Duluth FC vs. La Crosse Aris
Arcadia High School | Arcadia, WI
May 29th, 2021 | Game #3
Current 2021 Records (W-L-T):
Duluth: 1-0-0; 1-1-0 at home/on the road
Aris: 0-2-0; 0-0-1 at home/on the road
Starting XI: Wayne Davis, Jake Starling, Jose Bonifasi, Scott Wilson, Alexander Pike, Micheal Devlin, Jacob Daffern, Dany Torres, Caleb Tammi, Sidney Warden, Eric Watson
Substitutions: Martin Grzywa for Jose Bonifasi, Gloire Luwarafor Eric Watson, James Westfield for Caleb Tammi, Kazuyuki Hata for Micheal Devlin, Jonathan Faynik for James Westfield
Goals:
45’ – Sidney Warden (DFC)
71’ – Gloire Luwara (DFC)
89’ – Sidney Warden (DFC)
Duluth FC traveled to La Crosse this weekend in search of their first away win of the season. Duluth had opened the season with a win and a loss, scoring six and conceding six along the way. They then faced an Aris side they had dominated historically across all three previous seasons in the NPSL. La Crosse Aris started their season with a 2-2 draw against Joy Athletic and a 4-0 loss to Minneapolis City.
La Crosse Aris would hold out against Duluth’s high possession play until just before half time, when Sidney Warden found his fifth goal of the season and the night’s opener. It would stay 1-0 at half time. Duluth would continue to push in the second half but it would take several substitutions before the second goal arrived via Gloire Luwara, who made his first appearance after coming on for Eric Watson and scored his first goal for Duluth FC on the day. Warden’s day wasn’t, however, over. He drew and scored a late penalty kick to make it 3-0, the final score. That leaves him with six goals from three matches, an almost unheard of goal rate in club and conference history that leaves him with two thirds of the club’s goals thus far. For further context, the lead goal scorer in 2018 was Ryan Tyrer, who had six goals total from regular season and playoff play, while Carlyle Junior came out on top in 2019 with nine goals from league and U.S. Open Cup play.
The lack of time between today’s match and Wednesday’s resulted in a changed starting eleven for Head Coach Sean Morgan, who notably handed University of Wisconsin Superiorstars and UMAC champions Scott Wilson and Eric Watson their first starts of the season, though both have played as substitutes previously. Wayne Davis also made his first appearance for Duluth as goalkeeper, starting ahead of Brendan Dally, who impressed earlier the same week against Minneapolis City.
Dany Torres was awarded Man of the Match by Head Coach Sean Morgan on the night for his performance, his first for ninety minutes since joining the club. Torres was able to orchestrate the Duluth midfield in a match where possession was a plenty, but an artistic touch was needed. It is also the first time Torres has been named Duluth FC’s Man of the Match.
The win leaves Duluth with six points from three games and gives the BlueGreens their first Sean Morgan his first ever away win as an NPSL head coach. After a tough midweek loss, the result returns the BlueGreens to winning ways and shows that the while the race for the conference’s top spots will be tight amongst several clubs, the 2017 North Conference champions and 2018 Midwest Regional Champions are here to compete.
Duluth next play on June 5th against the Sioux Falls Thunder, the final away game before playing two home games on the 12th and 16th against the Dakota Fusion and Med City.
