Des Moines Menace 1-1 (4-5 Pens) Flint City Bucks

Photo Essay: 2022 USL 2 Conference Final at Valley Stadium, West Des Moines, Iowa

The USL League Two Central Conference Final went the distance after 90 minutes, extra time, and penalties. Flint City Bucks emerged victorious and advanced to what was effectively the USL 2 semi-final, losing 0-1 to eventual champions Ventura County Fusion in what must have been a close game.

The result was surprising to the casual observer: the Menace were the reigning champions, having won the USL League Two crown in 2021. They were seeded #1 in the Central Conference after they walked off with the Deep North Division title with a lead of 11 points over second-placed Peoria City. Meanwhile, Flint finished second in the Great Lakes Division, behind FC Kalamazoo, and accordingly were seeded #7 (one higher than Peoria).

The stage appeared set for the Menace to claim another Conference title in front of their home fans, but there was a twist in the tale.

Des Moines Menace players prepare before kickoff as a Flint City Bucks player looks on

Flint #12 Jelldrik Dallmann with the kickoff

Des Moines #13 Shaft Brewer Jr (back) and Flint #18 Brajdi Cekrezi

Des Moines #15 Neville Morgan attacks up the left

Des Moines #8 Eliot Goldthorp tries to get around Flint #16 Eugene Quaynor

Goldthorp looks on after slotting the ball past the Flint keeper for Des Moines’ goal after only three minutes

Flint #27 Wylie Trujillo

Des Moines captain #10 Ryley Kraft crosses the ball ahead of Flint #25 Schinieder Mimy

Des Moines goalkeeper Grant Makela saves a Flint penalty as the pendulum begins to swing in the other direction

Des Moines #14 Lance Rozeboom, a key player for the Menace in 2022

Des Moines #23 Devin Vega advances with the ball

Flint captain #9 Harvey Slade tries to thread a pass

Kraft takes a free kick

Rozeboom, trying to prevent a counterattack, holds up Flint #10 Emeka Eneli

Kraft again pushing forward for Des Moines

Kraft calls out instructions to Goldthorp as he looks for a through ball

Rozeboom calls to his teammates as he brings the ball out from defense

Goalscorer Goldthorp (left) ahead of a corner for Des Moines

Flint goalkeeper #1 Isaac Walker jumps to catch the corner

Eneli with the ball for Flint in the second half

Flint City celebrate the equalizer in the 57th minute

Mimy and Kraft both rising for a header

Brewer Jr, through the goal net

Flint #4 Hugo Bacharach gets the ball ahead of Goldthorp

The crowd enjoying the spectacle

Flint #19 Amadou Cissé battles with Morgan

Flint's Walker looks determined at another corner

Mimy battles with Des Moines #7 Felipé D'Agostini

Des Moines #25 Brayan Padilla (center left) sizes up the distance to goal while Flint organizes a wall

Padilla strikes the ball over the wall, but it comes to nothing

Bacharach and Morgan pursue the ball

Flint #11 Abdelrahman Kuku heads the ball

Padilla gets to the ball ahead of Flint #8 Jensen Lukacsko

Des Moines #4 central defender Zeron Sewell is given a straight red card for denial of an obvious goalscoring opportunity after a Flint player went down under what appeared to be minimal contact

Sewell is commiserated by the crowd as the game nears the end of 90 minutes

Battle resumes as extra time begins

Eneli jumps over a sliding tackle by d'Agostini

Des Moines #9 Brandon Bermingham is fouled by Kuku

Abdelrahman Kuku is shown the yellow card for his foul

Minutes later, Bermingham and Kuku tangle again, with Bermingham being tripped and dumped onto the turf

Kuku is shown a second yellow card, and then a red card (though the USL website incorrectly attributes this to #28 Aedon Kyra)

D'Agostini and Mimy again clash as Des Moines attempt to seize the initiative and avoid penalties

However, it's not enough and the game finishes 1-1 after extra time. Des Moines take the first penalty, but d'Agostini misses

Bermingham scores Des Moines' final penalty, to make it four out of five

It's not good enough though, as Bacharach makes it five out of five for Flint, a superior performance under the pressure of a conference final

Bacharach celebrates by antagonizing the home support as the referees try to move him away

More Flint players arrive as the referees struggle to maintain control

Flint continue celebrating as the red-carded Kuku re-emerges from the dressing room

Des Moines supporters defiant in the face of Flint's players

Lance Rozeboom comes to commiserate with the home fans

Disappointment in one photo

More Des Moines players applaud the fans, led by Bermingham here

Des Moines supporters group The Society

-ShOT