Wisconsin Soccer Central

Eventually, they started burying chances.

From there, the Madison 56ers finished off their regular season in style.

The 56ers shook off Eau Claire Aris FC 5-2 Sunday afternoon at Breese Stevens Field in their final National Premier Soccer League Midwest Region match of the season, rattling off four second-half goals to give them a result that guaranteed them at least a tie for first place in the division standings.

But Madison needed other results to break its way to earn the Midwest title and the resulting berth in the NPSL Final Four to be held July 31-Aug. 1 at Breese Stevens.

“We could have handled it ourselves, but then again, that’s the game,” said midfielder Keith Dangarembwa, who scored two of the 56ers’ goals against Eau Claire Aris. “That’s how it goes.”

Sunday’s win gave the 56ers an 8-3-2 overall record, with a 5-2-1 mark in NPSL Midwest play. But that would only be good enough to forge a tie at the top of the table if either the St. Paul Twin Stars or the Chicago Fire’s NPSL entry won their final division matches. FC Indiana, the team that forfeited Saturday against the 56ers, was scheduled to play the on Fire Sunday before taking on the Twin Stars next week.

“It’s pretty doubtful,” 56ers coach Jim Launder said of the scenario that would see his team play the semifinals on its home field.

Still, the 56ers had a shot thanks to a more efficient second-half display Sunday after spurning a handful of chances in the match’s opening 45 minutes and allowing Eau Claire Aris to equalize shortly before the break. They wasted little time going in front after the interval, with striker Ilya Ksenidi (West Allis Hale/UW-Green Bay) steering home a driving cross by ex-University of Wisconsin midfielder William Bagayoko in the 47th minute.

Bagayoko then doubled the advantage four minutes later when he slotted in his own rebound. Eau Claire Aris pulled back within 3-2 in the 55th on a penalty kick by forward Mike Ohnesorge after he was pulled down by 56ers defender and former UW athlete Bram Dorrestyn.

But a penalty conversion by Dangarembwa after an intentional handball on the goal line by Eau Claire Aris right back Darren Glenn – he was red-carded for the incident – in the 72nd restored a comfortable advantage for the 56ers, and midfielder Kyle Pateros (Janesville Craig/Butler) made it 5-2 in the 85th.

“I thought we passed the ball around a little bit better,” Dangarembwa said. “Coach had been talking about finding the third guy a little bit better at halftime, and I think we came out and we tried to do that and it worked out pretty well for us. (We) got a few more bodies forward in support and that paid off.”

Dangarembwa opened the scoring in the 25th, but the 56ers couldn’t convert on their other chances – they hit the post twice – and went into halftime tied at 1 after the linesman whistled goalkeeper Jon Szafranski for handling the ball outside the 18-yard box on a punt in the 42nd minute.

Eau Claire Aris put the resulting indirect free kick into the wall, but scored on the ensuing scramble in the box.

But the 56ers’ second-half surge capped a somewhat frustrating season for a team that won the Midwest title in 2006 and ’07 before finishing second last summer. Launder didn’t sound confident in the future of the division, so it’s far from a guarantee the 56ers will play at the NPSL level again next season.

“I thought there were times where we played better soccer than we did even two years ago,” he said. “But we didn’t finish and we didn’t have enough good defenders. As soon as we’d get an injury or somebody was missing in back, we were in trouble.”

Madison 56ers — Keith Dangarembwa 25
Eau Claire Aris FC — Stefan Kolis 43
Madison 56ers — Ilya Ksenidi (William Bagayoko) 47
Madison 56ers — William Bagayoko 51
Eau Claire Aris FC — Mike Ohnesorge (penalty kick) 55
Madison 56ers — Keith Dangarembwa (penalty kick) 73
Madison 56ers — Kyle Pateros 85

EAU CLAIRE ARIS FC: Ben Kolis (Elek Lane 35), Scott Rydzik, Josh Albright, Josh Bautch, Darren Glenn, Michael Gumz, Stefan Kolis, Conor Brown, Neil Klingensmith, Mike Ohnesorge, Robert Schroeder. Names of other substitutes not available.
MADISON 56ERS: Jon Szafranski (Nick Powell 69), Trevor Banks, Bram Dorrestyn, Cale Cooper (Brian Bultman 63), Chris Brown (Taylor Diem 85), Kyle Pateros, William Howell (Eric Meyer 53), Pablo Delgado, Keith Dangarembwa (Zakim Abraham 85), William Bagayoko (Gaelan Fraboni 85), Ilya Ksenidi (Nicolas Kay 63).

Saves: EC (B. Kolis 1, Lane 5) 6; M (Szafranski 1, Powell 0) 1. Shots: EC 7, M 26. Corner kicks: EC 1, M 11. Fouls: EC 10, M 3. Offsides: EC 4, M 4. Discipline: EC - S. Kolis (45, caution), Klingensmith (51, caution), Glenn (72, ejection); M - Howell (34, caution), Dorrestyn (55, caution).