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Forward Madison FC

Forward Madison Finishes the 2022 Season with a Draw in Tucson

October 15, 2022 - United Soccer League One (USL1)
Forward Madison FC News Release


Forward Madison FC traveled to Tucson, Arizona for the final USL League One match of the regular season on Saturday, October 15th. FMFC battled against FC Tucson with the match kicking off at 9:00pm CT at Kino North Stadium. The match resulted in a 1-1 draw with the 'Gos picking up a point on the road.

The first half started slowly with both squads only tallying one shot each in the early moments. Tucson recorded a few fouls around the 10th minute mark, eventually leading to a Forward Madison free kick from just outside the box in the 15th minute. The free kick led to nothing but just a minute later, the Flamingos logged a quality chance. Nazeem Bartman passed the ball to Abdou Mbacke-Thiam in the box, who shot the ball just wide of the goal. The 'Mingos' next best chance occurred in the 24th minute, when Mbacke-Thiam served it to Alvin Jones who shot it at the Tucson keeper. The Tucson goalie, Carl Merancio, managed to grab the shot's rebound and force a clearance. Raiko Arozarena made his presence felt in the 28th minute when Tucson's Tyler Allen slotted a rocket of a shot at the Forward Madison goal but Arozarena caught the shot and got the ball cleared. Matheus Cassini possessed the clearance and used his speed to get a wide-open breakaway. Cassini took the ball down the field and shot the ball past Merancio and into the goal. Forward Madison grabbed an early 1-0 lead in the 28th minute.

Neither team could log any chances after the FMFC goal until the 41st minute mark when Tucson headed the ball just wide off a cross. At 43rd minute of the match, Coach Matt Glaeser was forced to sub in Drew Conner for Jones, due to an injury. The referees added four minutes of stoppage time to conclude the first half and the squads entered the break with Forward Madison ahead 1-0.

The second half began in an unfortunate way for the 'Mingos. Arozarena came off his line and tried to punch a shot out of the box, but a Tucson player beat him to the ball and headed it to his teammate, Jaoao Delgado. Delgado shot the ball into the open goal, evening up the score at 1-1. In the 51st minute, Mikey Maldonado was given the first FMFC yellow card of the match. At the 59th minute mark, Derek Gebhard made a kick clearance from the ground while protecting the Forward Madison net. Arozarena was assessed a yellow card on the play. Forward Madison nearly scored in the 67th minute when Cassini crossed the ball across the Tucson box, but Mbacke-Thiam couldn't connect his foot with the cross. Just a few minutes later, Coach Glaeser subbed in Mélé Temguia and Eric Leonard for Derek Gebhard and Christian Dean. Leonard made an immediate impact on the game. Tucson started to threaten on the offensive end in the 73rd minute. The Tucson striker got a shot off on goal and Leonard managed to deflect the shot away from the goal, keeping the score tied at 1-1. At the 81st minute mark, Coach Glaeser added some fresh legs into his lineup for one final push. Justin Sukow, Rojay Smith, and Jeremiah Streng entered the pitch for Nazeem Bartman, Matheus Cassini, and Abdou Mbacke-Thiam. The Flamingos started to push back and gain momentum right before the 90th minute. Drew Conner logged a shot in the 89th minute that got deflected out of bounds by the Tucson keeper, giving FMFC a corner. In the last minute of stoppage time, Forward Madison had a quality chance to score but Smith couldn't get the shot off and the 'Mingos ended up tying 1-1.

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