‘Mingo Monday: Bing Bong Hello!

There aren’t words I can really use to describe the week Forward Madison FC just had, there really aren’t. The club made another splash taking a player in on loan before just utterly destroying New England Revolution II on Friday night at Gillette Stadium.

First up on the week was another playing jumping into the blue and pink of Forward Madison; this time however it’s a loan and not a signee as 23 year old Adolfo “Fito” Ovalle has joined the Flamingos for the rest of 2020 on loan from Toronto FC II, who are sitting out the season due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Ovalle has been playing professionally since 2015 when he joined Real Salt Lake as an academy product of theirs. After signing he would be loaned to RSL Reserve side Real Monarchs SLC where he would make 23 appearances between league and Open Cup matches. After being let go from RSL he spent time with Italian 4th Division side S.S.D. Fidelis Andria before being loaned to Italian 3rd Division side S.S. Sambenedettese Calcio. After one season in Italy he returned to his native Chile, signing with 2nd Division side Rangers de Talca. Fito would then sign with Toronto FC II for the 2019 season, making 22 appearances across the inaugural 28 game USL League One season.

Transfermarkt has Ovalle listed as a Defensive Midfielder first and a Center Midfielder second, but Forward Madison Head Coach & Technical Director Daryl Shore expects him to be able to play anywhere from box to box midfielder to defender.

“We just thought it was too good an opportunity to pass up, having a player of his quality joining our team. Fito’s a player that - even though he’s young - brings a veteran presence to the midfield and will make our roster deeper and stronger.”

While the 23 year olds plans to play 2020 with Toronto FC II were unceremoniously dashed due to the COVID-19 outbreak, Fito is happy to be in Madison reuniting with his old coach from Salt Lake.

“I’m grateful for the opportunity to be with a big club in this league like Madison. The team has welcomed me with open arms and every single one of them has made this transition easier. Daryl asked for me and it didn’t take too long to convince me that this was the spot to be. If we can peak at the right moment, this team is set to go far. Make no mistake, the goal is to win this league.”

And Forward Madison came another step closer to that goal on Friday night with a dominating win over New England Revolution II.

It wasn’t immediate that Forward Madison scored and made the impact, but rather 40 minutes in. But either way it was a big impact. Revs II keeper Joseph Rice decided to go with a quick goal kick to defender Maciel. However Forward Madison Midfielder Michael Vang make a quick dash and snapped up the ball from the Revs II defender at the top of the box. Then dashing halfway into the box and flicking the ball over a charging Joseph Rice to score the first goal of the night and give Madison their first tally.

One goal was good but a second would make the night even better. With an indirect free kick at the top of the six Madison had a fantastic opportunity to get a second notch on the night. The free kick was tapped by Vang to Josiah Trimmingham, who then sent a rocket of a shot into the Revs II wall. The ball would bounce around and then go in for a goal. Unfortunately for Trimmingham though it was considered a blocked shot and an own goal by Revs II defender Collin Verfurth.

As time drew to a close it appeared as though the game would end 2-0 Madison, but the Flamingos had other things in mind. The newest player on the team Adolfo “Fito” Ovalle made his mark on his first night with the club. He would blast a rocket of a shot from around 25 yards out to put them up 3-0, and that shot . . . well you saw the title of the article.

After an 88th minute third goal for Forward Madison that surely had to be it, right? Nope, Forward added one more just for good measure. New England played a throw in but the Madison defense forced them to play the ball back into the box. Forward Wojciech Wojcik snagged an errant pass by the Revs and just buried a shot from near the top of the box into the right hand corner of the net to bring the tally up to four.

That 4-0 score would be the end of it with Madison leaving Gillette Stadium as the victors, and Revs II toiling at the bottom of the standings.

You can view the full highlights of Madison at New England below.

Through 8 weeks of play Madison continues to climb the standings, but we’ll start from the top and go down. Greenville (whom Madison plays this upcoming weekend) continues to hold the top spot after winning this past week. Expansion side Union Omaha uses their win and a Kickers draw to jump back up into second place with 15 points on the season.

The win over New England sends Forward Madison to fourth place with 11 points, jumping South Gerogia, who also fell down to 6th after having another spot taken by Chattanooga Red Wolves. 7th place and down has no changes from Week 7 and is entirely consisted of all of the reserve teams in the league (FC Tucson is the reserve side of USLC club Phoenix Rising). And with only three points separating 7th-11th we could have a nice battle for the Wooden Spoon as the season passes the halfway mark and starts to wind down.

Remember the USL League One season this year is only 16 games long and only the top two will make the playoffs as they will directly qualify for the USL League One Finals.

Forward Madison FC will be back in action this Sunday afternoon against against USL League One expansion side, Greenville Triumph at Legacy Early College Stadium in Greenville, SC. You can catch the match on TVW in the Madison, WI area and on ESPN+. Stay with E Pluribus Loonum all season long for ‘Mingo Mondays each and every week.