SMITHFIELD – It’s a different week for Rhode Island FC, but the game yielded the same result.
Rhode Island, for the second week in a row, failed to score a decisive goal at home and was held to a 0-0 draw in the final against Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC.
In five games, RIFC (0-1-4) is yet to win in its inaugural season. And Saturday night’s game at Beirne Stadium in front of 3,678 was the club’s best chance to advance to date against Pittsburgh, the only team in the Eastern Conference standings also without a win.
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“I think if you are solid defensively you will always have a chance, but we felt we needed to create more,” said RIFC coach Khano Smith. “The first half perhaps created a little more than the second half. In the second part we didn’t create much, so we have to solve that, [I] I do not know why. It’s clear that they are a very compact team and don’t give you much space to create anything. I need to see why this happens.
RIFC now faces a quick turnaround with its first US Open Cup match on Tuesday against United Soccer League One side Charlotte Independence in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Open Cup is a single-elimination tournament that Smith won with the New England Revolution in 2007.
If Rhode Island wins the contest, it will be the club’s first, but they will still have to wait to set the record books with a USL Championship triumph.
“We had a lot more control of possession in the second half and halftime,” said RIFC goalkeeper Jackson Lee. “I think we’re moving in the right direction. We just have to figure out the final third. But again, I think it’s a positive step. I will say we can still improve defensively and offensively.”
RIFC had two chances in the first 45 minutes when Noah Fuson’s right-footed shot inside the box was blocked in the 23rd minute.
And on the restart, Stephen Turnbull’s shot, from a difficult angle near the end line, was deflected almost 10 minutes later. Turnbull, deep in the right corner, hit the highly difficult shot into the net to force a save from Pittsburgh’s Eric Dick (3 saves total).
“We were already working hard throughout the week, but we obviously improved in the final third,” said Gabriel Alves about the lack of scoring. “We improved where we needed to be, back there. So now improve on the last pass to the goal or create much clearer chances.”
Albert Dikwa’s opportunity, played by Alves in 79th minute, it was the club’s only real chance in the second half. Alves beat his man with a deft touch in midfield and sent the first pass to Fuson, who redirected it to a running Dikwa. The star striker had just the keeper to beat but was denied when his attempt went wide on the right.
“The one in the second half was the one that [Dikwa] he came in from the left side but he has a weaker foot so he certainly doesn’t have the right to score that,” said Smith. “It’s possible he scores, but it’s a difficult angle, a difficult chance.”
Lee’s game-saving run late in the second half was the play of the match. The goalkeeper, who once again replaced the injured Koke Vegas, saved a low shot from a cross inside the box with his right foot. The rebound found a Riverhound runner, but Lee managed to deflect the second attempt for a corner.
“It was quick,” Lee said of the sequence. “You don’t see it very slowly because you’re up close. Quite a saved reaction, both of them.
“And that was one of the things we worked on. The wide areas and the balls into the box, we were all very prepared for that.”
After traveling to Charlotte on Tuesday, RIFC will be back on the USL Championship schedule with a road contest on Saturday against Las Vegas Lights FC. The club will only return home on April 26th against Phoenix Rising FC.
jrousseau@providencejournal.com
In X: @ByJacobRousseau
This article originally appeared in The Providence Journal: Rhode Island FC went scoreless again and drew with Pittsburgh Riverhounds
