Late Surge from Forward Madison Leads to a Loss for Paradise
USL1 Sarasota Paradise

Late Surge from Forward Madison Leads to a Loss for Paradise

Published on May 3, 2026 under United Soccer League One (USL1)
Sarasota Paradise News Release


As the clock ticked past the 80th minute, the Sarasota Paradise were looking to break a 1-1 deadlock and pick up their second consecutive league win. Instead, they allowed two goals in quick succession to fall 3-1 to Forward Madison FC.

The two teams traded chances throughout the opening minutes, as goalkeepers JT Harms and Alex Sutton handled many of the shots that came their way. Sarasota nearly broke though as the clock neared twenty minutes, but a Jonathan Bolanos miss set up Madison to break the deadlock as Derek Gebhard sent a ball into the back of the net to give the Flamingos a 1-0 lead. Towards the end of the first half, Bolanos fired a shot of his own past Harms for his third goal of the year to make a 1-1 game.

The Paradise came out of half time on the attack, firing several shots towards the Madison goal in the opening minutes. The closest they came to scoring was when Sander Røed launched a free kick into the opposing box, only for the ball to go clanging off the top bar in what would become one of Sarasota's best chances of the half.

"We didn't continue to work the way we did in the first half and it gve Madison some life," head coach Mika Elovaara said after the game, reflecting on his team's second half performance. "[There's] moments when the momentum could have gone the oher way...we must look at what we can do to put those chances away."

They came close again in the 60th minute, when Røed sent another free kick into the box that was finished by Declan Watters, only to be called back for a foul, much to the protest of players and fans alike.

Yet for all the pressure Sarasota put on Madison's defense, Madison returned blows of their own. Back and forth the two teams went trading shots, yet neither able to break though the other as the clock ticked down towards an inevitable tie. Still, each team knew they'd eventually make the other blink first.

The heartbreak started in the 82nd minute when Madison's Turner Humphey coralled a volley from a Roman Torres free kick and sent in a low ball that seemed to catch Sutton off-guard, squeaking in just past his outstretchd fingertips to give the Flamingos a 2-1 lead. They wouldn't stop there, as just thee minutes later Stephan Annor Gyamfi streaked past the Sarasota defense and found Joshua Bolma to make it a 3-1 game, sealing the game for Madison. "This one hurt" Waters said after the game. "I thought we dominated the game in the first half [but] couldn't get dividends from that [in the second half]."

UP NEXT

Sarasota now turn their attention to next week as they travel to face Chatanooga Red Wolves, hoping to bounce back and extend their opponents' current losing streak to four games while picking up a bounce back win.

Check out the Sarasota Paradise Statistics

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United Soccer League One Stories from May 3, 2026


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