Iowa Demon Hawks 0-2 Duluth FC
Duluth FC and Iowa Demon Hawks kicked off from Indianola High School, about 30 minutes south of Des Moines for the right to face the region's #1 seed, Steel City FC in Pittsburgh.
Duluth FC went 7-1-4 in the regular season and beat Dakota Fusion in the North Conference Final.
The Demon Hawks (aka Des Moines United) , went 6-2-2 in the regular season and advanced out of the Gateway Conference playoffs with a 2-0 win over Milwaukee Torrent in their conference championship match.
After an even opening 25 minutes, both teams would register shots on goal, but it would remain goal less going into half time. The BlueGreens would have a couple of shots across the six yard box not converted before Liam Pritchard broke the deadlock in the 65th minute, dribbling inside and out of his defender before finishing at the near post. Only four minutes later, Duluth FC rang a shot off the post and in the seventy-fifth minute, a Demon Hawk shot from distance was tipped onto the crossbar by Jamie Colvill. That would be the closest that the home side would come, and the door slammed firmly shut in the 80th minute as Rory Doyle acrobatically volleyed the ball in from the top of the box.
The visitors face another long road trip in their pursuit of more silverware, facing Steel City FC in Pittsburgh on Saturday to decide the NPSL Midwest Regional Champion. Steel City reached this stage last year, before falling to eventual champion Tulsa Athletic on penalty kicks. Duluth can reach a bit further back and recall their own Midwest Region Championship in 2018.
