MENTORING THE MENACE >>

Friday, June 15, 2007

Last weekend was a good weekend of soccer for the Des Moines Menace. Defeating St. Louis on Saturday was a great win for us even though it was an exhibition match. It gave many players the chance to show Coach Mann what they have to offer on the field and it was a good experience for the entire team.

I was content not to play on Saturday, just as I agreed not to start against St. Louis the weekend before. We have a great trust for the talent level of the entire team and felt that the best preparation for Sunday’s match against Colorado was to have fresh legs on the field. The team did a great job creating opportunities to score and 4-0 was a significant win for this group. It always feels great to win and gave us some positive energy going into Sunday night’s match against the Rapids.

Our match against the Colorado Rapids U23 was a big match from several perspectives. We always want to win against a rival, plus it was a “must win” from a division race standpoint. I thought the team created decent opportunities to score and took advantage of those opportunities.

Edwin Disang had a huge goal before the half. It was a great goal timing wise, because it gave us extreme energy going into the second half. We had lots of momentum for the second half of the match and it showed in the way we played. It was great to see a standout performance from Edwin again. I was happy with the way we finished the match and pleased with the win.

We leave for Sioux Falls early this afternoon. This is an important weekend for us. Even though the Spitfire are behind in the Division Race, they are still a force to be reckoned with. I have always believed it is really important to score the first goal in match. This would apply especially in the case of Sioux Falls, who will play extremely hard defensively.

They have a large fan base and always play with a lot of pride. By scoring that first goal, we are able to put our opponent on their heels early on in the match. We have had a great week of training sessions and continue to bond as a team. I am looking forward to the chance at another winning weekend and hope that we can prove we are a contender in the Division Race.

- Tomas Boltnar