USL League One – Match 15
Forward Madison FC vs. South Georgia Tormenta FC
Saturday, August 14, 2021; 7:00 p.m. CT
Breese Stevens Field- Madison, WI.
Where to Watch
ESPN+
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Keep track of the official stats on the USL League One Match Center
Forward Madison fights to pick up three points at Breese Stevens Field as the team takes on South Georgia Tormenta FC. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. CT.
Last Saturday, the Flamingos traveled to Werner Park to take on first-place team Union Omaha. By the 58th minute the match was halted due to severe weather and will be replayed at a later date.
During the match, key defender Jiro Barriga Toyama was pulled out due to injury, which impacted the team’s momentus start at Omaha.
“Jiro was a big loss for us,” said coach Carl Craig. “I thought we were on the front foot until we conceded, and we got rattled a little bit because we had to change our personnel in order to resolve a hole left by Jiro.”
Noting that Jiro’s injury forces the Flamingos to be more creative in the lineups, assistant coach, Neil Hlavaty, feels confident in the team’s ability to adapt to this new environment.
“Jiro’s obviously been with the team for multiple years and he will be a difficult one to replace because he’s been in the lineup for the whole year but we go through solutions.” said Hlavaty. “This is why we have 20 odd players on the roster and we believe in our guys that will fill in and get it done.”
Following the canceled match last Saturday, the Flamingos are in 10th place with 19 points in USL League One standings.
Earlier this season, Forward Madison defeated the Tormenta at their home turf by a score of 3-1. Derek Gebhard, Jake Keegan, and Connor Tobin were the players responsible for solidifying the victory at Erk Russell Park.
South Georgia gained significant momentum since this last match, picking up six more wins and two draws to cement the teams 4th place standing in USL League One. Forward Marco Micaletto has played an integral role in Tormenta’s success as he leads the team in goals scored with 8.
“They’ve [Tormenta] added four or five new guys since we’ve played them and they’ve shifted their formation a bit as well and have a lot of guys in different roles and I think they’ve grown comfortable and confident, and results say that right away” said Hlavaty. “They’ve won two of the last three road matches against Greenville, which is not an easy task, and they have a lot of guys scoring goals right now.”
Hlavaty and Craig note the significant changes made by Tormenta as they prepare for this week’s match, but believe that the Flamingos can win, especially when they feed off the fans’ energy at Breese Stevens Field.
“Our lads need to understand that these are our people and that they are here for us,” said Craig. “So we need to draw from their energy and use that energy to be more assertive and bring them [the fans] with us.”
“As we score one goal and two goals, that’s when our environment pays off even more, because that’s a hard one for opposing teams to react to, because it’s easy to feed off that energy, but then to be under it,” said Hlavaty. “That’s a totally different feeling for an opposition to feel. And that’s an even bigger upper for us to feel.”
Following Saturday’s match Forward Madison continues its home stand, hosting Toronto FC II on Wednesday, August 18th at Breese Stevens Field.
