At some point on my drive to Madison, Wisconsin, it started raining so hard the only things I could rely upon to safely drive forward were the emergency lights on the back of the car in front of me. I didn’t dare look left or right or behind, I simply stared straight ahead.

It was already silly enough for me to make the 2-hour journey from the suburbs of Chicago, especially according to my dad. I’ve got no connection to the city’s soccer team, Forward Madison, and I shouldn’t have any reason to check out their opposition, FC Naples. Having to go through these conditions only made things seem stranger.

However, there was a purpose to the madness. I had some old friends to see.

On April 11th, 2023, amateur outfit Chicago House AC pulled off one of the shocks of that year’s Open Cup, defeating USL side Forward Madison. Not only was the result stunning, but the way it came to be was even more asinine, with the underdogs overcoming a 2-0 deficit in the final 15 minutes to force overtime, and then winning it in the extra periods.

Their coach on that day was Matt Poland. Two years and four months later Poland returned, this time with the aforementioned Naples. He wasn’t alone, as his goalkeeper Tony Halterman was also back, even if was on the bench this time around.

There was one more House man involved for the Floridians, although he didn’t feature in that dream cup contest. Instead, he was a presence for them during their time in NISA. Ian Cerro was a star player for Chicago during their single season as a professional organization, a time when Poland was an assistant.

When the club dropped down a level, he bounced around the lower leagues of American soccer. The attacker couldn’t find a real home. When Poland got the Naples job, he called his old player soon after, and a deal was made.

This was a point of personal pride for myself, as I had interviewed both of them during their time in Chicago, and then when both ended up in Florida. I knew back then how talented they each were, so to see them earn the chance they deserved brought a smile to my face.

The only issue is that Naples is very far from Chicago, so a quick trip was out of the question. However, they entered the same USL division as Forward Madison. That’s much closer.

The drive ultimately went smoothly, and the biggest challenge was finding an open parking spot in the side streets near the stadium. Breese Stevens Field is an excellent venue, to be fair, and having it sit right in the middle of the city makes the visit a unique one.

In terms of the game on the field, it was a strange one.

Neither team created a clear-cut chance in the opening stages, but there was a good pace to proceedings. The ball flew up and down the field, with both teams pushing forward whenever possible.

The Forward Madison faithful started making bird noises when their side had to defend a corner. I’ve seen some stuff in the lower levels of American soccer, but that is a new one.

Things slowed up midway through the half, but the action did pick up a bit near the end. Madison forward Lucca Dourado would’ve had a simple finish from close range, but a sliding challenge from a defender blocked his effort away. The hosts had an even bigger chance when an errant backpass went right to Aiden Mesias. However, he fluffed his lines and hit the post.

(What was comical was the sideline official initially put his flag up for offside despite it being a backpass, and he kept up the flag too. Fortunately the main referee did see what happened, so he overruled his assistant to award a corner.)

Halftime saw a lovely announcement take place, with Madison confirming an upcoming team in the USL W.

Naples had their cleanest look at the start of the second half. Some nice ball movement opened up space in the box, but it was closed down quickly and the resulting shot was denied.

Unfortunately, that proved to be the final highlight of the night. It wasn’t necessarily the worst game ever, but the match fell into an unremarkable pattern. Each team kept bodies back. That meant that any potential counterattack was met by a number of players.

The ball seemed to just bounce around midfield. Madison pushed forward more in search of a winner, but they kept letting themselves with a bad touch or an overhit pass. Naples’ best moments came via forward Karsen Henderlong, who had a solid showing.

A half-hour passed, some interesting refereeing decisions were called, and in the end the scoreline never changed. The two teams had to settle for a 0-0 draw, which wasn’t a woeful result for either, but the hosts would’ve really preferred to steal one late on.

That wrapped up the on-field action, and now was time to handle my post-match obligations. I was in a tricky spot, as I was never able to confirm with Madison that I’d be able to chat with the Naples coach and players. The instructions I got at full-time were to walk over to the press conference area for the interview with Madison’s coach.

During my attempt to walk over, I was stopped by none other than Peter Wilt. It wasn’t too surprising to see him there, since he’s the managing partner, president, and CEO of Chicago House, and that he lives somewhere in Wisconsin. During our conversation, security started closing off a path, and I nearly got stuck in the middle.

That pathway is ultimately what saved me. While it prevented me from getting to the official press box, it set up a place for me to wait for anyone I wanted to speak to, including my friends at Naples.

Up first was Tony Halterman. Admittedly, when I first arrived at the stadium I had forgotten he was on their roster, and I wasn’t sure if he’d even recognize me. I immediately felt terrible about that when he walked up to me like I was a family member. The goalkeeper is loving life in Florida, not only serving as the team’s reserve goalkeeper but also as a pseudo-coach. There was even a modeling project for the jersey release early on.

His experience has made him a valuable locker room presence, while also able to fill in if need be in goal. Halterman explained that he’s working his way through the coaching ladder too, even if that process has been complicated due to capitalism and stupidly-high registration fees. He’ll get there eventually.

Next was Ian Cerro, who spent time catching up with some old friends of his own, like Nazeem Bartman. He greeted me like I was one of them, and thankfully I realized I might as well get my voice memos app out and recorded somewhat of a proper interview.

“I feel good, happy. We're doing pretty well on the season. Fortunately we got a draw, and we've been on a good undefeated run, so we’re trying to finish out the last part of the season,” said Cerro, who recognized how tough a game like this was. “It's a mental battle, especially when things don't go your way. It's about staying sharp mentally and working hard because you never know, the ball might land in front of your feet and you might be able to put it away. Today was a game of grit and fight.”

It was somewhat of a homecoming for the attacker, as he used to play for the Milwaukee Torrent. “It's nice to see the people again, the people here are great. The whole Midwest, I love it. I love the smell of the cheese curds, you know?” I knew exactly what he was talking about since I got some cheese curds myself during the contest. They were good, but I also spent $17 on those and one single hot dog, which is wild.

In due time Matt Poland made the walk over, and it was only fitting that this is when it started to pour down rain. The coach has seen some strange conditions during his time in the lower leagues. This was tame compared to those moments, but it made a nice backdrop for our conversation.

“I’m happy the rain held off until after the game.”

Since he is a professional coach we had to start things off by actually talking about the match, of course. “Anytime you take a point on the road, it's valuable. It was a weird game. I felt we had some moments we didn't capitalize on, maybe got bailed out the other way. All in all, it's probably a pretty fair result,” said Poland. “It's hard to score here, right? They have great fans, they have a great atmosphere, they defend well at home, so we knew it was going to be a challenge. Getting a shutout, we haven't had one in a while, that was a successful part of the night.”

It was only a matter of time before nostalgia kicked in. “Man, I've been to this field so many times, as a fan throughout the years, I'm watching games here. It's always nice to come back here. There’s a lot of good memories here, so the stadium will always have a special place in my heart for what it did for my career and the experience that I was able to have with my guys at the House, making a memory like that,” said Poland.” “It was fun to come back and think about it for a second.”

These moments are critical for anyone in life. There’s always such a focus on the present and the future that it becomes difficult to sit back and not only remember the past, but celebrate the road it put you on.

“It’s definitely something that makes me self-reflect and appreciate the moments that have happened in the past,” said Poland. “Again, the coaching world is so much about what's next, what's next, what's next, in terms of games and seasons and all that. It's always good to be able to take a moment and appreciate the important milestones along the way.”

Throughout my years covering the manager, I often asked him about his matchday outfits and the planning that went into them. Knowing his Floridian connections and his general look, I always got especially hyped when he ditched the classic dark pants for brighter jeans. He remembered this. “It's incredible to have you come around. I wore lighter pants on purpose for that so that you could comment on it. I got you, baby,” said Poland.

It was at that moment that my drive through the storm was cemented as absolutely worth it.

- Adnan Bašić