Des Moines Menace fans can expect plenty of Saturday home matches at Valley Stadium in 2010.

The team announces the schedule for its 17th season in the United Soccer Leagues’ Premier Development League. All home matches will start at 7:30 on Saturday nights.

The Menace sets out to defend its Heartland Division regular-season and post-season championships from a year ago. Des Moines went 11-1-4 in 2009 and advanced to the PDL’s Elite Eight.

With a new (old) coach leading the team, Des Moines will look to build on last season’s success. Laurie Calloway is back as the team’s head coach. The England native held the position in 2001-2002, when the team compiled a 27-7-5 mark and made a pair of playoff appearances.

Des Moines, the 2009 PDL Organization of the Year, opens its 10-match home slate with a May 8 preseason exhibition against Des Moines Latinos United.

Updated Feb. 26 -- The Menace's May 8 opponent is Drake University. A 5 p.m. exhibition of Latino teams will come before that night's 7:30 match between the Menace and the Bulldogs.

The team’s regular season opens with a May 12 match at Springfield (Mo.) – the first of four qualifying matches for the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. In its other qualifiers, Des Moines hosts Rochester (May 15) and St. Louis (May 22) and pays a midweek visit to Kansas City (May 19).

After hosting Kansas City on May 29, Des Moines plays six of its next seven matches away from Valley Stadium. The only home action in this span comes June 12, when the team plays Real Colorado in a rematch of the divisional championship playoff match the Menace won, 2-1, last July.

The Menace closes the season with five straight home matches. The team will be at Valley Stadium each Saturday stretching from June 26 to July 24, entertaining Springfield, rival Thunder Bay, exhibition foe St. Paul (of the National Premier Soccer League), Kansas City and St. Louis.

The top two teams from each of the PDL’s eight divisions will qualify for the playoffs. This marks a change from the 2009 postseason, when each division had three playoff berths. The divisional representatives will meet for conference tournaments July 30-31, with the top seed from each division playing the runner-up from the opposite division.

The four conference champions will advance to a Final Four championship tournament the following weekend.

Des Moines has made the playoffs in 10 of the franchise’s 16 seasons. The Menace has reached the Final Four on four occasions, including the team’s 2005 PDL championship.

Under Calloway, the 2001 Menace finished fourth in the PDL. The Menace won the league’s regular-season championship the following season, when the team went undefeated (15-0-3) and Calloway was named PDL Coach of the Year

Des Moines Menace 2010 Schedule
Updated Feb. 26 -- The Menace's May 8 opponent is Drake University. A 5 p.m. exhibition of Latino teams will come before that night's 7:30 match between the Menace and the Bulldogs.