WEST DES MOINES, Iowa – Friday, July 6, 2018 – Pedal to the metal.

There’s no letting off the gas in the Des Moines Menace’s drive to the Premier Development League Playoffs. Tonight, the Heartland Division champs pushed their unbeaten record to 11-0-1 with a 5-1 win over Chicago FC United.

“It’s been a fun ride so far,” Menace head coach Alen Marcina said. “We want to make it entertaining for our fans – they’re the lifeblood of our organization. For us, it’s all about maximum effort, maximum focus, maximum commitment – all for getting the results.”

Kino Ryosuke, Omar Mohamed, and Audi Jepson once again led the way, and the Menace zoomed to a 5-0 lead less than 60 minutes into the first round of a Friday-Saturday doubleheader at Valley Stadium.

Reclaiming the lead in the PDL’s Golden Boot race, Ryosuke made good on penalty kicks in the 25th and 58th minutes. Mohamed scored in the 28th and 48th minutes, with the second score a sensational outside-of-the-foot curler to the lower-right corner. And Jepson scored his fifth goal of the season when he headed in Alejandro Covarrubias’s corner kick just before the half.

“Feels amazing. We just want to keep it going,” said Mohamed. “We wanted to be ruthless. We stepped it up after we got that first goal, and everything was going our way.”

In the race for the PDL’s regular-season title, the high-octane Menace is trying to stay ahead of Reading United AC (10-0-2), South Georgia Tormenta FC (10-0-1) and FC Golden State Force (10-1-1).

Heading into its season finale, Chicago (7-4-2) remains in second place in the division standings. The visitors’ goal came from Connor Alba in the 66th minute, and they avoiding a repeat of the Menace’s 5-0 win on June 20 in the teams’ last meeting.

UP NEXT:  These teams rematch tomorrow at 7:30, when the Menace looks to sweep the four-match season series.

Tomorrow is “Health and Fitness Night,” and the doubleheader action begins with a 4:30 Women’s Premier Soccer League match between the season-closing Menace ladies and the Kansas City Athletics.

MAN of the MATCH: Omar Mohamed for his two-goal performance. Born in Somalia, Mohamed has played professionally for FC Cincinnati (2016) and Portland Timbers 2 (2017).

FOOTNOTES                                                                                                                                   

• Still in the running for the Heartland Division’s second and final playoff spot are Chicago (7-4-2), Kaw Valley 5-5-2 and Thunder Bay 5-5-1.
• For the first time this season, the Menace scored more than twice before halftime.
• This season, the Menace has outscored foes 32-5 – 11-0 in the first half and 21-5 in the second half.
• Kino Ryosuke has scored in eight of the 12 games he’s played in this season; his 14 goals tie Tomas Boltnar’s 2003 total, for the most goals by a Menace player since Boltnar scored a franchise-record 24 times as a rookie in 2002.

 
Match: Chicago FC United at Des Moines Menace

Date: Friday, July 6, 2018
Competition: Premier Development League regular season
Venue: Valley Stadium (artificial turf) in West Des Moines, Iowa
Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. CDT
Weather: 80s, sunny – A fantastic Fireworks Friday

Scoreline                    1    2     F
MENACE                      3    2   5
CHI                              0    1    1