USL 2 Spotlight: St Croix Legends vs Rochester FC
USL League Two Spotlight: St Croix Legends 1-3 Rochester FC
In a fight between the top side in the Deep North, and the bottom side, it was the Loons who emerged with all three points – aided by an amazing sequence at the end of the first half where Nathan Donovan was shown a red card for the Legends and almost immediately, Rochester attacked and scored through Jake Parish off the half volley, going on to add a second through Preston McKay in first half stoppage time and a third in the 81st minute by Warren Moss before the Legends spoiled the clean sheet in the 90th minute through Cole Schrage.
Following this game, Rochester FC has beaten St. Croix twice this season. Those matches are RFC’s only wins and St Croix’s only losses.
Check out Ben VanWyk’s photo gallery.
WPSL Spotlight: St Croix Legacy v Mankato United
WPSL Spotlight: St Croix Legacy 1-0 Mankato United
Against the run of play, St Croix Legacy won a narrow victory, with a goal from Laney Murdzek. Enjoy Ben VanWyk’s photos.
UPSL Men's Spotlight: Midwest West Playoff Semi-Finals
With the regular season in the books, the top four teams from the Midwest West conference of UPSL men’s premier division fought it out for the one spot in the national bracket.
Minneapolis City SC 2-4 18×26 Academy
The #1 seed bowed out in the first round, with Awes A Qasim, Jabril M Mohamud, Abdirahman Shariff Hassan and Assem S Elsayad all scoring for 18×26. Mitchel Munzing and Carter Hermanson scored for the Rookery.
St Croix Legends II 2-3 St Paul Blackhawks
Continuing with the theme of road upsets, the #3 seeded Blackhawks made the short trip East and came away with a win. Caspar A Olseth, Samuel C Hoyt and Liam K Hafenbrack had the goals for the ‘hawks, whose progress was no doubt aided by St Croix finishing the game with 9 men (Perry Blay and Agostino Quadrio Curzio both got second yellow cards)
Asher B Ozuzu had the Legends’ goals.
UPSL Women's Gallery: June 23 2024
UPSL Women's Gallery
This week we have photos from Northern Tide’s 3-2 win over Minnesota TwinStars and Minnesota Aurora 2’s 7-0 demolition of St Croix Legacy II.
WPSL Wrap-Up: Week 7
With so much action in the league this week, we spotlighted Salvo's comprehensive victory over Manitou. The other results are as follows:
Tuesday
St Croix Legacy 3-2 Rochester United
Lexi Huber (from Kallianne Mogler) and then Lainey Murdzek (from Avery Murdzek) put Legacy ahead 2-0 within the opening half-hour. Sydney Tucker got a double (both unassisted, in the 62nd and 69th minutes) to tie the match but Lainey Murdzek popped up in the 85th minute (this time from Claire Cater) to steal the three points for the hosts.
Wednesday
Mankato United 2-1 Joy Athletic Club
Goals from Ella Huettl and Jadyn Chee for the hosts carried United past their visitors' late goal from Ashley Bennett.
MapleBrook Fury 1-6 Minnesota Thunder
Kendall Stadden's tally for the hosts was met with thunderous intent with goals by Grace Estby, Caroline Bailey, Paige Kalal, Izzy Engle and Paige Peltier.
Friday
Dakota Fusion 0-5 Sioux Falls City
Sioux Falls City kept pace with Salvo, with an explosion of scoring from Katharina Oelschlager - three goals in seven minutes (although one was probably an own goal) providing the dagger. Oelschlager is credited with four goals overall from the game and Yui Fujii opened the scoring, after an opening 30 minutes where they had repeatedly failed to connect on final passes but had otherwise knocked on the door.
Saturday
Manitou FC 1-3 Joy AC
The basement battle went the way of the team from St Louis Park. Brooke Quam put Joy ahead, before Tatum Trettel equalized. Brooke Nast and Ashley Bennett made sure of the points.
MapleBrook Fury 2-1 St Croix Legacy
Sunday
Minnesota Thunder 7-0 Dakota Fusion
Izzy Engle scored a hat trick, Grace Estby picked up two and Paige Peltier and Caroline Bailey scored single goals.
Sioux Falls City 5-0 Mankato United
Hailee Christensen with two, Katharina Oelschlager, Yui Fujii and Mia Bosch kept Sioux Falls in the hunt for the playoff spot.
Rochester United 0-6 Salvo
Khyah Harper scored a hat trick, Sophia Baresteh got two and Katelyn Buelke scored as the team from the Twin Cities lined up a potential playoff decider on Friday in Sioux Falls.
Coming Up:
Wednesday
St Croix Legacy v Mankato United
Minnesota Thunder v Rochester United
Friday
Dakota Fusion v Joy Athletic Club
Sioux Falls City v Salvo SC
Saturday
Mankato United v Manitou FC
Sunday
Dakota Fusion v Rochester United
Joy Athletic Club v MapleBrook Fury
St Croix Legacy v Sioux Falls City
Sunday July 7th:
MapleBrook Fury v Dakota Fusion
NPSL Round-Up: 16-22 June 2024
Tuesday:
Joy Athletic Club 2-1* Minnesota TwinStars
This back and forth match was brought to a halt in the 48th minute by torrential rain and high winds. Grant Luce put Joy ahead in the 14th minute. Akinola equalized for TwinStars five minutes later. Philip Caputo put the hosts back ahead in the 35th minute.
If this result stands, Joy have taken 4 points off teams around them in playoff positioning in the past two matches. Next visitors to St Louis Park on Saturday, a Duluth side needing to keep winning to fight for first place.
Wednesday:
Duluth FC 6-1 Sioux Falls Thunder
Eduoard Nys notched another two goals and Jireh Oyebamiji also got two. Dylan Sumner and former Thunder player Tyler Limmer picked up solo goals. Thunder made it 2-1 briefly with a penalty kick.
Minnesota Blizzard 2-3 Siouxland United
Blizzard opened the scoring in the 53rd minute through Landon Atkins. Flynn Faulkner equalized in the 84th minute before Atkins instantly put Blizzard back ahead. The Outlaws stole the three points for their journey home with a penalty kick from Marcus Horwood in the 90th minute and a goal from open play in stoppage time from Hibiki Mizutani.
Saturday Spotlight Match
Our full coverage of Minnesota TwinStars v Dakota Fusion is here.
Joy Athletic Club 4-2 Duluth FC
Joy continued their trend of taking points off their fellow playoff contenders, Phil Caputo scoring four on the way to a home victory. Eduoard Nys continues his red hot form, opening and closing the scoring for the BlueGreens.
Sioux Falls Thunder 1-1 Minnesota Blizzard
In a game of dueling penalty kicks, Thunder dispatched theirs in the 30th minute but Blizzard missed one just before half-time. However, Max Just provided the equalizer in the 85th minute.
Coming Up:
Wednesday
Duluth FC v Minnesota Blizzard
Sioux Falls Thunder v Minnesota TwinStars
Siouxland United v Joy Athletic Club
Saturday
Joy Athletic Club v Sioux Falls Thunder
Minnesota Blizzard v Minnesota TwinStars
Dakota Fusion v Siouxland United
NPSL Spotlight: Minnesota TwinStars v Dakota Fusion
NPSL Spotlight: Minnesota TwinStars 0-0 Dakota Fusion
The TwinStars had already notched a memorable win over Duluth FC and although they would give up a lop-sided defeat to the same opposition on the road, they remained undefeated at their home at Park Center High and in third place going into their match with top of the table Dakota Fusion. Fusion have lost some momentum recently, with two draws bringing their lead over Duluth to only 1 point, going into the weekend – albeit with an uneven number of games played. The week’s results in full are recapped here.
In a tightly contested match, the closest that either side came, was in the fourth minute of stoppage time when a Fusion header from a corner was headed off the line by TwinStars. Speaking to us after the game, Dakota Fusion head coach Alex Trent was optimistic
We believe we can win any game and create chances. We know we have the players to do it and that goals will come if we continue to stay disciplined and execute better.
So the TwinStars home unbeaten record remains intact and Fusion’s remarkable streaks of clean sheets and of blunt finishing continue. Duluth lose some ground, falling 4-2 to Joy Athletic Club.
Alex Trent had an eye on the team’s key weakness
The past two games, we’ve played more than well enough to win and created countless chances, but need to be more clinical in the final third.
TwinStars Assistant Manager Karim Darbaki was very complimentary of both sides
It was a very good match. Very tactical. Both teams had some good moments. Fusion played possession football similar to the way we play, which made for an entertaining match.
We look forward to playing away to them.
Ousman Ceesay, our captain, had a very good game and was able to keep a clean sheet, one of our main objectives.
Fusion men next play next Saturday, back at home at Jim Gotta Stadium in Moorhead, against Siouxland United before welcoming (if that is the right word) the TwinStars to the Red River Valley on July 2nd and closing the NPSL season away at Minnesota Blizzard on July 6th. The club has also been announced as a participant in NISA Independent Cup’s Great Lakes region, and their opening match in that knockout bracket is scheduled for the following day back in Moorhead against UPSL and MASL club Vlora FC. The NPSL playoffs are then scheduled to begin on Wednesday the 10th at the highest two seeds’ home stadia, almost certain to be Fusion and the BlueGreens.
TwinStars men next play Sioux Falls Thunder on Wednesday, and then Minnesota Blizzard next Saturday. They close league play on July 6th at home to Joy Athletic before probably being on the road at the #2 seed in the playoffs on the 10th.
WPSL Spotlight: Salvo SC v Manitou FC
Spotlight Match – Salvo 6-0 Manitou
It took less than two minutes for Salvo to earn their first corner and only a minute more before they registered their first shot on goal. With barely 5 mins on the clock, the hosts had the opportunity to go ahead but a cross in from the right was just missed by attackers in the 6 yard box.
A minute later, Manitou had a chance to go ahead but a free kick fired in from 20 yards out, scuttered across the box and away for a goal kick. It would prove costly, as shortly after, Salvo’s high press turned over the ball in the Manitou penalty area and Khyah Harper calmly slotted it home. That would become a recurring theme of the first half.
With Manitou struggling to break Salvo’s press, a long ball down the middle from Cameron Rintoul, was latched onto by a sprinting Khyah Harper, who outpaced the Manitou defence and tapped it home in the 21st minute.
Two minutes later, the Manitou defence gave up the ball easily again, and Katelyn Buelke passed to Harper for a 23 min hat trick. The pattern of the game then shifted into a more tactical mode, with Salvo in complete control, slowly passing laterally and forward before unleashing shots, albeit without scoring.
With half time approaching, another ball down the middle from Maddie Ishaug saw Khyah Harper score her fourth of the game.
With the game out of hand, the second half started scrappily but Manitou were able to apply some pressure down their right wing, before the ball went harmlessly out. A combination of scrambling defence and mis-timed connections meant that the game would remain in a sort of stalemate until Aaryn Gabriel dribbled into the box and smashed home from close in, from Sophia Barjesteh, for Salvo’s fifth goal. Manitou came close in the waning minutes but the final word came from Gabriel, firing a bullet header past a helpless Jordan Metz in the Manitou goal in the 89th minute.
For the other results and upcoming schedule from the WPSL, check out Week 7’s Wrap Up – out on Sunday.
WPSL Spotlight: Joy Athletic v St Croix Legacy
Wednesday
Minnesota Thunder 8-0 Manitou FC
Doubles by Grace Estby and Caroline Bailey and single goals from Isabela Engle, Maddie Poor, Paige Peltier and Paige Kalal rocketed Thunder past Manitou.
St Croix Legacy 0-3 Salvo SC
St Croix made Salvo work in the opening hour, but a penalty kick from Khyah Harper broke the deadlock. The visitors added goals from Katelyn Beulke and Maddie Ishaug to close out a league leading fifth win, in the back and forth fight for the Northland’s playoff spot with Sioux Falls City.
Friday
Dakota Fusion FC 2-0 Manitou FC
This is Fusion’s first WPSL win since July of 2019 – a season when they accumulated the only two wins in team history. According to my research and the records of our predecessor E Pluribus Loonum, this is also their first ever clean sheet in 6 years of WPSL play. So the magnitude of this win may reverberate much further than just the 2024 standings for a club slated to launch a pro side in 2026.
As for the match on this humid Moorhead evening, Manitou travelled with just twelve players and Mandan, ND’s Sarah Burgum provided both the goals in a match otherwise dominated by shots nestling in the gloves of both goalkeepers.
Rochester United SC 0-1 Mankato United SC
Avery Korsching was the difference in the 88th minute, with a breakaway for the visitors.
Saturday Spotlight Match
Joy Athletic Club 1-1 St Croix Legacy
Dare Kroeten equalized two minutes after a St Croix lead given by Lexi Huber in the 53rd minute.
Sioux Falls City 5-0 MapleBrook Fury
City continue to apply pressure at the top of the Northern conference, with goals from five different scorers: Hailee Christensen, Jordan Tenpas, Katharina Oelschlaeger, McKenna Lehman and Mia Mullenmeister.
Sunday
Mankato United 6-0 Dakota Fusion
On a hot and humid day in Mankato, the home side rolled over Fusion. Goals were scored by Anna van Wyngarden, Avery Korsching, Jadyn Chee, Mia Deprenger, Marit Klagge and former Fusion player Maria Zanotti. Clare Longueville shut down the few chances the visitors had.
Coming Up
Tuesday
St Croix Legacy v Rochester United
Wednesday
Mankato United v Joy Athletic Club
MapleBrook Fury v Minnesota Thunder
Friday
Dakota Fusion v Sioux Falls City
Saturday
Manitou FC v Joy AC
MapleBrook Fury v St Croix Legacy
Sunday
Minnesota Thunder v Dakota Fusion
Sioux Falls City v Mankato United
Rochester United v Salvo
NPSL Spotlight: Joy AC v Dakota Fusion FC
Wednesday
Sioux Falls Thunder 0-2 Dakota Fusion
Fusion continue to set the pace, with goals from substitutes Felix Buabeng and Takumi Sato and riding out five mins down to ten men due to a second yellow card for captain Gael Gonzalez.
Minnesota Blizzard 0-3 Duluth FC
Edouard Nys scored twice and Jireh Oyebamiji got one as Duluth kept up the pressure on the top spot.
Joy Athletic Club 4-1 Siouxland United
Philip Caputo netted a first half hat trick and Zinedine Kroeten scored in the 79th minute to lift the Goats over the Outlaws, who spoiled the clean sheet through Magloire Makila.
Friday:
Sioux Falls Thunder 3-0 Siouxland United
Saturday Spotlight Match
Joy Athletic Club 0-0 Dakota Fusion
Joy held serve at home, rattling the crossbar and missing a penalty kick but failing to take three points which at times seemed to be coming their way. Fusion, on the other hand, lacked a finisher in a season when seven men have scored two goals, but no one man has more than two.
Minnesota TwinStars 3-1 Sioux Falls Thunder
Goalscorer information is not available at time of publication.
Since this is the last time the top two clubs will be on even games played until July, here is the table:
Coming Up:
Tuesday:
Joy Athletic Club v Minnesota TwinStars
Wednesday:
Duluth FC v Sioux Falls Thunder
Minnesota Blizzard v Siouxland United
Saturday:
Minnesota TwinStars v Dakota Fusion
Joy Athletic Club v Duluth FC
Sioux Falls Thunder v Minnesota Blizzard
WPSL Wrap Up: Week 5
Week 5 of WPSL action sees the last two clubs in the North finally make their season debut (in St Croix’s case, after two postponements). More about that match later, here’s the full recap of the week’s action.
Wednesday
Salvo SC 1-0 Minnesota Thunder
A lone goal by Khyah Harper, from Molly Fiedler, gave last year’s national finalists a win against the defending conference champions.
Friday
Salvo 3-0 Mankato United
Khyah Harper from Riley Lijewski broke the deadlock in the 65th minute. Becca Smith from Khyah Harper in the 79th minute made it sure and there was a late own goal.
Dakota Fusion FC 0-3 St Croix Legacy
St Croix came into Fargo-Moorhead having seen two successive season openers (one at home and then one on the road) postponed. For Fusion, this is the regularly scheduled opener. They are the only two sides in the ten-team WPSL Northern Conference not to play yet this season. Legacy finished fourth in the conference standings having managed to finish the season without a single draw and a record of 5-4 in their nine games. Fusion also did not draw a single game, but accumulated a conference worst record of 0-9 and a goal difference of -43. The hosts have a new head coach, in the shape of Chris Andreasen, who was director of coaching at Red River Soccer Club before they merged with Fusion in the offseason.
After a strong opening to the match, two goals in six minutes provided some scoreboard separation as Avery Murdzek swept home from the top of the box in the twentieth minute and then her sister Lainey tapped in off a rebound after a blast from the middle of the box.
It would remain 2-0, as the visitors missed a number of chances to widen the margin but it would be the home side with the best chance, a penalty kick after a tangle of legs near the top of the box in the 51st minute. Unfortunately, the shot was hammered off the post and the rebound saved.
Five minutes later, Legacy hit the crossbar with a shot and near chances for Legacy would continue to be a theme, albeit with Fusion providing some of their own. Their best chance from open play cane in the 66th minute as a Fusion free kick just outside the box culminated in a shot on target, punched wide by Kendall Ellis.
The icing on the St Croix performance came when Lainey Murdzek tapped in, off the post and in from a Henneman cross in the 75th minute. Both clubs would force flying saves from the opposing keeper but it finished 3-0.
Sioux Falls City 2-0 Minnesota Thunder
Thunder fell further behind in the race for the conference, with Sioux Falls City getting goals from Mia Mullenmeister and Yui Fujii.
Joy Athletic 1-3 Rochester United FC
A twenty minute flurry for Rochester saw two from Kylie Miranto and one from Savannah Maley, before Lennon Folstad scored the home team’s only tally.
Sunday
Salvo SC 7-0 Dakota Fusion FC
Salvo steamrolled Fusion, with braces from Angela Gutierrez, Khyah Harper and Sophia Barjesteh and a solo goal from Alma Beaton.
📹 FULL MATCH HIGHLIGHTS
All of @SalvoWPSL’s goals in one spot! pic.twitter.com/2A8dT8uYY2
— Equal Time Soccer (@EqualTimeSoccer) June 10, 2024
Manitou FC 0-6 Sioux Falls Thunder
Keyera Harmon, Yui Fujii, Katharina Oelschlaeger, Mia Mullenmeister and a double from Kaydence Ramirez put Manitou to the sword.
St Croix Legacy 2-1 Minnesota Thunder
Lainey Murdzek and Lexi Huber put the Legacy into the lead. Thunder got a consolation in the 78th minute, the well-practised combination of Paige Kalal to Paige Peltier with the goal.
Rochester United FC 0-0 MapleBrook Fury
Here is the top of the WPSL Northern Conference standings ahead of tomorrow’s games:
Coming Up:
Tonight
Minnesota Thunder v Manitou FC
Friday
Dakota Fusion FC v Manitou FC
Rochester United SC v Mankato United SC
Saturday
Joy Athletic Club v St Croix Legacy
Sioux Falls City v MapleBrook Fury
Sunday
Mankato United v Dakota Fusion
NPSL Round Up: 8th June 2024
Dakota Fusion FC 2-0 Sioux Falls Thunder FC
Fusion fans brought a drum. The team proved them worthy of the accompaniment.
Fusion dominated possession in the opening 10 minutes but the first Fusion shot on goal came via Brandon Garcia at 9:45. Sioux Falls Thunder’s keeper Jack Howard played much of the match either out of his area or out of his goal, and in the 14th minute, Fusion took a snap shot with Howard out of his net, wide.
Fusion spent much of the opening half knocking on the door, including a flying volley by Nicolo Lai, saved by Howard diving one way and using his opposite hand. The first half would end goal less, chiefly courtesy of scrambling defense by Howard and center-back Colin Burke.
Just before the hour mark, a blasted clearance by Fusion defender Ahmad Hijaz from within his own half took a lucky deflection off a Thunder player for a corner. Lai was the first to a ricocheting ball in a goalmouth scramble, to poke the ball home for a home lead.
After yet more Fusion attacks were repelled by Thunder, the match took an unexpected turn in the 74th minute as a free kick for Fusion in their own penalty area led - for reasons that were unclear - to Lai being sent off for dissent.
The Thunder man advantage made no substantial difference to the flow of the game, and the match ended 10 v 10 as the visitors saw their own red card in the 87th minute. With nothing left to lose, Jack Howard fully released the hand brake and spent the last 5 minutes of the game in the Fusion penalty area. It was the hosts who scored, though, when a long clearance from Will Devine in the Fusion net in the second minute of stoppage time came all the way through to a Fusion attacker who was fouled. Takumi Sato hammered the penalty kick off the crossbar and down for the death blow.
Duluth FC 7-1 Minnesota TwinStars
The BlueGreens got revenge in grand style, putting up a touchdown against the TwinStars. Goals from Liam Pritchard and Jake Starling, a brace from Eduoard Nys and a hat trick by Jireh Oyebamiji were the emphatic answer to a third minute go ahead goal by the visitors - Fatorma Conneh seizing on a weak header back by Dylan Zavatini.
Siouxland United FC 5-0 Minnesota Blizzard FC
Early and then often, the home side turned over the Blizzard. Kenny Hewitt, Magloire Makila and Ben Shields made it three, and Nick Walker scored twice in the 89th minute, the last one a penalty kick.
Here are how the teams stand:
The conference table for the North Conference of the National Premier Soccer League (source: NPSL)
Coming Up:
Wednesday
Sioux Falls Thunder v Dakota Fusion
Joy Athletic Club v Siouxland United
Minnesota Blizzard v Duluth FC
Friday:
Sioux Falls Thunder v Siouxland United
Saturday:
Minnesota TwinStars v Sioux Falls Thunder
Joy Athletic Club v Dakota Fusion
WPSL Wrap Up: Week 4
Friday
Mankato United 0-3 Minnesota Thunder
A comfortable win, with goals by Kaitlyn MacBean (from Paige Peltier), Paige Kalal (from Paige Peltier) and Kalal again (from Mackenzie Jacobson). Here's the opening two goals - the second showing stunning ball control, via our friends at Equal Time Soccer and courtesy of Mankato United:
https://twitter.com/EqualTimeSoccer/status/1796703091326099735
Rochester United 0-7 Sioux Falls City
An absolute rout for City on the road, with a hat trick from Mia Mullenmeister and goals from Kaydence Ramirez, Katharina Oelschlaeger and Isabella Boccia Gomes de Moraes.
Manitou FC 1-1 MapleBrook Fury
Manitou got a goal from Tatum Trettel, and MapleBrook scored through Olivia Lovick.
Sunday
Joy Athletic Club 1-3 Sioux Falls City
Allison Wehrman scored for the Goats but City continued their red hot start to the season, with goals from Hailee Christensen, Mia Mullenmeister and Lourdes Moreno.
MapleBrook Fury 1-2 Mankato United
Kendall Stadden scored for the hosts but Mankato claimed all three points with goals from Ava Stanchina and Avery Korsching.
Manitou FC 0-0 Mankato United
Coming Up
Tuesday
Wednesday
Friday
Dakota Fusion FC v St Croix Legacy
Sioux Falls City v Minnesota Thunder
Joy Athletic v Rochester United FC
Sunday
Salvo SC v Dakota Fusion FC
St Croix Legacy v Minnesota Thunder
Rochester United FC v MapleBrook Fury
Manitou FC v Sioux Falls Thunder
NPSL Spotlight: Minnesota Blizzard v Sioux Falls Thunder
Spotlight Match: Minnesota Blizzard FC 1-1 Sioux Falls Thunder FC
In a first half of few chances, Blizzard broke through in the 38th minute, Ashton Hosler finishing a counter attack which he had led, beginning with an interception at the top of their own defensive area.
Thunder equalized in the 60th minute as Benjamin Schoenherr blasted the ball in from the left side of the area following a recycled corner.
Wednesday:
Siouxland United FC 0-2 Dakota Fusion FC
Fusion extended their lead at the top of the division with goals from half time substitutes Ryosuke Miyata and Felix Buabeng.
Minnesota TwinStars FC 3-1 Duluth FC
Fatorma Conneh scored and Rolando Barclay came on late to score twice and seal a home win. The BlueGreens’ goal came courtesy of Edouard Nys.
Saturday:
Sioux Falls Thunder 1-4 Duluth FC
Duluth with a road win courtesy of goals by Rory Doyle, Eduoard Nys and Paul Bobai. Thunder scored through Eric Beltran.
Minnesota TwinStars FC 4-2 Siouxland United FC
The Outlaws took the lead in the 8th minute through Magloire Makila but conceded goals from Chigozie Eneje, Fatorma Conneh, Rolando Barclay and David Diawara, punctuated by a penalty kick by Kenny Hewitt for the visitors.
Dakota Fusion FC 4-0 Joy Athletic Club
After an opening few minutes when Joy had the better possession, an injury stoppage was followed by Fusion finally putting together calmer possession of their own, before attempting to thread passes from midfield through the Goats back line. In the end, it was a lofted ball onto the right wing, crossed across the 6 yard box for a tap in by Fusion’s Lucas Peruzo in the 14th minute which broke the stalemate.
Action would ebb and flow with Joy having a good chance punched clear by Fusion keeper Will Devine and a couple of other chances which they failed to finish. The visitors would be caught on the counter attack in the 26th minute as Brandon Garcia poked the ball over the line after an initial shot was stopped by the Joy keeper, Drew Moseman.
Joy continued to have decent possession in midfield but could not threaten the Fusion goal. The half ended with Fusion defense and keeper in no hurry, sideways and backward passes and Joy’s high press making no impact.
The second half began with the Fusion head coach demonstrably upset about something, resulting in him getting a yellow card. In a scrappy start to the second half, it was Joy who would have a corner cleared but Fusion again who found the finishing touch.
A hard tackle at the top of the Joy penalty area was whistled as a foul and Toshiki Makimoto hammered the ball off the face of the left post and into the inside of the right side netting for a goal in the 54th minute.
After another Fusion chance only two minutes later was saved by Moseman, Alberto Romano Sanchez made it 4-0 on the hour mark, mopping up from the left after a shot was taken from the right and parried away.
Seven more minutes had elapsed when Fusion had had two chances of their own snuffed out, only for Devine to pull out a lightning double save to keep the clean sheet intact at the other end.
Much as in the previous game at Jim Gotta Stadium, there was late goalmouth action, as Joy saw a shot ping audibly off the crossbar before dropping on the foot of a defender for a scrambled clearance, which became a two on one Fusion counter, although the home team could not capitalize.
Coming Up:
Saturday June 8th:
Dakota Fusion FC v Sioux Falls Thunder FC
UPSL Men's Spotlight: Minneapolis City Futures U21 v Worthington Community FC
UPSL Men's Spotlight: Minneapolis City SC U21 v Worthington Community FC
Saturday 18th:
18×26 Academy 4-1 Granite City FC
Worthington Community FC 2-1 FC Minneapolis
Austin Villa FC 2-1 Minneapolis City U21
Sunday 19th:
Leon FC 8-2 Superior City FC
St Croix Legends II 2-0 St Paul Blackhawks
Saturday 25th:
St Paul Blackhawks 7-1 Austin Villa FC
Superior City FC 1-5 Vlora FC
Saturday Spotlight – Minneapolis City U21 4-3 Worthington Community FC
Two goals from Mizael Harris and solos from Carter J Hermanson and Tomas S Menna proved the difference for ten men City against the Toros, who got goals from Miguel M Perdomo, Juani Mackrey and Jonathan A Banegas.
Sunday 26th:
FC Minneapolis 2-3 18×26 Academy
Granite City FC 0-7 Leon FC
Wednesday 29th:
Vlora FC 1-0 Granite City FC
Leon FC 4-0 FC Minneapolis
Austin Villa 0-1 St Croix Legends II
18×26 Academy 3-5 Minneapolis City SC Futures U21
Worthington Community FC 1-7 St Paul Blackhawks
Coming Up:
Tonight
Minneapolis City SC Futures U21 v Leon FC
Sunday
Granite City FC v Superior City FC
St Croix Legends II v Worthington Community FC
Wednesday
Worthington Community FC v Austin Villa FC
18×26 Academy v St Croix Legends II
Leon FC v St Paul Blackhawks