Duluth FC Ready to Continue Cinderella Postseason Run
Facing El Farolito in NPSL Semifinals
DULUTH, Minn.- After finishing 31st in the NPSL regular season rankings, Duluth FC is now two wins away from a national championship.
On Saturday, the BlueGreens will travel to San Francisco to face El Farolito in the NPSL semifinals. This comes after their 3-2 victory against Steel City FC in the Midwest Regional Final, in which Duluth scored the game-winning goal in extra time. However, that was just one of several clutch moments delivered by Duluth in their momentous playoff run,
“I feel like it comes from training,” says Liam Pritchard, a forward with Duluth FC. “We train for two, three hours a day, and I feel like that really sets us up for the longevity of games, like when it’s really hard work and we’re playing for an extra hour.”
“It’s just the will to win,” commented Jake Starling, Duluth’s longtime team captain and defender. “We’ve traveled, I think it was over a couple thousand miles in a week span. I mean, we’ve (been) in situations where we were the underdogs, like we weren’t supposed to win, and we won those games. So, everybody’s efforts and wanting to win is the main reason why we keep on going today.”
In their final team practice before their flight to the Golden State, players ended practice in high spirits, which they hope will translate into positive results on the pitch.
“There’s no point getting worked up about it or no point getting stressed about it,” Midfielder Myles Edmonson told Fox 21. “It’s all about keeping the energy good, keeping vibes good and just being relaxed, because you don’t want to be going into a big game full of nerves and tension.”
“We don’t really change the way we play,” says Starling. “We adjust some things, but we play our game, no matter who we’re playing, where we’re going, so we’re just going to play our game, and I think we have enough good players and enough talent to go out and win the game.”
Duluth’s semifinal match is set to begin at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday. If Duluth advances to the NPSL Championship on August 3, they’ll either face FC Motown on the road or Columbus United FC on their home pitch.
