Indy Eleven vs Miami FC - 12.20

Summary

- Opponent: Miami FC
- Location: Carroll Stadium
- Attendance: 9,942

- Final Score: 3-2 W

- Starting XI: Charles-Cook, Ofeimu, Hogan, Musa, Rendon, Murphy, Quinn (C), Blake, Foster, Amoh, Kizza

- Substitution: Lindley 45' (Murphy)

- Unused: Sulte, Bryneus, Collier, Hunsucker, O'Brien, J., Soumaoro, Williams, R.

Scoring Summary:
MIA - Bonfiglio 21' (assist Vazquez)
IND - Blake 45'+ (Penalty Kick)
IND - Hogan 51' (assist Lindley)
IND - Blake 69' (assist Foster)
MIA - Hoyos 90'+1' (unassisted)

- Bookings:

IND - Murphy 28' (Yellow)
IND - Ofeimu 35' (Yellow)
MIA - Romero 39' (Yellow)
MIA - Bonfiglio 72' (Yellow)
MIA - Knutson 77' (Yellow)

- Referee: Carlos Rodriguez

- Adage goals: One.

Thoughts and Opinions

Not surprisingly after looking like the lesser team Wednesday night in the Jagermeister Cup, Indy came out of the gates with energy. Getting reamed by your coach three nights ago will do that. Coach McAuley also showed his intent with a three forward lineup of Foster, Amoh, and Kizza. The energy and the adjustments worked as the Indy came out ahead with a 3-2 win, breaking their 4-game losing streak, on a night when Cam Lindley was honored for his 100th cap for the team.

Indy immediately put their intentions of getting a positive result out of the game with a header from Rendon that hit the crossbar and bounced just short of the line on the field side of the line instead of the goal side of the line. The near goal seemed to settle Miami. With both teams playing in a proverbial 6-point game, the game starting to become wide open. The back and forth eventually led to Miami getting on the board first on a counterattack after stopping Indy's counter. The ball found Vazquez in the middle of the field with acres of space in front of him. As Indy's defense retreated, Vazquez pushed a ball to his left as Bonfiglio ran from the right in front of him with Musa unable to keep up with Bonfiglio. The striker put his left foot through the ball over a lunging Musa and out of the reach of a diving Charles-Cook who got the start over Sulte. 

Blake put a spectacular volley on target to put the fear into Campisi and the post, but Campisi managed to get himself in front of the ball to push it away for what ended as a throw in. It looked like that might be Indy's last chance before the halftime whistle, but Indy was able to level the game in stoppage time. Kizza picked up the ball in the middle of the field with acres of space around him. Heard this before? With the Miami defenders retreating, Kizza put a ball out to the right to Foster. Foster put his head up and placed a perfect ball back on the left side in Blake's path. Blake took a touch which put him in front of the Miami defender who clattered into Blake inside the box setting up a stoppage time penalty kick. Blake went hard and to the left, which Campisi was unable to stop. The goal sent the teams the locker room even, which was probably a fair result.

Immediately after the break, Coach McAuley subbed out Murphy for Lindley. Sitting on a yellow with the way Miami was playing, McAuley felt like it was important to make sure the midfield was solid. After being honored pregame for his previous 100th appearance, Lindley made his coach look smart by putting a perfect free kick towards the 6-yard box. Hogan found his way around his defender to get his head to it to put Indy ahead early in the second half. 

Indy fans have learned this season that the game is still entirely in doubt with a one-goal lead. The team continued to push and eventually found a third goal, and the eventual game-winner, in the 69th minute as the ball found Foster in acres of space. There seemed to be a trend to the goals tonight. Foster started toward the goal but instead threaded a perfect pass through two Miami defenders that found Blake to his left. Blake took a settling touch to his left and blasted a shot passed Campisi for the team's third goal.

A two-goal lead. Still not safe.

Indy conceded a second goal to the visitors in the 90'+1' when a shot from outside the box looked like it deflected off of Ofeimu, which then hit the post before being pushed passed Charles-Cook by Hoyos. It's difficult to tell from the camera angles whether Hoyos was offside when the initial shot was taken, but it demonstrates the need for Indy to take the chances they're given. If they hadn't scored the third goal, we would be talking about another late-game collapse. Instead, the late Miami goal made the 6 minutes of stoppage time an anxious one for the fans, but the losing streak came to an end with a 3-2 win at home. It doesn't fix the disappointment from Wednesday, but it does help push the team back up over the playoff line and gives Indy the tiebreaker against Miami, which might come into play as the season winds down.

Indy return to Carroll next weekend for the year's first edition of LIPAFC as Louisville comes to town. 

The Game Beckons Game Ball

I may have been tough on Foster and his first half effort from Wednesday's game, but he was dynamic tonight. He didn't make it onto the scoresheet, but his effort tonight directly lead to two of the three goals. I've said it many times in this segment. It's not always the player that jumps out from the stat sheet. Blake, while clearly struggling at times lately to be the player we know he can be, scored twice tonight for a brace. Clearly that seems deserving, but I'm going to give Foster the edge because of what it meant to the team's goals and how it differed from what I feel we normally see from him. Foster is dynamic. He went passed Knutson in the 77th minute like Knutson was stuck in quicksand. With nothing left to do, he had to pull on Foster's jersey to prevent the attack. In real time, I thought there was an argument for a red card because Knutson stopped a scoring opportunity with no other defenders around. Being that dynamic and speedy with the ball causes fits for defenders. However, I have often thought that Foster holds onto the ball too long and tries to do too much. Tonight, Foster had his head up and found guys in better positions. With Foster's speed, sometimes doing the exact opposite is more effective. Tonight, that effectiveness gets him the GBGB.

Photos: Don Thompson Photography

Indy Eleven vs Greenville Triumph - 2025 Jagermeister Cup Quarterfinal

Summary

- Opponent: Greenville Triumph SC
- Location: Carroll Stadium
- Attendance: 4,043
- Final Score: 1-1 D (6-5 Greenville in Penalty Shootout)

- Starting XI: Sulte, O'feimu, Hogan, Musa, Rendon, Quinn (C), Lindley, Murphy, Blake, Williams, R., Foster

- Substitution: Kizza 45' (Blake); Bryneus 71' (Murphy); Amoh 72' (Williams, R.); O'Brien, J. 85' (Lindley); Soumaoro 85' (Rendon)

- Unused: Charles-Cook, Collier

Scoring Summary:
IND - Williams, R. 55' (assist Rendon)
GVL - Own Goal 90' (Quinn)

Penalty Kicks:
GVL - Evans (Goal) 1-X
IND - Foster (Goal) 1-1
GVL - Fricke (Goal) 2-1
IND - Amoh (Goal) 2-2
GVL - Herrera (Goal) 3-2
IND - Hogan (Goal) 3-3
GVL - Zakowski (Goal) 4-3
IND - Ofeimu (Goal) 4-4
GVL - Patti (Goal) 5-4
IND - Quinn (Goal) 5-5
GVL - Soto (Goal) 6-5
IND - Bryneus (FAIL) 6-5

- Bookings:

IND - Blake 12' (Yellow)
GVL - Evans 21' (Yellow)
IND - Foster 68' (Yellow)
IND - Ofeimu 76' (Yellow)

- Referee: Elvis Osmanovic

- Adage goals: One. One massive adage goal.

Thoughts and Opinions

I don't have an official stat to back this up, but it feels like soccer in this country is littered with examples of teams who have won the Supporters' Shield (or their league's version of it) only to finish the season without any Cup or Playoff hardware. While Indy have absolutely zero chance of having the best record in the league, and dropped out of the U.S. Open Cup awhile ago, the Jagermeiser Cup stood as a chance for the team to play for some hardware. Standing in their way in tonight's quarterfinal match was Greenville Triumph, the surprise team from Group 6 that included USL Championship sides Charleston Battery and Tampa Bay Rowdies. Greenville continue to sit as the lone League One side in the competition after a late goal pushed the teams back to level and then to the Penalty Shootout, which the visiting side won 6-5 to advance in the tournament.

As I said last week, Indy holding a possession advantage over any team in league play has been a rarity. To see a 60/40% disadvantage to a League One team is still a bit unexpected. In the first half, Indy could not hold onto the ball in any way and Greenville spent a large portion of the first half in Indy's defensive half of the field. Indy looked overmatched until around the 30th minute when they finally looked like they might get a foothold on the game. Not a strong foothold, but they did manage to get themselves into some dangerous locations. The plethora of whistles added another level of ragged play from both teams. Only 1 shot on target in the first half combined between the two teams and the half mercifully came to an end in a 0-0 draw. There were 25 fouls called, so there's that. 

Coach McAuley made no qualms about his feelings of the first half. He immediately subbed out Blake for Kizza after the halftime break. I wouldn't have wanted to be a player in the locker room, because I heard McAuley say that in his 1 and 2/3 seasons in charge, the first half was the worst effort he's seen from any team he's selected. Coach didn't say it, but from my perspective, only Lindley seemed to play with any kind of urgency required in a quarterfinal of a Cup game, and even he looked out of sync at times. I don't know if the team was overlooking their League One opponent, but it was definitely not good enough.

Tactically, McAuley had the team press the Greenville defense more and higher up the field, forcing the defenders to make quicker decisions than they had the entire first half. The press flustered the Greenville defense and the became tilted in Indy's favor. In the 55th minute, Foster, who had moved into the position that was vacated with Blake's substitution, turned and drove at the GVL defense. Foster laid the ball off to Rendon, who one-timed a cross that Williams one-timed into the goal. The goal was met with a simultaneous roar of applause and a sigh of relief from the Indy fans. 

Then Indy did what Indy has done all season. They couldn't hold onto a lead as a 90th minute Own Goal pulled the game level. In this competition, there are no Extra Time minutes, so the game went straight to a Penalty Shootout. The first five players for both teams scored. Soto then scored for Greenville while Bryneus had his shot saved by Rankenburg. In the span of about 15-20 minutes of time, Indy went from a spot in a semifinal game of a Cup tournament in back-to-back years to watching a League One side celebrate their victory in front of the goal immediately in front of the Brickyard Battalion.

Indy had the most points of any team in the Group stage and never actually trailed in the competition, including tonight, but find themselves wondering what might have been as they headed home. They were facing the lone remaining League One team. They were playing at Carroll Stadium after Greenville, who was originally scheduled to host tonight's game, couldn't acquire either of the two locations where they play. They were given two gifts before the game ever started. Somehow, they managed to go into the halftime locker room at 0-0 despite playing one of the worst halves of soccer they've ever played. They were ahead until the 90th minute when an Own Goal saw it all unravel. The penalty shootout occurred in front of the BYB. You almost have to try on purpose to not come out on top.

I honestly can't look at the schedule for the rest of the season and point to a game that I think should be an Indy win. Could they? Sure. Will they? Not in their current run of form with the mistakes that keep happening. They'll get their first chance to try and turn things around with a game this coming Saturday at home against Miami FC. 

The Game Beckons Game Ball

Lindley and it's not even close. Sure, Foster made the run, Rendon made the cross, and Williams scored the goal, but what I wrote earlier during halftime I stand by it postgame. For moments of the game, Lindley was the only one who showed any sense of urgency and effort. I don't know what kept him out of Coach McAuley's lineup for so long at the start of the season, but I would take 11 Lindleys every day of the week and twice on game day. 

There was a moment when an Indy counterattack stifled and the ball found its way to Lindley. He picked up his head, ready to start the second wave of the counter before Greenville could get reset defensively. Up field was Foster, 15 yards offside. Walking. He had a moment where he could have done a u-pattern to get back on side and start back up field before the defense was at his speed because Lindley was ready to get it to him. Instead, as he was lollygagging back on side (tonight's first but not last reference to the movie Bull Durham), Lindley was forced to recycle the ball around the defense and midfield. Greenville regrouped and everything had to start over again. 

Unfiltered Thoughts

Tonight was my 200th official game in attendance. There are some preseason games and an NPSL game that don't count that would get the number a bit higher, but my official number is 200. Between the men's team and the women's team, the club has played 442 games. That includes league games, playoff games, Cup games, and a few friendlies against Mexican teams and Detroit (which technically aren't "official" games, but if you sat in that heat for the game against Pachuca, it should count). I have written an article for every single one of those games, plus numerous articles about the stadium, and two different series (Top 5 Moments and The Soccer Life) that spotlighted players and fans. As such, this article will be my 605th article on this site. I have written millions of words about soccer and mostly about the Indy Eleven. 605 articles divided by 12 seasons (which isn't even complete yet) equals 50 articles a year, or roughly 1 article per week. Given that I more or less take most of Nov, Dec, Jan, and Feb off, that's a lot of dual article weeks. There was a stretch this year in June during the W League season where I attended 4 games and wrote 6 articles in a 9 day span (Friday to following Saturday). This isn't my full-time job.

I'm fucking tired.

If you haven't seen the movie Bull Durham, I'm about to spoil the ending for you, because you should have already seen Bull Durham by now. At the end, Crash turns up on Annie's porch and she asks him "what happened?" He responds with, "I quit. I hit my dinger and I hung 'em up. ... but now I'm tired and I don't want to think about baseball and I don't want to think about quantum physics and I don't want to think about nothin'. I just wanna be."

I have been eyeing this 200th game milestone for awhile now as maybe my version of a "dinger." I have toyed with it for seasons, but I might be getting closer to stopping writing full-time on this site. I don't get paid for this site in any way. There are no ads. No paid subscriptions. I get press credentials, but I still buy season tickets; have since the first season. This was always intended to be a hobby. And you're hobby is supposed to be more enjoyable than what this is bringing to me right now.

I have listened to the team talk about a stadium since before they ever kicked a ball. I drove by the site of what was supposed to be Eleven Park before tonight's game and I saw an excavation crew working the construction site south of "Eleven Park," but the only visual activity that's happened on Ersal's site is that the massive piles of dirt have been leveled. I have listened to the team say they want to be a premier team in the country, not just this league, and yet stadiums are going up for teams around the country that have been around less time than Indy. Rhode Island. Colorado Springs. Lexington. You can keep going. Not to mention Detroit's building a stadium. Sacramento is building one. Pittsburgh is expanding theirs to 15,000 seats, presumably so that they will be able to play in the USL Division One (or whatever they end up calling it...I assume USL Premier League). All while Indy continues to play in the "Greatest Dive Bar in American Soccer" with absolutely zero public word on a status of a stadium after the Mayor of Indianapolis killed Eleven Park.

I watch the team fail year after year. The team has never made the playoffs in three consecutive seasons, and I honestly don't see them making the playoffs this year.

I watch good men, good managers, leave every couple of years.

I watched the team lose to a lower league team at home in a penalty shootout after conceding in the 90th minute and was unfazed. I almost expected it.

It just feels like I'm not doing this for the fun of it anymore, and even in the good moments, it has become more of a job than I intended or wanted. I'm definitely finishing out the season, because that was what I agreed to do when I requested season credentials, but this off-season is going to get a hard look from me on what next season looks like.

Because I'm fucking tired.

Photos: Don Thompson Photography

Indy Eleven vs Loudoun United - 12.19

Summary

- Opponent: Loudoun United FC
- Location: Segra Field
- Attendance: 2,413
- Final Score: 2-3 L

- Starting XI: Sulte, O'feimu, Hogan, Musa, O'Brien, J., Lindley, Murphy, Quinn (C), Blake, Williams, R., Foster

- Substitution: McRobb 67' (Blake); Amoh 67'; (Williams, R.); Neidlinger 76' (O'Brien, J.)

- Unused: Charles-Cook, Bryneus, Collier, Kizza

Scoring Summary:
IND - Musa 51' (assist Murphy)
LDN - Ordonez 63' (assist Valot)
IND - Amoh 78' (assist Lindley)
LDN - Ryan 82' (assist Tingey)
LDN - Ordonez 86' (unassisted)

- Bookings:

IND - Williams, R. 40' (Yellow)
LDN - Awuah 45' (Yellow)
LDN - Ordonez 74' (Yellow)
IND - Amoh 90'+3' (Yellow)

- Referee: Atahan Yaya

- Adage goals: Two.

Thoughts and Opinions

Indy have historically dominated the series, but this isn't the same kind of Loudoun team that Indy has faced in the past. The home squad was sitting in 4th place in the table when the night's games kicked off, while Indy was looking up at the playoff line. Neither team has been in spectacular form in their past 7 games with Indy having a 2W-0D-5L record and Loudoun with a 0W-3D-4L record. Loudoun was the team tonight that reversed their fortunes in a 5-goal second half to get a 3-2 win despite Indy holding a lead twice.

Half - Average Position

If you would like to see Indy hold a possession advantage, you haven't been watching Indy much this season. In league play, Indy have held the possession advantage just three times. Tonight was no different with Loudoun holding a 62/38% possession advantage (61/39% at halftime), as Coach McAuley arranged the team in a 4-4-2 lineup to keep everybody compact on the defensive side of the field. This isn't anything unusual this year, particularly on the road. Coach McAuley put the team in a position to keep Loudoun in front of them in defense and then try and work the counterattack. From Indy's perspective, Loudoun possession in undangerous areas is acceptable and permitted. However, Loudoun lived in Indy's defensive half of the field in the first half. All that possession in Indy's half allowed Loudoun to finish the first half with a 16 to 4 shot advantage, but somehow just a 3 to 1 advantage in shots on target. Indy's tactical style, particularly on the road, keeps Indy fans nervous, but it was effective in the first half.

Bend don't break. Punish the opponent when you get your chance, which is exactly what Indy did in the 50th minute from a corner kick. Murphy's delivery wasn't spectacular. Musa's header wasn't great. Loudoun's defense was worse. Indy did what the could in the first half to stay in the game and then found a lead. 

A lead that lasted just 12 minutes. Ordonez had been on the field for just 4 minutes when he found a shooting angle and opening to get the game back to level. 

A lead that lasted just 15 minutes. It took him a little bit longer than Ordonez needed to find a goal, but from a perfect Route 1 ball from Lindley, Amoh took a touch off his thigh to set himself up for a toe poke under Fauroux. 

A lead that lasted just 4 minutes. Loudoun responded with a goal from Ryan from close range to bring the home side back into the game.

A draw that lasted just 4 minutes. The end of the game became frenetic as both teams found opportunities and goals. The final goal of the game came from the second half sub, as Ordonez scored a brace by being a nightmare to defend in and around the goal. Sulte stopped Ordonez's first shot, but the ball deflected back to Ordonez who made no mistake with his second shot.

Full Time - Shots

An 86th minute goal left very little time for Indy to find a response. Even getting an 6 minutes of extra time, neither team found a shot on target after the final goal. McRobb had an opportunity from a corner kick, but his shot was well high of the goal. Loudoun held a 26 to 11 shot advantage and a 7 to 4 shot on target advantage, but the one that mattered most was that they had a 3 goal to 2 advantage. Indy held a lead twice and conceded each time. Indy bounced up and down over the playoff game as the game progressed, but finished the game in the same spot as when they started. If you've been watching the table, which I have been for several games now, and continued during this game, a Tampa Bay victory over Phoenix in one of the late (for Eastern time zone fans) games could push Indy further down the table as Tampa Bay would leapfrog three different teams to put themselves in a playoff position for the first time since Week 4. That's as much an indication of the closeness of the middle/bottom of the Eastern Conference as anything, but at this point in the season, every single negative result is making it that much more difficult for Indy to make the playoffs for a third year in a row, something they have never done in the history of the team. 

Indy don't have any time to lick their wounds as they have a midweek game at home in the Jagermeister Cup against Greenville Triumph before welcoming Miami to Carroll Stadium in a vital game to keep a tiebreaker in Indy's favor against another team that keeps hovering around the playoff line. Greenville is hovering around their own playoff line in League One so it's not like their the League One world beaters coming to Indy on Wednesday, but with a four-game skid for Indy (and losing 6 of their last 8), I have very little faith that Indy find a way to advance to the Jagermeister Cup semifinal.

The Game Beckons Game Ball

I don't like to give at least one player credit for having a good game, but where do you start? Literally the only play that stands out as a positive from all parties was the goal from Amoh and the assist from Lindley. Lindley's ball was perfect, Amoh's first touch and shot were perfect. Yet, are two touches in the span of 90+ minutes worthy of giving a GBGB? Williams and Foster had more offside calls than they had shots (on target or otherwise). Murphy and Musa's goal seemed to be more about poor defending from Loudoun than good soccer from the Indy players. Loudoun scored three goals and came back twice, so do any of the defenders really deserve it? I want to give somebody credit for a good game. I really do. I just didn't see any player that stood out as consistently playing well enough to get it. Maybe that's why Indy remains entrenched in a 4-game losing streak.

Indy Eleven vs Detroit City FC - 12.18

Summary

- Opponent: Detroit City FC
- Location: Keyworth Stadium
- Attendance: 6,317
- Final Score: 1-0 L

- Starting XI: Sulte, O'feimu, Musa, O'Brien, J., Rendon, Lindley, Murphy, Quinn (C), Blake, Williams, R., Foster

- Substitution: Neidlinger 69' (Foster); Williams, R. 69' (Amoh); Hogan 84' (Lindley); Kizza 84' (Blake); Collier 90'+1' (O'Brien, J)

- Unused: Charles-Cook, Soumaoro 

Scoring Summary:
DET - Own Goal 57' (Musa)

- Bookings:

IND - Rendon 30' (RED)
DET - Bryant 38' (Yellow)
IND - Charles-Cook 88' (Yellow)

- Referee: Matthew Corrigan

- Adage goals: None.

Thoughts and Opinions

Indy had all intentions of going to Detroit and coming away with at least a point, and preferably all three points to be able to make some significant movement up the table in a proverbial 6-point game with Detroit just ahead of Indy in the table. Indy started the game in a deep block with 5 midfielders clogging the very narrow Keyworth Stadium field to try and limit Detroit's opportunities and work for counterattacks. That deep block resulted in a nearly 70/30% possession advantage for Detroit City. 

The possession difference ballooned to an 80/20% advantage for the home side by the halftime whistle after Rendon was shown a straight red card in the 30th minute due to what was deemed a high elbow to the face of Amoo-Mensah. After Indy's second red card of the season, ironically both coming against Detroit City, Indy was content to try and get a point out of the game. However, Diouf beat O'Brien off the dribble, made it to the end line, and sent a close proximity cross off the chest of Musa that deflected into Indy's goal giving Detroit's man advantage a goal advantage. 

With the lead and up a man in the 57th minute, Detroit continued to push for a second for about 15 to 20 minutes. However, once the clock rolled towards the 80th minute and it became clearer and clearer that Indy didn't have it in them to get their own goal, Detroit began to take their foot off the gas and started taking the air out of the game. Indy was down to long balls and counterattacks, but couldn't find anything out of the game. Despite being down a player, Indy limited Detroit to just 4 shots on target. However, Indy's only official shot on target happened in the 17th minute from a Romario Williams backheel that went directly to Saldana.

A 30th minute red card and a 57th minute own goal gave Detroit the win. With the other results in the Eastern Conference tonight at the time of this article, Indy find themselves, once again, staring at the wrong side of the playoff line. They continue to have a game-in-hand (or two) on most of the teams around them, but they will be spending much more time in the dying weeks of the season on the road than they have during the middle part of the season, and against several of the conference contenders, including still having three games against the Conference leaders of Louisville and Charleston. The conference has a very crowded middle so Indy is going to need to be more effective around goal in the final 12 games than they have been in recent games.

Indy continue the journey with another game on the road next week at Loudoun United before returning home for a three-game homestand starting with a midweek Jagermeister Cup game against Greenville Triumph followed by Miami and the first 2025 edition of LIPAFC against Louisville. Indy definitely need points from the Loudoun and Miami games and a win against Greenville pushes into a semifinal of the Cup. I've said it before recently, but playing for trophies can change the opinion of whether a season was a success or not.

The Game Beckons Game Ball

Officially, he was credited with 4 saves, but each of those saves were special. Sulte's 6'-7" frame and his ability to move laterally was on full display tonight. It's rare that an opposing team has four shots on target and the goalkeeper makes four saves and the team still loses, but an own goal gets treated differently. Sulte did what he could to help keep Indy in the game, which was enough for me to give him tonight's GBGB. 

Indy Eleven vs Tampa Bay Rowdies - 12.17

Summary

- Opponent: Tampa Bay Rowdies
- Location: Carroll Stadium
- Attendance: 9,107
- Final Score: 3-1 L

- Starting XI: Sulte, O'feimu, Musa, O'Brien, J., Rendon, Lindley, Murphy, Quinn (C), Blake, Williams, R., Foster

- Substitution: Hogan 45' (O'Brien, J.); Collier 60' (Blake); Bryneus 78' (Lindley); Kizza 78' (Musa)

- Unused: Charles-Cook, Amoh, Soumaoro 

Scoring Summary:
TBR - Pacius 2' (assist Moon)
IND - Ofeimu 44' (assist Murphy)
TBR - Alvarez 57' (assist Pacius)

- Bookings:

TBR - Moon 38' (Yellow)
TBR - Pacius 73' (Yellow)
IND - Musa 75' (Yellow)
IND - Murphy 80' (Yellow)

- Referee: Abdou Ndiaye

- Adage goals: One.

Thoughts and Opinions

First things first. Congratulations to Cam Lindley for joining a very elite group of Indy Eleven players. Cam becomes just the 5th player in team history to reach 100 caps for the club, joining Ayoze, Ring, Quimette, and Smart. Cam's first game for Indy was a 2-1 win on July 18, 2020 against Sporting Kansas City II. Notable for that game was that Ouimette and Ayoze both played, and Nick Moon who now plays for tonight's opponent Tampa Bay, all played alongside Lindley that night in Lucas Oil Stadium.

Do you want the bad news? Indy and Tampa Bay have been playing each other since the NASL days and Indy has a 3W-7L-10D record against the team from Florida. Want more bad news? Indy hasn't beaten Tampa Bay in 9 games (5 losses, 4 draws), with the last Indy victory coming in 2018. Want even more bad news, Indy added to that list of poor results again tonight in a 3-1 lose to extend that streak to 10 games.

Tampa Bay went ahead in the12th minute as Moon and Pacius one-touched their way around the Indy defense. Quinn, in his new wing back role, was charged with marking Moon, who has more pace than Quinn. Quinn has a high soccer IQ, but Moon's pace put him behind Quinn, setting up the close quarters interplay between Moon and Pacius. While the goal was early, it had been coming due to Tampa Bay holding the possession and stifling all of Indy's attacks.

Just before the 30 minute mark, O'Brien had a rare foray into the Tampa Bay offensive third of the field and was bailed out by an TBR defender, setting up a free kick from around 30-yards away from the goal. The ensuing free kick from Quinn set off a string of attempts by the home squad, but nothing that made its way through the green jerseys to force a save from Bandre. The sustained effort from Indy didn't result in a save attempt or a goal, but the 5 bites of the apple were good to see out of the team. 

Photo: Don Thompson Photography

Indy found an equalizer from a corner kick just before halftime to go into the locker room with a better opinion of the half. What started as a short corner was given right back to Murphy and put in a cross to the 6-yard box from a better angle. Ofeimu rose above and headed the ball back the other direction away from Bandre who couldn't stop his momentum enough to get a hand on the ball. All the action after the corner kick started because Quinn received the ball in his half of the field. Something I've noticed he does frequently is to pop the ball up slightly with his back to the opponent's goal and then blasts the ball with his left foot up the line. Foster saw it coming and immediately started running up the line as well. By the time his defender realized where the ball was going, Foster was already chasing down the ball. The defender recovered enough to force the corner kick, but the direct play from Quinn and the anticipation from Foster set up the chance.

Indy's effort to get back into the game was upended through some more direct play through the center of the field by Tampa Bay and Alvarez found the left side of the goal as Sulte was sliding to his right. Earlier in the game, Romario Williams pushed his shot just barely wide of the same post and Alvarez bounced his shot off the post to push Tampa Bay back into the lead. With the lead, the game became a bit discombobulated as neither team could hold possession and Tampa Bay was in no hurry for restarts.

Down a goal and time running out, Coach McAuley signaled his intent to go for the equalizer as he subbed out Musa for Kizza. When that happened, Indy had Kizza, Foster, Collier, and Williams all on the field at the same time. That's a coach that was opening himself for Tampa Bay to find a third due to not having bodies in the back, but you can't fault him for the effort on attack. As the time ran out, Tampa Bay did exactly that, and found a third goal in the 90'+8' minute. The goal didn't do anything but change the goal differential and the Indy defense's frustration with conceding a third goal, but it once again showed that Coach McAuley is going to go for wins at home, even knowing that the third goal might happen. 

Indy might have deserved a bit more out of the game than a 3-1 loss, but the inconsistent, up-and-down season continues. The good news is that based on recent trends, Indy should win the next two games. Unfortunately, those next two games are on the road, which differs from much of their recent stretch of home games. 

The 2025 season has transitioned to the back half of the season, but it has no appearance of transitioning to a season where Indy isn't flirting with the playoff line. Indy's Summer of Soccer was filled with home games, but Indy's back half of the season is filled with away games, and games against the top of the Eastern Conference. Indy's path to a playoff game looks littered with more results like tonight's interspersed with enough wins to keep them in contention. Whether that will be enough as the season ends to actually be in the playoffs looks debatable at the moment, but I don't foresee any of these players nor Coach giving up until the season is over.

Indy head to Detroit next weekend.

The Game Beckons Game Ball

Thinking about the game, it feels like one of those games where no single player stood out either offensively or defensively. There wasn't a player that took the game by the scruff of the neck and tried to carry the rest of the team over the line. As a result, it feels like, despite the team conceding 3 goals, a bit weird to give a defender the GBGB, but Ofeimu put himself in really good position to get the Indy goal and took. He said after the game that Murphy's deliver was so good that he didn't have to do much, but that's taking away from his own ability to beat his man to the ball. He might have just needed to get a head to it to redirect it, but he had to put himself in that position to do so. Ofeimu, as a defender getting a goal, gets tonight's edge for the GBGB.

Photos: Don Thompson Photography

Indy Eleven vs FC Tulsa - 2025 Jagermeister Cup

Summary

- Opponent: FC Tulsa
- Location: Carroll Stadium
- Attendance: 9,065
- Final Score: 2-1 W

- Starting XI: Sulte, O'feimu, Musa, O'Brien, J., Rendon, Lindley, Murphy, Quinn (C), Blake, Williams, R., Collier

- Substitution: Foster 62' (Collier); Neidlinger 76' (Murphy); Kizza 77' (Williams, R.): Hogan 84' (Lindley); Soumaoro 84' (Blake)

- Unused: Charles-Cook, McRobb

Scoring Summary:
IND - Williams, R. 38' (assist Rendon)
IND - Own Goal 51' (Batista)
TUL - Colli 72' (assist Webber)

- Bookings:

TUL - Seagrist 7' (Yellow)
IND - Ofeimu 33' (Yellow)
TUL - Batista 35' (Yellow)
IND - Murphy 73' (Yellow)
TUL - Stauffer 90'+1' (Yellow)
IND - Rendon 90'+5' (Yellow)

- Referee: Gerald Flores

- Adage goals: None.

Thoughts and Opinions

As an Englishman, Coach McAuley values Cup wins and understands how success in a Cup run can help mitigate an otherwise frustrating season. Indy's last Jagermeister Cup game against Birmingham resulted in a draw in regulation but Indy picked up an extra point from the penalty kick shootout afterward. The extra point, thanks to a Hunter Sulte save, put Indy's advancement in the tournament in their own hands. With the Western Conference leaders FC Tulsa coming to town for the final game of the group stage, a win or draw (plus shootout win) was not going to be easy. Indy knew coming in that they were going to have to match or better Birmingham's result on the night with BHM at home against Forward Madison. Birmingham took care of their business, which might get them a Wild Card to the knockout rounds, but Indy also took care of their business with a 2-1 victory over the visitors from Tulsa.

Indy wasn't necessarily the dominant team in the early stages of the game, but they did tilt the game towards the Tulsa goal. However, as the game inched towards the 15th minute mark, Tulsa rattled off a series of corner kicks, the third of which forced a goal line save from Sulte who had made himself big at the post. The rest of the Indy defenders managed to get to the spilled ball and send it up the field to avoid an early deficit. The game was fairly even after the chance. Indy had a couple of reasonable chances and Tulsa found their own chances. The opportunities came through different styles of play, with Indy getting theirs through deliberate combination passing around the Tulsa defense, while Tulsa's seemed to come more through long balls and corner kicks.

Photo: Don Thompson Photography

Indy found a goal through a transitional moment as the ball quickly made its way through the Indy midfield until the ball made its way to Rendon via Murphy. Rendon took the opportunity to attack the Tulsa backline until he found a moment to get the ball to the middle of the box. Williams took two touches, the second of which was a toe-poke between three defenders and out of reach of a sprawling Penaranda. The goal, surprisingly, opened the game which became an end-to-end affair in the final 7 minutes (+ 4 minutes of stoppage time) of the half. Indy held onto the lead to go into the halftime locker room with a 1-nil lead. The halftime stats showed a fairly even game, and if it hadn't been for Williams' moment of brilliance for the goal, a nil-nil draw would have felt like a reasonable score line.

Indy found a second goal within the first 6 minutes and nearly a third within two minutes after that to put the game, and the group, squarely in Indy's favor. Coach McAuley clearly told the team at halftime that they needed to step up their effort and the Indy players took head of the coach's desire. While the first half finished with a flurry of end-to-end action, the second half took that style of play to another level. A second goal on the books changed Indy's tactics, and Tulsa began to tilt the field to their own advantage. Just after the 70th minute mark, Tulsa found a goal for their effort to give themselves some life and a potential to spoil Indy's win of the group. Indy had had chances and couldn't find the goal. As Indy has seen all season, if you let a team stick around, bad things can happen.

Photo: Don Thompson Photography

Despite the late drama and effort required from Indy to close out the game, they did in fact close out the game. The win, regardless of the result of the Birmingham vs Forward Madison game, clinched the group for Indy, allowing them to move on into the quarterfinals of the Jagermeister Cup. The topsy-turvy results of Group 6 means that Indy will play Greenville Triumph later this morning with a spot in the semifinal on the line. The win also means that Indy finished group play with a total of 11 out of a possible 12 points from their four games, and were it not for a 90'+4' equalizer from Birmingham, Indy would have achieved the maximum points from the group stage with 4 wins. The 3W-1D-0L record and the 11 points was the highest point total of any of the group winners. Helped out by the 4-nil victory in the first game against Forward Madison, Indy also finish with the 2nd best goal differential of all the teams in the tournament. After Indy's run in the U.S. Open Cup last year and their results in the Jagermeister Cup this year, Indy seem to have a knack of getting good results when there is a trophy on the line that isn't connected to the season-long league results. 

Indy return to league action next week against the struggling Tampa Bay Rowdies who found their own victory tonight in the Jagermeister Cup in the aforementioned Group 6 to finish 2nd in their group behind Greenville.

The Game Beckons Game Ball

If they gave assists to Own Goals, Rendon would have finished with a brace of assists tonight. His touch left him a couple times throughout the night, but his effort directly led to both of Indy's goals. There were some other good efforts tonight, but Rendon's contributions to the goals gives him the edge for the GBGB.

Photos: Don Thompson Photography