In a league with 30 regular season games, every game is crucial for a team in USL League One to make the playoffs and compete for a championship. But, as time passes and rivalries develop, certain games come to mean more than others over the course of the season.
That was the case at Breese Stevens field on Saturday when the Richmond Kickers came to Madison to take on the Forward Madison Flamingos. In a game that has been aptly dubbed the “Henny Derby,” both teams compete over the course of their three matchups during the season for the most important trophy of the season — a bottle of Hennessy.
The rivalry began during the 2019 season between two supporters, Elliot Barr for the Kickers and Kyle Carr for the ‘Mingos — who wagered a bottle of Hennessy for the winning side. Now, five years later and 17 matchups in, the rivalry is still as intense as it is friendly.
“[The game] was stressful,” Carr said.
“Let’s be real about it,” Barr said. “It wasn’t stressful. It was like watching two under-10 teams play each other.”
In Saturday’s matchup, Kyle came out on top, albeit by the skin of his teeth — or the paper of his Hennessy trophy pictured below — thanks to a 93rd minute backheel goal from substitute right winger Ferrety “Papo” Sousa.
Fellow substitute Devin Boyce fired a shot from near the penalty spot that bounced into the ground right in front of Sousa. Papo turned and flicked the ball with his right foot right over the arms of Richmond goalie James Sneddon who had two clean sheets in his previous two matches, and into the back of the net.
“That was all instinct down there,” Sousa said postgame “Just trying to be in the right place at the right time.”
The goal came at a crucial time for Sousa who only came on as a substitute in the 88th minute and scored his first goal of the season.
“At my age, to try and get a goal late here gives hope to all the young guys to keep pushing,” Sousa said. “I just try to lead by example. We go through ups and downs, and if a senior guy like myself can keep good composure, hopefully it just trickles down.”
The goal came as a lifeline for Forward’s season, with the win over Richmond putting them only four points outside of a playoff spot. In a repeat of last season’s format, the top eight teams make the playoffs, but as the league has expanded to 14 teams, up from 12 last season, the difficulty to make the top eight has increased dramatically.
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With only six games remaining in the season, five of which are away, Madison has their work cut out for them to try and repeat the success of their playoff semifinal from last season. But, the ‘Mingos have the benefit of facing the Greenville Triumph, Westchester SC and Richmond again, all three teams who are currently below Madison in the standings.
The other three teams the ‘Mingos have left to face are the Portland Hearts of Pine, the Chattanooga Red Wolves and Union Omaha.
The toughest matchup should prove to be against Chattanooga, who currently sit top of the table by three points. Luckily for the ‘Mingos, that game will be the final regular season home game Oct. 11.
“We don’t get to choose everything that happens with the schedule — we’re gonna take it in stride,” head coach Matt Glaeser said. “Sometimes the best feeling is to do it [win] when no one expects you to. I think anything can happen.”