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 The Madison 56ers geared up for two big matches with a friendly against the Madison Latino League All-Stars on Friday night.
UW-Milwaukee's Cody Banks (Madison Memorial) and Jed Hohlbein (Middleton/UW) scored first-half goals as the 56ers won 2-1 in front of a nice crowd on a cool evening at Breese Stevens Field.
"It was a good time, nice atmosphere," 56ers coach Jim Launder said. "They had a good squad out there, we had to play to win. ... It wasn't a great performance, but it was a good way to tune up for what we've got coming up."
The 56ers (4-1-2) play the Quad City Eagles in a vital National Premier Soccer League Midwest Division match Sunday afternoon in Moline, Ill., then play Chicago's AAC Eagles in the first round of the U.S. Open Cup on Tuesday night at Breese Stevens.
While Banks limped off the field with a sore knee and UW-Green Bay midfielder Luke Goodnetter (Brookfield East) was out with a pulled hamstring suffered during the week, Launder finally got some good news on his team's central defenders.
Sean Ronnekleiv-Kelly, an All-NPSL Midwest selection last year, and UW's Arnel Zahirovic played 45 minutes apiece in their season debuts for Madison. Ronnekleiv-Kelly has been out with a groin injury, while Zahirovic was sidelined because of a knee condition.
"We had a double center back recovery," said Launder, whose team has been without five injured central defenders for the first month of the season.
Ronnekleiv-Kelly and Zahirovic are expected to see action against Quad City on Sunday, when Launder anticipates using a mixture of starters and reserves. Banks, Hohlbein, Marquette forward Adam Lysak (Milton), defender Aaron Nichols (UW) and UW goalkeeper Max Jentsch (Hartland Arrowhead) aren't likely to play.
UW-Platteville's Jared Kuehl (Oregon/MATC), added to the roster this week with Kyle Dillman (Madison La Follette) and UW-Parkside's Ryan Onwukwe out with finger injuries, will start in goal Sunday.
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