Wisconsin Soccer Central

Add Saturday night to the list of frustrating matches for the Madison 56ers in what has been a frustrating season.

The 56ers saw the referee point to the spot for a potential go-ahead penalty kick in the final 20 minutes only to reverse his decision, then weren't allowed to play the final six minutes of regulation and injury time because lightning was spotted.

The end result was a 1-1 draw with Eau Claire Aris FC at Casper Park in Chippewa Falls, the first point Aris has taken off the 56ers in 12 games during its five years in the National Premier Soccer League.

Both goals in the match came on second-half penalties: Richard Rowell (Middleton/UW-Platteville) – a former 56ers player who started the season with the team – converted for the hosts and UW-Milwaukee's Laurie Bell did the same for Madison (3-2-2) about five minutes later.

But 56ers player-coach Jed Hohlbein, in charge of the team with coach Jim Launder leading a coach licensing course, was left exasperated at the late decisions by the referee.

Forward Carlos McCrary came on with about 25 minutes remaining and drew the penalty kick converted by Bell, then seemingly drew another one.

"This one was blatant," Hohlbein said. "The referee actually pointed to the spot, but then he changed his mind and he went over and gave Carlos a yellow card for diving. I'm not one to scream and go crazy, and I was going crazy. It was awful."

Looking for a winning goal in a match Hohlbein said they "absolutely dominated," the 56ers ran out of time prematurely in about the 83rd minute.

"We were pressing, we were all over them, and that's when it got called," Hohlbein said.

As Madison learned a week earlier when its home match against the Quad City Eagles was delayed 92 minutes because of a nearby storm, NPSL rules call for a minimum of a one-hour wait when a game is suspended for inclement weather.

After that, referees are to wait up to two more hours to attempt to complete the game, unless both teams agree to end the match. However, the Casper Park field doesn't have lights, narrowing the window considerably. Because at least 45 minutes were played, the result was declared a final.

"The lightning was not close to us, it was on the horizon," Hohlbein said. "There was a period where the sun was shining for like 15 or 20 minutes, but they wouldn't let us play."

The tie against Aris (1-5-1) made the 56ers' quest to repeat as Midwest Region Central Conference champions even more unlikely – they are 11 points behind leader Quad City (7-0-1) with one game in hand and four behind the second-place Milwaukee Bavarians (5-2-0).

"It has been that kind of season," said Hohlbein, whose team has allowed just three goals in seven league matches. "But the thing is, we're still not out of it. It's out of our hands now, but we just have to keep playing, trying to get three points a game, because Quad City has a tough last week (two matches against Madison and one against Milwaukee).

"It's not easy, but I think overall we can't complain too much, because it's not like we're playing bad soccer ... Tonight, we absolutely dominated the game and just didn't score. It's hard to be down on guys when you play a great game. We've just got to keep pressing and just hope things click."

They didn't have much time to dwell on the draw, as they headed to Brooklyn Park, Minn., to face the Minnesota Twin Stars (1-8-0) at 3 p.m. Sunday. The Twin Stars' lone win was 1-0 over Madison two weeks ago at Breese Stevens Field.

"I'm hoping that guys are fired up and want to come out and play with a chip on their shoulder with something to prove (Sunday), for multiple reasons," said Hohlbein, who has been out with a hamstring injury the past two weeks but hopes to play Sunday.

MADISON 56ERS: Max Jentsch; Chris Brown, Matt Balshaw, Andrew Stone, Carl Schneider; Claudiu Aionesei, Keenan Newallo, Ryan Buda (Jack Keeling 60), Trevor Banks; Laurie Bell (Jade Johnson 75); Jesus Miranda (Carlos McCrary 65).