Forward Madison FC Resilient With 1-1 Draw in Tucson

Forward Madison FC’s third match of the season saw the squad travel to the desert of Tucson, Arizona for an early-season test against FC Tucson. Both squads came into the match winless looking to gain an important 3 points early in the 2022 campaign.

The first half got off to an even start, with both squads trying to get a foothold in the match. The best chance to start the match came in the 20’ minute when a Tucson free kick went bouncing in the FMFC box, but was collected by Phil Breno to keep the match level. A couple promising free kicks in the Tucson half proved to not be fruitful for the Flamingos in the first half and the clubs went into the break level at 0-0.

The second half got off to a hot start for Forward Madison when they turned FC Tucson over in their half, with the ball being picked up by Christian Enriquez and rocketed to the back of the net to give the visitors the lead. While controlling the possession for most of the night, a wrinkle was thrown into the FMFC gameplan when a second yellow card was issued to Cyrus Rad in the 63’ minute, making the boys in pink and blue play down a man for the last half hour of the match. The breakthrough for FC Tucson came in the 81’ minute after a shot from Jake Crull went just beyond the reach of Phil Breno for the equalizing goal. Playing with 10 men, the Flamingos saw out the rest of the match to obtain a point on the road in a 1-1 draw.

“Hell of a goal, great goal from Christian,” Head Coach Matt Glaeser said. “He’s been doing a pretty good job. We know he can strike the ball and hit it very well. Great press from [Andrew] Wheeler, [Matheus] Cassini, and Jeremiah [Streng].

“That whole press we did to win the ball was something we’ve been training on since we got together as a team,” goalscorer Christian Enriquez said. “It’s nice to see it click in a way where we could take advantage.”

As for the next match, the Flamingos return to Madison, WI for two matches this upcoming week. First up is a massive tilt against Minnesota United FC in the 3rd round of the U.S. Open Cup on Wednesday, April 20th at 6pm. Following the Open Cup match, the club plays host to the UW-Madison men’s soccer team in the Battle for Madison on Saturday, April 23rd at 7pm. Tickets are still available for both matches here.

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Major Moments:

2’ TUC foul in MAD half
3’ MAD shot by Jepson out for a corner
7’ MAD foul in TUC half
9’ TUC offside
10’ MAD yellow card shown to Bartman
11’ MAD foul in MAD half
15 MAD foul in the TUC half
19’ MAD foul in TUC half
20’ MAD foul in MAD half
20’ TUC chance off a bouncing ball in the box, saved by Breno
26’ TUC sub Sunday on for Shaw
29’ MAD foul in MAD half
32’ MAD foul in TUC half
35’ MAD yellow card shown to Rad
38’ TUC foul in TUC half
39’ MAD foul in TUC half
45’ TUC corner
45’ MAD substitution Bartman and Mbacke-Thiam subbed off for Cassini and Streng
49’ MAD foul in MAD half
50’ TUC foul in MAD half
51’ TUC foul in MAd half
54’ MAD GOAL Enriquez (Cassini assist)
61’ MAD foul in MAD half
63’ MAD red card shown to Rad
67’ MAD foul in MAD half
67’ TUC yellow card Perez
70’ TUC corner
74’ MAD substitution Jepson and Gebhard subbed off for Sukow and Murillo Jr.
79’ TUC substitution Fahling off for Wynder
79’ MAD foul in MAD half
81’ TUC corner
82’ TUC GOAL Crull
85’ TUC foul in MAD half
86’ TUC corner
88’ MAD yellow card shown to Wheeler-Omiunu
89’ TUC foul in MAD half
90’ TUC foul in TUC half
92’ MAD yellow card shown to Maldonado
94’ TUC yellow card shown to Corfe