The USL Season is upon us

With the lone New England MLS side spitting, and sputtering out of the gate it is now time for the most promising team in the region to start up.

RIFC travel to Charleston to take on Eastern Conference foe Charleston Battery this weekend. RIFC returns mostly everyone from last years USL Eastern Conference Championship side, and added creative mid Maxi Rodriguez to the team.

RIFC gaffer Khano Smith looks to continue his upward trajectory as manager which already sees MLS clubs eyeing him. Smith and RIFC only wanted to make small tweaks to the squad in hopes of returning to the USL Championship Final again in 2025.

Meanwhile, Hartford Athletic began play last weekend and dropped a dud vs newly promoted side Lexington SC, 2-0. It is way to early to predict where Hartford will finish in 2025, but they will need to get off to a better start than last year.

In 2024 Hartford played very well in late summer and early fall making a late push for a playoff position, which eventually fell short. Hartford returns top talisman Mamadou Dieng and others, but lost GK Renan Ribeiro in the off-season.

The biggest news in regards to USL Championship and RIFC is the grand opening of RIFC's stadium at Tidewater Landing. The opening game will be May 3rd vs San Antonio FC. Anticipation for that game is at an all time high in Rhode Island, and I can't wait either.

Another USL Championship season is here, can't wait to see what it brings to the region.