WINNIPEG, Manitoba – Sunday, June 10, 2018 – The road warriors are coming back to the United States with their perfect mark intact.

Tonight’s 3-0 win over WSA Winnipeg is the Des Moines Menace’s sixth victory in six Premier Development League matches. Heading into a stretch of five straight weekends at home, the Menace is a notch above Chicago FC United (5-0-0) in the Heartland Division standings.

Since opening the season with a similar-looking, 3-0 result against WSA Winnipeg, the Menace has reeled off five consecutive wins away from Valley Stadium. Des Moines’ travels have included wins in St. Louis (two), Lawrence, Kan., and Thunder Bay (two days ago to start this Canada trip).

Like he did back on May 24, Kino Ryosuke scored a pair of second-half goals against Winnipeg in tonight’s carbon copy. He headed home Audi Jepson’s free kick in the 52nd minute, and he struck again four minutes later.

Ryosuke leads the PDL in scoring. After bagging braces in the Menace’s first three outings, Ryosuke turned in another two-goal performance tonight to surpass Andre Bava Shinyashiki, who has scored seven times in four matches for Colorado Rapids U23.

The Menace controlled most of tonight’s action against winless WSA Winnipeg (0-9-0) at Ralph Cantafio Soccerplex. Driving into a stiff wind in the first half, the visitors showed patience against a packed-in defense content in sitting back.

With the wind at its back in the second stanza, Des Moines went on the attack against the Wolf Pack. Jepson closed the scoring in the 62nd minute, keeping alive his streak of goals scored in three straight matches.

UP NEXT:  After three straight weekends and five straight matches on the road, the Menace has nine home matches coming up in the next five weekends.

Des Moines hosts Nebraska Bugeaters FC this Friday, with fireworks following the match. The Menace clashes with the Thunder Bay Chill on Saturday, with the boys’ Iowa High School All-Star Game preceding the rivalry rematch.

MAN of the MATCH: Kino Ryosuke, for his fourth multi-goal game of the season. His PDL-leading eight scores put him in rare company. In the last 12 years, no Menace player has scored double-digit goals in a season, though Tomas Boltnar (2007), Nicki Paterson (2007), Deshorn Brown (2011), Chris Hellmann (2014) and Leigh Veidman (2016) each scored nine goals.

FOOTNOTES                                                                                                                                   

• The Menace is 21-0-1 against WSA Winnipeg in a series that dates to 2011. Des Moines has outscored Winnipeg 77-9 (40-8 away).
• Making his second appearance this season, goalie Carlos Mercado earned his first Menace shutout.
• The Menace had outscored foes 17-2; WSA Winnipeg’s aggregate scoring is 3-28.
• Des Moines has played three games this season against Canadian teams, winning 3-0 each time. After Friday's win in Thunder Bay, the Menace can boast wins that have spoiled the arch-rival Chill’s last three home openers.

 
Match: Des Moines Menace at WSA Winnipeg

Date: Sunday, June 10, 2018
Competition: Premier Development League regular season
Venue: Ralph Cantafio Soccerplex (artificial turf) in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Kickoff: 7 p.m CDT
Weather: 80s, sunny and windy

Scoreline                    1    2     F
MENACE                      0   3   3
WIN                             0   0     0