With temperatures in Springfield in the 60’s throughout the week, the weather took a u-turn to plummet to the 40’s with rain.  Playing on Drury Campus’ Harrison Stadium with artificial turf the conditions made for wet and fast play.  From the first training session there were upwards of 40 hopeful applicants, with two players standing out above the rest.  Missouri State’s Heath Melugin, Kickapoo High alumni, was joined by goalkeeper Niko Markos to raise the level of play.

One applicant showed thuroughly, 19 year old Konstantin Pyankov.  Hailing from Ekaterinburg, Russia, Konstantin moved to Columbus

Ohio’s suburb Grove City at the age of 11. He played two seasons at Rio Grande RedStorm in college where they finished NAIA National Tournament Runner Up his freshman year and were knocked out in penalty kicks in the semi-finals his sophomore year.  After a change of scenery to Saint Leo University, 30 minutes from Tampa, Florida, Konstantin will be training his spring season at his new Division II school before coming on with the Demize in May.

Tryouts ended with more positive notes with the inclusion of two more Missouri State players.  West Plains native Justin Scicluna slotted straight into training without missing a step, while the most exciting player was hands down Freshman Mark Magee.  Brought in from Moreton-in-Marsh, England, the striker instantly proved why he will be a force to be reckoned with in the PDL by scoring eight goals in the evenings session.

"I was pleased to see some of the talent that we had come in from around the country for the tryouts," said Head Coach Logan Hoffman. "I thought the local players like Heath, who are already committed to playing with us this summer, did a good job of providing us with a measuring stick by which to assess the skills of everyone involved."