PEORIA, IL. — A hazy sky overshadowed Valley Stadium Saturday night when Peoria traveled to Des Moines, Iowa to take on the Menace.
The first half was as close as it gets, with no scoring until stoppage time. Des Moines’ player was fouled in the box and the Menace were given a PK.
Goalkeeper Danny Shannon blocked the shot, but a Menace attacker was there for the rebound goal. Menace held the lead 0-1 going into half-time.
The Menace got to work quickly in the second half, scoring their second goal of the night in the 47th minute.
The second half was full of scoring for both squads, as both Peoria City and Des Moines tacked on two.
Jamaine Turner sent over a beautiful cross in front of the net which was met by a Noah Madrigal header, putting Peoria City on the board and only trailing one. It was 1-2 in the 56th minute.
Des Moines would eventually score their third of the night, making Peoria City trail 1-3 for most of the second half.
But Peoria City never gave up. Jonas Lyshoj made a move on the Menace defender, sent over a left-footed cross, which was tapped in by Danny Sergiev in stoppage time.
But that would be all the scoring for the night, and the end of Peoria City’s season. We ended our second season 6-6, and our players left the field with their heads held high. They left it all on the field, but stayed around afterwards to meet Peoria City families and fans. Even a Des Moines Menace fan messaged us saying our captain, Jonah Stekly, stayed around to speak with his son and give him soccer pointers. The Des Moines fan said his son was extremely grateful to have spoken with Jonah, and we now have new life-long fans in Des Moines!
We are extremely thankful for our supporters, players and coaches, sponsors and more who made this season the success it was. There is a lot of work to do this off-season, and we’re already looking forward to 2024!
