June 4, 2022 – United Soccer League One (USL1) – Forward Madison FC News Release
Forward Madison hosted FC Tucson at Breese Stevens Field for a USL League One match. The Flamingos claimed their first home win of the season, 2-1, with both Nazeem Bartman and Abdou Mbacke-Thiam tallying goals. Saturday’s match kicked off at 7:00 pm CT on June 4th, 2022. The Flamingos opened the first half aggressively, recording their first corner kick in the 9′ following a quick counterattack. Matheus Cassini nearly scored in the 11′ when he got open in the box and just barely shot the ball over the top of the Tucson goal post. At the 17′ mark, Cassini led a counterattack which resulted in Abdou Mbacke-Thiam firing a rocket of a shot on goal that got blocked by the Tucson goalkeeper. FC Tucson was shown their third yellow card of the half in the 28′, when Tyler Allen committed a foul on an FMFC player.
Forward Madison finally broke the seal in the 30′ when Mikey Maldonado passed the ball into Nazeem Bartman who fired a shot past the Tucson goalkeeper to give the Flamingos a 1-0 lead. In the 42′, FC Tucson tied up the match thanks to Charlie Machell scoring off a cross into the box. After a strong first half for Forward Madison, the Flamingos entered the halftime break tied 1-1.
The second half kicked off with Forward Madison controlling the possession early. At the 50′ mark, Drew Conner launched the ball over the Tucson defense to Nazeem Bartman. Bartman got a pass off to Abdou Mbacke-Thiam, who fired a shot past the Tucson keeper to give Forward Madison a 2-1 lead. In the 54′, Tucson had an odd-man advantage in the box but Eric Leonard slid and deflected the shot, leading to a Flamingo clearance. Forward Madison continued to control the momentum in the second half but picked up four yellow cards in the span of six minutes, starting with one at the 63′ mark. Taylor Bailey built on the momentum by coming up with a crucial save in the 73′ to help Forward Madison hold onto their…