Duluth FC (Blue) vs. Duluth FC (White)
Ponzio Stadium | Ashland, WI
6.13.18 | Friendly
Duluth held an intersquad friendly at Northland College in Ashland this week, a presenting a chance for new faces in the stands and the field. The teams would be split by the home and away kits, thus being the blues and the whites. Both teams would also feature local players and individuals from or based in the Ashland area. With the support of Northland College, Deep Water Grille, South Shore Brewery, and El Dorado Mexican Restaurant, the BlueGreens welcomed a great crowd of traveling and local fans to take part in ninety minutes of great goals and intense play.
With a constant flow of substitutions and positional changes, both teams found time to impress. By the mark of half time the Blues were up 2-1, with both Leonardo Almeida and Dana Kowachek grabbing their goals from ambitious strikes. Kowacheks would find the top corner and earn an acrobatic celebration alike to his after the equalizer at the TwinStars.
The Blues would start the second half well as they grabbed two goals in ten minutes, with Kyle Farrar picking a defenders pocket and slotting the ball past Sam Winning, while Sean Morgan hit a thunderclap into the side netting. White would make a serious attempt at a comeback as they grabbed two goals from local Alex Wilson and BlueGreen Arad Levi Ari to make the scoreline 4-3 in Blue’s favor.
With their lead on the line, Blue kicked it into gear and grabbed three more goals before the final whistle from Adrian Leal, Ian McIntosh, and Sean Morgan. The likes of Leal, McIntosh, and Almedia, all featured on the score sheet, are just a few of the many talented footballers working their way into the starting eleven for Duluth FC. Friendlies such as these provided Head Coach Joel Person with a chance to put a spotlight on players recovering from injuries, like veteran Gonnie Ben-Tal, and those who are still fighting for starting positions. Ben-Tal played a large chunk of the game paired with center back Ryan Tyrer.
With a final scoreline of 7-3, the friendly was a success in many ways, perhaps most of which being the soccer clinics, balls giveaways and signings, and general community building that was able to take place. Ashland and Northland College were fantastic hosts for a fantastic day. Thank you to all who came out, you made a friendly feel like so much more.
Blue Roster:
Adrian Leal, Alberto Ciroi, Alex Johnston, Alex Peterson, Dana Kowachek, Gonnie Ben-Tal, Ian McIntosh, Ivan Adika, Kimani Dallas, Kyle Farrar, Liam Moore, Nico Railef, Ryan Tyrer, Sean Morgan, Tom Corcoran, Sora Wakabayashi
White Roster:
Aidan Hill, Arad Lev Ari, Brooks Rice, Cori Hill, Fernando Bicalho, Gunnar Sengbush, Jan Hoffelner, Julian Lucumi Villegas, Leonardo Almeida, Mally Lumsden, Robbie Sobczak, Sam Winning,Selim Tunagur, Soham Kathuria, Vlad Margolin, Jesus Hernandez, Jonny BeBeau, Alex Wilson, Brendon Shields, Robert Quinlan
Goals:
’20 – Liam Moore (Blue) 1-0
’30 – Leonardo Almeida (White) 1-1
’42 – Dana Kowachek (Blue) 2-1
’59 – Kyle Farrar (Blue) 3-1
’69 – Sean Morgan (Blue) 4-1
’79 – Alex Wilson (White) 4-2
’84 – Arad Lev Ari (White) 4-3
’85 – Adrian Leal (Blue) 5-3
’89 – Ian McIntosh (Blue) 6-3
‘90+3 – Sean Morgan (Blue) 7-3
