Rhode Island FC took down Charleston Battery 4-0 on Wednesday at Centreville Bank Stadium with a dominant second-half performance.
RIFC hosted Charleston Battery for the first of two meetings this season. This is the first time the two teams have met since the 2025 USL Championship Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, where Rhode Island won a dramatic penalty shootout to send Charleston home.
The game marked the first game of the Breeze Cup, a two-match aggregate score showdown that will conclude at the teams’ next meeting in September. Rhode Island came into the game having never lost to Charleston in the club’s history.
Despite an early chance from Leo Afonso that went wide left of the goal, Charleston controlled possession over the first half-hour, generating multiple goal-scoring chances throughout.
In the 17th minute, Rhode Island’s Clay Holstad misplayed a pass backward, giving Charleston’s Jeremy Kelly a dangerous one-on-one chance with the keeper.
Luckily for Rhode Island, Hugo Bacharach made a sliding tackle from behind right before Kelly was about to shoot, sending the ball out of play and keeping the score level.
Right before the halftime whistle, Rhode Island’s Frank Nodarse crossed the ball in to JJ Williams, who headed the ball on net but was denied by a full-extension save by Luis Zamudio, sending the game into the half knotted at zero.
The draw did not hold for long, as in the 51st minute, Kwizera sent a cross into the box that was deflected by a Charleston defender and found Williams’ head to give Rhode Island a 1-0 lead.
Rhode Island knocked in their second goal in the 61st minute as Charleston’s Kirill Pakhomov gave the ball away to Rhode Island’s Agustín Rodriguez, leaving him and Kwizera on a two-on-one breakaway. Rodriguez laid the ball off to Kwizera, who slotted the ball into the bottom right corner of the goal.
Four minutes later, Rhode Island’s Koke Vegas punted the ball up to Williams from his own box. Williams made a quick turn and fired a shot with his right foot from the outside of the box into the top left corner, increasing the lead to three. The goal was his 50th USL regular-season goal.
To wrap up the scoring, RIFC’s Clay Holstad won a penalty in the 83rd minute, and Dwayne Atkinson powered it home to make the final score 4-0.
RIFC has finally found its stride offensively, having been one of the worst goal-scoring teams in the last two seasons, according to head coach Khano Smith.
“I think it was a game of two halves,” Smith said. “[Charleston] made us think really hard in the first half, and it was difficult to get the ball off them. We made some adjustments. We tried to defend differently, and I thought then that made us more dangerous in transition. I thought that’s where all those moments came from.”
Williams, who scored a brace in the match, had opportunities to score another for a hat-trick but fell short. As long as the chances continue to be created, the offense will continue, according to Williams.
“That chance at the end of the half, I would’ve loved to bury that one,” Williams said. “But if I can get service like that every game and multiple chances, I would love it.”
Scoring was at a premium for the last two seasons, but the tides have turned, according to Kwizera. Having scored only one league goal last season, he knocked in his third of the season in the match.
“You just have to thank God,” Kwizera said. “I had a good preseason. I feel like maybe this year I’m playing a bit closer to the goal, so that helps with the scoring.”
Next up, RIFC heads to Trinity Health Stadium to take on Hartford Athletic in the Prinx Tires USL Cup on Saturday. The game will be streamed on the CBS Sports Network and broadcast on 790 The Score.
