Forward Madison Sets Regular Season Attendance Record at Breese

Forward Madison FC took on Union Omaha at Breese Stevens Field on Tuesday, July 26th at 7:00 pm CT. The match resulted in a 0-0 draw, as Raiko Arozarena recorded his second consecutive clean sheet in USL League One play.

The first half of the match kicked off with plenty of early fouls. Omaha began the game high pressing Forward Madison and forcing a couple of early turnovers. Union Omaha recorded the first chance of the match in the 5th minute when a winger crossed the ball inside the box and Alex Touche headed the ball just over the top crossbar. Forward Madison recorded its first set piece opportunity of the match at the 11th minute mark, unfortunately for the ‘Mingos, the free kick was intercepted by Omaha. In the 18th minute, Mikey Maldonado managed to maneuver his way down the field and help the Flamingos control possession in Omaha’s half for a brief stint, resulting in successive corner kicks for Forward Madison. The teams went back and forth for the next 10 minutes with neither team able to record any shots.

Union Omaha picked up its first card of the match in the 35th minute, when Isaac Bawa slid into an FMFC striker. A minute later, Alann Torres picked up a yellow card, giving Omaha a set piece opportunity near midfield. Forward Madison nearly got one on the scoreboard in the 45th minute when Cyrus Rad crossed the ball into the box to Matheus Cassini, who headed the ball just over Omaha’s top post. With six minutes of stoppage time added at the end of the first half, Andrew Wheeler-Omiunu decided to be more aggressive. In the 3rd minute of stoppage time, Wheeler-Omiunu drove to the edge of the box and fired a shot over the head of Omaha’s goalkeeper Rashid Nuhu. Raiko Arozarena came up with his first big save of the match in the 5th minute of stoppage time to keep the score tied at 0-0 heading into the half.

The second half of the defensive battle opened with a substitution by coach Matt Glaeser. Christian Dean subbed into the match, replacing FMFC defender Cyrus Rad. The beginning of the second half went back and forth until Omaha nearly scored at the 61st minute mark. Mitch Osmond made a sliding block to get the ball out of the box and prevent Union Omaha from scoring. In the 65th minute, coach Glaeser switched up his lineup, subbing Drew Conner and Rojay Smith into the match for Nazeem Bartman and Alann Torres. Glaeser then subbed in Jeremiah Streng for Abdou Mbacke-Thiam in the 73rd minute. Both clubs struggled to create opportunities as the time ticked away in the second half.

At the 79th minute mark, Jeremiah Streng drove right through the middle of the Omaha backline but his shot sailed right over the top of the goal. Six minutes later, FMFC logged another quality chance when Rojay Smith got into the Omaha box and juked a defender before taking a curling shot that barely went over the top right corner of the post. With the score still tied at 0, the referee’s indicated seven minutes of stoppage time to decide the match. Raiko Arozarena came up with a couple of massive saves in the 5th and 6th minutes of stoppage time to keep Omaha stuck at zero. In the 7th minute of stoppage time, Mikey Maldonado placed a free kick in the box but Rojay Smith was unable to get a header past Nuhu. Both goalies put on a master class as neither team was able to score in stoppage time. The match resulted in a 0-0 draw as FMFC moved up and into 4th Place in the USL League One table.

Looking ahead, Forward Madison will battle Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC at Breese on Saturday in a crucial USL League One match. After taking on the Hailstorm, the ‘Mingos will battle the Charlotte Independence on August 5th. As for Union Omaha’s upcoming schedule, they’ll take on Chattanooga on July 30th.

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Major Moments:

2’ first free kick goes to Omaha, just inside the Madison half for a soft tackle
3’ Free kick, crossed into the box, defended well by Madison
4’ Andrew Wheeler-Omiunu is down after a rough tackle
5’ Alann Torres has his pocket picked and concedes another free kick
5’ Free kick passed sort to the wing and the cross is headed narrowly over by the onrushing Omaha #4
6’ Omaha number 8 shoots from outside the box but it’s way wide and high
7’ Keeper Raiko comfortably collects a lobbed pass into the box
8’ Offside, Forward Madison, from a hopeful clearance
9’ Close range header just wide from Cassini after a great passing move through the entire team
11’ Forward free kick on the left after a good run from Torres
12’ Madison Yellow Card #47 Cyrus Rad for a late challenge on the Omaha winger
14’ The free kick is whipped into the box and headed high and wide
15’ Another cross, another poor header from Omaha
16’ Free kick Madison for a poor challenge on Mikey
18’ Incredible run from Mikey Maldonado, he plays it to Adbou whose low cross is deflected behind for a corner
19’ Mikey blazes into the box and wins another corner (after the first was played short)
20’ Corner played short again, eventually a cross goes long and out for a goal kick
20’ Cassini is down after a Union collision in midfield – he jogs it off
22’ Rad closes down a cross, Union corner
23’ Corner hoofed clear off the bounce
26’ Omaha foul, Madison free kick well in their own half
27’ Rad goes in hard on the Union midfielder, winning the ball, but the player goes down, no call from the referee
29’ Forward throw in can finally be taken after the stoppage
30’ Mikey back heels down the line to Nazeem who wins the free kick
31’ Madison foul in the Union Omaha half
33’ Bad foul on Andrew Wheeler-Omiunu on the edge of his own half
35’ Union Omaha #21 Bawa Yellow Card
36’ Forward Madison #18 Alann Torres Yellow card for pulling the jersey of Willis
37’ Free kick is put in low, defended by Jones who is fouled as he tries to break
37’ Union Omaha #7 Meza Yellow card
41’ Alann Torres rips one after a good one too but it slams into the Union defender’s head outside the box
43’ Omaha #8 Brito Yellow card for dissent
44’ Omaha shot way way over
45’ Cassini heads tamely over from a Rad cross. He just timed it wrong and tried to control it.
45’ There will be at least 6 minutes of additional time
45+2 Goal kick Madison – long pass to the wing runs through
45+3 Wheeler-Omiunu charges towards the box and catches his shot well but cannot keep it down
45+4 Rad fouls a Union rep near the right by-line
45+5 Free kick cleared by a Flamingo head
45+6 Corner claimed by Raiko in the Madison goal
45+7 a fierce shot is blocked by Madison and Nazeem is fouled as he attempts to clear
Half Time: 0-0
46’ Half time substitute for Madison: #5 Dean on for #47 Rad
47’ Early corner for Omaha well defended by Leonard with his head
48’ good pass from Mikey to Nazeem but his low cross is cleared
49’ Omaha free kick in the center of the Madison half
50’ Raiko with a confident take
50’ Madison free kick
53’ Madison corner – cross deflected
54’ Corner headed clear
55’ Hopeful long ball from Omaha claimed by Raiko
61’ With the goal at Omaha’s mercy Mitch comes up with an incredible block and after some silky stills from Cassini and Bartman we can nearly break but Bartman’s pass isn’t good enough
64’ Mikey Maldonado is fouled by #4 Omaha
64’ Yellow card for Omaha #4 Touche
65’ Double Madison sub: Drew Conner #8 is in for #18 Alann Torres and #11 Rojay Smith is in for #24 Nazeem Bartman
67’ Double Omaha sub: 20 Gil on for 6 Willis and 26 Acoff on for 10 Kametani
69’ Yellow card Omaha #20 Gil for a foul in the midfield of the Omaha half
71’ Alvin Jones goes down in the box but the referee shakes their head, the ball is still in play and the deep cross is just cleared
73’ Madison sub #9 Jeremiah Streng on for #7 Adbul Mbake-Thiem
75’ Madison Yellow card Andrew Wheeler-Omiunu
77’ Excellent header clear under pressure from 2 players by Mitch Osmond
79’ Streng works his way into a good position but misses to the left
80’ Madison Yellow card #15 Mikey Maldonado
81’ Omaha sub #19 Rivera on for 16 Bruce
82’ Maldonado is upended, free kick Madison
83’ Great take in the air again from Raiko
84’ Free kick Omaha, cleared by Osmond
85’ Rojay nearly wins it for Madison as his curling effort JUST clears the bar
87’ Raiko saves and holds from a shot in the box
87’ Mitch is down for an extended period of time
89’ Double sub, Omaha, 5 in for 27, 22 in for 7
90’ Madison sub, 6 Mélé Temguia in for 4 Mitch Osmond
90’ at least 7 additional minutes of extra time
90+1 Raiko is fouled as he punches away a dangerous cross into the Madison box
90+2 Omaha free kick deep in their own half
90+3 Eric Leonard with a crucial clearance
90+4 Raiko with another big snatch over the Omaha strikers head
90+5 Raiko with an incredible diving save at the feet of the on-rushing Omaha striker. He’s hurt in the process but ok to continue
90+7 Cassini out-foxes the Omaha owl and wins a late kree fick
90+8 the free kick is whipped in by Maldonado and makes it all the way to the back post where Temguia can only head into the ground and the keeper can comfortably collect -that was so close