USL League One – Game 17
Forward Madison FC vs. North Texas SC
Saturday, August 21, 2021; 7:00 p.m. CT
Breese Stevens Field-Madison, WI.
Where to Watch
ESPN+
Follow @ForwardMSNFC on Twitter and Instagram for live updates
Keep track of the official stats on the USL League One Match Center
Forward Madison fights for a third place standing this Saturday when they face North Texas SC at Breese Stevens Field. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. CT.
On Wednesday, the Flamingos earned one point after a 2-2 draw against Toronto FC II at Breese Stevens Field. Forward Madison jumped to an early lead when Aaron Molloy earned the first point and his third goal of the season with a monstrous strike outside of the box in the 11th minute. After Toronto equalized the game in the 28th minute, forward Derek Gebhard put the Flamingos back on top when he netted home a near point shot in the 51st minute. Despite their efforts, Toronto was able to once again tie up the match with a goal in the 86th minute.
With this draw, Forward Madison now sits in 8th place with 23 points in USL League One Standings. According to Head Coach Carl Craig, Wednesday’s draw doesn’t deter from the team’s growth this season and the positive impact of the new formation.
“In these last few games we’ve [Forward Madison] actually surpassed where we were earlier in the year, and I think we’re looking pretty good right now,” said Craig. “A big part of being an exciting football club is creating those goal-scoring opportunities and on Wednesday I thought we created more chances and more shots on target than any other game this season and that’s huge.”
As the League table stands, both the Flamingos and North Texas have the chance to move up to third place as North Texas sits exactly one place above Forward Madison with the same amount of points. Despite these high stakes, Gebhard expressed that the team is treating Saturday’s match like any other match they played this year.
“Nothing really changes for us because we see every game as a high stakes game,” said Gebhard. “We see it [the match] as another opportunity to come back from this last game where if we won we could have also jumped to third place.”
Turning to the competition, North Texas hasn’t lost a match in over five games and has the third most goals in USL League One with 26. Earlier this season Forward Madison fell 4-1 at North Texas but has since grown and feels more confident to win tomorrow.
“The last time we played them, it wasn’t a good game for us,” said Gebhard. “We know how they [North Texas] can play, we know they can be direct and get into channels, and they have good attacking players. This time, we’re [Forward Madison] prepared for that and I think our formation suits defending that type of attack they have.”
Following Saturday’s match the Flamingos are back on the road with an away match against North Carolina FC on Wednesday, August 25. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. CT.
