When it rains, it pours for the Des Moines Menace
It was goals on goals on goals for the Menace against WSA Winnipeg, taking both games by large margins. Leigh Veidman scored four goals in the Friday fixture, part of a 7-0 win. In Saturday’s game, Des Moines put up a 9-0 score to take the season sweep over Winnipeg.
“I’ve [scored four goals] in college, but I don’t remember the last time,” Veidman said. “Obviously, it’s personally nice for me to get four goals. It’s my job as an attacking player to score goals.
“In all honesty, I should have had more.”
Before Veidman knocked in his first on Friday, Des Moines scored on back-to-back corner kicks, with James Wypych delivering both corners. The first found Jimmy Fiscus in the 22nd minute. The second came on the very next corner, just one minute later. Jack Griffin was unmarked on the back post and nodded the open header into the back of the net for the 2-0 lead.
After having a penalty saved just a minute after the second goal, Veidman stepped up for another chance from the spot in the 41st minute. The captain went to the shooter’s left — opposite his first attempt — with WSA Winnipeg goalkeeper Evan Barker diving to Veidman’s right.
“I felt like, as the captain and for my personal self, I have to put that wrong right,” said Veidman. “I didn’t want to walk off the field at halftime and know I just missed a penalty.”
In stoppage time of the first half, Winnipeg was reduced to 10 men after Ndanji Simwinga clattered through Elvir Ibisevic for his second caution.
Veidman added his second, third, and fourth goals of the night in the second half, just 15 minutes apart from each other. His goal in the 63rd minute started a spark which resulted in four goals in 20 minutes.
The Menace were clearly dominant throughout the game, and the stats showed. Des Moines kept WSA Winnipeg shotless. The closest Winnipeg came to the goal was a free kick on the right edge of the penalty area, but the chance was snuffed out and the Menace countered with a breakaway on Barker.
“It was more of a challenge today than it was in Canada,” Veidman said. “I felt like they sat back a lot more. They had a lot more players holding deeper in the midfield, which made it tight in the final third for us.”
Saturday, the Menace spaced its goals farther apart, but still finished with the most lopsided margin against WSA in team history with the 9-0 win. The previous record was six, set June 14, 2016 (6-0 in Winnipeg).
Des Moines got a hat trick from Tommy Barlow for his second, third, and fourth goals of the season. The Menace also received goals from Raul Gonzalez, Ricky Hoegg, Mark Heath-Preston, Devyn Jambga, Nick Edington and Christian Flath for the win.
Des Moines is riding a few streaks with the win. In the head-to-head against Winnipeg, the Menace are still undefeated with a 16-0-1 lifetime record against WSA. At home, Des Moines is on a 20-game unbeaten streak, dating back to July 20, 2013 (3-3 draw against St. Louis Lions). Overall the Menace is unbeaten in 17 games (16-0-1).
The division standings, as of Saturday night, has Des Moines atop with 25 points (8-0-1); Chicago Fire PDL, 19 points (6-3-1); Thunder Bay, 13 points (4-2-1).
The Menace has put up the highest scoring differential in the league, outscoring opponents 32-2. Des Moines outscored Winnipeg in all three meetings with a 22-0 scoreline.
Up next, Des Moines will be in Chicago for a game against Heartland Division’s second-place holder Chicago Fire PDL Tuesday morning before a trip to Indiana for a Saturday fixture against Kokomo Mantis FC.
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