DES MOINES, Iowa – April 3, 2019 – The Des Moines Menace will open the 2019 season on Saturday, May 11 at Cownie Soccer Park, and the team will play its remaining home matches at Drake Stadium.

Changes – not only in home fields, but also in field leadership and in the name of the league – abound for the Menace’s 26th season. First-year head coach Mark McKeever guides the team into the first year of USL League Two. After opening at Cownie against the first-year Green Bay Voyageurs, the Menace will play the rest of its schedule against familiar Heartland Division foes on the Drake University campus. WSA Winnipeg (May 24 and 30), the St. Louis Lions (June 7), Kaw Valley FC (June 29) and the arch-rival Thunder Bay Chill (July 11 and 13) will face the Menace at historic Drake Stadium.  

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DRAKE STADIUM

Opened in 1925, Drake Stadium is one of the country’s premier track and field facilities. Through the years, the venue has hosted the likes of Jesse Owens, Wilma Rudolph, Carl Lewis and Michael Johnson – and scores of other Olympic gold medalists – at the Drake Relays. With a capacity of 14, 557, Drake Stadium has a FieldTurf surface inside its famous blue track. Drake Stadium is the home of the Drake University football team.  

BACK TO DES MOINES

This season marks the first time since 2004 that the Menace will play home matches in Des Moines. Following a 10-year run (1995-2004) at Des Moines Hoover, the Menace played three seasons in Waukee (2005-2007) and the last 11 at West Des Moines’ Valley Stadium, whose turf field will be resurfaced this spring and summer. The team’s move from the suburbs comes in the same offseason that the team’s office staff made the move from West Des Moines to the newly christened Krause Gateway Center in downtown Des Moines.  

HITTING THE ROAD

The Menace’s seven-match road schedule is compacted into a four-week stretch from June 9 (in St. Louis) to July 4 (in Green Bay). The team plays four matches in a fell swoop through Canada – June 21-22 in Thunder Bay and June 24-25 in Winnipeg. Des Moines’ road warriors also visit Kaw Valley FC in Lawrence, Kan., on June 15.  

250 WINS AND COUNTING FOR DEFENDING CHAMPS

Des Moines enters 2019 with an all-time regular-season record of 250-126-38. Before accepting an assistant-coaching role with San Antonio FC last fall, Alen Marcina led the Menace to an undefeated 13-0-1 record and the regular-season championship for the last season of the since-renamed Premier Development League.  

OPENING WITH THE OPEN CUP

The Menace’s first 2019 action comes in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. Last year’s record qualified the team for its 13th berth in the prestigious national tournament. This means that 2018 is the only year since 2009 that Des Moines was not part of the Open Cup.  

Des Moines Menace 2019 Schedule

Wednesday, May 8     1st round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup (Opponent and site TBD)      

Saturday, May 11      Green Bay Voyageurs          7:30 p.m. at Cownie Soccer Park

Wednesday, May 15   2nd round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup (Opponent and site TBD)

Friday, May 24           WSA Winnipeg                      7:30 p.m. at Drake Stadium

Thursday, May 30      WSA Winnipeg                      7:30 p.m. at Drake Stadium  

Friday, June 7            St. Louis Lions                      7:30 p.m. at Drake Stadium

Sunday, June 9            at St. Louis Lions                    5 p.m. at Tony Glavin Soccer Complex

Saturday, June 15        at Kaw Valley FC                     7:30 p.m. at Rock Chalk Park

Friday, June 21            at Thunder Bay Chill                6:30 p.m. at Fort William Stadium

Saturday, June 22        at Thunder Bay Chill                6:30 p.m. at Fort William Stadium

Monday, June 24          at WSA Winnipeg                    7 p.m. at Waverly Soccer Complex

Tuesday, June 25         at WSA Winnipeg                     7 p.m. at Waverly Soccer Complex

Saturday, June 29     Kaw Valley FC                        7:30 p.m. at Drake Stadium  

Thursday, July 4           at Green Bay Voyageurs           3 p.m. at Capital Credit Union Park

Thursday, July 11      Thunder Bay Chill                  7:30 p.m. at Drake Stadium

Saturday, July 13       Thunder Bay Chill                  7:30 p.m. at Drake Stadium  

Friday, July 19              USL League Two Playoffs

Saturday, July 20          USL League Two Playoffs

Saturday, July 27          Semifinals, USL League Two Playoffs

Saturday, Aug. 5           USL League Two Championship  

All times are listed in Des Moines time