WINNIPEG, Manitoba, Canada – Tuesday, June 7, 2011 – This was a good way to start a stretch of four matches in five days.

Thanks to second-half goals from newcomer Matt LaGrassa and Bryan Perez, the Des Moines Menace opened its Canada road swing with a 2-0 win tonight over WSA Winnipeg.

“Tremendous,” said Menace head coach Laurie Calloway, whose team improves to 5-1-0. “A great overall team performance against a difficult team.”

WSA Winnipeg, an expansion club in the Premier Development League’s Heartland Division, is 1-2-0 and looks to even its record tomorrow when these teams return to Winnipeg Indoor Soccer Complex for a 7 p.m. rematch.

“(WSA Winnipeg’s players) are very quick, with good pace and physicality,” Calloway said. ‘We had to grind it out. Our guys all did their job.”

LaGrassa, who is preparing for his freshman season at Cal Poly, made the most of his PDL debut. His game-winner came in the 50th minute, when WSA goalkeeper Kyle Kilcup wasn’t able to handle a shot by Husref Jupic. LaGrassa was opportunistic, striking the rebound into the back of the net.

Perez stretched the lead with a header in the 73rd minute, set up by former UMKC teammate John Sosa’s seventh assist.

For the first time since the season-opener, the Menace did not score a goal in the first half. Entering tonight’s match, the Menace had outscored foes 11-3 in the 45 minutes, but only 5-4 after halftime.

Menace goalkeeper Phil Boerger, a North Dakota native playing in front of family, earned the shutout. Des Moines snapped a string of three straight games of allowing two goals.

The Menace’s trip continues in Ontario, where the team clashes with arch-rival Thunder Bay on Friday and Saturday.

MR. B MAN of the MATCH goes to: John Sosa. In just his fifth game, the Colombia native became the first Menace player since PDL great Tomas Boltnar (2007) to record seven assists in a season.

UP NEXT: One down, three to go on this roadtrip through Canada. Fans and the media can follow all Menace action – home and away – with live in-game tweets at www.Twitter.com/MenaceSoccer.

The Menace is back at Valley Stadium on Tuesday, June 14, hosting Chicago Fire PDL in the first round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. The team plays all home matches at 7:30 p.m.

Match: Des Moines Menace at WSA Winnipeg
Date: Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Competition: Premier Development League regular-season match
Venue: Winnipeg Indoor Soccer Complex in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Kickoff: 7:14 p.m. CDT


Scoring Summary:     1   2   F
MENACE                      0    2    2
WSA                            0   0    0

MENACE – Matt LaGrassa (Husref Jupic) 50:00; Bryan Perez (John Sosa) 73:00
WSA – None

Stats Summary: MENACE / WSA
Shots: 18 / 6
Saves: 3 / 7
Corner Kicks: 5 / 4
Fouls: 13 / 16
Offside: 0 / 1

Misconduct Summary: Menace Yellow Cards: Diego Marroquin 77:00; Francis Otira 84:00; WSA Yellow Cards: Nordman 22:00; Akpalo 76:00; Smith 80:00; Bromley 86:00; WSA Red Card: Roziere 88:00