USL Championship side Rhode Island FC weren’t in a generous mood against visiting Massachusetts amateurs CD Faialense at Centreville Bank Stadium in Pawtucket. A pair of first-half goals from Dani Rovira and CJ Williams got things going for the pro hosts, who added two more late in the second half to open their 2026 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup account in some style – and hand their opponents a second 4-0 loss in a row in the tournament’s Round 1.
“I had 40 family members and friends here tonight, so this was a surreal moment for me,” said Kevin Vang, the Rhode Island native and former Providence College star, who earned Man-of-the-Match honors and pitched in with his first assist since joining the club in their inaugural season of 2024. “And playing the whole 90 minutes – this was big for me.”
“He’s a great teammate, and a great person to have around this club,” Rhode Island FC’s head coach Khano Smith said of Vang, whose assist opened the door for another bit of history for teammate Rovira.
In the opening seconds of the second half, Aldair Sanchez somehow fluffed his lines from five yards out after a fine bit of approach work on the right side from the busy Peters. CD Faialense were full of running and effort. And Damian Attidore – formerly of UMass Lowell and assistant coach of Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School, where he also teaches English – fired an effort from an impossible angle that Koke Vegas nearly bobbled into his own goal.
“It feels great to get my first goal for the club,” said the Colombia-born player, formerly of the Pittsburgh Riverhounds, who earned a first cap and a first goal for his new club in the rout. “You have to be ready to take chances when they come, and we did that tonight as a team.”
A pair of corner kicks for Rhode Island FC inside the opening ten minutes signalled the home side’s intent to kill off the visitors’ hopes early. But the 2025 Bay State Soccer League runners-up, all with day jobs and most with past D1 college soccer experience, absorbed the pressure and even carved out a good chance, a free kick from 23 yards out in the ninth minute that Martin Vician nicked off the top of the wall.
It was the closest that the spirited amateurs, playing in only their second Open Cup Proper, would come to a shot on goal in the first 45 minutes. Their second-division pro opponents, on the other hand, were in the mood to get forward. RIFC recorded eight shots in total in the opening period.
In the 13th minute, the USL Championship side turned one of those shots into a first goal. Vang, in only his second start for the club, initiated an elegant triangle of passes with Gogo Peters and Rovira. The ball eventually weaved its way back to Vang’s feet, where it all began. From the right side of the penalty area, he flicked a deft through-ball to Rovira, who slotted past CD Faialense’s onrushing veteran goalkeeper Lucas Verge.
Verge was in the action again in the 26th minute. This time Logan Dorsey, also in his first start for the club, cut inside from the left to unleash a right-footed scorcher from the edge of the box. The 31-year-old goalkeeper, who handles much of the organizational work for CD Faialense and once played for Merrimack University, dove the effort away. But the brave keeper’s best efforts couldn’t keep Rhode Island FC from nabbing a second goal in the 26th minute.
Noah Fuson’s corner-kick was flicked on by Hugo Bacharach, and turned into the net by CJ Williams at the back post. On a night of firsts, it was the former Boston College star’s debut goal for his new club.
CD Faialense, the latest iteration of the Cambridge, MA-based club founded by Portuguese immigrants in the early 1970s, grew into the game as the second half wore on. But try as they might, eventually getting three shots for their efforts, they were unable to claim a first goal in Open Cup play.
Instead, the Rhode Islanders added two more. The first came through Nick Scardina in the 78th minute when the former Washington Husky nodded home his first goal for the club after a delightful bit of dribbling and cross from Sanchez. The second and final goal of the game came in the 80th minute, with Scardina, once again, making the difference. He raced forward from deep, wriggling past several Faialense defenders, before forcing an own goal.
“I would say this was a professional-ish performance,” added a less-than-effusive Smith, already turning his attention to the club’s next test: a road date with league powers Louisville City in Kentucky on Saturday. “We were naive in our decision-making in the final third and we should have scored way more goals. If I’m honest, we looked a little amateurish at times.”
Despite the coach’s disappointment, Rhode Island FC ease on through to the Second Round of the 2026 U.S. Open Cup (on March 31-April 1). They’ll meet one of the other Round 1 winners, to be determined after a Round 2 Draw conducted by US Soccer on Friday, March 20.
