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 Admittedly, there was little for the Madison 56ers to play for Saturday night.
And it showed in the opening 45 minutes of their season finale against the Croatian Eagles Under-23 team at Breese Stevens Field.
"In the first half, I think we were there for an exhibition and they were there to play hard," 56ers coach Jim Launder said. "We didn't look particularly good.
"At halftime I said 'Hey, I could tell you a bunch of tactical stuff, but it all comes down to playing hard.' We did that in the second half, and we looked very good."
Jed Hohlbein (Middleton/UW), Andrew Wiedabach (Mequon Homestead) and North Carolina's Carlos McCrary scored after the break as the 56ers surged to a 3-1 victory in the season-ending friendly. It was the second meeting of the year between the teams, who tied 2-2 in Madison's opener back on May 7.
"It was a good finish," said Launder, whose team closed out its seventh season 9-4-5 overall and third in the National Premier Soccer League Midwest Division with a 6-3-3 record.
Hohlbein got the equalizer early in the second half, running onto a through ball from Hartford's Anthony Santaga (Green Bay Notre Dame) after a pass from fellow midfielder Alfredo Ramirez. It was Hohlbein's 13th goal of the season, matching his team-record totals from 2006 and '07, and the 53rd of his career.
Wiedabach put the 56ers ahead around the hour mark, scoring his fourth goal of the year on a free kick that Launder called "big time."
"It would have scored on anybody. It was a great shot," Launder said of the drive from approximately 25 yards out. "It was hard and curling. It had everything – it curled around the goalkeeper's reach and right into the top corner."
The final goal was particularly rewarding for Launder.
Throughout the season, he's had the speedy McCrary stationed up top when the 56ers defend corner kicks, in hopes of springing a quick counter attack. But the strategy hasn't worked out. "I had said to them, 'I can't believe we haven't gotten a goal off of this' ... We haven't really even gotten a good chance," Launder said.
This time, though, it was a success. McCrary got the ball midway in the Madison defensive half and took off, eventually twisting around his defender and bending a shot around the Croatians' goalkeeper from just inside the box for his fifth goal.
While there was disappointment about not repeating as Midwest champions and advancing to the NPSL semifinals, Launder said there was a positive vibe around the team the past few weeks.
"I think the guys enjoyed the last two weeks," he said. "All the guys we've talked to, those guys are already looking forward to next year. We met (after the game) and they were all talking about, 'What do you think we need to do?' That's a positive."
2011 final statistics
Goals
Jed Hohlbein 13, Carlos McCrary 5, Adam Lysak 4, Anthony Santaga 4, Andrew Wiedabach 4, Cody Banks 3, Trevor Banks 3, Sam Krenzien 3, Keith Dangarembwa 1, Colin Mani 1, Keenan Newallo 1, Tenzin Rampa 1, Sean Ronnekleiv-Kelly 1, William Bagayoko 1, Robin Forslund 1, Aaron Nichols 1.
Assists
Cody Banks 8, Andrew Wiedabach 5, Trevor Banks 4, Jed Hohlbein 4, Henry Aiyenero 3, Anthony Santaga 3, Carlos McCrary 2, Keenan Newallo 2, Ryan Buda 1, Keith Dangarembwa 1, Adam Lysak 1, Colin Mani 1.
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