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Fire & Ice downs Menace in WPSL opener

By Des Moines Menace, 06/02/18, 3:00PM CDT

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The reigning champions raced to a 3-0 lead in the first 20 minutes of a 4-0 win on June 2 in Grimes.

GRIMES, Iowa – Saturday, June 2, 2018 – The defending champs played like the defending champs.
 
In the first 20 minutes of the Women’s Premier Soccer League season, Fire & Ice Soccer Club raced to a 3-0 lead against the Des Moines Menace today at the Grimes Sports Complex. The St. Louis-area club won, 4-0, in their first action as the WPSL’s reigning champions.
 
Kirsten Crabtree scored less than two minutes into this one, and Tara Sullivan stretched the lead with goals in the 13th and 20th minutes. The hot start for Fire & Ice cooled down once the Menace tightened its defense.  
 
“I felt like we might have respected them too much at the beginning,” Menace assistant coach Hugo Macedo said. “They’re the national champs, and I think it’s natural at any level to feel little bit intimidated when you go up against the top team.
 
“In the second half, we started playing well. Unfortunately, it was too late,” Macedo added. “We didn’t give up; we showed the mentality of a winning team.”
 
The Menace’s best scoring chances came in the 75th and 88th minutes.
 
Finishing a fast break, Reilly Bertram’s left-footed shot went just left of the goal; following Mandy Pochobradsky’s late corner kick, Amber Matthews’ header sailed wide-right.
 
Des Moines gets another shot at Fire & Ice next Saturday in Belleville, Ill.
 
 
UP NEXT: The Menace plays its next four matches on the road – June 9 at Fire & Ice, June 10 at the St. Louis Lions, June 16 at the Kansas City Courage and June 23 at the Kansas City Athletics.
 
Des Moines closes the season with three home matches – June 30, July 1 and July 7.
 
WOMAN of the MATCH: Hannah Evans, a defender in our second season with the Menace after time with the team in 2016. Evans started today at right back and showed strong defense and adaptability, shifting to center back when Chelsea Cline went down in the second half. Evans is a native of Firth, Neb., and a student-athlete at South Dakota State.
 
FOOTNOTES
  • The Menace is coming off a 3-3-2 season; Fire & Ice went 13-0-0 on the way to the 2017 WPSL title.
  • This match was the teams’ first meeting since July 2015. Fire & Ice leads the series 5-1-0. These teams are reunited in the WPSL Heartland Conference.
  • In four previous home matches played on grass fields, the Menace was 4-1-1 with a 25-10 scoring advantage.
  • The Menace thanks our “partners in Grimes” – Dallas Center-Grimes Soccer Club and the City of Grimes – for hosting today’s match.
 
Match: Fire & Ice SC at Des Moines Menace
Date: Saturday, June 2, 2018
Competition: Women’s Premier Soccer League regular season
Venue: Grimes Sports Complex (grass) in Grimes, Iowa
Kickoff: 4:30 p.m. CDT
Weather: 80s – sunny and windy
Scoring Summary:   1    2      F
MENACE                      0    0    0
F&I                              3    1     4
 
F&I: Kirsten Crabtree 2
F&I: Tara Sullivan (Crabtree) 13
F&I: Sullivan (Sarah Gorham) 20
F&I: Briana Hatfield (Bethany Coons) 86
 

Tag(s): News 

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