Forward Madison came out on top in the Battle for Wisconsin on Tuesday night, besting the Milwaukee Torrent 2-1 in a exhibition encounter at Breese Stevens Field. Although the Flamingos fell behind early, Brian Bement bagged a second half brace to seal the comeback.
Thanks to their win, the victorious ‘Mingos lifted the Astonishingly Shiny Cup Of All Cups, a trophy created just the previous day that combines a salad bowl, a tea kettle and a gravy boat. The ASCOAC is named after the ultimate prize from the Backyard Soccer computer game.
“The Astonishingly Shiny Cup Of All Cups, I’ve been winning that since I was in kindergarten,” Bement said. “Whether that was against the Flying Zeppelins or whoever it is, I just figured [against the] Milwaukee Torrent, we’ve got to win it again.”
Although Madison’s team emerged victorious, the Flamingos did face some trouble early on. FMFC found itself facing an energetic challenge from traveling Torrent, which currently competes in the inaugural NPSL Members Cup.
After applying solid pressure from the start, the visitors grabbed their lead through Santiago D’Imperio, who was given space on the edge of the box before firing past goalkeeper Ryan Coulter’s far post in the 15th minute.
The Torrent led 1-0 at the break, forcing Head Coach Daryl Shore to change up his gameplan. Team captain Connor Tobin, who had exited Saturday’s game early due to food poisoning, convinced Shore to let him play on.
“It wasn’t pretty in the first half, but we fixed a few things at halftime,” Shore said. “[Tobin] was supposed to play 45 minutes, [but] he cursed at me and told me if I take him out at halftime he’d kill me.”
The Flamingos turned the scoreline around in the second period through a pair of headers from Bement in the 49th and 55th minutes. In both cases, winger Zaire Bartley made solid runs down the right wing and placed inch-perfect crosses to Bement, who created space near the six-yard box before heading home.
“I’ve been trying to fight for minutes and I felt like I’ve been scoring goals in training,” Bement said. “[I was] glad to finally get an opportunity and put my chances away.”
With the Astonishingly Shiny Cup of All Cups in hand, Forward Madison will turn its attention to more pressing matters as it looks ahead to its final home match of the season this Sunday against North Texas SC. The Flamingos currently occupy the fourth and final spot in the USL League One playoff race with three games left to go.
“We’ve got a more important trophy that we’re trying to win,” Shore said. “We’ve got to figure out a way to still get in the playoffs and hopefully we’ll have a chance to win a trophy that means something to more than just the fans, but to the whole organization and the whole city. Hopefully it gave our guys a little bit of a taste of what it’s like to lift a trophy.”
Forward Madison came out on top in the Battle for Wisconsin on Tuesday night, besting the Milwaukee Torrent 2-1 in a exhibition encounter at Breese Stevens Field. Although the Flamingos fell behind early, Brian Bement bagged a second half brace to seal the comeback.
Thanks to their win, the victorious ‘Mingos lifted the Astonishingly Shiny Cup Of All Cups, a trophy created just the previous day that combines a salad bowl, a tea kettle and a gravy boat. The ASCOAC is named after the ultimate prize from the Backyard Soccer computer game.
“The Astonishingly Shiny Cup Of All Cups, I’ve been winning that since I was in kindergarten,” Bement said. “Whether that was against the Flying Zeppelins or whoever it is, I just figured [against the] Milwaukee Torrent, we’ve got to win it again.”
Although Madison’s team emerged victorious, the Flamingos did face some trouble early on. FMFC found itself facing an energetic challenge from traveling Torrent, which currently competes in the inaugural NPSL Members Cup.
After applying solid pressure from the start, the visitors grabbed their lead through Santiago D’Imperio, who was given space on the edge of the box before firing past goalkeeper Ryan Coulter’s far post in the 15th minute.
The Torrent led 1-0 at the break, forcing Head Coach Daryl Shore to change up his gameplan. Team captain Connor Tobin, who had exited Saturday’s game early due to food poisoning, convinced Shore to let him play on.
“It wasn’t pretty in the first half, but we fixed a few things at halftime,” Shore said. “[Tobin] was supposed to play 45 minutes, [but] he cursed at me and told me if I take him out at halftime he’d kill me.”
The Flamingos turned the scoreline around in the second period through a pair of headers from Bement in the 49th and 55th minutes. In both cases, winger Zaire Bartley made solid runs down the right wing and placed inch-perfect crosses to Bement, who created space near the six-yard box before heading home.
“I’ve been trying to fight for minutes and I felt like I’ve been scoring goals in training,” Bement said. “[I was] glad to finally get an opportunity and put my chances away.”
With the Astonishingly Shiny Cup of All Cups in hand, Forward Madison will turn its attention to more pressing matters as it looks ahead to its final home match of the season this Sunday against North Texas SC. The Flamingos currently occupy the fourth and final spot in the USL League One playoff race with three games left to go.
“We’ve got a more important trophy that we’re trying to win,” Shore said. “We’ve got to figure out a way to still get in the playoffs and hopefully we’ll have a chance to win a trophy that means something to more than just the fans, but to the whole organization and the whole city. Hopefully it gave our guys a little bit of a taste of what it’s like to lift a trophy.”
Forward Madison FC
Head Coach: Daryl Shore
Goalkeeper- Ryan Coulter #1
Defender- Louis Bennett #21 (85’ Taylor Pill #4)
Defender- Shaun Russell #15
Defender- Connor Tobin #13 (captain)
Defender- Carl Schneider #23
Midfielder – Brandon Eaton #6 (45’ Carter Manley #2)
Midfielder – Vital Nizigiyimana #19 (71’ Jiro Barriga Toyama #77)
Midfielder – Ally Hamis Ng’Anzi
Forward- Zaire Bartley #17 (90’ Mike Marchianno #24)
Forward – Brian Bement #14⚽ ⚽
Forward- Oliver White #20
Substitutes
G- Brian Sylvestre #92
D- Austin Salazar #33
M- Jiro Barriga Toyama #77
D- Carter Manley #2
D- Taylor Pill #4
F- Mike Marchianno #24
Milwaukee Torrent
Head Coach: Carlos Cordoba
Goalkeeper: Kevin Tengo #31
Defender: Sebastien Capozucchi (captain) #2
Defender: Gonne Ben-Tal #22 (45’ Connor Provan #13)
Defender: Steffen Boehm #20
Defender: Stephan Ruggieri #4
Midfielder:Anthony Doellefield #23
Midfielder: Lucca Lemos #24
Midfielder: Guiseppe Berone #95
Forward: Anthony Colaizzi #9
Forward: Santiago D’Imperio #27 ⚽
Forward: Reid Stevenson #7
Substitutes
GK- Gianfranco Berone #1
D- Sebastian Ciaccheri #3
D- Symon Fabrricatore #14
D- Connor Provan #13
D- Sam Novak #18
M- Gerardo Saavedra #12
M- Amilcar Herrera #10
M- Dani Arango #5
Goals
Forward Madison FC
49’- Brian Bement #14 (Zaire Bartley #17)
55’- Brian Bement #14 (Zaire Bartley #17)
Milwaukee Torrent
15’ Santiago D’Imperio #27
Discipline
None
Referees
Ryan Shanklin
Brian McKay
Eric Del Rosario
Nicolas Ramos
Venue
Breese Stevens Field – Madison, WI
Forward Madison FC’s inaugural season is here! The team will play its final home game on Sept. 22 vs North Texas SC. Get tickets to see Forward Madison’s inaugural season at: https://sportsengine-staging.go-vip.net/forwardmadisonfc/tickets.
Forward Madison FC
Head Coach: Daryl Shore
Goalkeeper- Ryan Coulter #1
Defender- Louis Bennett #21 (85’ Taylor Pill #4)
Defender- Shaun Russell #15
Defender- Connor Tobin #13 (captain)
Defender- Carl Schneider #23
Midfielder – Brandon Eaton #6 (45’ Carter Manley #2)
Midfielder – Vital Nizigiyimana #19 (71’ Jiro Barriga Toyama #77)
Midfielder – Ally Hamis Ng’Anzi
Forward- Zaire Bartley #17 (90’ Mike Marchianno #24)
Forward – Brian Bement #14â½ â½
Forward- Oliver White #20
Substitutes
G- Brian Sylvestre #92
D- Austin Salazar #33
M- Jiro Barriga Toyama #77
D- Carter Manley #2
D- Taylor Pill #4
F- Mike Marchianno #24
Milwaukee Torrent
Head Coach: Carlos Cordoba
Goalkeeper: Kevin Tengo #31
Defender: Sebastien Capozucchi (captain) #2
Defender: Gonne Ben-Tal #22 (45’ Connor Provan #13)
Defender: Steffen Boehm #20
Defender: Stephan Ruggieri #4
Midfielder:Anthony Doellefield #23
Midfielder: Lucca Lemos #24
Midfielder: Guiseppe Berone #95
Forward: Anthony Colaizzi #9
Forward: Santiago D’Imperio #27 â½
Forward: Reid Stevenson #7
Substitutes
GK- Gianfranco Berone #1
D- Sebastian Ciaccheri #3
D- Symon Fabrricatore #14
D- Connor Provan #13
D- Sam Novak #18
M- Gerardo Saavedra #12
M- Amilcar Herrera #10
M- Dani Arango #5
Goals
Forward Madison FC
49’- Brian Bement #14 (Zaire Bartley #17)
55’- Brian Bement #14 (Zaire Bartley #17)
Milwaukee Torrent
15’ Santiago D’Imperio #27
Discipline
None
Referees
Ryan Shanklin
Brian McKay
Eric Del Rosario
Nicolas Ramos
Venue
Breese Stevens Field – Madison, WI
Forward Madison FC’s inaugural season is here! The team will play its final home game on Sept. 22 vs North Texas SC. Get tickets to see Forward Madison’s inaugural season at: https://sportsengine-staging.go-vip.net/forwardmadisonfc/tickets.
