Following the Duluth FC Bluegreens’ 2-1 victory over Dakota Fusion FC in their final regular-season match, the two teams met for the third time in the North Conference Semifinal.
The Fusion started with the first possession of the match, but it didn’t take long for the Bluegreens to reverse the field with João Magalhães sprinting downfield against two Fusion defenders, one called for a foul that set up a free kick. On the free kick, Akim Soulemana set up Seth Davidson to jump in for a header just out of reach of goalkeeper Callum Smith, giving the Bluegreens an early 1-0 lead in the fourth minute.
Dakota Fusion FC tried to answer back soon after with multiple passes that eventually found the foot of James Owen just past midfield, who sent a soft-touched through pass to Charly Wilkening, but goalkeeper Augustin Warnod met him at the top of the box for his first save of the match.
In the 17th minute, the Fusion had their own free kick from just outside the box taken by Wilkening, whose shot was untouched into the back of the net to tie it up at 1-1.
The next 10 minutes were a very back-and-forth affair as neither team was able to find good chances until a through ball found Wilkening atop the box as he weaved through traffic trying to find Owen before Joe Wilson deflected his pass away.
In the 30th minute, the Bluegreens earned back-to-back corner kicks, the first being taken by Magalhaes and just touched to Kanjay Vertil-Dorelus before they decided to reset their offense. On the second, Soulemana sent it through to Magahlaes at the top of the box, but his shot went high, leaving the match tied.
Five minutes later, the Fusion earned their own corner kick after a Bluegreen deflection in traffic. Owen lined up for the corner, sending it over the top of the defense to Noah Naus, whose header hit the top crossbar and was eventually sent away.
On a through ball for the Fusion Naus timed the pass out perfectly, getting just ahead of the Bluegreens backline, forcing Warnod off his line to send the ball away at the same time Naus attempted his shot, leaving the two to collide. Naus left the pitch right after as Thomas Hawton came in for the injured Fusion player in the 42nd minute.
“Again, I think we played slow in the first half,” Duluth FC head coach William Maanstroem said. “We came out with a plan to test things to see what would work because they like to change things up so we didn’t know what to anticipate.”
As the first half went into extra time, the Bluegreens had a nice run into their third that eventually found Soulemana on the left side before he touched a pass to Matheus Gomes for a shot taken from far outside the box that Smith saved.
To begin the second half, the Bluegreens got right on the attack, getting deep into the zone before it was taken away by Riku Motumora. However, his pass to a Fusion teammate was defended well by Soulemana, forcing a loose ball picked up by Vertil-Dorelus, who sent a lob over the top to Davidson. Then Davidson controlled it in the box to beat his defender for the lead goal.
“Super proud of them, and I’m super glad with the way we played and that has to fall into Saturday because we want to go all the way,” Davidson said.
In the 55th minute, the Bluegreens’ Gomes worked through the Fusion defense to find Magahleas with a through ball on the right side of the box for a shot that Smith saved. The ensuing goal kick was stolen by Wilson for a quick shot that missed wide right.
In the 63rd minute, following a Fusion turnover by Takuto Yamaguchi, he slid into Pol Saiz and was called for a yellow card that was soon elevated to a red card.
The Bluegreens were in control of possession, finding a good opportunity in the 72nd minute as a Soulemana run up the left side was passed back to Gomes for a shot outside the box that was saved by the fingertips of Smith to keep it a one-goal game.
That wouldn’t last long after a Fusion turnover in the 77th minute was picked up by Pol Saiz. Saiz dribbled across the defense to set up a sprinting Soulemana on the left side, and his shot went across the goalkeeper to make it 3-1.
The Bluegreens would continue to hold possession as the clock dwindled, but once the Fusion gained possession in the 88th minute on a run started by Owen, who reset the possession on a pass to Kazuya Fukumara. Then Fukumara sent a through ball to Wilkening, who finished the shot to bring it back to a one-goal game.
Again, the Bluegreens posted a goal on the board in less than a minute to answer Dakota Fusion FC as Soulemana worked near the left baseline before splitting his defenders for a quick pass to Sam Carles right in front of the net to make it 4-2 and give Duluth the win.
Duluth FC will now head to Sioux City on Saturday to face Siouxland United FC in the North Conference Final after they picked up a 4-1 win over Minnesota Blizzard FC on Wednesday.
“Two 0-0 ties to them previously so we have to put the ball in the net,” said Davidson about the upcoming match. “Our defense has been holding it together against them, but we’re going to have to figure out ways to score.”
