These are exciting times for Minneapolis City as the Crows make their USL League Two debut on Sunday, May 8 against Des Moines Menace at Edor Nelson Field in Minneapolis.
It is time for a club that outperformed heavyweight rivals in the NPSL to put to the test in the top pre-professional league in the country their theory that with shrewd recruitment and a focus on culture a team of only Minnesota-based players can compete at this level. How will they measure up? City play a punchy, front-foot style, promote youngsters from a novel developmental pipeline, and have a young and promising head coach who has led the Crows to two of their three consecutive NPSL North Conference titles.
For all their previous success, USL is a step up. It’s not quite like a newly promoted club joining the Premier League but it’s also not far off especially considering the opponent. Des Moines are the reigning league champions and have lost only a single regular season game over the past three season. More recently, they beat City in the Open Cup before falling via a late own goal to a Union Omaha (League One) side that went on to beat Chicago Fire in penalties in the next round. They’re really good.
This could very well be the game of the season. Make sure you’re there in Minneapolis for it!
