NPSL Round-Up: July 1-6

July 6, 2024

|In National Premier Soccer League, NISA Independent Cup

Tuesday:

Siouxland United 3-1 Sioux Falls Thunder

A 43rd minute goal by Lucas Foreman and two from Ben Shields were countered by a goal by Simon Woods for Thunder.

Dakota Fusion 6-1 Minnesota TwinStars

A strong wind blew left to right, in the faces of Fusion, at the backs of TwinStars for the first half. It was a broken opening 10 with multiple TwinStars down and Chigoze Eneje out injured a couple times.

Fusion had three different players shoot on target before Rich Busmeister scored for Fusion in the 18th minute. TwinStars scored direct from the kick-off, wind assisted by Carlos Boquin, over the head of Devine, who was upfield congratulating the goalscorer. Both sides had chances but it was Busmeister who made it 2-1 in the 30th minute, finishing off a passage of close passing down the middle, slotting it calmly past the keeper into the corner.

In the 40th minute, a Fusion corner was recycled and Sho Toda ran in on goal but was tackled by Balakiyem Katanga in the TwinStars goal, leaving both down and the goal empty. Ryosuke Miyata chipped the ball in.

Jino Agbassa made it 4-1 off a neat passage of play just to the right of center, again calmly dispatched. James Narke curled one off the post before Telvin Vah cushioned the ball and slotted it home in the 61st minute from the top of the box to make it 5-1. Will Devine stopped TwinStars at point blank range a few times before the last goal came close to the end, Vah with his second, off a neat interchange.

The result seals the #1 seed for Fusion, and a home playoff game against the #4 team in the North, which was yet to be settled.

Speaking to us after the match about the season to this point, Fusion head coach Alex Trent said:

I’m proud of the way we’ve overcome adversity this season as a group. I think we showed that again in the first half when we bounced back after conceding the goal and the guys stayed together. We have always believed we have the group to do it and continue with a deep postseason run. We’re happy to host in playoffs, but we know our toughest challenges await us.

I asked the coach about the challenge of the NISA Independent Cup match against Vlora on Sunday:

We’re focusing on our away trip at Minnesota Blizzard (on Saturday) now to make sure we finish the regular season well. The staff will make sure we’re prepared for both games and we’ll rely on our deep bench that has stepped up time and again already for us.

TA: Back to back days is brutal even by the standards of this level

Yeah, not ideal at all, but we’re happy to have the opportunity to compete in the NISA Regional Cup and we will field a good team for both days to try to get results in both games.

Minnesota Blizzard 2-5 Joy Athletic

Bennett Kouame opened the scoring but Carter Hermanson equalized for Blizzard. Philip Caputo scored twice to put Joy back on top for good, despite an Ashton Frost goal. Zinedine Kroeten scored a penalty and Caputo finished his first half hat trick. The result, and the TwinStars loss, put Joy in 3rd and moved TwinStars down to 4th, with the two teams meeting on Saturday.

Saturday:

Minnesota Blizzard 0-8 Dakota Fusion

The Blizzard bid farewell to their inaugural season with a hammering by the #1 seed in the Midwest region, Dakota Fusion. They are ranked #7 in the national poll, with that seeding determining who hosts. So stay tuned. In tonight’s match, Richard Busmeisters scored two, Brandon Garcia also got two (one from the penalty spot), Inshun Han, Sho Toda, Alex Benitez and Rysuke Miyata all scored.

Siouxland United 3-2 Duluth FC

Duluth finish the season down to 10 men after the dismissal of their goalkeeper, Zeke Foltz, although the loss essentially does nothing to the standings.

The BlueGreens took the lead through Dylan Sumner but Ben Shields equalized. Liam Pritchard put the away side back ahead before Kenny Hewitt equalized. Following the red card for Foltz, Marcus Horwood scored to make it 3-2.

Minnesota TwinStars 4-2 Joy Athletic Club

A Joy AC win, which was on the cards in this exciting end-to-end game at one point, would have moved Joy into second place and the Outlaws into the #4 seed.

TwinStars goals came from Sadra Golzarian, Abdousalam Akinola and David Diawara twice. Joy’s goalscorer information is pending.

Coming Up:

Wednesday

#1 Dakota Fusion FC v #4 Joy Athletic Club

Fusion beat Joy 4-0 in the regular season version of this match, and remain unbeaten.

#2 Duluth FC v #3 Minnesota TwinStars

The BlueGreens hammered TwinStars in the regular season edition of this match-up, so they will be hoping for a better trip up to the banks of Lake Superior this time around.

Saturday

Top remaining seed hosts the other winner for the Conference Championship.