NPSL Midwest Playoffs: Conference Finals Review
For more on the results that got us here, click here
The rankings featured are the national points-per-game ranking. All Conference Finals are hosted by the higher seed. The NPSL has decided that the Conference Champion title will belong to whoever wins these matches. Amid those we surveyed, the move was unpopular.
Who is the winner of the Conference, in your opinion?
— Northern Lights Football (@Lights_Football) June 29, 2023
North
#1 Duluth FC 1-2 #28 Med City FC at Public Schools Stadium, Duluth, MN.
A shocking game to end an unbeaten season. The BlueGreens were held scoreless until the third minute of first half stoppage time when Felipe Santos tapped home from close range. Duluth were reduced to ten men as Dylan Zavatini was sent off for a second yellow card in the sixty-fifth minute. Med City equalized in the seventieth minute as Andres Solares committed a foul in the penalty area. The PK from Tristan Jumeau hit Zeke Foltz in the Duluth goal and crept into the goal. In the eighty-sixth minute, Duluth were down to nine men after a late tackle by Solares sent Lucas Hart up in the air. Med City head coach Neil Cassidy received a red card in the one-hundred and tenth minute for abusive language.
Ricardo Schroeder scored the winner in the one-hundred and fifteenth minute, tapping home from a Scott Neil cross from the right. Ignominiously, the hosts were eventually reduced to seven men as Colin O’Mahony was given a second yellow card and Kostya Domaratskyy a straight red (for abusive language) in stoppage time at the end of the game. Cassidy’s red card could end up being the costliest, as it would mean his absence from the Regional Semifinal against Steel City FC.
Gateway
#10 Des Moines United 2-1 (AET) #35 FC Milwaukee Torrent at MidAmerican Energy Company RecPlex, West Des Moines, IA
In the thirty-first minute, Torrent took the lead as Kyle Crain dribbled through the United defense and slotted it home. The equalizer came in the sixty-fifth minute as a deep cross from the right was met on the volley by Jayce Berger. The winner came in the one-hundred and nineteenth minute, as a deflection took the ball in the opposite direction than a despairing Nick Chiappa’s dive.
Great Lakes
#4 Steel City FC 2-0 #36 Cleveland SC at Founders Field in Cheswick, PA.
Steel City took the lead in the thirty-seventh minute after a series of overlaps finished with a short pass into the six yard box where it was finished with aplomb by Gabe Norris. A free kick from the left was nodded home in the eightieth minute by Ryan Landry to settle the game.
Heartland
#16 Tulsa Athletic 2-1 #22 OKC 1889 at Rogers State University, Claremore, OK.
After a goal-less first half, it only took Tulsa take two minutes to break the deadlock, Luis Flores flicking the ball home at the near post after a pin-point drive free kick from the left. In the forty-ninth minute, OKC levelled the game through a blast from Nickell Alexander. Athletic took a quick free kick in the seventy-fourth minute and the cross was deflected home by Flores, with OKC out of shape.
Coming Up
The four Conference winners now move onto the Midwest Regional Semi-Finals, which will take place in Indianola, IA (One of the homes of Des Moines United) on Friday. Those matches will be:
Steel City FC v Med City FC and Des Moines United v Tulsa Athletic.
The Regional Final will then follow on Saturday at the same site.
Stay tuned for coverage of the regionals.