Holy City Soundoff x Raising Anchor

The hosts of the Howlers and Holy City Soundoff podcast, Andrew and Connor, discuss their excitement for the upcoming Eastern Conference Final between the Charleston Battery and an unnamed team. They talk about their support for the Battery despite being from New England and mention the team's history and accomplishments. They also discuss the challenges the Battery may face in the playoffs and reflect on their successful season so far. They mention the absence of player Joe Giaclizzara due to an international call-up. But now it's time to move on and to get us prepped for this Eastern Conference Final against the Charleston Battery are the hosts of the Howlers and Holy City Soundoff podcast, Andrew and Connor. Gentlemen, welcome to the pod. Are you guys ready for this historic matchup this weekend? We are indeed ready. I'm very ready, very excited. Can't wait to see the team kicking about. And also excited that Rhode Island is where they are, because Andrew and I are both Northeasterners too. I did hear that in your episode of Side Talk. I'm curious, you know, what's it like knowing that the team that you cover, in consortiment with the rest of your amazing soccer coverage, what's it like knowing that you're betraying your New England roots by rooting for a team down in South Carolina? Yeah, no, I mean, I think if you knew about Rhode Island, I guess the news was around that they were coming about, but it's a bit of, I guess I'd say it's complex, but either way, if either team wins, we get to say, we get to kind of wrap either side. Connor, how about yourself? What's it feel like to be a traitor to your region? Yeah, I mean, I don't know if you can call it a traitor, so I'm originally from Connecticut, so I guess if I was a Jack team, it would be Hartford, and I had been to Hartford matches prior to even really knowing much about the Charleston Battery. So I guess what I can say is I wouldn't call it traitors, because there's a lot of good teams in the Northeast, Rhode Island is a good one to pick, and there's another one on the way. Yeah, I'd say you've got an upgrade there, considering how well they've been doing. Yeah, Connor just did the natural journey of a Hartford Athletics fan, and just left and found another project, another opportunity. So it's perfectly fine. That's a bold statement. I'll roll with that, just for the sake of... So it looks like we lost Andrew there for a second. So while we try to figure things out, we'll bring this back in here, and we'll see. This is gonna be fun. You know, this doesn't need to be completely all on at all times. We get to have fun here. But for the sake of time, because I don't know about you guys, we run historically long on all of our episodes, I want to get into a little bit about the history of the Battery and their relationship to the playoffs. You guys are the oldest team in the USL, so we could spend two hours probably alone just covering kind of the ups and downs, the trials and tribulations. But Jason, what did you learn in your Charleston Battery history? Let's see if Connor passes you on this test. Okay. See, I did a little bit of research here. So before we jump into the matchup, take a step back and kind of look at the Charleston Battery's rich history in knockout soccer in America. While most RFC fans will remember them being the runners-up last year in 2023's final against Phoenix Rising, the team was in a bit of a rut, having failed to qualify for two consecutive seasons prior to Ben Pierman taking the reins. They have won the chip in 2012 during the non-modern era, as well as USL 2 in 2010, the A-League in 2003. It's crazy that they played in Australia. A-League. And then the USISL Pro in 1996. I feel like they're just making up leagues. I've never heard of these before. But they're probably most famous for being the runners-up against DC United in 2008 after knocking out then Seattle Sounders, who were still in the USL club at the time. So it's a hotly contested offsides goal that kind of denied South Carolina team the oldest hardware in American history there. So does that pass? Andrew, we're going to put you on the spot since you just came back in. Is everything that Charleston said accurate? Sorry about that. I lost connection. I missed that last part. Let's see if you can repeat that one more time. How about if we just say, is losing to DC United in the 2008 Open Cup run the most famous moment in the Charleston Batteries history? That is putting me on the spot. To go that far back would have to read up a Wikipedia article on that. I would say the trophies listed are definitely better moments to recall. Yeah. I think any loss wouldn't be a thing I would account as history made. Well, you know, it's interesting. The Battery do not have a star because the championship they won not in the modern era. Does that rub the old guard, the old fans, wrong? Because there's other teams now that even Orlando City get to claim stars even though they're now in MLS. Does that rub Battery fans the wrong way? That would be a great question to ask them. With the fans that we've got to interact with, even this past Saturday, they're very go with the flow and very appreciative of the history. There is obviously a young crowd, but there's also kind of an old guard. The regiment represents that very well. And I don't think that would really bother them. They're very traditionally oriented, and they have brought back some of the rivalries. There was two trophies there just from local rivalries that they share with Tampa and CFC. But I haven't heard too much distress around not being able to carry the star because they do rep those trophies proudly and the championships despite them maybe not being the USL championship or the modern era because that is the price of being like the longest consecutive running club in North America or in the United States is that the structures, as we know, aren't always the cleanest. I mean, at this point, if you're the batter, you just have to say, hey, we don't have to worry about losing our club any given year like Memphis had to deal with this week. So you guys just get to win by outlasting, outsurviving as far as I'm concerned. Yeah, no, it was heartbreak to see the news about Memphis. And I know there are potential for other clubs to kind of face the same reality. I know there was talks that it's not just Memphis. Hopefully not. You know, we don't want to see USL clubs fold. And, yeah, it's got regimency, stuff like that. Absolutely. You know, if we take this back to, you know, all the way to the last second of the 2023 USL Cup final till now, how do you reflect on this season? How do you reflect on this current postseason in comparison to, you know, taking second place last season? Yeah, so, you know, it is similar, obviously, in a lot of ways that we've made it this far to the Eastern Conference final. I think in terms of the difference, it's the system that Pierman has instilled even more this season than last. You know, one of the things that he had mentioned in our sit-down with him, and I know we'll probably get to that later on in this conversation, was he talked about the expectation that teams have this season when facing up compared to last season. Last season, you know, the batter coming off a poor, one of the worst seasons they've ever had. So, like, the reality of how good they were wasn't really clear. This season is much different. So teams face off and shape up in a way that they can hit Charleston on the counter. You know, Charleston are usually the ones dominating possession, dominating the match. So I think that's something that Pierman has had to adjust the guys with. And that would be kind of the difference. Like, we saw tons of goals against Indy in the semifinal last year. I don't think the same thing's happening in this playoff run. So, you know, overall, I think for the team itself, it's going to be a team that's more cohesive, but also understanding that teams understand them. And so they have to quickly adjust to any changes that a team's going to tactically switch up on them in the moment. So I think that's kind of the main difference is just seeing how much more this team is a unit compared to last and, I think, every game last year. It was more of a surprise where we're seeing the battery, where we saw the battery last year as compared to this season. You know, Connor, no, I appreciate that. Connor, I think back to your guys' interview with Ben just recently. And, you know, was there a lot of expectations that this team would get as far as they did last year? Or is this kind of where they were supposed to be? This isn't supposed to be a revenge story. This was supposed to be exactly where they wanted in that second year. You know, our coach, Coach Connor Smith, has said very much the same, that this may have been a one- to two-year project, and we're just kind of benefiting from the fruit of our labor a little early here. Was that always the case for Pearman? Yeah, I think that is very much the case. Something that I always say, like talking to Ben, even hearing from the owner like Rob, it's a bit of a, like, reality check to be that far ahead of plan and keeping the fans on board and kind of bringing those expectations back down to earth after something so successful occurred unexpectedly. And I think last season was, despite them being, like, the battery being a very high seed, like top half of the table, home field advantage, those kind of things, it felt, as a fan or a viewer, much more of, like, a dark horse making a run, similar to what Rhode Island's doing this year, despite being that seven seed. So, yeah, it is good to put it into perspective and understand, like, a lot of these things do take time, but when you're a fan, if things are going good in the world of football, you have to jump on and just enjoy the ride. No, I agree. And I think, you know, if we look back on this, you know, like you said, we're playing with house money. We kind of said that earlier in the recording. I guess what I want to ask you, though, is we're dealing right now with the immediate known loss that we probably will not have Joe Giaclizzara. I mean, there's a possibility, but I just don't see him leaving his international call up, especially with his team losing today. I look back. We watched the final as a group with the supporters group for Rhode Island. That was kind of our first taste of playoff action watching you guys, and we noticed, you know, Fidel Barajas not being in the squad. It seemed to change a lot of the dynamism that you guys had, and it felt like a gut punch. Being an outsider to the team, I can't help but think we're in a similar situation this weekend. What was that like, you know, reflecting back? Obviously, he's not with you guys anymore, but, like, do you look at this as glass half full? Because, you know, you've made the acquisitions. You've taken the money and gotten some great players off of it, and do you see this as, like, oh, we know what it's like to play with that one of your best, and it sucks to be you, Rhode Island FC. Yeah, I mean, as far as Fidel goes, what a player he is. A tough player to miss in a final, and I can definitely see that comparison that you draw. And it is such, like, a, I mean, moral battle, I would imagine, for a player as well, because every player wants to go represent their nation. Fidel was also on a call-up. But then again, like, the club that you play for, you have a lot of pride for, and they're the ones that pay the bills at the end of the day, so it's certainly a tough choice. But I think just, like, thinking about the final last year and the teams that you have and the momentum that knockout football offers, I don't think I really personally noticed as much as maybe an outsider would, just because as you watch the team all year, players come in and out of the side. The first team rotates. So I would offer a token of optimism that there is good fortune for Rhode Island, despite missing some marquee players, or just one, because I think despite Fidel being out, you have that cohesive union, you have the momentum of the playoffs, and yeah, you just kind of ride that excitement, I would say. Yeah, if I had to sum it up. I think for, like, in the potential loss on your end of things, as Connor's mentioned, like, riding this high, I think it lifts players up to play at a level we've never seen before, and missing out or having a player that's not available that is your marquee player, or one of your marquee players, it allows for other players to really step up and kind of take that on. So I think, you know, like, not having Fidel last year was difficult, but we did see other players shine. We did see the team be more of a team in that regard, you know, picking up for the expansive style of play that Fidel had. So, you know, I feel for you guys in that sense of potentially not having one of your marquee players. You don't feel that much, though. To be fair, too, when we last matched up against him, what, he only played, was it 25 minutes or something? It was a similar problem. He had just come back from a national break. So I think we performed fairly well without him. Obviously, you would want your, quote unquote, full strength squad there, but I'm not going to, like, if the result doesn't go our way, I'm not going to come back and blame it on Val. If Joe Jay was there, I mean, maybe, but, you know, we'll have to wait and see what happens. We'll be tuning in afterwards to see what you guys say. Speaking of that result, and kind of looking back from that moment, you know, it hasn't been that long since these two clubs last faced each other, the last matchup away to Charleston, so similar format here. It's only been a few days short of a month, which, it's just the fun part of it, right? Like, sometimes you can get your matches out of the way early in the season, and then it's like, what do these teams look like? But both of these teams kind of have left a nasty aftertaste in each other's mouths after the 1-1 draw. Charleston, since that game, has moved on three matches, three wins, five goals, two conceded. Rhode Island FC, also three matches, three wins, 14 goals scored. Thanks, Miami. And three conceded. I guess the question for you guys is, you know, do we see our coaches tinkering at this point? Is it too much of a recency bias that, you know, the results, they fell flat. Obviously, a draw is a point, but neither team has bested the other this season. Is this a game of getting in each other's heads at this point, or proving which system works better? I think, in terms of tinkering and mind games, I don't know if Pierman's the type of coach to play into that. And similar with your head coach, I feel like both are very confident in trusting the 11 they put out there. So you see Pierman tinker from time to time, but I think it's only because he's seen something in training, not because of, oh, we drew 1-1 with this squad and then this squad. So if any changes do occur, you know, I expect that to be, you know, just sort of what Pierman's thinking, how he's feeling, and less so kind of the mind games that, you know, we do love to see in football. Jason, how about you on the Rhode Island FC side of things? Is Kano – I mean, Kano has some tough decisions to make here on this game day selection, but do you see him tinker? Do we see a brand-new formation? Yeah, I mean, very similar to what Andrew's saying here. I don't really see either teams making sweeping changes. They had mentioned in the broadcast that the coaches, because they kind of have somewhat of a friendly relationship there, they were kind of sharing tactics with each other. It's almost like they're both so confident in their own abilities. They're like, I'm going to show you my paper, and I'm still going to go out there and beat you. So I think that they're both going to go out there, and we're going to see kind of a similar match. I think it'll maybe feel like a chess match a little bit at certain times, and that's not to say that there won't be excitement, but both teams are going to be trying to look to neutralize each other in a certain way but also play their own game. So, Connor, how do you feel so far about the playoff results you've had so far? Obviously, you've advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals, but has that been a confident advancement, or have there been opportunities that Pierman needs to address? I would say it's been confident. I, going in, I was not thrilled about the Pittsburgh draw in the first round because they are a team that obviously just doesn't concede goals, and Pierman speaks very highly of Bob Lilley and just the tactics that he relies on, maybe not even with the strongest squad, and it's something that he's done over and over again, even looking back to last season, lifting the player's shield just based on, like, not tactics alone because he does have some quality players on the side. But I think getting a 1-0 result against them was huge. The only, maybe, concern that I've had just across the playoffs is the slight lack in attacking prowess. We're used to seeing the battery score goals, and sure, 2-1's a good result against the Rowdies, but it feels like there could be a little more goals on the table. So if we just ramp up the finishing ability or slightly more clinical, it'll make the games feel a lot more comfortable because coming from behind against Tampa was not an easy task, and if I were there, and if we were watching the game, we're like, oh, my gosh, like, it's 60 minutes gone. We were actually, like, on the move when the first goal went in, so we missed the equalizer. But, yeah, just, like, how quickly these playoff matches go being behind, it's tough to do. So the Rowdies game was a little bit more dicey than the Pittsburgh match, but overall, I would say those two matches, they have been confident in the sense of, like, the players do not look rattled even when going behind. They're very trustworthy in the system, and the belief is there because of, I think, that advantage of going deep into last year's playoffs. Like, sure, there's some new faces, but there's a lot that can be learned in even one postseason run, which hopefully your fellows are taking notes on this year, too. In case they've been there, done that. Andrew, anything else you want to add? No, I think that's well spoken. The only thing I would add is the 11 that we're seeing, they're relentless. They swarm teams with the fitness levels that they're at. That's how I would describe the Tampa game. It just felt like nonstop. Yes, Tampa went up, but it's almost like some of these players are robotic with how much they run and how they fight for every ball. So you could, there were, as Connor mentioned, there was moments of, there's a lot of key moments where we could have capitalized and gone two, three up against Tampa. So the opportunities are there. It's just kind of capitalizing on them a bit more effectively. So, yes, that's all I'd really add to the playoff run so far. So, Reg, you mentioned the fitness and the robotic part because I will tell you, having ran into the players after the game for Rhode Island, after Little City, you could tell like they were beat up, they were banged up. Nothing to be concerned from like an injury perspective, but they squeezed every inch of every mile out of their legs, out of their bodies to get those results. And that was a commanding game for them, having won 3-0. So knowing that, you know, they're putting almost more of themselves on the line because tomorrow holds no promise. It's just, it's an interesting perspective right now. So I think if we jump into this game itself, you know, getting into the specifics, one, I do want to talk about the ref because Rhode Island's been getting a lot of flack lately over some reffing controversy, saying that we've been basically paying the USL for some calls, which I strongly disagree with. But I do want to bring up this head ref because when I saw the name on the card, I didn't recognize this ref and that's for good reason. So the head ref of this game is going to be Kalin Ratasov, and Ratasov has not reffed a game for Rhode Island FC all season, and he's also not reffed a game for the Charleston Battery since 2023 in October. I'm curious, you know, one of the things that good coaches, good tactical strategists will do is they'll look at that ref, kind of understand what type of game that they try to administer and make sure that their players take advantage of or don't kind of fall out of line against. Does this hurt or help these two teams? Because, you know, these were very physical teams against each other in both legs of the home and away series. Jason, I'll ask you first, is this a problem for Rhode Island, a new ref, new problem? That is hard to say. I didn't look this ref up to kind of see what his track record is. I don't know, like, how he likes to ref a game. I also don't know if I would say familiarity really, you know, does any benefit for a ref. Maybe for players it does in terms of, like, okay, I've played with this guy before. I know what he's going to do. But at the same time, like, you know, refs are human, and, you know, maybe one day they're feeling a bit stricter than they normally do. You know, there's some consistency, but it also feels like in the U.S. it's like, you know, consistent inconsistency. Anything is possible. I don't even know if Ratasov is a male, by the way. Kalen, the way it's spelled, it could go either way. But not that that matters or anything like that. But they are middle distant to the average for the amount of games that they've reffed in the championship this season. So they're not heavy in one direction or another. But that being said, this is a big game. They don't have any playoff experience this year. And they only had one, I think, back in 2019 was the last time I saw in their reffing report. So it'll be interesting in that regard. Connor, Andrew, you guys are veterans of this, doing it much longer than we have. How often do you have to bring the ref up when you do your podcast at Holy City Soundoff? It's not something we often discuss, but it is an interesting, like, way of thinking about it and how to set up routine and how to approach the referee. Me, as a person and as a former player, I always, like, you kind of take your frustrations out on refs. But at the end of the day, they're not going to change their mind. You can't pull back the yellow card unless it's to give a red card or something. And that's through VAR when we see that typically at the highest level. So at this level of the game, once a call is made, there's really no point in arguing it and putting yourself in a worse position. So I really think it depends on how the coaches themselves are telling their players and reminding them to kind of keep their heads, stay controlled, and don't let the emotions of the moment and of, you know, maybe poor decisions, because that's something that, you know, every fan likes to kind of tack on is, oh, it's because the ref gave this call around the 18 or that wasn't a penalty when it was. But at the end of the day, the referee is just a part of the game, and you kind of have to adjust to it. So, you know, I think approaching the game as in treat the ref as the ref and just go on with the game is the most important thing. I hope that the ref doesn't come out, being that they're new to the playoff atmosphere and the physicality of these two teams in particular when they match up. The referee can get themselves into a difficult situation very early if they try to be too controlling with the match where there's early yellows that come out, and then you're looking at a match that has upwards of, like, nine to ten yellow cards or potentially maybe one should have been a second yellow issued because that's how you can referee in the match. Jay Chapman reference? Is that a Jay Chapman reference right there? No, but I am curious. Did the paying the referee accusations, did those stem from any Lou City fans? It started with Indy, and then it moved on to Lou. And I think if you want to call Coach Connor, I mean, I think he should be nominated for Coach of the Year for a certain amount of conditions. I don't know if he'll get that, but I will say he's Ambassador of the Year because he brought together Indy and Lou fans to equally complain about us. So he's a peacemaker at this point. That's awesome. Last season we saw Pierman make comments towards refereeing in Louisville against Louisville due to a goal being called off for the battery. We've also seen Conno get in trouble for it, too. So I don't think that they're giving us any favors. He's been really upset a few times and just, like, not care. Like, I'm going to take this sign. I'm going to call him out on something I don't feel comfortable about. Pull up the freeze frames. You'll always have dirt on anyone accusing you. I will say this game is going to be so close I would never bet on it even if I was allowed to. But if I could bet on one predictable outcome, it's that Ben Pierman and Conno Smith both get a yellow card in this game. That is the only thing I know to be an absolute truth. That's a good call. So let's get into these formations and what we think will be the most likely starting XI. We'll start with Rhode Island FC. On the injury report, we still have Isaac N. King out for the season. Steven Turnbull, we have not heard anything about his injury. But, again, being the WebMD experts that we are, a dislocation of that magnitude still probably puts him out for the remainder of the season. And the fact that the club hasn't announced anything, like you can play cloak and dagger as much as you want, but I don't expect to see him have made the trip down to South Carolina. So that gives us a starting XI. And this is where it's going to be a little bit of a departure from everything we know because Coach Conno has been somewhat predictable this year with his primary and his secondary players in each of the positions. And so, Jason, walk us through what we think is most likely going to be the lineup. Yeah. So, as always, El Capitan, Coque Vegas will be in net. And then we're looking at this back three here and thinking we're going to have no Darce, Yao, and Stoneman. You know, some more locked on. Where it starts to get a little different here is with Noco J. Iquizara, the question would be who would go out and play that left wingback position. Well, we're thinking it's going to be Morris Dugan. Being the left footer that he is, we've seen him employed over there a few times, and he feels comfortable kind of pushing up, being a strong fiscal presence, maybe not the exact type of creator, but he does feel comfortable stepping up and trying to engage him and maybe trying to bake up plays. And he's a decent long ball passer as well. That midfield trio is going to stay the same, with Mark Ibarra, Zach Aravo, and Clay Holstad. Since Coach Cano has kind of made that change, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Those three are the spine of this team at this point. Yeah, that's been a real strength of ours in this run that we've been making. And then another slight change here, because we're not going to make too many, we imagine, we're going to see Noah Fuson go out there and play a right wingback there, with Stephen Turnbull being injured and our options pretty limited, and Coach kind of sticking with a core that he's really trusted here in these last few months as RFC has been surging through the table, picking up wins. Like I said, I don't see too much change here. And then, of course, we're going to see the return of Albert Diqua, Mr. Chico up top to pair with Williams. And then we're thinking of the bench. We'll probably see the return of Gabby Alves to give ourselves some more defensive cover there, with Mark Doyle, Jack Paniotto, and who else we got, AST, Kofi Chumessy, Jackson Lee, and Amos Shapiro-Thompson. Yeah, I think that that makes the most sense. One, we saw Dugan line up pretty well against Nick McCannick in the last game against these two teams where JoJo wasn't available. So we've seen bits and pieces of this already. The difference now becomes, though, with no Stephen Turnbull, Frank Nodarise needs to flop back in so we have a competent back three. But then I like that even more because it really kind of helps lock down McCannick, whether he's out wide trying to find something where he's playing central and trying to make a living nightmare for Copacabana. Having that kind of additional level of defender, it speaks to where this could happen. Of course, though, to your point, we are sacrificing Noah Fuson and dropping back. I'm not sure that I love that because I feel like J.J. Williams has benefited off of the partnership with Noah Fuson. Sometimes when the striker gets hot, you look at the players around him. Noah has a great ability to draw away defenders or make just runs that kind of unlock or destabilize a back line. So I think that makes sense. Spot on. I think Gabby Elvis does make this trip because we saw in the last game that, you know, with the early yellow cards and the gassing of Frank Nodarise just being out of action by the 70th minute, we only had one defender that we could swap on. So we went literally all gas, no breaks, doing nothing but offensive subs. It worked out, but I think that was against a team in Luce City that couldn't have any answers against us. I don't think we'll get the same results out of Charleston on the day. Before we move on to Charleston, guys, anything that you'd say about that lineup, anything that scares you or keeps you up at night? I mean, J.J. Williams can easily keep someone up, especially an opposing coach, at night. So he's going to be the player. But you mentioned Dequa returning. He's someone, golden boot last year, very capable player. Just give him a window and it could be deadly. So having those two work together up top is where my eyes focus. And I'm hoping and think that much of the battery side will balance out, like the spine and other areas of the squad. Yeah, I'd say Koke Vargas is someone that we'll have to keep in mind with in terms of, as I mentioned earlier, executing on the chances we get. He's someone that's very crucial for your lineup. So goals is something we'll be looking to do. And Koke is very capable of saving plenty of those. So if we move on to the battery, before I throw up a lineup that we made guesstimates on and hoping you can confirm or completely dismantle, curious what players are on an injury mend themselves or may not make it to the starting 18 on the night because of any reason that they couldn't be a part of the game there. Yeah, there's not many that come to mind, luckily. But a big name is going to be Leland Archer. When we were at the match, he was not dressed. So not sure about the severity of that injury. We did see him, being that we got there quite a bit early, we did see him having touches on the ball, working with a coach on the practice pitch. But he was not involved in warmups and did not dress. So he's a player that, I mean, captain of the team, vet in the squad too. I think probably the longest current tenured player of the battery. So he's someone that could just really, really be a difference maker if he is available. And I'm hoping, based on that little bit of footwork and touch work that we saw, that he's going to be. So that would be the one name that comes to mind. And after the match, everyone seemed to be moving well. I don't think there were any heavy knocks picked up in the match. And we haven't heard any additional updates or bad news from training this week. So then if we get into it, we've got you in a 4-2-3-1. It's been one of Pyramid's go-tos this season. Obviously, you've got Adam Grinowitz, who's having a light outpost season. You've got Mark Segbers, Graham Smith, Nathan DeSantis, and Chris Allen, who maybe we've got that one wrong out of that back four. And then, of course, you've got the lethal duo of Aaron Malloy. I hate that there's a healthy Aaron Malloy in this postseason. Jay Chapman, I hate that he's a Hartford Athletic player. And then you've got that three of Juan Gabriel Torres, Nick Markanek, Golden Boot winner, and Arturo Rodriguez. And then up front, Jackson Conway, interesting. We've seen Conway. We've been watching. And I know he's got Pyramid in favor right now, but no M.D. Myers? What's that about? Does this formation look right, or do we think that there's some subtle changes that could happen here? So, I mean, yeah, it looks right if I were to jump in. This is what they played the first two playoff matches and heavily relied on. Conway has been the man in favor. I wish when we sat down with Pyramid, I asked him about that. He, I think, maybe more so than any other coach in the league, really rides the hot hand in what's working. So if he has that starting 11, I mean, until injuries came into play and once he kind of got that squab that he wanted, I would say for like two straight months earlier on in the season, he played the same starting 11, like with very little tweaks. So maybe this is his playoff 11. It does look different than what I would say we're used to seeing. I mean, Allen, he can play anywhere as he's showing, but I wouldn't really describe him as that true left back. So if I were to describe just some changes, this would be impending that Leland Archer does return. I think what you would see is being that there's such a strong duo up top from Rhode Island, having the power and the size from Archer and Smith next to each other, would I would say be the best center back pairing that we can put together if Leland's healthy. So I think if you saw that, you'd see Dos Santos slide back out in his more favorable left-hand position, left back. He'll play in a slightly advanced role, but I think that would allow Segbers to fly forward more so. Right now, Chris Allen's the net more advanced player. And with that shift, it could change a lot of things in midfield because Chris Allen is an incredible holding midfielder, can play those like deep driving balls on diagonals, he can take passes, but it'll also just be a disruptor that like you don't want to go near if you have to get on the ball because he's going to let you know that he's there. So yeah, to sum it up, if Leland comes in and is indeed healthy, I'd say Dos Santos slides to left back, Allen slides up a block, and then we'd have the luxury to either play Chapman or Maloian in a more advanced role, which would be dangerous. I think Chapman is a class player. He's showed a lot of like intellectual ability on the ball and just seeing passes that I think a lot of other players wouldn't see. But the, I guess the area of trouble that I come to is who is Pierman going to pull off if Archer comes in. Arturo has been incredible in the post season, so I don't know if it would be him. I don't think he's going to pull off that true striker in Conway. He's going to go with either Andy or Conway. So I don't know if I'll make the change. I think if he did have to pull one of the attackers, it would be Arturo just because he didn't see the most regular season minutes out of all the players on the pitch. But, and I do think he's going to lead with Conway. I wish I asked him more about what led to him making that switch late in the season, because Andy had that bucket of goals. Him and Nick together are a pretty deadly duo. If I had to guess on behalf of Coach Pierman why that is, I truly think that he has Conway up there. He's a tenured player as well, being young still for the USL championship. But just to wear out the defense, the press from him has been relentless. He's a big body to deal with. So I think that Pierman probably feels there's an advantage bringing Andy off the bench when that back line has been exhausted a bit. But that's just a guess. It's an educated guess, because that's exactly what you guys did to us to equalize in the last game we faced each other. Myers came in as a sub and blew one past Kote at Vegas, where Conway wasn't maybe having as much of a productive game. So I completely agree with you. I think that's spot on. Does that mean Myers is your X factor, or is there another player that would need to kind of represent that? If you have to go to the bench, who's Pierman looking for to be a game changer? I think Emilio is a player that can come on and really impact the game. He's someone that is equally as, he's both relentless and can defend his heart out, but also can drive the ball forward, can take out a clean pass, can be very creative. So he's kind of got it all when it comes to being a midfielder. So another player to throw on if Rhode Island are starting to feel the heat fatigue, if it goes in the extra time, we have the luxury of the fitness within Myers, within Emilio to really come on and be a duo to cause a lot of issues. Because Connor kind of talked about who's going to go where. We have seen more mechanics slide out left a lot of the time this season, or right, depending on what Pierman's feeling, who's fit between Arturo and Juan David. But I think that's the potential to get more attacking force on, is maybe taking off the likes of Arturo, putting in Emilio to slide in the middle up front from Allen and Malloy, if it is that midfield duo, and then just having relentless attacking pressure from both Emilio himself and from Myers up top. So it could be interesting to see how these teams shape up, but I'm expecting fireworks either way. Connor, speaking of fireworks, you know, obviously our club is very familiar, our fans are very familiar with your Golden Boot winner, plus Aaron Malloy, who I think is the highest rated FOTMOP player for the season. So we know those names. But if you were to ask the average RIFC fan, who should they be watching in this game? Who should they be paying attention to? Who should they be worried about, not just as an X factor, but just because they're so good at their role that it's going to make it really difficult for RIFC? Yeah, that's a great question. And I'm actually going to go with Jay Chapman. He's a player that came in late. You guys might not like that at all. He's from Hartford. So maybe it'll get the fan base a little riled up from Rhode Island. But he's a player that does a lot with a little. So you might not necessarily notice it, but I think with this new style that Pyramon's led with this season, controlling upwards of 60% possession or more in every match, he has such a calming presence on the ball. And his ability to pick passes in a tightly knit back line, I think, could be crucial. I don't think he'll be necessarily playing the full 90, being that Andrew mentioned some of the rotation that could occur. But when he's on the pitch, I think he's someone that can take the sting out of a Rhode Island counterattack just by maintaining possession of the ball and hopefully lulling your back line to sleep. But when he sees it happen, he's going to be there to pick the pass. So that would be a player that might be flying a little bit under the radar, aside from the juggernauts of Malloy and Martainic. But someone to watch. Sounds similar to RFC's Mark Ibarra in the way that he doesn't always get the plaudits, but he's very comfortable in just catching the ball and recycling it and continuing possession and being very comfortable to just make those passes under pressure. He graduated from the school of Bob Lilley, so of course he has to be that good. Andrew, I want to flip this question, kind of building off of what Conor just said. Conor mentioned that Ben Pearman's strategy, his style, is a possession-based, it's a domination-based tactic, which kind of matches really well with Conor's vision of high press, playing off the ball, not really caring as much about how much possession is built from this side. Curious how these two teams line up and stack against each other. Is this going to come down to tactics, or is there another player that will be the difference maker? Like we look at JJ as probably the one that will lift us, if we do, beyond the Eastern Conference final. Is there a player, and is that answer Nick Markanek? I think it is going to be Nick Markanek, who's going to be the X factor or the player to get us out of a pickle, if that's where we end up. We saw that against Tampa. He equalized. We saw it against Pittsburgh. He was our goal scorer. I think he's at 31 goals right now, post-season 30 goals. I might be a goal off there. I think personally, I think when you're this late in the playoffs and you're in the final in the Eastern Conference, it's a bit of both of like tactics, style, things like that. But also, there is drama in it as well. So I think you can't really anticipate what is going to lead to a goal or how the goal is going to come, but you know there's going to be a situation that you can't really explain, and it just unfolds in that way, if that makes sense. Because, you know, a player to call out that Connor had mentioned, you mentioned Jay Chabot, I think for me Juan David Torres has the most raw talent in the entire Charleston Battery squad. I think his first touch, his flair, his willingness to take huge risks in the game, he's been a highlight reel all season long with those goals from the halfway line and catching goalkeepers by surprise. So we can see something like that on both ends. So for me, it's a situation where a bit of both tactics and the drama that playoff soccer gets us. Speaking of that drama, what's the duel or the player versus player matchup you're either the most excited or most afraid to see? I'm going to go with, I guess a bit of both. A bit of both, Martanek and Koke. So, like, you have the most, like, marquee finisher in the league against a goalkeeper who came with a lot of notoriety from San Diego, has been exceptional for…