Hodges Stadium | Jacksonville, Fla. — Sep. 12, 2026
The Sporting JAX men’s team took the pitch Saturday night at Hodges Stadium against Rhode Island FC following a weather delay, falling 3-0 after the visitors pulled away in the second half.
Strong Moments Early
While the opening minutes were measured, it didn’t take long before Sporting JAX settled in and began seeking the opening goal of the match. There were solid buildups and promising sequences from the home side, but these were ultimately shut down as the match remained scoreless.
“If you look at this week’s game and this week’s game, they kind of played out similarly,” Sporting JAX Head Coach Liam Fox said. “The difference this week was that we didn’t take our chances when we got them, and last week we did. Can’t fault the guys for their effort and commitment. Tonight it was those wee moments at the top end of the pitch that we didn’t capitalize on, which can change the flow and the feel of the game.”
Steady Saves by Jake
One positive from the evening was the play of Sporting JAX goalkeeper Jake McGuire, who made seven saves. One of the best came in the 30th minute when Rhode Island was awarded a free kick from a dangerous spot just beyond the box. The shot was sent towards the net, but McGuire was there to deny the scoring opportunity and keep things even.
Following the match, McGuire shouted out the defensive effort from his teammates in Rhode Island’s final third as a strong point from the night.
“Our box defending was the best it’s been the last five games,” McGuire said. “I think we’ve just got to keep that and build on that for the next game because I will anticipate that there’s going to be more box defending coming up.”
Looking Ahead
Sporting JAX faces a quick turnaround as they travel to play Hartford Athletic on Wednesday. The squad pointed to this as a positive, allowing them to quickly move on to the next opportunity to earn a result.
“There’s no feeling sorry for ourselves,” Fox said. “We take this one on the chin. We get back to work. We get back to training, and we go to Hartford which will be another really difficult task.”
“It’s actually kind of nice that we have a quick turnaround because then we don’t have to sulk on this all week,” McGuire added. “We can just go try to get a result in Hartford and if we do that, then we can be in good spirits going into the following game.”
With the regular season soon winding to an end, the team is looking to finish strong and create more moments like last week’s win over Lexington SC.
“Hopefully we can get as many points on the board as possible; we’ve shown in recent weeks we can do that,” Sporting JAX captain Ryan Edwards said. “I think [against] Lexington and Birmingham, we showed a lot of fight as well as quality, and we got the points we deserved. So hopefully we can find that form, fight and ruthlessness again.”
Sporting JAX returns home in a couple of weeks to face Loudoun United FC on Friday, September 25 at 7:30 p.m. Fans looking to attend can purchase tickets by clicking below.
