We’re changing our ratings system this season, just because we can. Previously, we rated the players on a 0-10 scale, 10 being perfection (never assigned) and 7 the average, leaving a lot of room for subpar performance. This year, we’re going with a school report card format, i.e., A through D plus F for a fail. We’ll assign pluses and minuses as well. A yellow card will merit an automatic minus and a red card a full grade drop.
The opening week makes for tough grading though in light of the abominable playing conditions for the game. Will we make allowances for that? Probably not. Anyway, here goes:
GK: JASSEM KOLEILAT – B
Koleilat allowed a goal in his Legion debut but he was shielded in dubious fashion by the eventual scorer Marco Micaletto who was also extremely close to offside. He was credited with one save which was entirely routine. He is however very good with the ball at his feet, although his passing accuracy of 61.9% on 21 attempts was very MVOish. All the failed passes were long.
LB: DAWSON MCCARTNEY – B-
The Legion attack, especially in the first half, was heavily biased to the team’s left and Dawson saw a lot of action in his 58 minutes. However, he was not able to generate very much, with his only attacking contribution being a single chance creation. He also connected on only 18 of 27 passes. Defensively, he won his only duel and recorded 1 tackle and 3 clearances.
CB: A.J. PATERSON – B
Acting as captain in the absence of the suspended Phanuel Kavita, AJ put in 72 minutes and was very effective. He racked up 7 clearances and won all 3 of his duels (not surprisingly, 2 of them in the air). Passing was solid as well: he was 80.4% accurate on 51 passes, including 69.6% accuracy in the attacking half.
CB: BRYCE WASHINGTON – B-
Bryce likely wasn’t expecting a full 90 minutes in his Legion debut, but that’s what he got and he performed admirably. With one glaring exception: he arguably should have been covering Micaletto on the long throw by Brian Schaefer that ended up as the game’s only goal. Otherwise: a whopping 9 clearances and 2 interceptions along with going 4 for 4 in duels. An impressive 94.2% completion rate on a hefty 52 passes (all but 4 were short).
RB: LEO DURU – C+
Signed officially Saturday morning (but with the team a good while already), Leo jumped immediately into the starting lineup, going 65 minutes. Playing on the weaker right flank he was not overly impressive. He did create one scoring chance but his distribution was poor: just 24 passes and he completed only 18 of them. He provided 3 clearances but lost both of his 2 duels.
DM: SETH ANTWI – B-
Seth’s first Legion and USL Championship appearance was a tough assignment as the sole defensive mid. Overall, he answered the call: 2 tackles, 5 clearances, 4 of 6 in duels. Not bad at all. He generated no attacking moves, but connected on 91.7% of his 48 passing attempts. He also went the whole way.
LW: GEVORK DIARBIAN – A-
Khano Smith is almost certainly wishing he had grabbed the Rhode Islander; he would have been an immediate hometown hero. He was easily the Legion’s Man of the Match and hopefully will continue to work as hard as he did. 3 shots, 1 on target, 1 off, 1 blocked. Offside once. His passing was perfect: 22 for 22, although none were crosses into the box and he ended up creating no scoring chances. 1 tackle, 1 clearances, 1 block and 1 interception; 5 of 11 in duels. He did pick up a yellow card but the A- doesn’t reflect that; it resulted from a ridiculous decision by the ref to let play continue after a blatant shirt pull.
LM: SAM SHASHOUA – B-
Sam being fouled 5 times is a good indication that the Rowdies had him pegged as a threat. As a result, going the full 90 he was only able to make one shot, off target, and send in one cross, also off target. His passing accuracy rate was 89.9% on 69 tries. Not really involved in the defense, winning 7 of 11 duels but making no other contributions.
RM: TYLER PASHER – B+
Tyler was hampered all last season by nagging injuries to the point we had expected him to be off the roster. Well, he is getting a tada up there in age, but the issues of 2025 look to be in the past. Despite the conditions, he was clearly up to full speed and caused all sorts of headaches for the Tampa defense. He put up 3 shots, only one on target but one other was really close. 3 unsuccessful crosses and 2 chance creations. 80.8% accurate on 26 passes.
RW: SEBASTIAN TREGARTHEN – B-
On the right side Seba did not get the service he might have liked but even so was moderately effective. He had just one shot off target but put in 2 crosses (neither connecting) and was credited with a scoring chance. He found his man on just 11 of 21 passses. Not good. However, his defensive activity was: 1 tackle, 1 clearance and 2 interceptions and 6 of 9 in duels (winning all 3 of those in the air despite his lack of height).
FWD: ROMARIO WILLIAMS – C
Unless Ronaldo Damus got injured earlier in the week, Romario almost certainly did not expect to start. He did, going 72 minutes. But he generated very little. No attacking actions at all, although he can’t really be blamed for not getting service. 1 clearance and 3 of 10 in duels. Just 14 passes, with a 92.9% accuracy rate.
SUB: NICO BROWN – B-
Nico replaced Dawson on the left and performed about the same overall. 1 cross (unsuccessful), 86.4% accurate on 22 passes. 1 tackle, 2 clearances and perfect on 4 duels. Looking like a good defensive sub option.
SUB: KADEEM COLE – C+
Subbing in for Leo, Kadeem was a slight upgrade. No defensive actions, but he won 2 of 3 duels. Passing was excellent, missing only 2 of 25 attempts, but also no attakcing actions.
SUB: SEBASTIAN SAUCEDO – B-
Bofo took over from Romario but was not able to do a great deal better. No shots but his one unsuccessful cross counted as a chance creation. 93.8% accurate on 16 passes.
SUB: RAMIZ HAMOUDA – B-
The Legion’s golden boy played in place of AJ but was not really called on to do much. Just 1 tackle in 25 minutes and he lost 2 of his 3 duels. However, he did get forward enough to be offside once.
HC: JAY HEAPS – B
Obviously not the result that Jay wanted in his official Legion coaching debut, but he was up against a much-improved Rowdies team with a lineup missing 2 of its best players. The game was fairly close overall, and is cause for optimism. The formation was officially a 4-1-4-1 but that essentially means 5 at the back which should be a good option with the team at full strength.
