Duluth FC vs. Med City FC
Public Schools Stadium | Duluth, MN
June 29th, 2022 | Game #13 Current 2022: Records (W-L-T):
Duluth: 6-0-0; 4-2-0 at home/on the road
Med City: 5-1-1; 5-0-0 at home/on the road
Starting XI: Martin Gryzywa, Sam Thornton, Blake Perry, Keegan Chastey, Domaratskyy, Cian Gantley, Rory Carlson, Andres Solares, Jake Starling, Jessie Juarez, Brendan Dally.
Goals:
14’ Andres Garcia (MCFC)
59’ – Blake Perry (DFC)
The BlueGreens were happy to host the Mayhem of Med City for a rematch and a last-chance effort to move up in the standings. The fellas brought all the energy on a beautiful Duluth night, it began intensely and never let up through the entire duration of the match. Unfortunately, the BlueGreens were unable to finish the job to move ahead of Med-City tonight as the game ends in a 1-1 draw. There is still however a chance if Med-City loses next week with a BlueGreen victory, that they could still steal first place. However, it’s not as important as locking in the playoff spot which has been secured for a while now.
The match started as expected with tons of energy spilling out of both squads, each knew what was on the line and what it would take to outmaneuver the other. You could tell that having fresh legs was crucial as plenty of substitutions were made throughout the match even starting to relieve players in the first half. Both squads were also playing very aggressively as whistles were called constantly, and cards were flying about as teams were ready to do anything to gain possession. Defenses were rock solid throughout the match so many of the penalties were a result of frustration built up by close chances and missed opportunities.
Med City’s defense was like a machine mostly all game, making very few mistakes and communication was well-traveled between teammates. This made penetrating the zone a challenge and getting a good look improbable. This stout defense also helped generate some offense when Matthew Roberts of the Mayhem had a slick interception that turned into a nice pass to Andres Garcia. Their leading goal scorer would take the lob pass, drive past two Duluth defenders, and a low strike beats Dally to put Med City up 1-0. Garcia would also be a little shaken up on the play and had to leave the match entirely after the goal.
Duluth would be able to ramp up their offense a bit getting some nice takeaways and breakaways. The breakaways were however diverted by multiple accounts of miscommunication and rough defense pressure by the Mayhem. In the second half of the match, we really started clicking offensively and it felt eerily similar to the last match. It just seemed that we would begin to get good looks on the net but the shot would either go a bit wide a bit high or the keep would make a fantastic save. This would only build on the frustration of the BlueGreens and we would start receiving our fair share of cards as well. We start to finally have a sense of urgency midway through the second half and we get our best look so far of the night when Gantley chips the ball over the head of the defender. It would heaf straight for Felipe Arteaga who heads it right off the crossbar and almost gets their first of the game.
Not but a minute later, Starling and Arteaga got the offense going with a couple of nice moves and passes back and forth. Arteaga was able to leak the ball out to Blake Perry who makes a little move to the left of the defender and sends in a screeching shot to tie the game at 1-1 in the 59th-minute of the game. The rest of the match was played out with plenty of intensity and even two late chances spearheaded by the always energetic Perry. It would not be enough though and the game ends in a draw. This would keep Duluth still one point behind the Mayhem with one game left in the regular season.
Duluth’s next match will be held back at home next Friday, July 15th against Sioux Falls FC at the Public Schools Stadium at 7 PM.
By: Ryan Tigner
