For the first time in its six-year history, Forward Madison will host a playoff game.
With a 0-0 draw at home against One Knoxville on Saturday, the Mingos assured that they cannot finish the season lower than fourth place on the league table, meaning they’ll host at least one game in the USL League One playoffs, which begin November 2.
“It’s massive,” head coach Matt Glaeser said after Saturday’s match. “We’ve lost one game at home this season, so we’re very confident. We’re very confident at home. The crowd brings a lot of energy … We feel like we can beat any team in the league. And I think the home game just gives us that little bit of an advantage, to not have to travel, to not have to deal with some of the rest of it and play at home and be comfortable.”
With one more slate of games set for this weekend, the playoff picture could still change quite a bit. Madison currently sits in second place behind Union Omaha, who clinched their second consecutive Players’ Shield, the trophy for the regular season champion, with a 3-2 win over South Georgia Tormenta. The Mingos are one point ahead of Northern Colorado Hailstorm, which happens to be the team they face in the regular season finale on Saturday – meaning Madison can clinch the number two seed in the playoffs with a win or a draw, and Northern Colorado can do the same with a win.
The Hailstorm are the only team to beat Madison at Breese Stevens Field this season – which was also the Mingos’ last loss in league play, all the way back on July 27. Northern Colorado also beat Madison in a penalty shootout following a 1-1 draw in the final of the Jagermeister Cup tournament on September 11.
“We won’t look past that game,” Glaeser said. “We owe them. We want to get a result there. They’ve had our number. We are going to be up for that game.”
Goalkeeper Bernd Schipmann echoed that sentiment.
“We’re happy it’s a playoff game at home, but we focus already on the next game, next Saturday,” he said. “We go game for game. We play Colorado first, and then we go into the playoffs.”
“There’s still a lot to play for,” Glaeser said. “We feel like we can beat anybody in this league, and that’s, that’s how you want to be feeling going into the playoffs, where anything can happen.”
At the other end of the playoff picture, Charlotte Independence, Spokane Velocity and Richmond Kickers will sort themselves out for the sixth, seventh and eighth seeds, meaning one of those three is likely to come to Breese Stevens Field in the first round of the playoffs, whether Madison lands in second or third.
Whoever the opponent, Glaeser feels confident his squad can get Madison’s first-ever playoff win.
“The guys know what it’s like to be in a big-game environment. We’ve won a knockout game here at home (in the Jagermeister Cup semifinals). We should have the confidence to go and do it again.”
Jagermeister Cup Semifinal Highlights
Forward Madison has made the USL League One playoffs twice since joining as a charter member of the league. In the league’s first year, Madison finished in fourth place before losing to a North Texas SC team led by future US Men’s National Team star Ricardo Pepi in the first round. They also made last year’s expanded playoff field, finishing in sixth, again losing a first-round away game, this time 4-1 to Northern Colorado in a match that featured a hat trick from golden boot winner Trevor Amann.
Madison’s playoff run will kick off at 6 pm on Saturday, November 2. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+. Tickets are available at ForwardMadisonFC.com.
