It’s Crunch Time
Forward Madison vs Fort Wayne FC | Ruoff Mortgage Stadium | 6:30 pm | ESPN Select
No Mingos fan is in a great mood after last weekend’s home loss — the first home loss of the season — to Spokane.
With that loss, and other results above us in the table, the Players’ Shield — the prize for finishing first in the league — is for all intents and purposes out of reach. A home playoff game is not — in fact, finishing second and securing two home playoff games could still be in the cards.
But for either of those things to happen, our boys have to renew the form that got them to this place.
It definitely feels like the club has stagnated these last two months. Even with a few good wins — like the 3-0 drubbing of Sarasota — the electric form we saw midsummer has faded. Thankfully, this year, we racked up enough points early that a late-season slide will not be catastrophic, and we will have some postseason football to cheer for.
Tonight is a rematch of a somewhat frustrating 1-1 draw. Back then, league debutantes Fort Wayne were in the midst of what would become an 11-game unbeaten streak, but still sitting in eighth place. We were one spot behind them, in ninth.
Since, obviously, we’ve vaulted up to third, while they’ve lingered in the middle of the table and are currently clinging to the last playoff spot, just two points ahead of Corpus Christi.
Their Breese Stevens debut in June featured the most egregious non-call the most epic sending-off of a coach you’ll ever see. In the 14th minute, Joshua Bolma brilliantly played Ryan Carmichael in behind, and he was off to the races. Just as he was reaching the 18-yard-box, Tiago Dias grabbed his shoulder and took him down to the floor — and referred JC Griggs inexplicably said play on. It was a clear denial of an obvious goal-scoring opportunity — a DOGSO — and by the letter and spirit of the law should have been a straight red card.
Madison head coach Matt Glaeser expressed this to Griggs, and Griggs proved he did in fact have a red card in his pocket, giving it to Glaeser instead of Dias.
But Glaeser wasn’t about to just peacefully walk to the locker room, though. In a moment uncharacteristic even for the fiery Madison gaffer, he took the field, barking at Griggs, and kicked the ball as only a former goalkeeper could. That got him an extra game of suspension, but I suspect he’d say it was worthwhile.
In any case, Patrick Nyarko ably managed the rest of the match, and Carmichael combined with Bolma on a nifty goal in the 28th minute. But then Ryan Becher, who has a habit of scoring against Madison, headed a deflection home in the 59th to earn a draw and steal a point.
It’s Becher that we’ll have to shut down again if we want to get any points at all from Fort Wayne tonight. Manager Steve Avery draws up his squad as a classic 4-4-2, but it rarely actually plays out that way once the clock is running. For all intents and purposes, Becher plays as a lone #9, with Taig Healy (who continues to impress lately) and Clarence Awoudor coming underneath him, providing service as well as goals.
Meanwhile, Javier Armas and Jeremy Garay will likely try to cause trouble for our pivot guys, likely Roman Torres and Mark Segbers to start. That will be the key matchup to watch — if their midfield stifles ours, our strikers might have a lonely night waiting for service.
We will need to see some magic up the right wing from Eddie Munjoma and Ryan Carmichael. We will need Claudel N’Goubou to translate his excellent recent form into a finish or an assist. We might need one of those set piece goals we got so good at early in the season, perhaps from Kerfalla Toure or Turner Humphrey.
Also worth noting that Fort Wayne is a but vulnerable to the late defensive lapse. Madison has been very productive in the last 15 minutes of games, including our last win against Sarasota, when we scored twice after the 84th minute. If we’re up by a goal, or even level, when the clock hits 75, I like our chances to win by more than one.
There’s also an element of mentality in play tonight. Fort Wayne has their destiny in their own hands, and will play hungry. They’ll want to keep Corpus Christi at bay. They can feel what it’d mean to make the playoffs in their debut season, and will give no ground. Madison, meanwhile, will have to shrug off yet another match that they should have won but didn’t, and will have to come back with some energy, urgency, and fire. This team was resilient early in the season; we’ll see whether that resilience has survived a long, gruelling season.
While you await kickoff, listen to this week’s podcast:
Well, at least we don’t have to worry about keeping that home unbeaten streak going anymore. On the podcast this week, Ethan and I discuss what went wrong in the weekend’s 1-0 loss to Spokane. Then we welcome Brian Biedenbach from Fort Wayne Footy to preview this weekend’s match, get some advice on pregame activities and where to find the best burger in the stadium, and reminisce about the best sending-off of a coach in USL League One History.
Watch:
Listen:
