The 2026 National Premier Soccer League season opened under cloudy skies at Marv Heikkinen Field – Walt Hunting Stadium as the Duluth FC BlueGreens battled Siouxland United FC to a scoreless draw in head coach William Maanstroem’s debut on Saturday night.

Coming off a 2025 campaign that saw Duluth crowned North Division champions, the BlueGreens immediately looked to establish a physical presence against the defending Midwest North Conference Tournament champions. 

The match’s first major chance arrived in the 18th minute when forward Seth Davidson earned a penalty kick opportunity for Duluth, but the attempt was denied by Siouxland United’s goalkeeper Andre Ferreira.

Duluth continued to push forward throughout the opening half. In the 25th minute, defender Pol Saiz received the BlueGreens’ first yellow card of the season. Siouxland United’s ensuing free kick, by Shion Inagaki, was cleared away by a crowd of Duluth defenders.

The BlueGreens nearly found the breakthrough moments later, following a strong setup out of a corner kick by Akim Soulemana. Davidson rose above the defense for a header that rattled off the crossbar before Nathan Porter’s follow-up attempt was blocked by an Outlaws defender, resulting in a handball. Duluth, however, did not take advantage of the free kick opportunity. 

Siouxland United began to settle into the match midway through the half. As they generated another dangerous opportunity led by Keitumetse Mphomane, working the ball into the Duluth box before finding Diego Mendez, whose shot was saved by Warnod.

The Outlaws controlled much of the late first-half possession, but Duluth’s backline held firm. Siouxland United defender Diogo Pereira exited the match injured late in the half following a collision involving Davidson as the teams entered halftime deadlocked at 0-0.

“I think what we struggled to do in the first half was take control and drive the moments,” said Head Coach William Maanstroem before adding. “It ended up being an open game, which was probably fun for everyone who came and watched, but I would’ve liked to see a little more control out of us.” 

The second half opened with more attacking pressure from Duluth. In the 48th minute, Soulemana found Roy Nzawa with space to the right side of the box, but the shot was deflected away for a corner. Duluth earned consecutive corner kicks during the sequence but could not break the ice. 

After much Duluth control, Siouxland United’s strongest opportunity came in the 62nd minute when Jin Yamamoto delivered a cross to Koki Ogawa, whose header drifted wide.

Davidson remained a constant threat to the Outlaws’ backline throughout the night, in the 68th minute, he found an opening in the box off another pass from Soulemana, but his shot was blocked by defender Abdul Abdalla.

Duluth’s closest opportunity of the second half came in the 75th minute. Off a corner kick, Davidson redirected a header toward the left side of the net, but Ferreira made a fully extended save with his right hand to preserve the tie.

Just one minute later, Siouxland United believed it had taken the lead when Taiji Ikegami blasted a shot past Warnod, but the referees decided to wave off the goal due to an offside call. 

The Outlaws earned their first corner kick of the night in the 84th minute as Kyohei Eguchi delivered a ball into the box that found Abdalla for a header. Warnod managed to deflect the attempt before recovering to secure the rebound and keep the clean sheet intact.

Duluth made one final push in stoppage time as Porter delivered back-to-back dangerous crossers into the Outlaws’ box. Ferreira came off his line to collect both chances amid heavy pressure from BlueGreens attackers.

Despite multiple scoring opportunities on both sides, neither team could find the breakthrough as Duluth FC and Siouxland United FC settled for a hard-fought 0-0 draw to open the NPSL season.

“This is the first 90 minutes they have ever played with each other,” said Maanstroem before praising his team’s performance.”To come out here and play nil-nil against the conference champions from last year, that’s a good show of where we are so far.” 

Full schedule and ticket information can be found at duluthfc.com.

Final Score: Duluth FC 0 – 0 Siouxland United FC