9:30 pm | Lancaster Municipal Stadium | Lancaster, California | ESPN Select

The Mingos are off to their best start ever through five games, and Alta are scuffling, to say the least. Through six games they’ve got four draws and two losses, and haven’t won a match in their last 10 going back to last season. But obviously nothing in this game is guaranteed.

Alta were off last weekend, so will be well-rested. And the last time they took the field, they came from behind twice to secure a draw against red-hot AC Boise.

They’ve scored just seven goals in those six matches while conceding 11. They do pretty well with the ball, though, with 87.5% passing accuracy and 50% accuracy on long balls, including 82% in the opponent’s half. Madison has proven this year that they can win without the majority of the possession, so those stats may not be much of a factor.

Especially if our guys can keep up their now-becoming-ridiculous ability to score on set pieces.

Jerry Desdunes and Adam Aoumaich are both proven goal scorers, so look for our backline to key on those two especially. And Denzil Smith is still a very good keeper. Miguel Ibarra is not nearly the player he was in Charlotte, and several other guys with names you’ll recognize — Osvolado Lay, Jimmie Villalobos, Maboumou Alassane — haven’t found their footing yet in 2026.

None of them can be taken for granted, however.

To bring all three points home, we will have to clog up the midfield, possibly with Derek Gebhard again playing deeper and centrally, as he did against Sarasota last week. The backline will have to shore itself up against the quick strikes and keep the ball in front of them — Alta has only scored once from outside the box this season. But above all, our strikers must find some composure, precision and killer instinct in the final third. I’ll take a 1-0 win on a goal from a corner, of course, but that can’t sustain us for the season. We were told this lineup was built to produce goals, and it’s time to produce goals, especially against a team that’s giving up almost two on average every game.

While you wait for kickoff, have a listen to this week’s podcast, if you haven’t already.

Another week, another WIN for your Mingos, who are off to their best USL League One start ever. Two goals from set pieces and one from individual brilliance get the boys a 3-1 win over Sarasota. Today, Rob and Ethan talk through some lineup tinkering, some good fortune, some bad goalkeeping and lots more. Then Derek "Mr. Mingo" Gebhard drops by to talk about that match, the season so far, stepping into the 'uncle' role ... and some big Gebhard news! And in stoppage time, a new partnership that'll bring you just what you've been looking for: more soccer content!

Listen above or on your favorite podcast app!

Ethan and I have been talking about a couple programming things for the season, namely:

With those questions in mind, take a minute and fill out the two-question survey at this link.

The 608 Soccer Show and newsletter are and always will be free for Wisconsin's soccer fans. But it's not free for us to make! We pay for monthly subscriptions for our production software and streaming services to watch matches (and rewatch, and watch frame-by-frame to forensically analyze referees' mistakes). We also pay for marketing materials to get the word out to more Forward Madison and Rally Madison weirdos like us. It's not a lot, but it's not nothing. This is a labor of love, not a profit-making venture, and any support we can get from the Madison soccer community will just help us make the experience of reading and listening to 608 Soccer better for all of us!

Shout-out to Chris M, Matthew K, Joseph R and Matthew B for chipping in this season so far!

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We’re partnering with Xtra Time Talent (you guys remember my former co-host Coach Alex?? That’s his thing) and Total Soccer Wisconsin to bring you the Best XII for every week of the Wisconsin high school girls' soccer season.

Arrowhead midfielder Amara Leppla headlines the XTT Best X11 for week five of the girls high school soccer season, covering games from April 26 to May 2.

The Eastern Illinois commit scored eight goals with three assists in four appearances this week. She scored two and assisted two against previously undefeated conference rival Waukesha West. In the tournament at TBK in Bettendorf, Iowa, Leppla scored a hat trick against Dunlap (IL), scored both goals in a 2-1 win over Springfield (IL), and scored another goal and notched another assist in a 2-1 win over St. Viator (IL).’

The rest of this week’s Best X11 are:

Week 5 // April 26 – May 2