Menace start their Open Cup tonight, 6/4, at 7pm at home against USASA Milwaukee. Given the roster restrictions the Menace have that Milwaukee will not this should be interesting. The credentials of this team in their league is strong. Weather for kickoff is partly cloudy, 69°, 33% chance of rain, 50% humidity, with winds from West-Southwest at 10 mph. Talked with Register Sports last night, they said there is a preview of tonight's match planned for the paper.
TWO Great articles! From the Des Moines Register: Mostly info about the new coach: http://www.dmregister.com/sports/stories/c6902854/21429327.html And then the US Open Cup pre-game write-up: http://www.dmregister.com/sports/stories/c6902891/21429557.html The Register's coverage this year is a vast improvement from the previous few years, do we have a mole?
Re: TWO Great articles! Last year, late season, coverage was pretty good. I think success both on the field and in the stands has helped. Hopefully it keeps up. Witosky even referenced the FA Cup
Re: Re: TWO Great articles! Thinking back 10 years ago...I find it hard to believe that people are so aware now of things like the FA Cup and that we have a team here and quite possibly our own stadium in the near future. Even just 3 or 4 years ago I would have to explain Cup competitions...what's next, The Register writing an op/ed promoting the idea of pro/rel?!?! I know I know, THAT will never happen, but it is nice to see write ups in our local papers and to see soccer complexes built up in every small rural community around here. Have fun at the game tonight, I will be stuck working.
My prediction: Menace 3-2 Bavarians My last two predicitions: Menace 3-1 Strikers (actual outcome: Menace 4-1 Strikers) Menace 4-0 Rebels (actual outcome: Menace 7-0 Rebels)
That was one of the most exciting matches I have seen in Des Moines. Des Moines controlled much of the game, but was unable to get one past the Milwaukee keeper, who was brilliant. Loved the red kit the Menace wore tonight, never seen that before. The Bavarian team will do well in the Open Cup, the Menace gave this one away unfortunately, but they will re-group and focus in on the PDL title now.
Who are those guys? Who are those guys from Milwaukee? Are they a weekend men's team? Does anybody have a roster profile on this team? This is a pretty embarrassing result for the Menace unless the Bavarians had some real ringers.
(originally said here that I was getting a little tired of the premium area. which I am getting better now, but all depends on what I have going each certain day) Don't worry about it, I will be over there after enjoying the Bavarian win! I was surprised that the Bavarians won. When I was younger, we played against this club in tourneys. And they always beat us soundly.
Re: Who are those guys? Were they not the US amateur champions? I thought I also read that the Bavarians have a few ex-professional players.
http://www.dmregister.com/sports/stories/c6902891/21439124.html The Bavarians played hard. I thought they'd tire in the second half but they really didn't until OT. Menace played like crap the first half, just way out of sync, bad passing. Second half and OT we were dominant but still had some moments that shouldn't have been. We had some good shots but the Bavarian keeper worked some magic. We were pressuring hard on their goal right before they scored. Menace keeper Warren van der Westhuizen did a good job except that bad pass that was capitalized on for the first goal. Disappointed last night with Boltnar on a few shots that were complete wastes, they were forced and didn't need to be taken. Hopefully this lights a fire under their ass as they press on with league play Saturday. BTW... 3,152.. not even close, that's paid attendance (including season ticket holders).. disappointing but not unexpected. Open Cup always draw less and their was a little bit of rain before and during the first half.
I was pretty disappointed with this game. The first half was complete crap, you're right. It seemed like for almost all of the second half the Menace were camping out around the Bavarian penalty box and just couldn't get anything going. It's true that the Bavarian keeper did really well on the Menace shots that amounted to anything but there were WAY too many times when the shot was either a complete waste or never even got off because of sloppy handling or lack of hustle that allowed a Bavarian defender to strip the ball. Also, the Menace goal was complete crap. The game should have been over a minute or two before that but for some reason the ref, out of character for him, seemed to want Menace to score or something. If the Menace had scored in OT after that to get the win, it would have felt a bit hollow. Bavarians won me over during the game and I wish them the best of luck in the tournament. I think they will handle the Reading Rage and be competitive against whatever A-League team they face. Having said all that, the atmosphere was actually pretty fun in the second half with lots of cheering and jeering and a fairly vocal but behaved crowd. THE END.
Bavarians are aquality side. We have faced them in a tourney in Chicago a number of years and probably not with their best 11 and they are tough. I am not sure if they won the Amatuer last year or not . it was either them of Schwaben FC form Chicago / buffalo grove,IL
I wondered if the ref was going to add any extra time for stalling. The Bavarians seemed to take a little extra time with all their restarts after their goal. Both Bavarian goals were great shots - the first after several sloppy pass and a bad pass from the keeper. The crowd seemed to pick up during the evening, particularly after the rain stopped. The last ten minutes of regulation and overtime, the crowd did wake up. My wife even got a little excited. This was only her second Menace game. I thought the Des Moines area refs did a great job. Game Control was never an issue with numerous advantage play calls.
Re: Who are those guys? The guy who scored the winning goal Brian Doherty was a national champion at Wisconsin, spent three years playing professionally in Germany, and also just retired from the former Rampage in Milwaukee. How do I know him?????? Well......he is my Brother. Congrats Bdoh, I think that may be the first goal you scored in three years. Just kiddin bro....good luck next round if your reading this, however I don't think you even know what bigsoccer is.
A lot of the Bavarians players played are recent Wisconsin-Milwaukee players. Some of them have A-League experience with the Rampage.