Khano Smith’s wait for his first win as head coach of USL Championship newcomers Rhode Island FC continues after his team were held to 2-2 draw away to Monterey Bay FC on Sunday.

Smith’s side twice squandered the lead and will be disappointed to settle for just a point from their first away match of the season.

“A point on the road against a good team after a long travel day is always positive,” former Bermuda winger Smith told The Royal Gazette.

“Disappointed to not win the game of course. We dominated periods of the game and when we go up a goal we need to close out the game.

“The conditions impacted both teams and we needed to take more advantage of it in the first half.”

Cameroonian striker and reigning league MVP Albert Dikwa broke the deadlock in the 41st minute when he latched on to forward Noah Fuson’s long ball and broke away from the Monterey defence before firing a shot through the legs of goalkeeper Anthony Siaha.

The goal earned Rhode Island their first ever lead in the league, but their advantage was short-lived as Carlos Guzmán equalised for Monterey just four minutes later after tapping in fellow defender Walmer Martínez’s free kick from close range to leave the teams deadlocked at half time

Rhode Island regained the lead in the 63rd minute when Dikwa capitalised on poor defending to score from close range, but they were again tunable to hold on as Monterey forward Tristan Trager converted midfielder Mobi Fehr’s dangerous cross in the box to rescue a point.

It was the second successive draw for Rhode Island after playing to a 1-1 stalemate on their league debut at home to Mexico United at Beirne Stadium the previous weekend.