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Five Things That Mattered – League One, Week 10

By NICHOLAS MURRAY - nicholas.murray@uslsoccer.com, 06/03/19, 4:59PM EDT

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Moon leaves Mingos blue, North Texas produces strong response

The inaugural League One regular season is one-third complete after the past weekend of action, which saw road teams almost come out on top in all five contests. Here are five takeaways from what we learned over the past slate of contests.

FULL MOON: As a Wisconsin native, Saturday night’s trip for Lansing Ignite FC to face Forward Madison FC was always going to have a special meaning to Ignite FC forward Nick Moon. “A lot of my family and friends are still in Wisconsin, so this is huge,” said Moon before the game. “It’s awesome having everyone be there for this kind of deal.” It was somewhat inevitable, then, that Moon provided the only goal of the game as Lansing took a 1-0 win in the first meeting between the two Midwest clubs. With its last victory having arrived on April 13 in its third game of the season it’s been a while since Ignite FC was in the win column, but now Moon and his teammates are sitting above the playoff line on what is officially a five-game undefeated run.

LOOKING FOR ANSWERS: Lansing’s victory left most of another great crowd at Breese Stevens Field of 4,271 fans going home disappointed after Madison dropped its third successive contest. After the excitement that arrived during an undefeated streak that saw FMFC not only push up the League One standings but take a marquee victory on the road against the USL Championship’s El Paso Locomotive in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, the sudden downturn in form has everyone perplexed as the Flamingos sit bottom of the standings. “We’ve got to find a way to win games,” Madison Head Coach Daryl Shore told Madison365.com. “I would say our team is too good to be in the position that we’re at, but in fairness, we’re in last place, so maybe we’re not as good as we think we are.” Madison’s players, led by captain Connor Tobin, were certainly dissatisfied with the state of affairs on social media after the game, and vowed there would be a positive response from the side arriving in short order.

FIRING ON ALL CYLINDERS: If Madison is looking for an example of how to rebound on the road when it heads to face Orlando City B on Wednesday night it could take a look at North Texas SC’s 3-0 victory against the Richmond Kickers on Saturday night at City Stadium. Coming off its first loss of the campaign in midweek against Toronto FC II, NTSC put on another impressive attacking display as United States U-17 international Ricardo Pepi notched his seventh goal in six appearances for the side this season to add to his lead in the race for the League One Golden Boot. With the win, North Texas is the first side to reach 20 goals this season and appears to just be getting warmed up as it opened a three-point lead on South Georgia Tormenta FC with a game in hand at the top of the standings.

HALF FULL, HALF EMPTY: There were certainly positives and negatives for Chattanooga Red Wolves SC after its 2-2 draw with Toronto FC II. On the negative side, the Red Wolves were unable to hold a lead against a visiting side that had already played in midweek and was coming off two days rest. On the positive side, the Red Wolves are still undefeated at home this season thanks to Colin Falvey’s late equalizer and as a result are still right in the middle of the race for the postseason. “This win slipped away,” Chattanooga Head Coach Tim Hankinson told the Chattanooga Times Free Press. “Toronto FC II played Wednesday in a tough match. We should have been the fresher team. We are still undefeated at home, though. I am happy we didn't lose this game, but we have to put games like this away.”

LATE NIGHT SHINE: If you’re looking for entertainment in League One then you should be staying up late on the East coast to check out FC Tucson’s home games. Friday night produced another highly entertaining contest that included four goals, nine shots on goal, two hit crossbars and two Fans’ Choice Goal of the Week contenders, one from either side. Honors ended even between the hosts and Orlando City B as the visitors claimed their first point on the road this season to give them seven points from their last three games. When the Richmond Kickers head west this Saturday night, though, you should make sure you’re tuned into what this season has told us will be something worth watching.


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