Forward Madison Falls Short in Charlotte

June 26, 2022 – United Soccer League One (USL1) – Forward Madison FC News Release

Forward Madison FC started its two match road trip, heading south to Charlotte, North Carolina to take on Charlotte Independence. The second battle between the two clubs kicked off at 5:00 pm CDT at the historic American Legion Memorial Stadium.

The Flamingos began the first half slowly, as they struggled to get their attack going. Charlotte, on the other hand, recorded four corner kicks in the first five minutes. Phil Breno made a crucial save in the 4′ to keep the score tied. In the 9′, Tresor Mbuyu pressed the FMFC backline and managed to steal the ball from Phil Breno in the box. Mbuyu then shot the ball into a wide open goal to give the Indepence an early 1-0 lead. Forward Madison responded to Charlotte’s early goal with a quick attack, where the Flamingos logged their first shot of the match. At the 22′ mark, Charlotte’s Gabriel Obertan snuck through Madison’s defense and shot a ball right over the head of Breno and into the goal, giving his squad a 2-0 lead. The Independence continued to build on their momentum in the 28′, as a Charlotte player crossed the ball into Ilya Shevtsov who headed the ball perfectly into the left corner of the goal.

Down 0-3 in the 34′, FMFC tried to spark their offense through a quick counterattack. The attack resulted in a Justin Sukow shot getting saved by the Charlotte keeper. Forward Madison finally got a goal on the scoreboard in the 37′ thanks to a perfectly placed deep pass by Andrew Wheeler Omiunu. The pass led to Jeremiah Streng having a one-on-one with the Charlotte keeper, which Streng converted on, making the score 3-1. As the final minutes of the first half ticked off, Forward Madison managed to regain some momentum, even though they ended up entering halftime down 3-1.

The Flamingos started the second half with an early corner, while the chance ended in a foul, the early corner was a catalyst to a few chances in the opening moments of the second half. A chance came from Enriquez when he loaded up a shot from just outside the 18 that tested the Charlotte goalie early. A goal came from Charlotte in the 58′ to settle the pressure that Forward Madison was applying early. The goal came off a broken play with Ibarra picking it up and playing it to Ciss who found the back of the net. A goal from the Flamingos came in the 64′ when Leonard’s first touch of the game was a long ball assist to Rojay Smith who beat the fist defender,…