Northern Minnesota is home to the scenic north shore of Lake Superior, the rugged Iron Range, a scattering of paper mill towns and a hockey hall of fame. It is known for its walleye fishing and its rich hockey heritage.
It’s also an emerging soccer hotbed. Yep, you read that right — soccer is thriving in the northland.
Duluth East broke new ground last year by becoming the first northern Minnesota team to reach a single-class or large-school boys’ soccer final, falling in overtime to Stillwater 2-1 in the Class 2A title game. The Greyhounds, undefeated entering the championship game, were also the first non-Twin Cities area school to earn the No. 1 seed in the big-school field since seeding began in 2005.
Despite losing a whopping 18 seniors from last season’s squad, including the program’s all-time career leading goal scorer in Will Francis (50 goals), the Greyhounds opened the season ranked No. 6 in the Class 2A coaches' preseason poll. They rattled off opening-week victories over Minneapolis South (3-2) and Blaine (2-0).
Duncan Zentz, a junior midfielder, scored both goals in the Greyhounds' (2-0, 0-0) win against Blaine.
This week Duluth East, which had a record 111 players attend tryouts, faces a brutal four-games-in-five-days schedule that includes one home game sandwiched by three in the Twin Cities area. The grand finale is Saturday’s showdown with No. 4-2A Minnetonka in our Top Game of the Week.
The Skippers (2-0, 0-0), who lost to Duluth East 2-0 last year in a state semifinal, opened the season with shutout victories over Chaska (3-0) and Minneapolis Southwest (2-0). Junior Dylan Olson has three of Minnetonka’s five goals.