THUNDER BAY – The Des Moines Menace are the defending USL 2 champions for a reason – they’re pretty good.
Making their first trip north of the border in almost three years, the Menace got off to a quick start on Friday night at Chapples Park, withstood a first-half surge by the Thunder Bay Chill, then dominated the second half and cruised to a 3-0 triumph.
Ryan Kingsford scored twice for the Menace, beating Chill keeper Eduardo D’Avino in the 11th minute on a high, hard shot, then once again in the 56th, out-faking the Thunder Bay netminder and slamming it home.
Fernando Garcia put it away with a goal in the 84th on pass from Ryley Kraft.
The fast start was key, Kingsford said.
“We knew it was going to be a good game and we had to come out fast and strong,” said Kingsford, a native of Herne Bay, England who also plays soccer at the University of Akron.
“We did that. We did struggle a little bit, we were pinned in, but we dealt with it.”
Getting that second goal changed the nature of the game, Kingsford added.
“I think it was really key. It took their confidence down a little bit. I’ve always been told when you score, it takes 20 per cent off the team that you’re attacking. When we scored it took another 20 per cent off them and gave us a 10 per cent boost.”
It also convinced Chill coach Gio Petraglia to change his formation, a move that didn’t work out as planned.
Instead of Thunder Bay controlling the ball as they did for the final 25 minutes of the opening half, the Menace owned the ball, able to repel a desperate Chill team seeking to find any glimmer of offence against a team that’s only given up four goals in four games, all wins.
“That’s the only reason I believe we fell apart in the second half,” Petraglia said. “The second half was totally on me. The first half, these boys played the game I was asking them to play and that’s where we’re going to start from.”
Thunder Bay’s best chance in the opening half came in the 35th, when Sebastian Bocaz Canales took a crossing pass from Eduardo Righetti and fired it off the crossbar, missing a chance to tie the game before the break by a matter of inches.
“I wanted to play it off the first post, but it bounced first so I didn’t shoot it how I wanted. If it was one or two centimeters down, but it hit the crossbar and that’s unlucky,” said Bocaz Canales, a native of Chile.
Four minutes later the Chill’s chances for a goal suffered a big blow, when Righetti went down with a knee injury and was forced to leave the game, depriving the home team of one of its top threats.
Down 3-0, Thunder Bay’s best chance to score on the night came in the 88th.
Andrea De Vincenzi, who entered for Righetti, fired a point-blank shot that Menace keeper Victor Makela stopped. The rebound came out to Bocaz Canales, who pounded it the goal line, only to have a Des Moines defender stop it from crossing the line.
The game was marred by a handful of yellow cards, including five given to the Menace, a total that inlcude one give to the Des Moines bench.
The Chill (1-1-1) will host Peoria City next Friday night at Chapples Park. Game time is 7 p.m.
