and remember
how awkward it was and how difficult it was.
Now imagine someone who's never gone to that
stadium before. It's not a great experience.
They have to continue to work on that. It will
get better with time. They had to learn a lot
of lessons too. But from what I'm hearing, it
was an overall success. Probably it's still disappointing
about the soccer lack thereof. Tim M added a
caveat to it and said, I wonder if the more relevant
question is whether or not there's a significant
overlap, excuse me, a significant enough overlap
between Bilber and soccer fans that led to anything
in the attendance or the fact that it didn't
sell out. It was still pretty close to a sellout,
but I think that's the other part, too. Centerville
Bank Stadium wants to distinguish themselves
as a multi -entertainment experience and venue.
It's not always going to be soccer. Just because
it's our dojo, we have to be okay with the idea
that some things are going to come there that
some of the soccer fans won't be interested in,
right? Like, we'll probably go through the same
experience with the Rhode Island Vibes summer
reggae tour that's coming through. Like, I don't
imagine that's a one -to -one for every soccer
fan that's hitting the streets there. Yeah, I
don't know if there was enough people who would
have gone that really would have made it worth
their time to kind of move that event. Nate here.
saying USA, any African team or Netherlands,
what percentage of a chance to win at all? I
know the favorites, but these teams specifically
he's thinking of. I mean, if you want USA, any
African team or Netherlands, I would say USA
is like 10%. And that's that feels really good
to say after watching that for one victory. Nate
African teams. Morocco is my dark horse, especially
after holding Brazil. hostage in a draw like
that. I think Morocco is going to very much do
a similar thing that what we saw last time around
and probably get to the quarterfinals. And then
Netherlands, I mean, they looked good. Japan
looked just as good. I think it's going to come
down to where they end up on the bracket based
on positioning and who they have to run into
first. In terms of winning it all, I've got Morocco
still as the team, especially out of this category.
Do you any have any different opinion? We're
to just throw in another African team there.
Senegal is going to be good. I don't know if
they're going to go the distance, but I think
they're going to give people some trouble. I
think Ghana's got too many kind of midfield and
injury issues. I don't know how well they're
going to do. I thought you were going to be an
Ivory Coast homer over here. You know, I love
my boy Tori, but he also doesn't play for them
anymore because he retired. So I don't know.
You know, I, I look at that team and I think
there's some talent there, but there's, they're
kind of young. So I, you know, I I'll be watching
them, but I don't think they're going to get
too, too deep into this. They're going to buy
their kit. Oh, it's, it's a beautiful kid. I
don't know. I mean, I'm pretty broke from this
world of cup. I don't know if I can. I can afford
this everyone send a donation to jason carrey's
venmo so that he can buy his ivory coast adidas
kit um or no it's puma kit actually it's not
it's actually pretty cheap if i remember going
looking uh dave here has a question but it's
not a question it's a statement all of my questions
were answered at fan zone tonight and then some
i i smoked vienna sausages i don't know uh mike
m here says a casual asked me at a usa watch
party If the US had a chance of winning, I told
him this game. Yes. But the World Cup? No, not
even a chance. It would be like the 1980s hockey
team. Was I wrong in saying that? You were wrong
in saying that because we need to be able to
make the movie afterwards. And then the spin
off Mighty Ducks equivalent when a bunch of street
kids get together to play street soccer and then
end up at like the Olympics in the U -15s. Listen.
I don't like zero percent anything. There's always
that's the beauty of the World Cup. Is it likely?
No, but not even a chance, Mike. I mean, come
on, get some rose tinted glasses on and just
believe for a second. Don't make us sing the
chant that everyone hates to see get sung at
watch parties these days, because I will make
you sing it at the next time we hang out until
you believe. So, yeah, I don't believe five percent.
Why not? I said 10 a second ago. Why not? Yeah,
I think there's there's context in there. Like
you said. It's unlikely, but it's not impossible.
I'll tell you this. If there was a team that's
going to do it, it would probably be this team
right now, at least in comparison to like the
2014 generation of players up till now. We're
the best we've been in a very long time. And
so if it's going to be a group. I don't see why
it couldn't be these guys. Joe P writes in, well,
guys, we are on a hot streak. Too bad we have
a break now. Let's hope we don't lose this momentum
when we play a tough Orange County team on the
fourth. Enjoy attending your World Cup games.
I attended the quarterfinal in 1994 between Italy
and Spain. It is an experience you will never
forget. Anyways, go USA. Always great insight
from Joe there. Thank you. Mike S says, saw the
video complaining RAFC doesn't celebrate goals.
Thoughts? I don't even want to give this fuel
to the fire this person don't don't go look this
up because you don't go chasing waterfalls you
don't need to be giving this guy I won't say
their name but there's a salacious usl video
maker and all they do is make hot takes and like
challenge the status quo his claim is is that
rod Island fc doesn't celebrate its goals and
then therefore ruins the fan experience and sours
the overall usl league because we're not bringing
enough emotion into it I don't agree with it.
I've never heard a single World INOC fan complain.
I've had several, several reels of pictures from
Dan Chase as well as our photographers on the
Blazing Musket of this team celebrating goals.
So maybe it's not the extravagant, flamboyant
World Cup celebrations, but it's not supposed
to be. And you know what? Even if they're not
celebrating goals, I'll take the plus six goal
differential and the second best attack we have
in the league if they just want to keep it a
little humble. That yeah, I'm completely fine
with that So I don't know where this person's
coming from and they need to not comment about
our team unless they're there in person is my
thoughts Yeah, Adam Z writes in loud and has
200 people at the stadium tops Are they that
poorly attended or was this World Cup related
if that's attendance? No way they survive as
a club also schedule your game at any time other
than Brazil's kickoff Yeah, they reported 1500
did not look like 1500. I had this loud and team
has had Kind of some attendance issues like 900,
like 900 for their home opener against Miami.
Probably something like that. So I also don't
think that it's the smartest idea to have a league
run during a global tournament, especially when
it's in your own country. But what are you going
to do again? I mean, we talked about it earlier
on the show, though, like if you could find a
way to do a morning game or a 12 o 'clock noon
game and then that way people could watch the
other events like the other matches like okay
fine there's room enough to do it but to compete
against arguably what was supposed to be one
of the biggest duels in the world cup so far
like kind of everyone was saying like that the
games to watch were going to be USA Paraguay
Brazil Morocco and netherlands japan as far as
like competency level like that's a tough sell
and you've known for months that that game was
going to be competing with it so i don't know
i I don't know how to do that. Sharon K says,
heard you mention at the fan zone that Hartford
got in trouble, but couldn't hear the whole story.
Can you explain? Love the show. Sharon, I was
thinking back on this and I wish I knew which
day. I think this is the Hartford. So I'm going
to say if this isn't the right one, I apologize.
But Hartford got in trouble. because they were
scheduling a watch party for either the first
game of the World Cup or it was the US Men's
National Team game and they made this big old
production of saying come register tickets like
get free tickets come watch the game at Trinity
Health Stadium. Right before the match they had
to cancel the event they offered free tickets
to a future Hartford Athletic match and it all
came down to the fact that the FIFA Gestapo saw
and found out that they were having a watch party
And that that's not something you can do, because
we were asking these same questions of Rhode
Islander C and saying, hey, like, is there going
to be watch party integrations and coordination?
And they said we cannot do that because of sponsorship
conflicts. We would have to wrap our stadium
the same way these World Cup sites are doing
it. We have different vendors for drinks and
food and all that stuff. We cannot do it, especially
because they operate within the same soccer worlds.
It's a big no, no. I don't know if that's the
entirety of the truth. That's just part of the
story that I've heard. And so, yes, Hartford
got hurt so hard by this, but they got like FIFA
slapped. that the rest of the USL said, nope,
not even going to mess around with this. So if
you're a USL fan and you're doing some sort of
activation for World Cup, just keep it on the
down low. I think James in the Discord had mentioned,
don't use the hashtags, don't talk about it online,
and just go enjoy some, I guess, I don't know,
physical piracy of World Cup matches. I don't
know how else to say it, but that's the Harvard
story I think you're looking for. If it's something
else, let me know and we'll keep telling you
Hartford Tales in the near future, I guess. Rachel
H. writes in, why is Nadarse at left back? I
think kind of like I mentioned earlier, I think
it was very much a kind of tactical decision
by coach. And we've also seen that Nadarse can
kind of play anywhere in that back line. I think
it worked out. I think we'll obviously with how
Sanchez has been, how great he's been this season,
though, like. He'll be back in the squad. I wouldn't
be too worried about that Stacey L says is JJ
a contender for golden boots would have said
yes until we saw Darren Smith score five goals
against Sporting Jacks this weekend alongside
Detroit City FC Tied the record that's been in
place since 2013 in the USL like talk about history
right there So now he's a he's six. He's five
goals behind the golden boot in Darren Smith
Obviously, Darren Smith is not going to put up
five gold performances, and they've played Sporting
Jacks twice, so, you know, JJ's gotten several
hot tricks in the past for us, so maybe when
it's Sporting Jacks' turn next time around, maybe
he can catch up. Do I think he's a contender?
Yes, absolutely. I think that maybe even Quasera,
if he can start getting some additional momentum,
he could do it to all the wingers in Quasera's
role and probably not as often, but there's no
reason to think a healthy JJ couldn't at least
be... top three or even that dangerous of a close
of a contender for golden boot brian are do we
think pity will get ten gold contributions this
season still i don't know and i was just kind
of mentioned this a little earlier i i think
he's maybe somewhere in that five to eight range
i think he only has what two assists right now
yeah so it it's it's tough to see it if he turns
it on the right time and kind of you know pads
of stats Like Darren Smith there, maybe maybe
he could get close I mean think about too like
in Maybe we'll see more of it now as he's getting
pushed out wider and wider In the midfield like
those roles have not always been glamorous when
it comes to those types of stats Like think back
to Markie bar. We called him the trash man because
it wasn't his goal contributions. It was his
defensive work Hugo Bacharach only now getting
his second assist in club history with his time
with Rhode Island FC. Clay's usually only good
for maybe five goal contributions a season, but
you can't deny the work that he does on and off
the ball. Amish Shapiro -Thompson, same thing.
So like, I think if anything, the wing might
give him more flexibility to get some assists,
maybe even goals, but I wouldn't diminish what
he does when he's on the pitch because he's not
getting those contributions to pad his stats.
Yeah, no, I'd agree. Eric N says, statement when
to get past loud and finally, should we be concerned
that we only have two clean sheets so far when
we had 14 last season? So this is the stat. So
when we talk about why we're not winning games,
it's not necessarily related to this, although
letting in a couple of these goals has taken
us from three points to just one. I don't care
as much about clean sheets as much as I care
about the way we concede goals. and I don't think
there's been a ton of times this season like
think back to the first five games of 2025 when
we were just getting like embarrassed in set
piece defense we asked ourselves multiple times
like what is this team doing why are they so
like stiff and static why aren't they like continuing
to shut down spaces i think that sometimes the
goals that come against us are just good goals
i also think that there's been a couple of deflections
that have not gone our way where second balls
have bounced right into the position of an oncoming
runner and like we're out of we're out of position
like a lot of times connor will throw players
and throw numbers forward to try to get back
into games and then we just get punished you
know we've only lost a couple games by like just
one goal usually when we start getting the game
kind of gets away from us or like we get away
from the game and so I don't know like do you
think clean sheet should matter this much like
they they just don't matter to me other than
giving coca vegas a reason to stay and get a
bigger contract yeah as long as the result is
there ultimately and like you said we're not
give it it's the way that we give up goals if
we're giving up really poor lazy goals like that
then I would start to be concerned I think we'll
see potentially as this team goes into its second
half. We'll probably pick up a few more and get
to maybe he'll get closer to 10 or something
like that. I agree, I agree. Programming note,
we're going to be off for the next couple of
weeks now as Rhode Island FC takes both their
bi -week and their mental health week break.
We do have player interviews lined up for you
guys, so you will hear from some of the players
as well as some other special guests during that
time. So the next interview will be with defender
Omidy Jope next Monday, and then I'll let you
guys find out the rest as we go. And we'll pick
up programming right before the 4th of July game
on July 3rd, previewing Orange County. And then
we're going to be on the soccer for Orange County
as well as have them on. So go enjoy Iran and
New Zealand and enjoy the World Cup. We will
catch up with all of you on Discord and all the
other places you can find us and have a great
first couple of weeks of the World Cup. We'll
see you all soon. Thanks for joining us. Anchors
up. Anchors up. and at Raising Anchor on Instagram.
And be sure to check out and subscribe to Spotify,
iTunes, YouTube, or wherever you listen by searching
for Raising Anchor. Make sure to check out all
of our coverage over at The Blazing Musket for
all your New England soccer coverage, including
RAFC news at theblazingmusket .com. Fans, we
thank you for listening. We ask you to be kind
and courteous to your neighbors as you leave
the show. We thank you for joining us and look
forward to seeing you again. Until then, I'm
your main man Juju. And on behalf of the Racing
Anchor crew, goodbye for now. And as always,
we are Rhode Island FC.