In almost every way, Rhode Island FC has defied the odds this season.

First, they became the first true expansion club to reach the USL Championship Playoffs this decade.

Now, they’re the first expansion club to reach a Conference Final since El Paso Locomotive FC in the 2019 postseason.

And every step of the way, Defiance 1636 has been behind them.

The brainchild of President Ervin Vargas and Vice President Joe Samaoa when Rhode Island was first announced as a prospective expansion market, the name of the group has fit hand in glove with the club’s identity.

“Defiance came from defy the odds,” Vargas told USLChampionship.com. “Before the team was announced, there were many haters. There were many people saying that this won’t work. [It was] basically the same thing we hear every single time an American soccer team comes to fruition into an area. ‘No-one likes soccer. No-one will ever like soccer.’

“So, when that came, we were like, ‘f--- it. We’re going to do it ourselves, and we’ll prove it.’ Defying the odds is how we use Defiance. Because in Rhode Island, we always defy the odds.”

For Vargas, RIFC is the club he had always hoped would arrive. Of Guatemalan heritage, he developed a passion for the game at a young age. Guatemalan legend Carlos “Pescadito” Ruiz was an early hero. He became a supporter of the New England Revolution, located about 45 minutes from his hometown of Pawtucket, after his father took him to his first game aged 12 years old, but as the years went on the experience as a supporter felt lacking.

When RIFC arrived, Vargas and Samaoa had an idea for what they wanted its supporters’ section to look like. This year at Beirne Stadium, Defiance has brought the sound and the spectacle to the north stand, providing a vivid backdrop to games that put it alongside some of the well-established groups around the league.

“From the first game, we took initiative of having that Central American, South American style,” said Vargas. “That’s what we have in our stands. Since day one, I knew what the plan was. I didn’t want it to be a cheerleading group. We want to make sure that people know when you’re in our section, you’re going to hear it and you’re going to feel it, and it's going to be all the time.

“That’s basically the passion of where it gets going. So, if it means popping up a bunch of smoke, lighting up with a little bit of pyro, making sure that the streamers are flying, papilitos are flying, the drums are always beating for 90 minutes, you’re basically going to feel it every single game, and we’re not going to stop regardless of the score line. That’s that intensity that people want.”

It has made a big impression on the club’s staff and players, both home and away. Defiance has taken fans on the road regularly this season, including to each of its two road postseason victories against Indy Eleven and Louisville City FC. The players have been quick to celebrate and thank them for making the long journey road trips in the USL Championship can often be.

“It was amazing, and credit to all of those guys that drove down 14 hours,” said RIFC Head Coach Khano Smith this week. “That’s real support, and may it long continue. We’re so grateful to them, we made sure to thank them before and thank them after, and I spoke to the guys about it, no matter what the result, make sure you thank them after because those people sacrificed their time and energy and resources to come and support us, and they were loud, you know?”

“For 90 minutes, we heard our fans more than we heard our fans, and that’s something that’s so unique, so rare and so amazing about this club is the support that we have,” added attacking midfielder Noah Fuson. “We wouldn’t be in this position without them.”

For their part, Defiance has been eagerly welcomed into the band of supporters’ groups around the USL Championship. Vargas notes the reception the group received in Louisville last weekend as while the home supporters were downcast at the end of their season, they wished the best for their visitors and that Rhode Island claims the league title a weekend from now.

“Honestly, almost every single supporter group who has come to an away day to our area and vice versa have been nothing but humble people,” said Vargas. “They’ve been inviting, they know that we’re enemies for 90 [minutes] and we’re friends ‘til the end. It’s very much a family community where they help us out in any way, shape or form. We’ve gotten a good bond with the guys up in Louisville, with The Coopers and the Purple People, and then we also have the guys up in New Mexico who were there for our first game, they came in droves, and they were really happy to share beers with us.

“Even the newly created Dirigo Union for Portland Hearts of Pine, they came over just to see what a game could look like in the USL. And they were very happy to come over, and we've made good friends with them as one of our New England rivals.”

Vargas and other members of Defiance are headed to Charleston this weekend as Rhode Island visits the Charleston Battery in the Eastern Conference Final of the 2024 USL Championship Playoffs on Saturday night. With a win, RIFC would become claim its first silverware and become only the third team to reach the Championship Final in its inaugural season in league history.

The club would also have a chance to become only the second to win it all after Sacramento Republic FC in 2014. After the side’s victory in Louisville, Vargas believes it’s there for the taking.

“I said, even during Louisville, if we beat Louisville, we're taking home the cup,” said Vargas. “And that’s everything. We’re taking home everything.”

Whatever happens in the next two weeks, though, the future for RIFC and Defiance 1636 looks even brighter. With the club set to move into its new home at Tidewater Landing next spring, complete with a safe-standing supporter section Defiance will make its own, the club from the smallest state in the union is ready to leave an even bigger mark.

“It’s going to be party,” said Vargas. “I mean, as a New Englander, there is no soccer-specific Stadium in New England at the moment. We’re the first to have one. So, to be one up on an MLS team, it just makes us feel like the top dogs in such a small state, you know?

“I mean, we’ve always been known as the smallest state in the union. So far, we’re making big moves, so it really doesn't matter. That’s another reason why Defiance is such a good name for us. Nobody thought the stadium was going to come and guess what, we just defied the odds on that as well.

“When that first day comes, all hell’s going to break loose. It’s going to be great.”