Two goals from Aaron Molloy in the first fifteen minutes and a controversial penalty call in the second half amounted to a 2-2 draw for Forward Madison against the defending champions in Greenville.
Molloy’s first tally came from the penalty spot in the 11th minute after Jiro Barriga-Toyama dribbled from the corner into the penalty area and was taken down by Greenville defender Abdi Mohomed.
The second came just four minutes later. Midfielder Christian Enriquez played a ball forward to Jake Keegan, who played it from the left across the top of the penalty box where Molloy took a one-time strike from about 20 yards right past Greenville goalkeeper Dallas Jaye.
Greenville cut the lead in half at the half-hour mark, with Andrew Booth tapping in a close-range cross from Allen Gavilanes.
The hosts leveled matters when a Marios Lomis penalty send Phil Breno the wrong way. The penalty was awarded for what referee Kyle Johnston deemed a handball in the area by Noah Fuson. The ball appeared to strike Fuson high on the chest near his shoulder.
“The lads were adamant it wasn’t a penalty kick,” head coach Carl Craig said after the match. “It seemed like the ref was excited to give it.”
Greenville created several chances to get a winner in front of their home crowd, but got very few shots off in the final 20 minutes, due in part to Madison center back Connor Tobin, who snuffed out more than a few chances and ended the evening with seven clearances and 63 passes.
“Connor was outstanding. Not only as we know he is a great leader. The kid can still play,” Craig said of the 34-year-old veteran.
While Craig was satisfied to take a point on the road, he said the Mingos deserved better.
“We’ve created chances. We’ve upset them. We came and rattled their cage,” he said. “Unfortunately at the end we ran out of gas a little bit. A team like (Greenville), a home team, crowd behind them, they’re not going to lie down.”
The electric start comes just days after a bitter 2-0 loss to New England Revolution II at home. Craig praised his team’s ability to bounce back from that defeat.
“We’ve had some good conversations over the last few days about how we can deal with adversity. What are some of the things you can do to deal with it? And tie into this notion of belief,” he said.
He noted that captain Keegan told the media after that loss that he felt the team was a bit “soft,” which led to some frank conversations.
“I brought that to the group and asked, ‘What was soft? What is soft? And if we’re soft, how do we become tough over a couple days? Do we have to put boxing gloves on? Do we have to run around kicking people?’ So that was the foundation of the liveliness tonight, because it was like, let’s get this in perspective here,” Craign said. “I mean, (Keegan’s comment) wasn’t intended to be detrimental or derogatory to his teammates … but that really spurred on some lovely conversation between the group and some real honesty. And I think that was in part why the lads were so vibrant tonight.”
With the draw, Madison pulls into a tie for sixth place with Toronto FC II, who ended South Georgia Tormenta’s four-game win streak with a 3-1 win in Kissimmee, Florida. The Flamingos next take the field next Wednesday, June 30, in a home rematch with New England.
