San Antonio FC (12-2-6, 3rd) at Des Moines Menace (10-7-3, 4th)

And it's another boring scoreless draw. We still can't connect on crosses and without Pennington, have no hope of scoring on normal shots. We're able to stop the 1 shot San Antonio gets, but only manage 1 shot of our own.

Final: Des Moines 0, San Antonio 0
Goal: None
Top Three: Arroyo, Epperson, Still

Promotion race with 1 match remaining...

St. Louis FC - 40 (+15)
San Antonio - 39 (+10)
-----------------
Des Moines - 38 (+14)
Pittsburgh - 37 (+9)

The good news is that San Antonio and St. Louis play each other. This mens a win automatically puts us in. We sill have chances with a draw if St. Louis wins and Pittsburgh doesn't win.

Des Moines Menace (10-8-3, 4th) at Phoenix Rising (8-4-9, 7th)

Pennington is back and makes an immediate impact when his mobility allows him to fire a range shot right at the keeper and win the corner. Epperson takes the corner and McCullough is able to head it home. Phoenix comes right back and tries to flank our defense. The attempted tackle in the box earns them a penalty, which they convert. Early in the 2nd half, we utilize the same strategy as earlier, except this time Pennington's shot beats the keeper to give us the lead. We hold for the victory and earn our way to the Second League!

Final: Des Moines 2, Phoenix 1
Goal: McCullough, Pennington
Top Three: Pennington, Still, McCullough

Still - lvl 32
Reese - lvl 30

Final standings...



*After 7 matches, we were 1-3-3. Since then, we went 10-5-0.

*McCullough was 3rd in the league with 14 goals.

*Epperson was tied for 1st with 9 assists.

*Christy was 9th with 22 tackles.

*Pressley was 5th with 14 saves.

Offseason activities...

*I pick Football Bank as sponsor. They'll give me $5,040 per match and $414,000 if I reach the cup finals.

*My youth pull is a lvl 21 Forward named Ellison. He has 35 accuracy, 21 passing, and 17 control. Already better than Whittington, so immediately becomes #1 backup striker.

*I extend McCullough for 2 yrs, $69,230. Will need him to help us stay up.

*I renew Arias for 3 yrs, $19,650.

*I renew Grubbs for 3 yrs, $9,600.

*No one on the transfer list is affordable.

*We're left with $116,033.

*We got a huge spike in supporters and now have 220.

Our roster heading into the new season...

Des Moines Menace (0-0-0) at Sacramento Republic (0-0-0)

This is a team we should have no shot competing against as they just came down from 1st league. Yet we take an early lead when McCullough sneaks behind the defense and gets a great pass, which he converts for an easy score. Late in the 1st half, we're a little careless with the ball and Sacramento capitalizes by getting behind our defense and beating Pressley one on one. We miss a shot and a cross in the 2nd half, but our defense does enough to secure a promising draw.

Final: Des Moines 1, Chattanooga 1
Goal: McCullough
Top Three: Epperson, McCullough, Guy

Grubbs - lvl 28

Richmond Kickers (1-0-0, 3rd) at Des Moines Menace (0-1-0, 10th)

We put Arias on crosses due to his False Kick ability to clear out defenders. This pays off immediately when McCullough heads one home early in the 1st half. Richmond comes back late in the 1st half when they connect on a power shot just outside the box. The 2nd half is a big fight in the midfield that prevents any team from getting a sustained attack.

Final: Des Moines 1, Richmond 1
Goal: McCullough
Top Three: Epperson, McCullough, Arroyo

Pressley - lvl 32 (5 lvl jump due to completing a specialization group).

Des Moines Menace (0-2-0, 7th) at Tampa Bay Rowdies (1-1-0, 4th)

Epperson is out and their defense is insanely strong, so we don't have much shot of scoring on our two shots in the match. Tampa Bay controls 68% of the possessions, but still can't manage to crack our defense. We fight it out to a boring draw.

Final: Des Moines 0, Tampa Bay 0
Goal:
Top Three: Grubbs, Pressley, Arroyo

Christy - lvl 39
McCullough - lvl 36
Arias - lvl 27
Arroyo - lvl 24

OKC Energy (1-1-1, 7th) at Des Moines Menace (0-3-0, 11th)

We were so close to our first victory of the season. McCullough nailed a power shot when he found great position early on. We held this lead all the way to the last turn of the game. OKC takes a desperation shot, rolls a 5, my keeper rolls a 3, and so it goes in to steal the win.

Final: Des Moines 1, OKC 1
Goal: McCullough
Top Three: Norton, McCullough, Pressley

Still - lvl 33
Reese - lvl 31
Grubbs - lvl 29

Des Moines Menace (0-4-0, 11th) at Charlotte Independence (3-0-1, 3rd)

The problem we're dealing with is that 2nd league defenses are just too good to generate a consistent offense, but our defense is still solid enough to shut down the oposition. This makes for some boring football. This match turns out the same as others. We can't convert any shots, but also manage to stop all of theirs for our 5th straight draw.


Final: Des Moines 0, Charlotte 0
Goal: None
Top Three: Grubbs, Epperson, Still

FC Edmonton (4-1-0) at Des Moines Menace (0-5-0, 10th)

Just to demonstrate the difficulty we're dealing with here, Edmonton's worst player is lvl 44, while our best player is lvl 39. We manage to hold them off for most of the match, but late in the 2nd half they manage to run into our penalty area. Their turns are up, but we're forced to attempt a tackle and it creates a penalty, which is converted. We get 1 more shot on goal, but it's no fun rolling a 32 vs. a 110.

Final: Edmonton 1, Des Moines 0
Goal: None
Top Three: Guy, Norton, Arias

Des Moines Menace (0-5-1, 11th) at North Carolina FC (3-1-2, 6th)

Once again, we're facing a far superior team, with their worst player being lvl 41. We hold them for the first half, but they earn a free kick on a tackle right outside the box. Pressley makes a great effort, but the shot is impossible to stop. We get two chances at crosses in the 2nd half, but Arias blunders both of them and Pennington's last desperation shot is easily blocked.

Final: North Carolina 1, Des Moines 0
Goals: None
Top Three: Epperson, Arroyo, Still

Guy - lvl 36

Saint Louis FC (1-1-5, 13th) at Des Moines Menace (0-5-1, 11th)

One of the few teams we should have a chance at beating, St. Louis gives us fits the same way they did last year. Their Forwarsd with the lvl 3 Rainbow Feint is unstoppable if he gets the ball. They score two first half goals that way and we can't convert any of our 4 shots. It's a long season (26 matches), but staying up would be a miracle.

Final: St. Louis 2, Des Moines 0
Goals: None
Top Three: Arroyo, Arias, Grubbs

Des Moines Menace (0-5-2, 13th) at Charleston Battery

Teams without difficult special skills Like Rainbow Feint have trouble scoring against us. Even against this high powered team (they have a strength of 3 stars versus our 1.5), Pressley isn't seriously tested once. We get it near their goal a few times, but Arias can't hit a decent cross. This has to be considered a moral victory, but we still need our first win.

Final: Charleston 0, Des Moines 0
Goals: None
Top Three: Guy, Pressley, Epperson

Grubbs - lvl 30

Nashville SC (0-1-8, 14th) at Des Moines Menace (0-6-3, 13th)

We finally find some offense against the worst team in the league. We win an early corner, but McCullough gets dislodged from his position and can't head it. However, the ensuing scuffle in the box results in a rebound to McCullough and he hits the shot. Later in the first half, Nashville equalizes when they are able to get an angled shot just outside the penalty box. Luckily, We win another corner and this time Pennington heads it home for his first goal of the season. Late in the 2nd half, Pennington tacks on another goal when the defense fails to strip him of the ball and he finds prime position to hit the shot.

Final: Des Moines 3, Nashville 1
Goals: Pennington 2, McCullough
Top Three: Pennington, Epperson, Reese

Christy - lvl 40
Still - lvl 34
Epperson - lvl 34
Reese - lvl 32

Des Moines Menace (1-6-3, 12th) at Real Monarchs (4-0-6, 10th)

Another team that we should be competitive with, but this time we can't break through offensively. Pennington and McCullough both miss shots and Real scores on a cross late in the 2nd half to take the victory. This is one we needed in the race to stay up.

Final: Real Monarchs 1, Des Moines 0
Goals: None
Top Three: Arroyo, Norton, Grubbs

Guy - lvl 37
Norton - lvl 19

Des Moines Menace (1-6-4, 12th) at San Francisco Deltas (8-1-2, 2nd)

San Francisco has some defensive gaps that I look to exploit, but their midfield is able to play keep away for the 1st half. In the 2nd half, they're able to beat me with a Rainbow Feint to take the lead. On the next possession, McCullough is finally able to exploit their defensive gap and find the equalizer. We don't have time to get back in scoring position. Not a bad result against the 2nd place team.

Final: Des Moines 1, San Francisco 1
Goals: None
Top Three: McCullough, Reese, Norton

Arias - lvl 28

Prestige Cup - Round of 32: North Carolina FC at Des Moines Menace

What a terrible draw for us. We can't get an Amateur or 3rd League team? The good news is I'm able to take an early lead on a McCullough header. But they pile the pressure on (6 shots on goal) and at the end of the first half, get in position to successfully execute the Rainbow Feint. We have trouble executing our skills and their midfield intercepts our counterattacj passes several times. Midway through the 2nd, they turn this into another goal. We get one more chance, but Epperson hits a terrible cross that sails out of bounds.

Final: North Carolina 2, Des Moines 1
Goals: McCullough
Top Three: Christy, Grubbs, Guy

Grubbs - lvl 31

Ottawa Fury (7-1-4, 3rd) at Des Moines Menace (1-7-4, 12th)

They seem to have weaknesses against headers, so I actually start Ellison over Pennington. Epperson misses his first cross. Midway through the 1st half, Ottawa is able to connect on a power shot from just outside the box. We immediately equalize when Epperson's next cross is easily headed home by McCullough. Unfortunately, they work their way into our penalty box and Grubbs' attempted tackle gives them a penalty, which they convert. We get another chance at a cross, but Epperson shanks that one as well.

Final: Ottawa 2, Des Moines 1
Goals: McCullough
Top Three: McCullough, Adams, Guy

Reese - lvl 33
Ellison - lvl 22

Prestige Cup: Round of 32 - Leg 2

Des Moines Menace at North Carolina FC

The problem we have here is North Carolina scored 2 goals on us at our place. This means we need at least 2 goals to have a hope of advancing. We get one of them early in the 2nd half on another McCullough header. However, no matter what we do, we can't get into a good scoring position again. We win the match, but lose on tiebreakers.

Final: Des Moines 1, North Carolina 0
Goals: McCullough
Top Three: McCullough, Arroyo, Arias

Christy - lvl 31
Pennington - lvl 39
Still - lvl 35
Pressley - lvl 33
Arroyo - lvl 25

Winter break activities...

*Worthless youth pull. A lvl 16 keeper.

*I sell Arias for $168,000. He doesn't contribute in the right ways to my midfield.

*I will sell Pennington on the last day of the transfer window. He's worth over $300,000 and it's time to try to get enough money to upgrade my youth academy again.

*I buy CD Joseph for $135,600. He's lvl 32 and has 48 Defense and 32 Control.

*I sell DF Christy for $385,000. Part of my rebuilding project.

*I upgrade my defensive coach again and my defenders now get 280% extra XP.

*This leaves me with $601,650. Once I sell Pennington, I will use the proceeds to buy the $800,000 Youth Academy upgrade.

Midseason standings...

Sacramento Republic (7-2-4, 2nd) at Des Moines Menace (1-7-5, 12th)


Sacramento gets on the board midway through the 1st half by testing the weaker spot of our defense. We don't manage a single shot on goal the entire match as both of Epperson's crosses go out of bounds and we can't connect any range pass to our Forwards.

Final: Sacramento 1, Des Moines 0
Goal: None
Top Three: Guy, Norton, Joseph

Guy - lvl 38
Grubbs - lvl 32

Des Moines Menace (1-7-6, 12th) at Richmond Kickers (7-1-6, 6th)

Richmond also decides to test our new defender, but they don't manage to break through despite 65% possession. I try for an aerial attack in the 2nd half, but no luck as they intercept the cross. We get one last shot to win it, but McCullough's low percentage shot is stopped when he rolls a 1.

Final: Richmond 0, Des Moines 0
Goal: None
Top Three: Grubbs, Pressley, Norton

Joseph - lvl 33

Tampa Bay Rowdies (6-5-4, 7th) at Des Moines Menace (1-7-7, 12th)


We salvage another boring 0-0 draw.

Final: Tampa Bay 0, Des Moines 0
Goal: None
Top Three: Still, Pennington, Epperson

McCullough - lvl 37
Reese - lvl 34

Des Moines Menace (1-8-7, 12th) at OKC Energy (4-5-7, 10th)

The worst moment of our season was, without a doubt, OKC Energy snatching a victory from us at the last minute. And it looked like that might happen again. After a scoreless first half in which I make a blunder because I forgot that offside rules still count in this game (I was so excited to pass to a guy right in front of the keeper!), Pennington is able to penetrate their oddly shaped defense and beat the keeper to give us the lead. Late in the 2nd half, their forward got into the penalty area and received a spectacular pass. He beats Pressley with the cannon shot. However, Pennington would not let it happen again. He penetrated the OKC defense again and fired a terrific shot past the Sweeper and the Keeper to win the game!

Final: Des Moines 2, OKC 1
Goal: Pennington 2
Top Three: Pennington, Norton, Arroyo

Grubbs - lvl 33
Still - lvl 36

Transfer window is closing. I have a huge decision to make. I just assumed I'd sell Pennington, but I notice several things...

*McCullough is only worth $30,000 less.

*Pennington is a year younger and is signed for longer.

*McCullough has been performing better than Pennington overall, but that's mostly due to headers, which have not been working so well in the 2nd League.

*So I sell McCullough for $280,000. It's sad to see him go. He's been with us for 4.5 seasons and scored 54 goals.

*Still is 33 yrs old and has only 7 months remaining on his contract. The problem is I don't have anyone to stick in his spot. He may end up retiring with us. If so, we will have a chance to renew him for 3 years in the offseason.

*I pay $800,000 to upgrade the Youth Academy. My youth pulls will now range from lvl 20-30.

Charlotte Independence (6-3-8, 9th) at Des Moines Menace (2-8-7, 12th)

Not a great start to the Pennington era. We get 4 shots on goal, but he misses three of them. Rookie Ellison misses the other shot. Our defensive line gets breached several times, but we're able to regroup and shut down the attacks.

Final: Des Moines 0, Charlotte 0
Goal: None
Top Three: Guy, Epperson, Joseph

Guy - lvl 44 (6 level jump because he attained a group bonus). He now has 101 defense.
Arroyo - lvl 26
Norton - lvl 20

Des Moines Menace (2-9-7, 12th) at FC Edmonton (14-2-2, 1st)

They are just too good for us to deal with. Edmonton opens with a long range goal from the left side of the field. They follow it up just a few moments later with a deadly Rainbow Feint. We can't generate anything against their absurdly good Keeper.

Final: Edmonton 2, Des Moines 0
Goal: None
Top Three: Norton, Arroyo, Reese

North Carolina FC (10-4-5, 5th) at Des Moines Menace (2-10-7, 12th)

Another scoreless draw. Never really got much chance to make use of Whittington's Nutmeg ability. They only managed 1 shot on goal and Arroyo was dominant throughout the match.

Final: Des Moines 0, North Carolina 0
Goal: None
Top Three: Arroyo, Ellison, Joseph

Reese - lvl 35

*The points do add up from all these draws. With 6 matches left, we are only 1 pt behind OKC Energy for the final non-relegation spot.

Des Moines Menace (2-11-7, 12th) at Saint Louis FC (5-2-13, 13th)

Stupid fucking triple Rainbow Feint asshole destroys us again. I have no idea how to stop it or why the AI teams have been owning St. Louis with this in their arsenal. Shrug.


Final: St. Louis 3, Des Moines 0
Goal: None
Top Three: Epperson, Still, Reese

Epperson - lvl 35
Joseph - lvl 34

Charleston Battery (13-3-5, 4th) at Des Moines Menace (2-11-8, 12th)

Zero shots on goal. We try two crosses, but both get intercepted before Ellison can even get a head on them. They score early in the 1st half and never let us get close to threatening them.

Final: Charleston 1, Des Moines 0
Goal: None
Top Three: Norton, Reese, Still

Grubbs - lvl 34

Des Moines Menace (2-11-9, 12th) at Nashville SC (0-2-20, 14th)

And so goes probably any chance we had to promote. Against the worst team in the league, we can't connect on any of our 4 shots. They never threaten us and barely even try to score, opting instead to play keep away.

Final: Nashville 0, Des Moines 0
Goal: None
Top Three: Adams, Arroyo, Joseph

*We are now 5 pts out of the last non-relegation spot with only 3 matches to go.

Des Moines Menace (2-12-9, 13th) at Real Monarchs (7-2-14, 11th)

Pennington gets denied in a one on one situation right in front of the goal. On his other good opportunity, he gets stripped as he tries to get in good position. And that's the story of the match. Real gets 5 shots on goal, but we defend them all, and it's a scoreless draw.

Final: Real Monarchs 0, Des Moines 0
Goal: None
Top Three: Still, Reese, Adams

Still - lvl 37
Adams - lvl 20

San Francisco Deltas (14-7-3, 4th) at Des Moines Menace (2-13-9, 13th)

Once again, Pennington gets denied in two solid situations. Then San Fran uses Rainbow Feint twice in the first half to stake a 2-0 lead. Pennington finally breaks through midway through the 2nd half when we take advantage of their defensive lapse. We almost get a chance to equalize, when Ellison gets great position, but Norton can't get the ball to him.

Final: San Francisco 2, Des Moines 1
Goal: Pennington
Top Three: Still, Pennington, Norton

Reese - lvl 36

*This clinches our demotion. We are 5 pts out of the last non-relegation spot with only 1 match to go.

Des Moines Menace (2-13-10, 13th) at Ottawa Fury (12-3-10, 6th)

They go up early on a header, only the 2nd time that's ever been successful against us. Pennington finally gets on the board to open the 2nd half. We survive several more Ottawa attacks and actually get the ball to Ellison in prime position for his first career goal to win it, but the keeper makes the save.

Final: Ottawa 1, Des Moines 1
Goal: Pennington
Top Three: Arroyo, Pennington, Norton

Grubbs - lvl 35

Final standings...



*Arroyo was 8th with 33 tackles.

*Pressley was 6th with 13 saves.

Offseason activities...

*We pick SlideX as the sponsor. They'll pay $1,540 for each home victory and $33,600 if we get promoted.

*My youth pull is Central Midfielder Shepard, a lvl 21 player with 44 passing. I wish he had better control.

*I sell Norton for $95,200. My youth pull is already better than him.

*There's not another DF on the transfer list (I even wasted $$ on the global list to see.) So I decide to renew Still for 3 yrs, $150,249 and he will retire with us.

*There is a CD on the list, so I sell Joseph, the weakest of my CD's for $197,000 and buy his replacement Crow for $74,500. Crow is older, but better.

*We are down to 15 fans. Hopefully a successful season can build that back up.

*This leaves me with $157,940 in the bank.

My squad as we enter the new season...

Reno 1868 FC (0-0-0) at Des Moines Menace (0-0-0)

Our return to the Third League starts off swimmingly, though it is against a terrible Reno squad. Pennington badly misses his first shot, but gets on the board at the 28 minute mark. Our midfield dominated the game and gets it to him two more times, which he converts for his first ever hat trick. Ellison is still looking for the first goal of his career.

Final: Des Moines 3, Reno 0
Goals: Pennington 3
Top Three: Pennington, Arroyo, Epperson

Guy - lvl 45
Pressley - lvl 34
Arroyo - lvl 27
Ellison - lvl 23
Shepard - lvl 22

FC Montreal (1-0-0, 5th) at Des Moines Menace (1-0-0, 1st)

They have a very defensive setup that is hard for us to penetrate, so we end the first half at a scoreless tie. Then they manage to break through at the 70 minute mark when they win a corner and we lose the positioning battle. Thankfully, a great counterattack late in the game got the ball to a motivated Pennington, who was able to find the equalizer.

Final: Des Moines 1, Montreal 1
Goals: Pennington 1
Top Three: Grubbs, Shepard, Pennington

Des Moines Menace (1-1-0, 3rd) at Phoenix Rising (1-1-0, 5th)

What an absurd result this one was. We just can't catch any breaks and Phoenix goes up early on a header. Then they somehow manage to snag a low percentage goal late in the 1st half. We manage three shots throughout the match and Pennington has terrible rolls on all three.

Final: Phoenix 2, Des Moines 0
Goals:
Top Three: Shepard, Arroyo, Crow

Des Moines Menace (1-1-1, 6th) at Nashville SC (2-1-0, 2nd)

Shepard has to rest and Pennington gets injured early on, so we pretty much have no attack. I move Epperson to the wing to try and hit some crosses with my CF's, but both attempts get intercepted. We get good position a couple times, but without Pennington, we're unable to make anything of it.

Final: Nashville 0, Des Moines 0
Goals:
Top Three: Grubbs, Adams, Ellison

Still - lvl 38

Real Monarchs (4-0-0, 1st) at Des Moines Menace (1-2-1, 7th)

Pennington nails a power shot late in the 1st half and that would be all that we needed. Most of the 2nd half is played on their end of the pitch and we get some good chances that neither Pennington nor Ellison can convert.

Final: Des Moines 1, Real Monarchs 0
Goals: Pennington
Top Three: Adams, Pennington, Pressley

Tulsa Roughnecks (3-2-0, 2nd) at Des Moines Menace (2-2-1, 6th)

We dominate possession and hold Tulsa to only 1 shot on goal the entire match. Still, it takes us until the 64th minute when Pennington gets a superb pass from Epperson and converts the one on one opportunity. I try to get Ellison a goal late, but he still can't find one.

Final: Des Moines 1, Tulsa 0
Goals: Pennington
Top Three: Epperson, Pennington, Crow

Crow - lvl 33

Des Moines Menace (3-2-1, 6th) at Sonoma County Sol (2-2-2, 8th)

And Pennington goes back to his habit of mising high percentage shots. Sonoma manages 4 shots against us, but our defense and Pressley are too strong to let anything go through.

Final: Des Moines 0, Sonoma 0
Goals:
Top Three: Guy, Epperson, Shepard

Pennington - lvl 40

Des Moines Menace (3-3-1, 4th) at San Antonio FC (4-0-3, 5th)

San Antonio plays with 6 defenders. That, combined with our poor finishing ability, makes for a fairly obvious 0-0 tie.

Final: Des Moines 0, San Antonio 0
Goals:
Top Three: Arroyo, Epperson, Crow

Chattanooga FC (0-5-3, 10th) at Des Moines Menace (3-4-1, 4th)

And we hit three straight matches without a goal. And this time, Chattanooga is able to find the net twice, the first time on a low percentage shot and the second when they take advantage of my desperate attempts to salvage a draw and use Cannon Shot to beat Pressley.

Final: Chattanooga 2, Des Moines 0
Goals:
Top Three: Shepard, Grubbs, Arroyo

AFC Cleveland (2-2-5, 10th) at Des Moines Menace (3-4-2, 7th)

We finally break out of our offensive slump. Pennington scores easily in the 4th minute of the match. Later int he 1st half, we get the ball to Ellison in great position and he finally bags the first goal of his career. I bring in Adams off the bench and he uses his long pass skill to get the ball to Pennington behind the defense. Pennington converts. We give up a late meaningless goal.

Final: Des Moines 3, AFC Cleveland 1
Goals: Pennington 2, Ellison
Top Three: Pennington, Epperson, Grubbs

Guy - lvl 46
Still - lvl 39
Reese - lvl 38
Grubbs - lvl 37
Arroyo - lvl 28

Des Moines Menace (4-4-2, 5th) at Pittsburgh Riverhounds (2-0-8, 11th)

I play a 5-4-1 in this one, using only Pennington as a striker, so I can put Adams in the midfield to take advantage of his Long Pass skill. This works perfectly late int he 2nd half, when Adams gets the ball to Pennington behind the defense and he converts. Pennington gets two more chances like this, but can't add to the lead. We easily snuff out Pittsburgh's 4 shots.

Final: Des Moines 1, Pittsburgh 0
Goals: Pennington
Top Three: Pennington, Guy, Grubbs

Prestige Cup: Round of 32: Leg 1 - Des Moines Menace at FC Montreal

We lose the first leg due to a Rainbow Feint. Their 5 man line makes it hard for Pennington to find good position and a raindy day makes it hard for Epperson to connect on his long range passes.

Final: Montreal 1 , Des Moines 0
Goals:
Top Three: Arroyo, Shepard, Guy

Ellison - lvl 24