Duluth Win Big Against LC Aris FC

By Dom Bisogno/Duluth FC

Duluth hosted LC Aris FC in the final round of the 2019 regular season. The match turned out a
strong one for the BlueGreens, who emerged triumphant in a 11-0 win, their biggest since
joining the NPSL.

Ronaldo Fortune opened the scoring in the fourth minute after confidently finding a low cross
from Brooks Rice. Fortune spiked the wall into the back of the net just four minutes before
Alberto Diaz found Duluth’s second after chesting the ball and striking it into the near corner
from the edge of the box.

Gonnie Ben-Tal showed his height well in the 10 th minute when he climbed high to head in a
well-placed corner kick, earning his first goal of the season and third for the club.
Birthday boy Lucas Jacobs then showed why it was his day, scoring three goals from the 20 th to
34 th minutes to earn his first hat trick for the club. With each goal better than the last, Jacobs
proved one of Duluth’s best on the night and earned the Man of the Match award for his goal
scoring. Fortune added one more goal before the half time whistle, his third of the season, to
make it 6-0.

With a strong lead in hand, Duluth made several changes at the halfway mark, with three finding
the back of the net in the second half. James Westfield was the first, scoring in the 58 th minute to
add an eighth goal to his tally for the season.

Carlyle Junior would add two lovely goals in the 58 th and 80 th minutes, one a beautiful chip over
the keeper and the other a clean strike into the side netting. The two goals combined to give
Junior nine league goals this season, in addition to one in the U.S. Open Cup. Junior therefore
became Duluth’s top goal scorer in 2019 and will be awarded the Kyle Farrar Man of the Match
award.

With Duluth up 10-0, Jake Starling scored his first for the club with a clean header to end the
night, helping Duluth to its biggest ever win in the NPSL.

The win would not qualify Duluth for the playoffs due to a victory in Minneapolis for Med City,
but it would provide the club with a strong finish to their third season in the NPSL. While

Duluth did not qualify for the playoffs, they did achieve quite a bit this season, adding another
U.S. Open Cup appearance to their records and earning two of their biggest ever wins in the
NPSL (7-0 against the Dakota Fusion and the recent result against Aris).

The club will now head into the offseason with, as always, new ways to grow on and off the
pitch. Duluth ends the year with 26 points, 38 goals scored, and a goal differential of 27. The
club would also like to congratulate both Minneapolis City and Med City for their qualification
for the Midwest Regional playoffs, a tournament Duluth were proud to win in 2018.

Photo Credit: Bill Garrett