Wisconsin Soccer Central

The Madison 56ers have lost only one game in National Premier Soccer League play, but they're already a whopping 12 points out of first place.

Of course, that's because the Quad City Eagles have played two matches each of the first three weekends of the Midwest Region Central Division schedule, while the 56ers have logged but three games.

Madison starts making up some of those games in hand this weekend – Eau Claire Aris FC (0-3-0) visits Breese Stevens Field on Friday night and the Minnesota Twin Stars (0-4-0) come to town on Saturday night. Victories over both winless sides would add plenty of intrigue to the June 15 match between the 56ers and Quad City at Breese Stevens.

It will be interesting to see what type of lineups Madison coach Jim Launder fields against Aris and the Twin Stars.

Striker Anthony Santaga (Green Bay Notre Dame), the team's second-leading scorer last season, will be out for at least another week because of an ankle/Achilles' injury. UW-Milwaukee midfielder Patrick Ruhland (Mount Horeb) joins him on the sidelines, also because of an ankle issue, while his college teammate Laurie Bell has left the team as scheduled.

Bell wasn't expected to return to Madison before making a trip home to England ahead of the NCAA season, but asked Launder if he could rejoin the 56ers for a few weeks in late June.

"I figured I might as well tell him yes, because somebody else is bound to be hurt by then," Launder deadpanned.

Several other players might be limited after being stricken with the flu this week. On top of all those concerns, Launder is cognizant of the toll that double-game weekends can take on players, both in the short term and the long term.

"I've been changing guys every game. I did it last week even though we played Friday-Sunday, that's still a fast turnover," he said. "In the position we're in, we've really got to take care of the short range and win games, and then take care of the long range best we can."

On the plus side, Launder said midfielder Claudiu Aionesei showed no ill effects of the sprained ankle that sideline him for last Friday's 1-0 loss to the Milwaukee Bavarians. He played the final 10 minutes in Sunday's 5-0 win at Minnesota.

"We played him only a little bit on Sunday and he did pretty good, and he looked good at training (Tuesday)," Launder said of the Romanian, who had a goal and two assists in his previous two matches. "So I think he's back."

And Launder welcomed midfielder Trevor Banks (Madison Memorial) back to the team last week – he played for the 56ers each of their first seven seasons but didn't play in 2012.

"That helps because he can play multiple positions," Launder said of Banks, who probably could play any position other than goalkeeper.

Peltonen: "We need to get better"

Four games into his first season coaching in the NPSL, Craig Peltonen has been impressed with the league. As for his Milwaukee Bavarians side, the longtime college coach would like to see more – especially going forward.

"I think we have some work to do," Peltonen said after a 2-1 road loss against Quad City dropped the Bavarians to 2-2-0. "I feel it's a very competitive league, so we need to improve. We need to get better. I mean, we're .500, so we need to get better. And most of that is on the attacking side of things.

"We need to do a better job of holding on to the ball, we need to do a better job moving off the ball and I think our fitness is lacking a little bit. So those are the things we're going to work on this week."

Milwaukee also has a pair of home games this weekend, facing Aris for the first time this season at 7 p.m. Saturday in Glendale and then playing host to the Twin Stars at 2 p.m. Sunday.

"I haven't seen Eau Claire yet, so I don't know what they're about," Peltonen said. "But I think the competition has been very good.

"I was more impressed with Quad (City) this time around than I was last time. They did a lot interchanging, a lot of movement, they pressed us, they were active. A little over the top at times with some of their physical play, but they're a quality side. The 56ers are a quality side as well, and Minnesota has some players, too."

Marquette defender Paul Dillon was named to the PDL Team of the Week after he played a role in both goals and the clean sheet in Thunder Bay's 2-0 victory over the Des Moines Menace last Saturday.

Dillon set up Pedro Adan's 31st-minute opener for his second assist of the season, then scored his second goal of the season in the 78th as the Chill (3-0-0) remained unbeaten.

Dillon is one of at least 16 players with state ties playing in the PDL this season. If you know of others, please email us.

• Chicago Fire: M Bryan Ciesiulka, Marquette; M Drew Conner, UW; GK Charlie Lyon, Marquette; M Eric Pothast, Marquette; F Chris Prince, UW; F David Selvaggi, Marquette; M Brady Wahl, Marquette; M Trevor Wheeler, UW.
• Chicago Inferno: D Dustin Ashley (Racine Horlick), UW-Milwaukee; M-D David Caban (Kenosha Tremper), UW; M-F Kelmend Islami (South Milwaukee), Marquette; D John Mau (Kettle Moraine), Marquette.
• Des Moines Menace: D Taylor Diem (Middleton).
• Michigan Bucks: D AJ Cochran, UW.
• Thunder Bay Chill: D Paul Dillon, Marquette; D Axel Sjoberg, Marquette