Falling on the conference championship weekend for the third straight year, the Des Moines Menace’s season ended Saturday night in Pontiac, Mich.
After a 5-1 dismantling of K-W United FC (Kitchener-Waterloo) in the conference semifinals Friday night at the Ultimate Soccer Arenas in Michigan, the same offensive spark was not there for the Menace against Great Lakes Division rival, Michigan Bucks, on Saturday night.
Friday night, the Menace were on the front foot early, starting with a goal in the sixth minute by USL’s Premier Development League veteran Mark Heath-Preston.
Des Moines built a 3-0 lead by halftime and extended it to 5-0 before K-W pulled one back in the 78th minute.
Saturday night, the offensive spark that lit the Menace the night before was nowhere to be found.
Holding firm until halftime, Des Moines took all it could handle until Russell Cicerone broke the deadlock in the 68th minute with a rebound header over Menace goalkeeper Nico Campbell.
Cicerone tallied another goal in the 89th minute to seal the win and put Michigan in the PDL Final Four weekend next Saturday.
This was the third straight postseason berth for the Menace, and third consecutive loss in the opening weekend. Des Moines has not made the second weekend of the playoffs since winning the whole thing in 2005.
Out of the last three playoffs, the Menace has been eliminated by the Bucks in two. In 2014, when Des Moines looked poised to make a serious run at the PDL Championship with a regular-season title already under its belt, the Bucks upended the Menace by a similar 2-0 scoreline en route to their second PDL championship.
In 2015, the Menace lost to eventual PDL champion K-W United in the conference semifinals.
With the Central Conference title, the Bucks join Midland/Odessa Sockers FC (Southern Conference, Texas) and Calgary Foothills FC (Western, Alb.). Still to play for the Eastern Conference will be Reading United AC (Penn.) and Ocean City Nor’easters (N.J.).
The Menace’s season ends at 10-2-2 with the Heartland Division in Des Moines for the third straight year – a first for the club. Leigh Veidman led the team in goals (nine) and James Wypych and Devyn Jambga tied for the team lead with four in assists.
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