If there were any theme to the 2025 soccer season, it seemed to be very young teams learning how to play together through the season.
In Section 7AA, Duluth Denfeld overcame a disastrous start to return to the state tournament for the first time since 2018 — though they did win the section in 2020. The Hunters started the season 1-5, including a disastrous 9-0 loss to Duluth Marshall.
They turned their season around, thanks to Lenny Jennings and fellow seniors Sam Eklund and Ayden Daniel, and lost just one game — to Duluth East — from Sept. 6 until their state quarterfinal loss to Blake Oct. 21.
The Greyhounds had their own slow start this season, but after a demoralizing loss to Mounds View, coach Dave Bergan moved senior Lundin Flohaug in the formation and all the pieces seemed to come together.
Flohaug finished with 13 goals and 10 assists and the Greyhounds didn’t lose after that Aug. 26 game until going out of the Section 7AAA tournament on penalty kicks to Centennial on Oct. 9.
Flohaug’s creativity and ability to adapt on the fly energized the Greyhounds and he was named the 2025 All-Area Player of the Year.
Players joining Flohaug, Jennings, Eklund and Daniel on the All-Area team include Duluth Marshall’s Benson Peterson and Eli Thorson, who led the Hilltoppers to a third straight state tournament appearance as well as Hermantown’s Class A first team All-State selection Hunter Nelson.
2025 BOYS SOCCER ALL-AREA TEAM
Duluth East’s Lundin Flohaug
Dan Williamson / Duluth Media Group
Duluth East
Senior midfielder
Flohaug, the News Tribune All-Area Player of the Year, was “a leader on and off the field,” according to coach Dave Bergan, for a young Greyhounds team that earned the No. 2 seed in the Section 7AAA playoffs. A Wisconsin-Superior recruit, Flohaug was an “architect on the field,” Bergan said, and his “creativity and hard play elevated everyone around him.”The senior led the Greyhounds in goals (13) and assists (10), and he “dictated play both offensively and defensively,” according to Bergan.
Duluth East’s Gray Knutson
Dave Bergan / Contributed
Duluth East
Senior goalkeeper
Knutson had a .489 goals against average for the Greyhounds, and his “great hands and big saves” were a crucial component for the team this season, according to coach Dave Bergan. Knutson kept the Greyhounds “centered with his vocal leadership,” and he was “a steady rock in the net,” particularly when the game was close. Knutson had seven shutouts in games decided by two goals or fewer.
Superior’s Spencer Kidd
Steve Kidd / Contributed
Superior
Junior forward
Kidd scored 29 goals and had 13 assists in leading the Spartans to a 12-4-1 season and a Lake Superior Conference title. The junior was an honorable mention All-State selection in Wisconsin and a first-team All-Lake Superior Conference pick.
Duluth Denfeld’s Lenny Jennings
LeAnn Jaksha / Contributed
Duluth Denfeld
Senior midfielder
A Class AA first-team All-State selection, Jennings helped the Hunters recover from a 1-5 start to win their first section title since 2020. Jennings finished with 13 goals and 12 assists, leading Denfeld to its first game at the state tournament in seven years.
Grand Rapids’ Ben Blake
Gigi Pehrson / Contributed
Grand Rapids
Senior midfielder
Blake’s eight goals and eight assists led the Thunderhawks by a wide margin and were a big reason he was a Class AA first-team All-State selection. The Thunderhawks struggled early in the season, but Blake keyed a turnaround in which they won six of their last eight games before falling to Duluth Denfeld in the section final.
Duluth Marshall’s Benson Peterson
Kim Kosmatka / Contributed
Duluth Marshall
Senior forward
Hermantown’s Hunter Nelson
Tatiana Marie Photography / Contributed
Hermantown
Senior forward
The Hawks senior was tied for the team lead in goals (14) and his 13 assists were eight more than any other player on the team. A Class A first-team All-State and All-Lake Superior Conference selection, Nelson led Hermantown to nine wins before falling to three-time Section 7A champion Duluth Marshall in the section semifinals.
Duluth Marshall’s Eli Thorson
Kim Kosmatka / Contributed
Duluth Marshall
Junior defender
The All-Lake Superior Conference first-team selection had three goals and an assist in 2025, but he was a defensive stalwart for the Hilltoppers on their way to a third-straight section title. Thorson was part of a defense that allowed one goal or less eight times during the season.
Duluth Denfeld’s Sam Eklund
LeAnn Jaksha / Contributed
Duluth Denfeld
Senior forward
Eklund finished with eight goals and four assists, none more important than the game-winner against Grand Rapids in the Section 7AA championship.Eklund was a leader and a key piece for a Hunters program that hadn’t won a section title since 2020.
Cloquet-Esko-Carlton’s Jordan Sewell
Shelley Robideaux / Contributed
Cloquet-Esko-Carlton
Sophomore midfielder
The Lumberjacks sophomore led the team in goals with 13, more than the next four players on the team combined. An All-Lake Superior Conference second-team selection, Sewell was a leader on a CEC team that graduated just one player from 2024.
Cloquet-Esko-Carlton’s Aiden Korby
Shlley Robideaux / Contributed
Cloquet-Esko-Carlton
Junior midfielder/defender
Korby started the season at midfield, but ended up moving back into a defensive role when the Lumberjacks needed it later in the season, coach John Sundquist said. Korby scored just three goals, but his play and willingness to adjust earned him an All-Lake Superior Conference first-team nod.
Duluth Denfeld’s Ayden Daniel
LeAnn Jaksha / Contributed
Duluth Denfeld
Senior midfielder
The Hunters senior was a second-team All-Lake Superior Conference selection and scored seven goals in their run to the Class AA quarterfinal. At the midfielder position, Daniel was adept at both “getting himself into position and drawing defenders out of theirs,” according to coach Scott Anderson.
Jamey Malcomb has a been high school sports reporter for the Duluth News Tribune since October 2021. He spent the previous six years covering news and sports for the Lake County News-Chronicle in Two Harbors and the Cloquet Pine Journal. He graduated from the George Washington University in 1999 with a bachelor’s degree in history and literature and also holds a master’s degree in secondary English education from George Mason University.