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 The Madison 56ers spent the first half of the National Premier Soccer League Midwest Region portion of their schedule on the road.
They’re coming home on top of the table. An early deficit couldn’t stop the 56ers from rolling past previously unbeaten FC Indiana — which played with 10 men in the second half — 5-1 on Saturday night in Lafayette, Ind. Kyle Pateros (Janesville Craig/Butler), William Bagayoko and Keith Dangarembwa each contributed a goal and an assist for Madison (3-1-1, 3-1 NPSL Midwest), which won its third straight following a 2-0 loss to the St. Paul Twin Stars on May 30 in its league opener.
“It’s going to be nice to be home,” said 56ers coach Jim Launder, whose team next faces the Chicago Fire NPSL on June 21 at Warner Park. “And we still won’t see Breese Stevens (Field) for another couple weeks, but at least we’ll be in Madison and not have to travel.” The travel didn’t seem to affect them too much Saturday. After falling behind in the 20th minute on a strike by Joshua Multen of FC Indiana (2-1, 2-1), the 56ers equalized in the 22nd through midfielder Dangarembwa. Bagayoko, a former University of Wisconsin athlete, broke the deadlock in the 42nd, and Madison was in full control 3 minutes later. 56ers forward Ilya Ksenidi (West Allis Hale/UW-Green Bay) was taken down in the box by the FC Indiana goalkeeper just before halftime, drawing a penalty kick and a red card. Will Howell (Waunakee/UW-Oshkosh) converted the penalty to give Madison a 3-1 lead at the break. “The second half all we had to do was milk the game,” Launder said. Pateros added the fourth 4 minutes after the break, and substitute Parker Walton tacked on another in the 70th. Pateros, a midfielder, drew praise from Launder for his partnership on the right flank with defender Brian Bultman (UW). Launder also said Ksenidi, who dislocated his shoulder in Tuesday’s 2-0 win over the Fire, put in a superb performance in attack, as did Dangarembwa in the heart of the midfield. “Amazingly, I think we can play better, and I think the players would say the same thing,” Launder said. “But I thought we had really, really good composure coming back from 1-0 down. We didn’t lose our focus on what we wanted to get done. We came back and played very well.” Madison 56ers
| 3 | 2
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| 5 | FC Indiana
| 1 | 0
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| 1 |
FC Indiana — Joshua Multen 20
Madison 56ers — Keith Dangarembwa (Kyle Pateros) 22
Madison 56ers — William Bagayoko (Ilya Ksenidi) 42
Madison 56ers — Will Howell (penalty kick) 45
Madison 56ers — Kyle Pateros (Keith Dangarembwa) 49
Madison 56ers — Parker Walton (William Bagayoko) 70
Saves: M (Powell) 1; I 6
Shots: M 16, I 8. Corner kicks: M 2, I 3. Fouls: M 8, I 7. Offsides: M 4, I 4. Att. — NA.
MADISON 56ERS: Nick Powell; Brian Bultman (Gaelan Fraboni 68), Bram Dorrestyn, Cale Cooper, Chris Brown; William Bagayoko (Clayton Ramirez 77), Will Howell (Taylor Diem 66), Keith Dangarembwa, Kyle Pateros (Will Ziegahn 60), Eric Meyer (Nick Kay 55); Ilya Ksenidi (Parker Walton 55).
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