The Long Island Rough Riders men have a history of qualifying for the playoffs and occasionally going deep.
Head coach Chris Megaloudis has some other plans for this USL League Two season.
“We want to win everything,” he said.
That’s right – the League Two title.
“We don’t set goals; beneath the playoffs,” Megaloudis said. “We haven’t gotten past that first round of playoffs. So, the goal here is to keep pushing past that first round; first winning the division or getting into the playoffs. That’s obviously a big goal for us and something that we feel we can achieve. Then it’s pushing further and further into the playoffs.
“So, it’s a mentality we feel. This is my third year coaching here. We’d love to win it all. We don’t sell ourselves short in terms of what we can do. We feel that this is a realistic thing. It’s not something that we feel is just saying it to say it. We feel that we have the people involved, players, staff, support, and everybody involved to win everything.”
Long Island kicks off its season at New Jersey Copa on Wednesday, May 20 at 5 p.m. The team returns to the Mitchel Athletic Complex to host Staten Island ASC in its home opener on Wednesday, May 27 at 7 p.m.
Megaloudis said that the Rough Riders probably will hold their first training session a week prior to the season opener.
“Obviously, we’d love to start sooner than later, but within the USL League 2 season, you have to wait for these guys to finish their spring season for their colleges,” he said. “It’s never ideal with preparation, but we feel that we’re bringing guys that really can get accustomed to getting right in from their spring season into our USL2 season.
“In years past, I think, especially last year, we had about two, three days, and then all these guys were coming in, and we had our first game after two days. So it’s always taking a while to kind of get those guys accustomed and seeing these guys come in and have them have that chemistry. At least this year, we have about a week and a half before our first game.”
Megaloudis said that every player will enter the season fit because they had recently completed their spring season.
“The one thing that you can always say about them is that they’re keeping fit because this is what they want to do,” he said. “This is their lifestyle. This is what they’ve chosen. They’re very dedicated, disciplined, and committed to understanding that when you step on the field, you’ve got to be the best version of yourself. Fitness is a huge part of that. These guys have always come in ready to go.”
Other home games include the Hudson Valley Hammers on Wednesday, June 3, Morris Elite SC on Sunday, June 7, FC Motown STA on Friday, June 12, the Westchester Flames on June, June 21 and Cedar Stars Rush on Thursday, June 25.
Last year the Rough Riders captured the Metropolitan Division and booked a playoff spot, thanks to a second-place finish to FC Motown and a 9-1-2 record.
Megaloudis, who will enter his third season as head coach, said that those nine wins were well earned because the Metropolitan is one difficult division to traverse.
“This is a very competitive conference that we’re in,” he said. “The teams that are in our division are very strong, especially in the Northeast. What I’ve learned is that it’s anybody’s game in this division. There are so many teams in our division that have very good players. There are very good teams that can get to a playoff spot.
“It has a lot to do with the culture that’s set. We’ve been lucky enough to have a group of guys that have come in and have meshed so well with each other that I think that took us above and beyond, getting into the playoffs. The landscape is very competitive. Anybody has a chance to go through. There is very little separation. A lot has to do with the mentality and the players that you have coming in, working hard together. We’ve been fortunate to have that.”
The start of the season is a little more than a month away, and Megaloudis said that the team was in a good spot.
“We actually had a very good off-season recruiting,” he said. “We’re very happy with it. We started pretty early this time around. We feel that we’ve completed everything that we need to complete. … We feel that we’ve got our local guys, and we’re also now really happy with the guys that we’ve brought in from out of state.”
The Rough Riders’ 2026 season will begin in May, as the club looks to build on last year’s playoff run. The team will be hosting Staten Island ASC in its home opener at Mitchel Athletic Complex on May 27 at 7 p.m. Enjoy 10% off all tickets for this match only with code HO15. Buy Tickets.