Wisconsin Soccer Central

Sunday afternoon went a lot better for the Madison 56ers than Saturday night – funny how goals make such a big difference.

Jack Keeling scored the first two goals and college teammate Jade Johnson bagged the last two as the 56ers dropped the Minnesota Twin Stars 5-2 in Brooklyn Park, Minn., to keep their hopes alive in the National Premier Soccer League Midwest Region Central Conference.

Carlos McCrary netted his team-best fifth goal of the season and player-coach Jed Hohlbein (Middleton/UW) added two assists for the 56ers (4-2-2), who are eight points behind the conference-leading Quad City Eagles with four matches to play. They had hoped they would head home with the deficit at six, but had to settle for a 1-1 tie with Eau Claire Aris a night earlier in a match in Chippewa Falls that ended prematurely due to a storm in the area.

"I wouldn't say we necessarily played a whole lot better than yesterday, but it was just a more complete game because we took our chances well," said Hohlbein, who was in charge of the team with coach Jim Launder leading a coach licensing course in Illinois. "It was a good end to the weekend."

Keeling capped a nice combination sequence involving UW's Ryan Buda (Stevens Point), Keenan Newallo and McCrary with the first goal about 20 minutes in. McCrary played the ball back for Buda, who slotted a pass that McCrary dummied and let Keeling run onto and finish past the Twin Stars goalkeeper from 9 yards out.

Less than 10 minutes later, quick thinking by Hohlbein and a great piece of skill by Keeling led to a 2-0 lead.

Hohlbein, back in action for the first time since June 2 after overcoming a hamstring injury, hustled to the ball for a throw-in on the right side and found Keeling darting in behind the Minnesota backline. The midfielder lifted the ball over a defender, then lifted it over the keeper and into the net for his third goal of the season. "It was a great finish," Hohlbein said.

Hohlbein set up the next goal, too, winning a 50-50 ball, breaking in on a 2-on-1 and sliding a pass to McCrary on his to make it 3-0 after about 35 minutes. Hohlbein, however, subbed himself out shortly thereafter because of a sprained ankle, bringing on Johnson as his replacement.

The sub made his mark on the match around the hour mark, shaking loose on the right side and scoring on a shot between the keeper's legs from a tight angle. The Twin Stars (1-10-0) then scored twice to halve their deficit, but Johnson added his third of the season and the team's fifth of the day in the final 15 minutes.

"There was a little stretch where they were coming at us a little bit, but we dealt with it all right, got reorganized and started to keep the ball a little bit more," Hohlbein said. "Once we settled down and did that, we were all right."

The 56ers' four remaining league matches are against the two teams ahead of them in the standings: home and away meetings with Quad City and the second-place Milwaukee Bavarians (6-2-0). The Bavarians make their only trip to Breese Stevens Field on Friday night, with kickoff scheduled for 7 p.m.

"It's a tough rest of the schedule for us, but in the position we're in, that's what we want," Hohlbein said. "We're still going to need help, but if we take care of our business here and come away with 12 points, it's going to put the pressure on the other teams. All we can do is look forward."

Hohlbein said he hopes to be available to play Friday, and was optimistic that striker Anthony Santaga (Green Bay Notre Dame) could see his first minutes of the league season. Santaga, Madison's second-leading scorer in 2012, hasn't played since the team's first-round match in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup back on May 15 because of an ankle/Achilles injury but trained with the team all week.

MADISON 56ERS: Ryan Onwukwe; Chris Brown (Mike Prudisch 46), Matt Balshaw, Bryan Minogue, Carl Schneider (Max Campos); Laurie Bell (Claudiu Aionesei 75), Keenan Newallo (Andrew Stone), Jack Keeling, Ryan Buda; Carlos McCrary (Jesus Miranda 70), Jed Hohlbein (Jade Johnson 35).