WAKE UP IT'S GAME DAY
The playoff race remains tight as the Mingos look to slow down the Velocity
It’s an early start!
Kickoff is at 5 pm at Breese Stevens Field. And it’s going to be packed! Just looking at the seat map, I count about 25 reserved seats available. If you don’t have tickets yet, get em now! Looks like it’ll be about 82 degrees and sunny at gametime, so think about sunscreen too.
What do we expect for the game?
The Mingos are going to come in with a lot of swagger, unbeaten in six matches across all competitions, including the Jagermeister Cup semifinal win last week. Spokane is in pretty decent form, too, unbeaten in five league matches (one of which was a win over Central Valley, so, grain of salt) but they also lost to lowly Richmond in the final group stage Cup game.
Spokane will be without one of their key defenders in Ahmed Longmire, who lost his head a bit in the midst of a scuffle in last week’s match versus Tormenta and earned a red card. Meanwhile, Madison will go without Christian Chaney, who gets the night off thanks to a very dumb and soft red card in the Jagermeister Cup semifinal.
The last time these two teams met, in May, Jimmie Villalobos scored about 25 seconds in, Devin Boyce scored the Goal of the Week and Christian Chaney had maybe the assist of the year on a huge left-footed switch that fell directly into the path of Aiden Mesias to give the Mingos the 3-0 win. Bernd Schipmann also had a hell of a day and earned perhaps the most iconic call in Forward Madison history: “the man cannot be penetrated.”
Spokane do have a couple dangerous pieces in Luis Gil and Josh Dolling, but their defending has been questionable and they have very little depth.
Madison are playing on full rest but have a brutal stretch of three games in six days coming next week. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Derek Gebhard once again up top, probably with Juan Galindrez, while the red-hot Wolfgang Prentice gets another start on the left wing. Also wouldn’t be shocked to see Michael Chilaka in for Timmy Mehl.
What are the implications?
Madison sits in fourth place, technically, tied with Knoxville on 28 points, one point behind second-place Charlotte and four behind front-running Omaha. Greenville are one point behind us in fifth, and Spokane are in sixth, just two points behind Madison.
It’s one of those rare nights when the entire league is in action, so the table could look a lot different by the end of the evening. Charlotte play at South Georgia, Knoxville head to Omaha, and Greenville host Central Valley. If those results go the way you’d expect — wins for both Charlotte, Omaha and Greenville — Madison could leapfrog Knoxville with a win, and would need all three points to keep pace with the Jacks and the Owls. If Tormenta pull an upset, the Mingos could wind up in second place. On the flip side, if Spokane manage a win in Madison, FMFC could find itself in sixth place heading into the stretch run. A draw could nudge us from fourth to third, so wouldn’t be disastrous, but let’s, just, like, win.
Is it Hispanic Heritage Night?
Yes, and I’m not sure what exactly the club has in store, but last year there was Mariachi music. And it’s a perfectly good excuse to try the tamales available down on the east end of the stadium. It’s also my daughter’s birthday game, and there’s a nonzero chance she’ll have one of those sweet lucha masks on by halftime.
What’s happening with USL Milwaukee?
Funny you should ask — I talked with COO Conor Caloia about that very question earlier this week. Listen to this week’s podcast here or your favorite podcast app!
NOTE: This post has been updated to reflect that Christian Chaney will be suspended for the match. We regret the error. SORRY, OKAY? We said sorry. Let it go.