Forward Madison vs Sarasota Paradise | Breese Stevens Field, Madison, WI | 5:00 pm | ESPN+
This Forward Madison side was just finding its stride back on May 2 when they went to Sarasota and brought home a 3-1 win thanks to a first-half goal from Derek Gebhard and then two goals in the span of three minutes after the 80th from Turner Humphrey (on the cheekiest of backheels) and Joshua Bolma.
Since then, Madison has only gotten better and Sarasota … has not. They’ve won just seven league matches, and only two away from home.
Like last week’s opponent, Knoxville, Sarasota’s leading scorer is, on paper at least, a defender. Anderson Rosa is a dynamic fullback who’s been compared to the likes of Conner Antley, Bruno Rendon and Karuki Kamazaki, USL1 alumni who have moved on to higher levels. He’s only finished six goals, though, as the Paradise midfield has struggled to create opportunities. They’ve lacked creativity in the final third and haven’t executed the chances they have created at nearly the pace they’d want to. As a result, they’ve only scored 26 goals — one every 83 minutes — while conceding 38, or 1.6 per game.
Early on, Norwegian midfielder Sander Røed looked to be a real problem, but has tailed off and been pretty quiet the last few months. League One vets Jonathan Bolanos and Garret McLaughlin have not lived up to expectations. Center back Declan Watters has been as solid as he was with Chattanooga, but he can’t do it all himself.
Meanwhile, the Mingos are fully rested (as fully rested as a team can be in September), but tonight’s match starts yet another three-game week. So expect some rotation and probably a sub or two at half time. Striker Hakim Karamoko didn’t play last Saturday, so one hopes he’s fresh and uninjured. We’ll have Kerfalla Toure back in the backline (and outleaping everyone on corner kicks), also extra-rested as he didn’t play Saturday, serving a suspension for yellow card accumulation. Maouloune Goumballe has now had a full normal week to train with the team, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see him get 30 minutes or more.
To continue the current six-game unbeaten streak, we’ll need Roman Torres to lock down the center of the park, as he is wont to do, and we’ll need our fullbacks to keep Anderson Rosa contained. We’ll want to see selective pressing up top to create short-field transition moments. And we’ll need either Ryan Carmichael or Stephen Annor Gyamfi — or, dare we dream, both — to find their shooting boots and notch a goal or two early.
Don’t forget it’s family night, which means an early start! Gates at 4, kickoff at 5. See you there!
Speaking of which:
Stop by and say hi
It’s also Madison365 / 608 Soccer night at Breese tonight! We’ll have a table just inside Gate 1, so stop by and say hi! We’ll have some FMFC trivia (though I just thought of doing that yesterday so there are no prizes, only pride and shame) and the 50/50 raffle proceeds benefit Madison365, your favorite local nonprofit news outlet. So get a ticket or two!
While you await kickoff, listen to this week’s podcast:
With a draw at home to Knoxville and a road win in Corpus Christi, your Mingos are once again on a long unbeaten run as the push to the playoffs really gets underway. Today, Ethan and Rob dig into those matches, highlight a couple fundamentals of Forward Madison football, and take a look around a very busy and consequential week in USL League One.
Watch:
Listen:
