{"id":299772,"date":"2025-11-22T14:22:08","date_gmt":"2025-11-22T14:22:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/299772\/"},"modified":"2025-11-22T14:22:08","modified_gmt":"2025-11-22T14:22:08","slug":"presenting-the-2025-news-tribune-boys-soccer-all-area-team-duluth-news-tribune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/299772\/","title":{"rendered":"Presenting the 2025 News Tribune Boys Soccer All-Area Team – Duluth News Tribune"},"content":{"rendered":"

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.<\/p>\n

In Section 7AA, Duluth Denfeld overcame a disastrous start to return to the state tournament for the first time since 2018 \u2014 though they did win the section in 2020. The Hunters started the season 1-5, including a disastrous 9-0 loss to Duluth Marshall.<\/p>\n

They turned their season around, thanks to Lenny Jennings and fellow seniors Sam Eklund and Ayden Daniel, and lost just one game \u2014 to Duluth East \u2014 from Sept. 6 until their state quarterfinal loss to Blake Oct. 21.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Flohaug finished with 13 goals and 10 assists and the Greyhounds didn\u2019t lose after that Aug. 26 game until going out of the Section 7AAA tournament on penalty kicks to Centennial on Oct. 9.<\/p>\n

Flohaug\u2019s creativity and ability to adapt on the fly energized the Greyhounds and he was named the 2025 All-Area Player of the Year.<\/p>\n

Players joining Flohaug, Jennings, Eklund and Daniel on the All-Area team include Duluth Marshall\u2019s Benson Peterson and Eli Thorson, who led the Hilltoppers to a third straight state tournament appearance as well as Hermantown\u2019s Class A first team All-State selection Hunter Nelson.<\/p>\n

2025 BOYS SOCCER ALL-AREA TEAM<\/p>\n

\"Duluth<\/p>\n

Duluth East’s Lundin Flohaug<\/p>\n

Dan Williamson \/ Duluth Media Group <\/p>\n

Duluth East
Senior midfielder<\/p>\n

Flohaug, the News Tribune All-Area Player of the Year, was \u201ca leader on and off the field,\u201d according to coach Dave Bergan, for a young Greyhounds team that earned the No. 2 seed in the Section 7AAA playoffs.\u00a0A Wisconsin-Superior recruit, Flohaug was an \u201carchitect on the field,\u201d Bergan said, and his \u201ccreativity and hard play elevated everyone around him.\u201dThe senior led the Greyhounds in goals (13) and assists (10), and he \u201cdictated play both offensively and defensively,\u201d according to Bergan.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Duluth<\/p>\n

Duluth East’s Gray Knutson<\/p>\n

Dave Bergan \/ Contributed <\/p>\n

Duluth East
Senior goalkeeper<\/p>\n

Knutson had a .489 goals against average for the Greyhounds, and his \u201cgreat hands and big saves\u201d were a crucial component for the team this season, according to coach Dave Bergan.\u00a0Knutson kept the Greyhounds \u201ccentered with his vocal leadership,\u201d and he was \u201ca steady rock in the net,\u201d particularly when the game was close. Knutson had seven shutouts in games decided by two goals or fewer.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Superior's<\/p>\n

Superior’s Spencer Kidd<\/p>\n

Steve Kidd \/ Contributed <\/p>\n

Superior\u00a0
Junior forward\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kidd scored 29 goals and had 13 assists in leading the Spartans to a 12-4-1 season and a Lake Superior Conference title.\u00a0The junior was an honorable mention All-State selection in Wisconsin and a first-team All-Lake Superior Conference pick.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Duluth<\/p>\n

Duluth Denfeld’s Lenny Jennings<\/p>\n

LeAnn Jaksha \/ Contributed <\/p>\n

Duluth Denfeld
Senior midfielder<\/p>\n

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.\u00a0Jennings finished with 13 goals and 12 assists, leading Denfeld to its first game at the state tournament in seven years.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Grand<\/p>\n

Grand Rapids’ Ben Blake<\/p>\n

Gigi Pehrson \/ Contributed <\/p>\n

Grand Rapids
Senior midfielder<\/p>\n

Blake\u2019s 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.\u00a0The 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Duluth<\/p>\n

Duluth Marshall’s Benson Peterson<\/p>\n

Kim Kosmatka \/ Contributed <\/p>\n

Duluth Marshall
Senior forward<\/p>\n

\"Hermantown's<\/p>\n

Hermantown’s Hunter Nelson<\/p>\n

Tatiana Marie Photography \/ Contributed <\/p>\n

Hermantown
Senior forward<\/p>\n

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.\u00a0A 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Duluth<\/p>\n

Duluth Marshall’s Eli Thorson<\/p>\n

Kim Kosmatka \/ Contributed <\/p>\n

Duluth Marshall
Junior defender<\/p>\n

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.\u00a0Thorson was part of a defense that allowed one goal or less eight times during the season.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Duluth<\/p>\n

Duluth Denfeld’s Sam Eklund<\/p>\n

LeAnn Jaksha \/ Contributed <\/p>\n

Duluth Denfeld
Senior forward<\/p>\n

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\u2019t won a section title since 2020.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Cloquet-Esko-Carlton's<\/p>\n

Cloquet-Esko-Carlton’s Jordan Sewell<\/p>\n

Shelley Robideaux \/ Contributed <\/p>\n

Cloquet-Esko-Carlton
Sophomore midfielder<\/p>\n

The Lumberjacks sophomore led the team in goals with 13, more than the next four players on the team combined.\u00a0An All-Lake Superior Conference second-team selection, Sewell was a leader on a CEC team that graduated just one player from 2024.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Cloquet-Esko-Carlton's<\/p>\n

Cloquet-Esko-Carlton’s Aiden Korby<\/p>\n

Shlley Robideaux \/ Contributed <\/p>\n

Cloquet-Esko-Carlton
Junior midfielder\/defender<\/p>\n

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.\u00a0Korby scored just three goals, but his play and willingness to adjust earned him an All-Lake Superior Conference first-team nod.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Duluth<\/p>\n

Duluth Denfeld’s Ayden Daniel<\/p>\n

LeAnn Jaksha \/ Contributed <\/p>\n

Duluth Denfeld\u00a0
Senior midfielder<\/p>\n

The Hunters senior was a second-team All-Lake Superior Conference selection and scored seven goals in their run to the Class AA quarterfinal.\u00a0At the midfielder position, Daniel was adept at both \u201cgetting himself into position and drawing defenders out of theirs,\u201d according to coach Scott Anderson.\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Jamey<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

\n 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.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If there were any theme to the 2025 soccer season, it seemed to be very young teams learning…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":299773,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[440],"tags":[134689,134690,134691,49,48,134692,134693,134694,134695,134696,134697,561,134698,82],"class_list":["post-299772","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","tag-aiden-korby","tag-ayden-daniel","tag-benson-peterson","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-dave-bergan","tag-eli-thorson","tag-gray-knutson","tag-lenny-jennings","tag-sam-eklund","tag-scott-anderson","tag-soccer","tag-spencer-kidd","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/299772","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=299772"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/299772\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/299773"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=299772"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=299772"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=299772"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}