to force penalty kicks after a 3–3 tie; however, the Menace lost the penalty shootout 5–3, ending their title defense. Once more, Boltnar and Disang led the scoring tables with 7 goals each. Post title struggles and resurgence (2007–2009) 2007 did not go the way of The Red Army, as the Iowans missed the playoffs for just the second time in seven seasons. Everything started brightly for Des Moines with a 5–0 opening day victory of Sioux Falls Spitfire, but fell apart quickly, as Menace slumped to an unprecedented three consecutive losses in their next three games. Unusually, it was Des Moines' road form which proved to be their downfall: they suffered unexpected defeats to St. Louis Lions and Thunder Bay Chill, including a 4–0 battering at the hands of the latter in the penultimate game of the season. Menace's home form continued to be impressive, and they enjoyed several high-scoring victories in front of their fans, including a 5–1 thrashing of Kansas City Brass, and an easy 8–0 flattening of the torrid Springfield Demize in which Tucker Sindlinger and Nicki Paterson scored two goals each. However, the lack of consistency in Des Moines' play left them a distant fourth in the table, eight points behind divisional champions Thunder Bay. For the sixth straight year Boltnar was the team's joint top scorer, sharing the honors with Nicki Paterson with 9 goals each. Des Moines began 2008 sluggishly; they won just two of their opening six games (although one of those was a 7–0 hammering of Springfield Demize) and were left playing catch-up behind Colorado Rapids U23's and Thunder Bay Chill for the remainder of the season. The Menace won three games in June, including a hugely satisfying 3–1 on the road in Thunder Bay, but suffered two unexpected home losses to their closest rivals before enjoying their second win over Thunder Bay, a comprehensive 5–1 home victory in front of 3,217 delirious fans. In a very tight run-in, Des Moines beat Springfield Demize 2–0 on the road, but then were made to endure two ties in their final two regular season games, which meant their playoff fate was out of their hands. Their third-place finish meant that the Great Lakes Division game between Michigan Bucks and Toronto Lynx would determine the final standings; Michigan won the game, and in doing so finished with the best record in the Central Conference,