A 10-man Duluth FC gave hosts Forward Madison a scrappy test for more than 70 minutes, but the pros proved too much in the end, scoring four goals in the final 16 minutes — three on assists by Devin Boyce — to post a 5-1 win on a chilly night at Breese Stevens Field.
The Mingos held the bulk of the possession as the visitors were content to sit deep and look for counters.
The visitors made a difficult task even harder in the 35th minute, with Aleksandar Mihov was sent off for a strike to the face of Nico Brown.
“They were sitting in a really low block and tough to break down,” Madison head coach Matt Glaeser said after the match. “The red card changes the game a little bit, but it didn’t really change a lot of what they were doing. They just had one less guy, which helps us, obviously.”
Wingback Ferrety Sousa opened the scoring four minutes later, with a dribbler from the top of the box that found its way through traffic — his first-ever goal for the Mingos in his second season with the club. That gave Forward Madison a 1-0 lead at half time.
“Happy that I got my first goal out of the way, got the weight off my shoulders, and he just kind of opened up my account there,” Sousa said.
Duluth leveled the scoreline against the run of play in the 64th when Forward Madison defender Jacob Crull misplayed a long ball forward off of his head into the path of Duluth’s Dylan Sumner. Madison goalkeeper Wallis Lapsley was up to the task for Sumner’s shot, but Mario Fernandez slotted the rebound home to tie the match at 1-1.
It was all Madison after that.
Two substitutes — midfielder Boyce, who didn’t play in Madison’s league opener last weekend due to injury, and wingback Eddie Munjoma, who came on for Sousa — combined on the goal that would ultimately prove the game winner, with Boyce tapping a cutback for Munjoma to guide into the far corner from about 12 yards out in the 73rd minute.
Juan Galindrez opened his 2025 account in the 86th minute with a stunning left-footed strike on the half-volley on a long ball over the top from Boyce.
Boyce’s third assist came three minutes into stoppage time, again chipping a long ball over the defense from the center stripe, this time into the run of fellow substitute John Murphy, Jr, who chipped it over Duluth keeper Adam Braman.
Starting the season injured “left me hungry to get back on the pitch with the guys,” Boyce said. “Obviously, when you’re left at home and the guys are opening up the season, it’s disappointing. I’ve been foaming at the mouth to get out there and play with the boys. It was a great feeling just to be out again and get back on the pitch.”
Galindrez sealed the deal three minutes later, first taking a long ball in behind and getting upended by Braman, earning a penalty. Galindrez took the shot from the spot, which Braman saved, only to see Galindrez casually tap in the rebound to give Forward Madison a fifth goal for the first time in club history.
“I was really pleased with the result, with the response after conceding,” Glaeser said. “In those moments, you have to be resilient. And I thought the guys did a nice job. And obviously the substitutions made an enormous impact on the game.”
Glaeser, who made a penalty shootout save to send the Fort Lauderdale Strikers through to the Third Round of the 2013 edition of the US Open Cup added his appreciation for the Cup matches.
“It’s why we do it. It’s so the little guys can have their day as well,” he said. “At some point, depending on who we get next, we’re going to be the little guy too.”
Sousa, who knows something about this tournament in making the final with Sacramento Republic in 2022, added that the Cup is “the most prestigious competition.
“It’s a very big platform for players in the lower leagues to show their talent,” he said. “I take this competition very seriously.”