Previewing El Farolito vs. Duluth FC with NPSL.com’s Michael Battista
El Farolito
Head Coach: Santiago Lopez
Regular Season Record: 9-3-0, 30 points (first place in the Golden Gate Conference)
Pathway to the National Semifinals:
- Golden Gate Conference Semifinals – beat Sacramento Gold FC, 4-2
- Golden Gate Conference Final – beat Napa Valley 1839 FC, 3-2
- West Region Final – beat FC Arizona, 4-1
After a long year in the spotlight, El Farolito has rewarded its supporters with its first West Region title and a first-ever trip to the national semifinals. After reaching the Third Round of the U.S. Open Cup and beating two professional teams along the way, head coach and manager Santiago Lopez says this is all just a way for his group to represent San Francisco as a whole.
“We’re very privileged and honored to be representing the city, especially at a very historic venue (Kezar Stadium),” Lopez said. “Very privileged and honored to be representing our city once again at a national stage.”
This season, El Faro scored 42 goals in the regular season and 11 more in the playoffs. Erik Arias has scored five goals in the postseason, including all four in the team’s first match against one-time NPSL champion Sacramento Gold FC.
The team will be without Open Cup hero Dembor Benson, who scored four goals in the regular season and four in the Open Cup (tied for Golden Boot with two professional players). Benson was signed by USL League One side Central Valley Fuego FC.
“The group was very happy and we’re all very happy of his Open Cup success and the opportunity that he’s getting right now,” Lopez said, explaining the departure was one reason why players became adapted in multiple positions. “Everybody felt his presence missing… Everybody has stepped up, and we try to always give everybody the opportunity to understand our game model and situation.”
El Faro joined the NPSL in 2018, but has a long history of soccer prior to that including the 1993 U.S. Open Cup title. A first-ever National Premier Soccer League championship would look great on the wall at one of San Francisco’s finest soccer and burrito establishments
Key Players to Watch: MID Erik Arias (seven goals), MID Carlos Rodriguez (three goals), MID Daniel Buitrago (former member of the Colombia U-20 Youth National Team, previously played for America de Cali and Santa Fe)
Duluth FC
Head Coach: Sean Morgan
Regular Season Record: 7-1-4, 22 points (second place in the North Conference)
Pathway to the National Semifinals:
- North Conference Semifinals – beat Minnesota TwinStars FC, 2-0 AET
- North Conference Championship – beat Dakota Fusion FC, 1-0
- Midwest Region Semifinal – beat Des Moines United FC, 2-0
- Midwest Region Semifinal – beat Steel City FC, 3-2 AET
After finishing 2023 as the top ranked team in the league, Duluth had a slower year. A mid-season skid saw them finish with seven wins, four loses, and one draw. Still the team scored 41 goals, the most in the North Conference. That was massively helped by midfielder Edouard Nys, whose 13 goals earned him third place in the NPSL Golden Boot race for 2024.
This comes after last season’s top goal scorer Tyler Limmer adjusted into a new role, netting eleven assists during the season to help his team push forward.
“It’s not easy to replace goals with goals and having a variety of different players and guys that we can kind of go to has been fantastic,” said head coach Sean Morgan. “Goals being kicked in from multiple different positions and different players. That goes a long way to helping us.”
The last time head coach Sean Morgan was here was as a player in 2018. While playing for Duluth, the team reached the national semifinals before losing to eventual champions Miami FC 2. With his team now facing just as long of a plane ride from Duluth, Morgan believes the group has used all this time to become a closer unit.
“We traveled on a bus to Fargo, which is five hours from Duluth, and then back in the same night after our own conference final,” Morgan explained. “Tuesday, we had it to Des Moines and then from Des Moines, stayed the night in Columbus and then to Pittsburgh. Trained and then played in Pitt and then drove home Saturday night through Sunday. I think we tallied it up, I think in seven days we did something like 2800, 2900 miles just on a bus…Yeah, obviously, it’s very taxing mentally physically for the group of guys that we have. Having to battle that tiredness and sore legs and being stiff on a boss and still go off and perform and train at a high level has been absolutely massive and it speaks volumes to the characters that we have and the mentality that we have as a team.”
Key Players to Watch: MID Edouard Nys (13 goals, NJCAA All-America at Northeast Community College), FWD Tyler Limmer (six goals), DF Jake Starling (captain, record appearance holder for club), GK Jamie Colvill (tallied 339 saves at Northland College over 64 appearances)
Photo Credit: Todhunter Productions/Steel City FC and Richard Ybarra/NPSL
