With three games in eight days, these two teams who know each other so well will be left wondering if if absence might make the heart grow fonder. At least that appears to be the case for the Springfield Demize who fell for the second straight game via a shutout at the hands of the Lions. Saturday it was a 4-0 blanking in St Louis.
Tonight the Demize came out strong with a pair of early chances that boded well for the home squad. It was not meant to be as midway through the half the Lion’s slowly began to gain control, creating chances in the offensive end. The breakthrough came in the 36th minute following a foul just outside the box near the team benches. Tad Kreamalmeyer lined up his shot and laced his ball to the back post where it ended up in the far side netting, Lion’s 1-0.
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hdoAMNcCp4]The second half opened with a flurry of Lion attacks blunted by quality work by Stephen Conner (Drury Panthers) including a stop on a breakaway by Jarius “Juice” Holmes. The Lions broke through in the 67th on a counter-attack, with JJ Bilyeu (Missouri S&T) collecting a ball deep in his own end and finding Dan Meagher headed towards goal near the midline. Meagher stayed in front of his defender before burying his shot after entering the box, hammering it off of Conner’s hands and into the net. Final 2-0 for the Lions.
The teams meet again on Saturday in St Louis. The Demize will get one final shot at their regional rivals on July 9th in Springfield as well.
