Saturday, June 8, 2013
WEST DES MOINES, Iowa – The Springfield Demize’s Eric Martin has now scored two streak-busting goals against the Des Moines Menace.
Martin’s goal in the 86th minute on Saturday night gifted the Demize a 1-0 win – its first points on the Menace’s home turf. A year ago, Martin scored late to provide Springfield its first-ever victory over Des Moines, by an identical 1-0 scoreline.
Des Moines (3-3-1) seemingly had control for most of tonight’s physical match at Valley Stadium. There were 22 fouls called (16 for Springfield), and the Demize ended the match down a player and a head coach. Mark Heath-Preston, whose late equalizer stung the Menace in a 1-1 season-opening draw four weeks ago, received yellow cards in the 53rd and 69th minutes. Coach Sean Fraser was ejected in the 72nd minute.
Nonetheless, the Demize (2-1-1) were able to hang with the Menace. Despite outshooting the visitors, 15-6, the Menace were shut out for the third time this season – and the second by an undermanned foe. The home team’s frantic offensive fury was unable to net the desired result.
“We gave the game away. That’s all you can say,” said Menace head coach Mike Jeffries. “The first half, we were not sharp…The second half, when we were up a man, we wasted our chances.
“It puts us in a difficult spot. That was a difficult game. It puts us in a spot where every match is more and more important.”
At the midpoint of the Menace’s 14-match Premier Development League schedule, the team is fighting to stay in contention for one of the Heartland Division’s two playoff berths.
Entering tonight, the Menace had won all seven of their previous home matches against Springfield, posting a lopsided 32-2 goal differential. Before the team’s loss at Springfield in May 2012, Des Moines won the first 11 meetings between the two teams, while racking up a 40-3 goal differential. Since then, the series has knotted up at 2-2-1.
With their work cut out for them, Jeffries and company prepare for a pivotal Friday-Saturday doubleheader with arch-rival Thunder Bay. The defending Heartland Division champions come to Valley Stadium for a highly anticipated June 14-15 showdown. The Menace are 2-1-0 in its last three home matches against the Chill.
MAN of the MATCH, presented by Seneca Companies: Shadow Sebele, whose three shots tied Fatai Alabi for the team high. Sebele, a native of Zimbabwe, played for West Virginia.
UP NEXT: The Menace welcome arch-rival Thunder Bay for a Friday-Saturday doubleheader – both 7:30 p.m. starts. On Friday, the first 1,000 fans receive bobblehead dolls of the Menace’s mascot, Maniac. On Saturday, fans wearing black get $5 tickets on Blackout Night.