Trevor Spangenberg, Missouri State Bears (2014)

The Heat and the Capitals open the Southern Conference Championship Tournament with the winner of the opening match taking on the winner of the later match on Friday evening in Jackson, MS between the Southeast Division Champion and Host Team Mississippi Brilla (11 – 0 – 3, 36 points) and the Mid-South Division Runner-Up Houston Leones (7 – 5 – 4, 25 points).

The Southern Conference Championship Game is set for Sunday evening, August 1st at 7:00 P.M., also at Harper Davis Field.

The Laredo Heat added Trevor Spangenberg, a 6’3” 19 year old sophomore goalkeeper at NCAA Division I Missouri State University located in Springfield, Missouri agreed to finish our his 2010 PDL season in Laredo. Spangenberg is a graduate of Boone Grove High School is Valparaiso, Indiana. He comes over from the IMG Bradenton Academics.

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.

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.

Tony Glavin, St Louis Lions

“We are thrilled to have these six coaches actively involved in presenting the talented players at the USL Men’s Showcase,” said PDL Director of Operations Lee Cohen. “As PDL coaches, they will have a good working knowledge of many of the players’ best abilities and will be able to provide insight into how to present themselves on the field as well as accentuate their best attributes during the event. As USL PDL coaches, they spend every day working on creating an environment that will help develop players and send them to the next level, and the USL Men’s Showcase is an extension of those efforts.”

Returning from last year’s USL Men’s Showcase as coaches are Tony Glavin of the St Louis Lions and the Springfield Demize duo of Chris Hanlon and Armen Toniase.

“This year’s mix of coaches will be great for the event,” added Cohen. “Having three coaches familiar with the event will help everyone in their preparations, while having three fresh faces will provide new philosophies and ideas.”

There are 90 players included in the USL Showcase invitees, 10 of whom have played in the Heartland Conference for either Des Moines, Kansas City or St Louis.

The win ensured that the Menace would take sole possession of first regardless of the result here in Springfield, where the Demize were hosting the Colorado Real Foxes, the other potential contender. The Demize wrapped up their season with a 0-2 loss to the visitors. Colorado travel to Kansas City in hopes of finishing third now, ahead of the St Louis Lions who travel to Des Moines for the regular season final game. If the Foxes win, they claim second and Thunder Bay finish third. A tie at KC will ensure the 3rd place spot, behind the Chill. St Louis needs to defeat Des Moines, while Colorado loses to KC, to have a chance to go through.

This is the second division crown in the Menace’s 16 seasons. Des Moines makes its ninth postseason appearance, preparing to host the division’s second- and third-place teams, who will face off at Valley Stadium on July 24. The winner of that opening-round match will play the Menace the following night. That includes the 2nd place Thunder Bay Chill and either the Foxes or Lions.

The Demize finish their season with 7 points from 16 games, a record of 2 – 13 – 1, with 10 goals scored and 43 allowed.

Ben Taylor and a trio of Drake Bulldogs – Garrett Webb (recently named Preseason All-American), Julien Edwards and Hunter Kennedy – led the Menace’s late-game rampage.

Taylor assisted Webb (50th minute) and Edwards (84th) before capping off the night with an unassisted goal in the final minute. With his first points in eight matches, Taylor passes Armin Mujdzic (10 points) as the team’s leading scorer (11 points)

The Demize will finish their season at home on Friday against the Colorado Real Foxes. Their opportunity to move up from the bottom of the table disappeared with their 0-1 loss to the KC Brass last week. So the final goal will be to get their 3rd win of the season at home against the visitors. Game time is 7:30 pm, come out and cheer on the home side!

Springfield Demize – 0
Thunder Bay Chill – 3
In a game that was much tighter than the score indicates, it was the visiting Chill that broke through Tuesday night. The initial advantage was obtained in the 18th minute when a PK was awarded, well finished by Anthony Putrus to the lower left corner.

The Demize had many opportunities this evening, especially in the first half when they earned half a dozen corner kicks but were unable to convert, with the video just one example (that’s Drury’s Marco Cherisma with the header). The Chill put it away with a pair of late goals as the Demize attempted to come back. A 70th minute goal by Christian Fernandez came on a run into the box, with a clinical finish just sliding underneath the onrushing keeper. In the 81st Christian slips a second to the far post after receiving a simple ball from Marcus in the six yard box.

The Demize fall to 2-10-1 and will take to the road for a pair of games against KC (Jul 9th) and Des Moines (Jul 11) before returning home for their final game on July 17th against the Colorado Real Foxes. The Foxes sit 3rd in the Heartland Conference.

The Thunder Bay Chill suffered a 1-0 loss to the St. Louis Lions Sunday night in the first game of a four game road trip. Steven Beattie got the goal late in the game, a 25 yard rocket (the same guy who got the only goal in the last Demize home game).

The Demize have made some recent roster adjustments due to injuries. Andrew Bordellon (Drury University), Stuart Stapleton (Belmont University), and Ryan Trudgian (OCU) have seen their PDL season come to an early end. Roster additions include 3 members from the 2008 squad, including defender Daniel Knop (Memphis University), midfielder Patrick Gritz (W. Illinois) and defender/forward Eishun ’Ace’ Yoshida (ICC). Details are available on the Demize website.

The Demize have one home game remaining, on Friday July 17th when the Colorado Foxes make their first ever visit to Springfield. It will also be the final game of the season for the Demize. They visit the KC Brass July 9 and Des Moines Menace July 11th as well.

The best opportunity for the home team to continue their winning streak came in the 5th minute when Micah Whorton was alone with the keeper but his shot from 12 yards out was pushed wide. The Lion’s defense also contributed as they held strong during the final 20 minutes, a period that featured a dozen good opportunities for the Demize as they threw numbers forward.

The Demize fall to 2-7 after almost avenging their earlier 0-5 loss to the Lions. They’ll get another chance on Saturday when the two teams will face off for the 3rd time this year, this time in Cottlesville at 5pm Saturday. The Lion’s are now in 2nd place in the Conference with a 5-2-3 record, one point behind the Real Colorado Foxes.

The Demize held off some early challenges by the visitors this evening and then came out in the 2nd half and won their 2nd straight game, both at home. The game winner came as a pair of Drury Panther teammates combined to create and finish the opportunity. Attacking midfielder Andrew Bordelon sent forward Micah Whorton in alone with a creative ball into space that Micah ran onto near the top right hand side of the box. His shot to the far post eluded the goalkeepers attempt and then it was 20 minutes of defense.

The Thunder fall to ?-? as they head to KC for a game against the Brass. Springfield is now 2-6 and host the St Louis Lions next Thursday. They’ll be looking to avenge an early season 0-6 loss in much the same fashion as their reversal of results with KC, going from an 0-5 loss to a 2-0 win.

Photos on Sunday.

KOLR10 was out and Eric should have the first goal for tonights sports. I’ll have photos tomorrow.

In a nutshell, the U.S. Open Cup is very similar to domestic cup competitions popular throughout Europe, South America and the rest of the world. Cup competitions, which usually run concurrent with a country’s league season, are open in the early stages to any club that can qualify, giving local amateur teams a chance to compete against the best teams a country has to offer. First round games are being played this evening, with the winners advancing to the second round next Tuesday. MLS squads who qualified will join the competition in the 3rd round.

This year, I’ve got two teams I’m watching. The first is the Harrisburg City Islanders who include Cody Reinberg (Drury 2008/Des Moines Menace/Springfield Demize) on their roster. The other is the St Louis Lions who will once again represent the PDL Heartland Conference.

Reading Rage (PDL) at Harrisburg City Islanders (USL2)

Harrisburg reached the quarterfinals in their Open Cup debut in 2007, defeating D.C. United in the third round.. Harrisburg comes into the match atop the USL-2, although their last match was a shocking 5-0 loss to Richmond on June 6.

Reading has steamrolled through their early PDL schedule, winning three of their six games by three goals or more, posting a 5-0-1 record. They should be well rested, having not played since May 31.

St. Louis Lions (PDL) at Cleveland City Stars (USL1)

The Lions finished 1st in PDL Heartland Division qualifying with a 3-0-1 record. After posting a 3-0-1 record to claim the Heartland Division Open Cup berth, the Lions have only won once in their last four matches (1-2-1). The Lions have faced the Springfield Demize once this year, a 5-0 win in the Demize home opener. They return to Springfield next Thursday, June 18th.

The Lions have made one previous cup appearance, a 4-1 loss to the Minnesota Thunder in last year’s tournament. While the Lions are the lone team from St. Louis to make a cup appearance in the Pro Era, St. Louis clubs have won 10 Open Cup championships, the most recent being Busch S.C. in 1988.

Photos later, it’s been a long weekend with State Cup already beginning as well.

The Brass will be back in town next Thursday for a game at Cooper, followed by 1st year program Rochester Thunder who will be in town on Saturday.