Game Preview: Rhode Island FC vs. Brooklyn FC: May 23, 2026
USL Rhode Island FC

Game Preview: Rhode Island FC vs. Brooklyn FC: May 23, 2026

Published on May 19, 2026 under United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Rhode Island FC News Release


Rhode Island FC will return to regular-season action on Saturday after a 2-1 loss at Portland Hearts of Pine in the 2026 Prinx Tires USL Cup, welcoming USL Championship expansion club Brooklyn FC to Centreville Bank Stadium for World Soccer Night. Despite the setback in Maine, RIFC is riding a run of strong form in the regular season, where it is unbeaten in four of its last five games (2W-1L-2T). That form includes a 1-1 tie vs. the league-leading Tampa Bay Rowdies in its last regular-season contest on May 9, in which RIFC became one of just three teams this season to hold Tampa Bay to a tie. Ahead of the nationally-televised, first-ever meeting between the two clubs at Centreville Bank Stadium, here is everything you need to know.

AT A GLANCE

Date | Saturday, May 23

Kickoff | 7:30 p.m. ET

Location | Centreville Bank Stadium - Pawtucket, R.I.

Broadcast | CBS Sports Network

Radio | 790 The Score (WPRV 790 AM)

Social | @rhodeislandfc (X, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok)

Game Hashtag | #RIvBKN

BROOKLYN FC

Roster

GOALKEEPERS (2): 1-Jackson Lee, 30-Lukas Burns

DEFENDERS (7): 3-Gabriel Alves, 4-Rocco Romeo, 6-Vuk Latinovih, 13-So Nishikawa, 23-Ryan McLaughlin, 24-Callum Frogson, 92-Thomas Vancaeyezeele

MIDFIELDERS (6): 5-Malik Pinto, 9-Johnny Klein, 27-Peter Mangione, 56-Christopher Olney Jr., 86-Taimu Okiyoshi, 95-Abdoulaye Kanté

FORWARDS (7): 7-Thomas McNamara, 9-Shaan Hundal, 11-Jaden Servania, 19-Stefan Stojanovic, 29-Juan Carlos Obregón Jr., 35-Markus Anderson, 98-Pierre Da Silva

Struggling to Score

Brooklyn FC is winless in its last four games across all competitions, and is currently riding the three-game losing skid. It most recently fell 2-0 to Hartford Athletic in the Prinx Tires USL Cup group stage, failing to score for the second-straight game and extending its scoreless stretch to 195 minutes across all competitions. It has been just shy of a month since Brooklyn's last win, which was a 3-0 win over USL League One side New York Cosmos on April 25, and the club is 0W-3L-0T on the road this season. Despite the stretch of poor form, Brooklyn has offensive firepower in its ranks - 22-year-old talent Markus Anderson leads the team with four goals, while Juan Carlos Obregón Jr., who won the 2025 USL League One golden boot with 17 goals last season, has two across all competitions this year.

Last Time Out

Despite Brooklyn's 2-0 loss vs. Hartford Athletic last time out, its attack looked as promising as it has all season. For the first time since Brooklyn's win vs. the Cosmos, and just the third time this season, Brooklyn outshot its opponent, limiting Hartford to just four shots and peppering the goal with 15 of their own, forcing five impressive saves out of goalkeeper Antony Siaha. The 15-4 margin was the second-largest shot deficit all season for Brooklyn, who were kept out by a resilient Hartford defense. If Brooklyn can replicate that attacking performance on Saturday and continue to build on the positive performance, results are sure to follow.

The Comeback

Saturday will mark the return of three former Rhode Island FC players to the Ocean State: goalkeeper Jackson Lee, midfielder Taimu Okiyoshi and defender Gabriel Alves. All three have been impactful this season: combining for 19 starts and 1,743 minutes, Saturday will mark the first time the trio returns to Rhode Island as an opponent. Alves, who played for RIFC in 2024, made 12 starts in 17 appearances for the club, logging 1,023 minutes in its inaugural season. Okiyoshi, who spent the 2025 season with the Ocean State club, tallied 425 minutes in 19 appearances. Lee, who spent the first two seasons of his professional career with RIFC, made 25 starts in two seasons as the club's primary backup goalkeeper, and is second all-time in RIFC history with 68 career saves for the club.

RHODE ISLAND FC

Roster

GOALKEEPERS (3): 1-Koke Vegas, 13-Will Meyer, 29-Jacob Castro

DEFENDERS (8): 2-Dani Rovira, 3-Aldair Sanchez, 4-Hugo Bacharach, 5-Grant Stoneman, 15-Frank Nodarse, 22-Nick Scardina, 24-Karifa Yao, 25-CJ Williams, 32-Hamady Diop

MIDFIELDERS (7): 7-Dwayne Atkinson, 10-Agustín "Pity" Rodríguez, 12-Clay Holstad, 17-Jojea Kwizera, 19-Kevin Vang, 21-Zachary Herivaux, 77-Amos Shapiro-Thompson

FORWARDS (5): 8-Leo Afonso, 9-JJ Williams, 11-Noah Fuson, 14-Logan Dorsey, 20-Jamin Gogo Peters

Positives from Maine

Despite a setback 2-1 loss to Portland in the Prinx Tires USL Cup, RIFC continued to create chances at an extremely high clip in a dominant attacking performance. After RIFC went down 2-0, Logan Dorsey scored his second career goal for the club in the 61st minute, while Amos Shapiro-Thompson tallied his first career RIFC assist to make it a one-goal game. Although the goal was not enough to complete the full comeback, it demonstrated an attacking trend that swayed heavily in favor of the Ocean State club: RIFC out-shot Portland 18-5 throughout the game, including a 12-2 edge in the second half. RIFC also toppled Portland in crosses (25-6) and corners (10-1). The Ocean State club's 10 corners were a single-game season-high, and its 25 crosses were the second-highest single-game total of the season. RIFC has shown throughout the season that it can create a plethora of chances - when it is more clinical and can convert those chances, its attack can be unstoppable.

Keep it Going

Outside of the Prinx Tires USL Cup, Rhode Island FC is unbeaten in four of its last five regular-season games (2W-1L-2T), and six of its last seven games across all competitions against USL Championship opposition (3W-1L-3T). In RIFC's last regular-season game, a 1-1 tie vs. the league-leading Tampa Bay Rowdies, JJ Williams scored his team-leading fifth goal of the season across all competitions, and Nick Scardina logged his first career assist for the club. The goal made Rhode Island FC one of just three teams to take points from the league leaders this season. In RIFC's last three regular-season home games, it has earned results against two of the top five teams in the Eastern Conference standings, including an explosive 4-0 win vs. Charleston Battery on April 22.

For the Recordbooks

Saturday will mark the first-ever meeting between Rhode Island FC and Brooklyn FC, and the first of three meetings this season. One of RIFC's most common opponents in 2026, Brooklyn will return to Centreville Bank Stadium on July 11 in the Prinx Tires USL Cup before the two squads travel to Maimonides Park for the reverse regular-season fixture on Oct. 3. RIFC is 1W-0L-0T all-time against teams from New York (it's lone win was a 4-1 win over USL League One side Westchester SC on April 27, 2025), and 0W-0L-1T this season against expansion teams, following its season-opening 1-1 tie vs. Sporting Club Jacksonville on March 14.

Check out the Rhode Island FC Statistics

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United Soccer League Championship Stories from May 19, 2026


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