NPSL National Semifinals: El Farolito 3-0 Duluth FC
Duluth FC finished the regular season as the 33rd ranked team by points-per-game, the metric used to determine hosting priority for the playoffs. It is eerily similar to the last time they made this stage. Their odyssey has so far taken them on a 500 mile round trip to Fargo and back for the Conference Championship, a 830 mile round trip to Des Moines for the Regional Semifinal and now a 4000 mile round trip to San Francisco for the National Semifinal against #5 El Farolito . The hosts made their debut at this stage of the tournament, having fallen in the regional championship each of the past two seasons.
After strong Farolito possession to open the match, the best chance for either side came on a Duluth counter in the fourth minute, but the ball across the box bobbled into the hands of the keeper Johan Lizarralde. An El Farolito corner in the 7th minute was followed quickly by Jonatan Valdivia blasting one in, on the run into the penalty area. The hosts continued to dominate possession but Duluth FC threatened from a left wing free kick, which became a corner. The ball swung just over, cleared by a defender. Corner #2 goes out for a third but they could not bump the ball over the line.
As the half wore on, the BlueGreens began to funnel the ball into Liam Pritchard’s right channel.
Gabriel Arias made it 2-0 in the 31st minute, finishing from outside the box from a Kipre Sacre pass.
The visitors had a late flurry of chances in the first half. First, Jireh Oyebamji with a chance for Duluth, snuffed out by the keeper in the 41st minute. Two minutes later, Jesus Martinez made a strong slide challenge on a streaking Liam Pritchard in the box. No call. Finally, in stoppage time, Pritchard was denied by Lizarralde at point blank range, sliding out to meet him in the box.
The second half was almost entirely a tale of El Farolito squandering good chances. Eric Arias missed an open goal, and there was a corner headed well over before Duluth FC were required to defend – and Jamie Colvill made a flying save of Edgard Kreye’s point-blank header. Kreye and Arias were joined by Valdivia in placing a chance wide but the closest that Duluth came before the hour mark was a Duluth throw-in, which forced a save. Liam Pritchard, so dangerous against Steel City last weekend, drove a chance too high in the 62nd minute. It marked a short spell of BlueGreen ball control, with two corners in four minutes – the second of which was driven right under the crossbar, forcing Lizarralde to punch it out. Shortly after, attacking substitute Tyler Limmer squared the ball but it was stopped by the keeper. The pattern of El Farolito misses continued as substitute Carlos Rodriguez did so twice in two minutes, first with a diving header from a Valdivia cross and then with his foot.
Somehow, the chances kept coming (and going) for El Farolito, with Jhohann Yabur and Valdivia both stopped by the BlueGreen defense. It took until virtually the last kick of the game for the hosts to score their first of the second half, Rodriguez finally finishing a chance.
Midnight struck like the hammer of a grandfather clock on the dreams of Lake Superior’s Cinderella as the 5330 mile odyssey of the BlueGreens came to an end. That also marks the end of another eventful season of NPSL coverage for you on Northern Lights Football, as El Farolito conclude their season with a mammoth 2888 mile trip out to Madison, New Jersey.
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