April 18, 2024 – United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Rhode Island FC News Release
Rhode Island FC will play its third match in eight days on Saturday when the club travels to Cashman Field to take on Las Vegas Lights FC (3W-0D-3L) at 8 p.m. ET. With both teams looking to bounce back in USL Championship play and get into the win column, here’s everything you need to know ahead of Saturday’s match.
AT A GLANCE
Date | Saturday, April 20
Kickoff | 8 PM ET
Location | Cashman Field, Las Vegas, Nevada
Broadcast |ESPN+
Social | @rhodeislandfc (X, Instagram, Facebook)
Match Hashtag | #LVvRI
LAS VEGAS LIGHTS FC
Roster
GOALKEEPERS (3): 1-Nicholas Ammeter, 31-Austin Wormell, 56-Raiko Arozarena
DEFENDERS (8): 2-Edward Berumen, 4-Fabien Garcia, 20 Shawn Smart, 22-Joe Hafferty, 23-Emrah Klimenta, 24-Maliek Howell, 33-Gennaro Michael Nigro, 72-Gaoussou Samaké
MIDFIELDERS (11): 6-Charlie Adams, 7-Joseph-Claude Gyau, 8-Coleman Gannon, 10-Edison Azcona, 11-Christian Pinzon, 13-Giovanni Aguilar, 26-Claude Ngando, 27-Valentin Noël, 60-Sawyer Crisostomo, 77-Alexander Romero, 79-All-Gue
FORWARDS (3): 9-Riki Alba, 14-Solomon Asante, 90-Khori Bennett
Back to Winning Ways
After back-to-back losses to start the 2024 USL Championship season, Las Vegas Lights FC saw a complete resurgence in April, winning three-straight matches against El Paso Locomotive FC, Oakland Roots SC and San Antonio FC, outscoring opponents 4-0 in that span. The latter of the three victories, a 1-0 win over San Antonio FC, saw three Las Vegas players named to the USL Championship Team of the Week. Just when it seemed impossible to crack a resilient Las Vegas defense, Monterey Bay put three past the Western Conference side, ending Las Vegas’ impressive streak in its last USL Championship match. Monterey Bay took a quick lead from the spot inside 10 minutes to set the tone, and a late, first-half Gaoussou Samaké goal was not enough to overcome what was a two-goal deficit at the break.
Brick Wall in the Back
Saturday’s match will test two in-form defensive units against each other. While Rhode Island FC have not conceded in 185 minutes of USL Championship action, Las Vegas Lights FC’s 3-1 loss last time out snapped a 314-minute shutout streak that spanned more than three matches. A large part of the shutout streak came from goalkeeper Raiko Arozarena who, similarly to RIFC’s Jackson Lee, was a late addition to the starting lineup for head coach Dennis Sanchez. Making his first start of the year in the club’s third match…