Menace stunned in US Open Cup
DES MOINES, IA -- The Milwaukee Bavarians upset the Des Moines Menace tonight in double overtime, downing the home side, 2-1, with a golden goal in the 111th minute.
Despite drizzling rain prior to kick off, the skies cleared and the Menace and Milwaukee Bavarians played one of the most exciting soccer matches central Iowa has ever seen. The United States Adult Soccer Association side proved a very worthy opponent and kept great pace with the younger, more youthful Menace.
After ninety full minutes of play Milwaukee was up 1-0, but the Menace were not satisfied and tied the match as Daryl Brazeau put away his second goal in as many matches for the red and black in extra time. The match spilled over to golden goal overtime and in the second of the 15-minute periods the Bavarians put away the game winner.
The first half was played very evenly, both sides controlling the ball and creating some dangerous attacks. Milwaukee played six in the back at times and stymied the Menace attack, and created some good counter attacks as well. Despite earning a 3–1 advantage on corner kicks, the Menace couldn’t put one in the net and the half ended scoreless.
The second half opened with Des Moines looking a bit sluggish in the back. In the 51st minute the Bavarians had an attack that peppered the Des Moines goal and saw the ball go off the post. Des Moines narrowly escaped and the score was still knotted at zero.
In the 61st minute Des Moines substituted Kris O’Neil in for Stephen Shirley in the midfield. The addition of the fresh legs and solid play by Menace midfielder John Jones saw Des Moines pressure the Bavarians defense. Despite the attack, the Menace came up empty and allowed to Bavarians a counter attack.
In the 66th minute the Menace defense played a ball back to goalkeeper Warren van der Westhuizen. van der Westhuizen played a poor ball from the six yard box out to the near wing and Bavarians midfielder Ryan Seymour easily collected the ball. Seymour, from 25 yards out on the left side, noted van der Westhuizen was still out of his goal from playing the ball and floated a cross over the Menace goalkeeper’s head that wound up in the net.
Des Moines added some fresh legs in the 68th minute as Joe Sithonnorath came on for Christian Cuevas. Sithonnorath, along with O’Neil, added some speed and the result was some great opportunities for Des Moines.
The Bavarians responded by sinking in and playing excellent defense, thwarting Menace attempts to even things up. From the 71st-76th minutes, Des Moines built the ball up in the midfield and saw Kris O’Neil, Joseph Kabwe, and Tomas Boltnar all have great opportunities to level the match, but it was to no avail. Des Moines became very frustrated at the near goal attempts and John Jones earned a yellow card for dissent in the 86th minute.
Play battled on and Milwaukee cleared the ball and countered occasionally, but the match hit the 90 minute mark and the announcement was made there would be 2 minutes of stoppage time added.
In stoppage time Des Moines pushed everyone up leaving only David Henning and Adnan Junuzovic at midfield to collect any clearances. With the official checking his watch methodically, Des Moines earned a free kick just outside the box, on the right side. The free kick was taken and Edwin Disang directed the ball towards the front of the net where a flurry of Menace players awaited. It was Brazeau who rose up and headed home the ball that leveled the match. The Des Moines crowd was on their feet and as the ball was kicked off to restart play the final whistle blew.
The first overtime was, again, evenly matched but saw Des Moines create more opportunities. In the 100th minute Joseph Kabwe was replaced by Dusty Grau for the Menace, who looked to the speedster to create things on the wing. Kabwe seemed to be a bit banged up, as the much more phsycial Bavarians contained him and the other Menace attackers very well. The first overtime period ended with the score 1-1.
Des Moines seemed to be in control of the second overtime as well, focusing on the attack and allowing Milwaukee to counter when they got the ball. In the 111th minute as a ball was cleared to the midfield Brian Doherty quickly collected the ball for Milwaukee saw van der Westhuizen off of his line. Doherty blasted a shot from 35 yards out that seemed to catch everyone in the stadium off guard and the Menace 2003 Open Cup stay ended shorter than expected.
The key to the match was great defensive play by the Bavarians and anything but luck for the Menace attack. Des Moines midfield, led by great play from John Jones, created options for the attack, but to no avail. Des Moines out shot the visitors 23-14 and held an 11-5 advantage on corner kicks, but much credit is due to the Bavarian defense who shut down the Menace forwards.
Des Moines is home this Saturday night as they host division rival Boulder Rapids Reserve at 7:30 PM at Cara McGrane Stadium. The Menace travel to Sioux Falls for their third game in four days on Sunday evening. For tickets to home games and information log onto www.MENACESOCCER.com.
Lineups:
Des Moines- van der Westhuizen, Junuzovic, Henning, Brazeau, Redhage, Jones, Shirley (O’Neil 61”), Cuevas (Sithonnorath 68”), Kabwe (Grau 100th), Boltnar, Disang
Guest- Dadaian, Provan, Klein, Coleman (Luna 45”), Dapra (Mork 86”), Doherty, Dombrowski, Posselt, Riesz (Walton), Seymour, Anderson (Turner 100th)
Scoring Summary:
DES MOINES: Brazeau 90"(Disang)
MILWAUKEE: Seymour 66”, Doherty 111”
Attendance: 3,152
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