Indy Eleven vs Rhode Island FC - 13.10

Summary

- Opponent: Rhode Island FC
- Location: Carroll Stadium
- Attendance: 8,188
- Final Score: 1-0 W

- Starting XI: Dick, Quinn (C), Rasheed, Craig, Neidlinger, Lindley, O'Brien, J., Blake, Okello, Rendon, Kizza

- Substitution: Barry 57' (Kizza); Sing 67' (Neidlinger); Omar 80' (Okello); Williams, K. 90'+3' (Blake); Mitrano 90'+4' (Rendon)

- Unused: Charles-Cook, Lowden

- Scoring Summary:
IND - Rendon 55' (assist Quinn)

- Bookings:

RI - Thompson 8' (Yellow)
IND - Okello 15' (Yellow)
IND - Rendon 36' (Yellow)
RI - Holstad 56' (Yellow)

- Referee: Thomas Snyder

- Adage goals: None.
- Points Lost from Winning Position (Year To Date): 8

Thoughts and Opinions

Rhode Island, the franchise, has shown that a team can flip the switch and play really good soccer. Rhode Island, this year, has had a mixed bag of results, coming into the game with a 3W-3D-3L record while scoring 4 goals twice (vs Charleston and Brooklyn) and conceding at least 3 goals twice (vs Louisville and Birmingham). Indy's highest output this year has been a couple of 3-goal games (Monterey Bay and Lexington, but not counting the 3-nil result against Des Moines). So the potential existed for the game to be a high-scoring affair. Instead, what happened was a 1-nil win for Indy Eleven after getting a second half goal and then grinding out the result with good team defense at the end of the game.

Photo: Don Thompson Photography

The player landmarks continue to roll in for the Indy Eleven players. Lindley officially overtook Ayoze for the Games Started lead in team history, as well as the Minutes Played statistic, which also pushed him over the 15,000 minute mark for his USL Championship career. 

Not to be outdone, Aodhan Quinn achieved his 300th regular season appearance in USL Championship, while also becoming the first player to reach 25,000 minutes in the league. 

Congrats on the milestones, guys!

When Indy has the kickoff for the first or second half, the team lines up like the kind of football with the oblong ball. Multiple guys line up on the center stripe like a bunch of wide receivers and tight ends getting ready to make a run downfield for a Hail Mary pass. Once the referee blows the whistle, it doesn't look that much different from that other kind of football play as the ball gets blasted up the field in the hope that somebody latches onto the ball. Usually, it doesn't amount to much, but that type of start does set up the team to get an early shot if they get the first or second header. In this game, Indy's starting play resulted in Indy getting their first shot on target just 17 seconds into the game, but Okello's shot was right at Vegas for the first save of the game.

After that, though, the game turned into an up-and-down game as neither team seemed to care that much about holding possession and working slowly up the field from the back. Both teams looked to get the ball into their offensive half as quickly as possible. Watching the game, you can see how Rhode Island can score a bunch of goals, but can also concede a bunch of goals. The first half included some good shots and shots on target, including a shot by Rendon that just drifted wide of the post, but that was about the only shot that could be argued really tested the goalkeepers or had a legitimate shot in breaking the dead lock. As a result, the two teams finished the half nil-nil, with nearly identical statistics.

Post Indy Goal Shot Map

Indy got the scoring started in the 55th minute when Rendon connected on a corner kick ball put in by Quinn. The opportunity was created by some good interplay between Rendon and Neidlinger that was ushered across the endline by Rhode Island. Rendon's shot happened as he drifted away from the goal and put his shot in the left side netting in a place where Vegas couldn't get to it. Rendon admitted after the game that he wasn't completely sure how he managed to get the ball where it finished, but was glad that it did.

Just seconds after the restart, Rhode Island had their own opportunity when the communication by the Indy defenders looked like the were using Morse Code and Kwizera nearly snuck a shot around the defenders and Dick. Fortunately for the home fans, Kwizera pushed the shot wide. Indy's goal and Kwizera's effort ratcheted up the Rhode Island intensity and the play tilted drastically to Rhode Island's advantage. 

Despite the barrage of shots that Rhode Island sent towards the Indy goal in the final 30 minutes of the game, the late equalizer that Indy has frequently conceded never occurred and Indy Eleven extended their league home unbeaten streak to 9 games and getting Dick his first clean sheet of the season. Thanks to the other results around the league tonight, including losses by Detroit and Louisville (who dropped an unprecedented - for them - fourth straight loss), Indy vaulted up the table to 2nd place. With a third of their season complete, I'm not sure that was where I would have picked them to be given the youth of the roster and the injuries they have sustained. 

There's still a lot of season left to play out, but based on my records, the last time Indy was this high in the table was Week 18 of the 2024 season when they were ranked 3rd before finishing the season in 4th. The last time they were sitting higher than Louisville in the table was Week 5 of the 2021 season (Louisville finished that season top of the table while Indy missed the playoffs, so hopefully that doesn't repeat itself). 

Indy return to action next week to play League One side Forward Madison as part of the Prinx Tires USL Cup. Given Indy's recent struggles against their League One opponents, it's impossible to gauge how the team will fare despite the continued string of good results at home in league play. It seems highly unlikely that Indy will make it out of group play due to their other USL Cup results and the other teams' results, but Coach McAuley holds Cup competitions in high regard so I'm sure he will have the team fired up to make a good showing of themselves in the final group stage games.

The Game Beckons Game Ball

Photo: Don Thompson Photography

When the season started, it was generally believed that Paco Craig was signed to provide depth at the defender position. Given the early injury to Pat Hogan, Craig became the starter. White has also sustained a season-long injury, meaning the back line has been in constant flux this year. With Herbert's temporary departure from the team while away on international duty as part of the friendlies ahead of the FIFA World Cup, Craig was once again thrust into playing alongside a different defender, while also trying to help contain Rhode Island's dangerous striker J.J. Williams. Time and again tonight, it seemed like Craig was in the right position to help his young defense partner, Rasheed, contain Williams. Looking at his stats for the game, Craig won every single one of his duels, every single one of his aerial duels, and accounted for 14 of the team's 42 clearances. On a night when Indy get a 1-nil victory and their first league clean sheet of the season, Craig was a big reason why. I could give the GBGB to Rendon for his goal or Dick for the clean sheet, but I think the 33 year old 5-time All-USL defender deserves the recognition tonight. 

Photos - Don Thompson Photography

Indy Eleven vs Racing Louisville - 05.04

Summary

- Opponent: Racing Louisville
- Location: Lynn Family Vision & Training Center
- Attendance: -
- Final Score: 1-0 L

- Starting XI: Reason, Brecht, Mills, Adam, Lee, Smith (C), Johnson, Dardano, Boyd, Guthrie, Jodoin

- Substitution: Satterfield 45' (Lee); Hamm 58' (Boyd); Sochacki 62' (Guthrie); Chong 62' (Dardano); Kikuchi 80' (Johnson); Kruer 80' (Adam)

- Unused: Edwards

- Scoring Summary:
LOU - Stiefvater 61' (assist)

- Bookings:

LOU - Snyder 45' (Yellow)

- Referee: ?

Thoughts and Opinions

I was worried this season might go this way for me at times. Another game where I'm unable to provide much commentary as my family life takes precedence and more important things were happening. As a result, I watched a majority of this game from my phone. It wasn't until the very end that I was able to switch to my laptop screen. Yes, I could rewatch as my days settled down, but that hasn't really happened. Additionally, much like the Dayton stream from the last game, the Racing Louisville stream just barely qualifies as being a stream at all and I really don't want to watch it again. For an organization that seems to do so much well for the men's team and the women's NWSL team, they really seem to not care about how "professional" their preprofessional team social media and streaming looks. Just one of those high elevation cameras to provide wide angle shots and no commentary to help with players... As such, I'm sure you can imagine how ineffective it was to watch the game on a phone. As a result, and similar to the Dayton game, this isn't going to be my best discussion. Sorry, ladies.

Best I could tell from what I was able to watch and what I could see, Indy controlled significant portions of the game and had the better attacks. They just couldn't get the ball in the goal. As the Indy men's team has shown this year, possession statistics don't necessarily mean much, but rather where your possession occurs and what you do with it. Indy had enough possession in Racing's half of the field and in dangerous positions, but couldn't get a goal. Do that for long enough, and eventually the opponent is going to get their own chances, which Racing did and managed to find a goal to give them the lead and the eventual winner. 

Indy have now dropped two straight games, have been held scoreless in both, and really need a good result out of their upcoming game midweek against Toledo who sit at the bottom of the Valley Division, before finally coming back home to finish the season with a four-game homestand. I'm sure there had to be some kind of logic to their scheduling, but getting just one home game and four away games in the month of May may have put them behind the 8-ball without much chance to finishing strong enough to win the division. With so few teams in the division, every game now feels like a proverbial 6-pointer, but they definitely need to get a win against Toledo on Wednesday to springboard them into the final stretch.

Indy Eleven vs Dayton Dutch Lions - 05.03

Summary

- Opponent: Dayton Dutch Lions
- Location: West Carrollton High School
- Attendance: -
- Final Score: 1-0 L

- Starting XI: Edwards, Satterfield, Kruer, Adam, Brecht, Smith, Joyce, Dardano, Boyd, Sochacki, Jodoin

- Substitution: Lee 62' (Satterfield); May 64' (Boyd); Hamm 64' (Sochacki); Farrell 72' (Jodoin); Kikuchi 72' (Joyce)

- Unused: Reason, Gillespie

- Scoring Summary:
DAY - Morse 29' (assist)

- Bookings:

DAY - Rogowski 82' (Yellow)

- Referee: ?

Thoughts and Opinions

Yeah, I'm sorry. Memorial Day weekend with the closest Indy 500 in history, with a Dayton stream that didn't start well, had very wide angle shots, and didn't have any commentary to help with players... Not going to be my best discussion. 

In what looked like unpleasant weather conditions in Dayton that only got worse as the game progressed, the Dayton Dutch Lions came away with a win that seemed like a reasonably fair result as best I could tell. Neither team seemed to generate a ton of good chances in the weather and DAY found a goal with a looping shot over Edwards. The first half goal was enough for the Dutch Lions to see out the win as the weather deteriorated and their defense remained sufficient.

The loss brings Indy's record to 1W-1D-1L as they head to Louisville to play Racing again thanks to the three-game round robin format of the Valley Division. Indy will be on the road again as they continue this stretch of away games. Luckily, the team's home games are back loaded at the end of the season when, hopefully, the girls have fully gelled, and, again hopefully, are still in contention to win the Division.

Indy Eleven vs Lexington SC - 13.09

Summary

- Opponent: Lexington SC
- Location: Carroll Stadium
- Attendance: 8,745
- Final Score: 3-1 W

- Starting XI: Dick, Quinn (C), Herbert, Craig, Neidlinger, Blake, Lindley, O'Brien, J., Mesanvi, Rendon, Kizza

- Substitution: Barry 55' (Kizza); Sing 66' (Mesanvi); Mitrano 78' (Barry); Rasheed 79' (Neidlinger)

- Unused: Charles-Cook, Okello, Williams

- Scoring Summary:
IND - Rendon 13' (assist Kizza)
LEX - Molloy 51' (assist Ferri)
IND - O'Brien 71' (assist Blake)
IND - Sing 76' (assist Quinn)

- Bookings:

LEX - Brown 3' (RED)
IND - Rendon 4' (Yellow)
LEX - Zenque 32' (Yellow)
LEX - Goodrum 80' (Yellow)
IND - Quinn 90' (Yellow)

- Referee: Luis Diego Arroyo (& Braeden Frey)

- Adage goals: None.
- Points Lost from Winning Position (Year To Date): 8

Thoughts and Opinions

Photo: Matt Schlotzhauer

At some point, Indy Eleven may enact a Ring of Honor for the club. When that happens, I have some thoughts on who should be included in it. Brad Ring is at the top of the list for me. After that, Ayoze, Zayed, Busch, and Smart have legit arguments to be in that initial class. There are three players from the current team that may not be in the first Ring of Honor announcement (but probably should), but it would just be a matter of time for them to make their way to that honor as far as I'm concerned. Blake, Quinn, and Lindley have cemented themselves into that discussion. With his appearance tonight, Lindley became the official leader in Games Played for the team, and will become the leader in Games Started and Minutes Played if/when he plays against Rhode Island next week. I had some objections to the way McAuley utilized Lindley in the early part of last year, otherwise those records would have already been Cam's. As far as I'm concerned, he has as much of an argument to the first Ring of Honor group as those other guys. They have already, but by the time they finish their careers in Indy, Blake, Lindley, and Quinn will have fully cemented their places as the best players to have been a part of the Indy franchise and two of the three got assists on the night.

When you're struggling to get wins, like Lexington has struggled to do this season, the last thing you need to do is put yourself in a position to make that harder. Lexington did just that when Brown took offense to Rendon putting a ball into Brown's chest when he was on the ground, and Brown did his version of Manny Pacquiao and threw a left jab that firmly caught Rendon in the jaw. The red card was immediate and deserved and Lexington found themselves a man down in just the 3rd minute of the game. Rendon picked up his own yellow card for his involvement in the altercation, but 87-minutes with a man-advantage is a difficult ask. As a result, Lexington found themselves on the wrong side of a 3-1 loss with an Josh O'Brien 71st-minute winner.

Indy's first goal came from Herbert's ability to blast headers back from whence they game. Turns out his ability to win balls in the air can result to instant offense. In the 13th minute, he did that once again and his ball found Kizza in the middle of the field. Kizza immediately turned and went straight at the Lexington defense. A well-placed ball through the line to an on-rushing Rendon who put the ball over Semmle for the early Indy lead. Lexington is a team that possesses the ball really well, so the early goal from Indy gave them an ability to dictate the game more. While Indy still conceded some possession because Indy's going to Indy, but they're attacks were more effective with the man advantage.

For I think the first time in team history, just before the 40th minute of the game, referee Arroyo came up limping as he chased down an attack from Indy. As both teams sprinted towards the Lexington goal, you can see Arroyo do the universal "just pulled a hammy" stutter step and must have signaled in the earpiece that he was done for the game. Arroyo gingerly walked to the sideline where he and fourth official Braeden Frey swapped the required electrical gear as Frey became the lead official and Arroyo took over the fourth official duties. The referee stoppage and the red card dust-up resulted in 6 minutes of stoppage time, but Rendon's early goal was the extent of the scoring as the teams went into the halftime locker room with Indy's 1-goal lead. 

Lexington didn't have any official shots on target in the first half, but they did rattle the woodwork early in the game and, of course, held the possession advantage despite their man disadvantage. Indy, with the man advantage, did make more use of their possession with a 0.79 xG vs 0.15 for LEX. Indy was also to adjust their style of play enough that they were significantly less than their average for long passes. That they weren't up by more than the one goal was really the only downside to the first half for the home team.

Then Molloy came out of the locker room and found a 51st minute banger from long distance that had so much swerve on it that Dick went one way and the ball went the other way into the right side of the goal. Suddenly, Indy's obvious win because of their early goal and man advantage looked tenuous. Lexington's ability to hold possession while also knowing that they would also fully bunker late if they could keep the score tied to get a draw on the road with a man down meant that Indy's trend of losing points from winning positions was again in play.

Yet a 5-minute stretch gave Indy the cushion they needed to feel better about the performance and the result. In the 71st minute, a Blake cross missed Sing's head, but O'Brien latched onto the ball as it hit the ground and redirected it into the Lexington goal restoring Indy's lead. Five minutes later, Sing did get his head to a cross, this time from Quinn and Indy had their insurance goal to make the final 15-minutes nervy, but not as concerning as Indy's other games with just a one-goal lead. As Indy saw out the game with a 2-goal differential (and a 2.64 xG to 0.29 advantage) to make the result more closely match what you hope to get when a team has a man advantage for 87 minutes. 

With the win, Indy extend their league home undefeated league streak to 8 games and bumping the team up to 5th place in the table with game(s) in hand on the teams ahead of them. While people might not call their style of play "pretty," the team is getting results and would be even further up the table if they hadn't given up some late goals. Thinking about the season, it feels like the season has gone worse than what their timeline (in league games) shows. Two losses in 9 games is a very respectable start to the season, possession stats be damned. We're almost 1/3 of the way through the league season, but at this point, the team is getting positive results out of games at the 3rd highest rate in team history (69.23%) behind only the 2016 team (81.08%) and the 2019 season (72.50%), arguably the two most successful seasons in the team's history in two different leagues. 

Louisville lost tonight for their first 3 game losing streak in almost 3 years, Tampa Bay is undefeated, and the historically perennial doormat Miami is sitting in 4th place in the table. It's already been a weird season and there is a lot still to go where things can get even weirder, but Indy is finding ways to get positive results out of games even if they aren't the full points that they probably should have at this point. 

Indy look to keep their undefeated streak going next weekend when they face Rhode Island at Carroll Stadium in the second game of the current 3-game homestand. 

The Game Beckons Game Ball

Photo: Matt Schlotzhauer

Rendon has 7 goals through 12 games in all competitions. It's crazy to think that just a couple of seasons ago he was the League One Defender of the Year, and now he has ~1/3 of Indy's goals for the season and probably should have more. He's playing so well right now that it's almost expected to the point that despite being near the top of the league in goals scored and getting tonight's opening goal, he wasn't the player talking to Rakestraw and Ring after the game. Because I don't want to disregard the kind of heater he's on right now, Rendon gets tonight's GBGB. 

Indy Eleven vs Fort Wayne FC - 2026 Prinx Tires USL Cup

Summary

- Opponent: Fort Wayne FC
- Location: Ruoff Mortgate Stadium
- Attendance: 3,794
- Final Score: 2-2 D (Indy get the extra point for the 3-1 shootout win)

- Starting XI: Dick, Quinn (C), Herbert, Craig, Neidlinger, Blake, Lindley, O'Brien, J., Mesanvi, Rendon, Kizza

- Substitution: Okello 74' (Kizza); Rasheed 78' (Neidlinger); Williams 90'+2' (Mesanvi); Sing 90'+2' (Rendon)

- Unused: Charles-Cook, Barry, Mitrano

- Scoring Summary:
IND - Quinn 26' (unassisted)
FW - Healy 33' (unassisted)
IND - Rendon 64' (assist Blake)
FW - Thomas 90'+1' (assist Gafar)

- Shootout:
FW - Ricol (Scored)
IND - Blake (Scored)
FW - Healy (Miss)
IND - Quinn (Scored)
FW - Nieto (Saved)
IND - O'Brien (Scored)
FW - Thomas (Miss)
Indy win 3-1

- Bookings:

IND - Blake 15' (Yellow)
IND - Neidlinger 39' (Yellow)
FW - Abbey 44' (Yellow)
FW - Garay 45'+1' (Yellow)
IND - Craig 68' (Yellow)
FW - Thomas 79' (Yellow)
FW - Dias 83' (Yellow)

- Referee: Muhammad Hassan

- Adage goals: One.
- Points Lost from Winning Position (Year To Date): 8

Thoughts and Opinions

The advantage to my new outlook to the way I'm going to handle this year's games is that I don't have to get carried away writing detailed articles for certain games when I have other things going on. Today I had other things going on, but still kept an eye on the game just to get a feel for how it was going. And how it went was the same issue that this team, and last year's team, has continued to have. They literally cannot see a game over the line. Indy conceded a 90'+1' stoppage time goal to take their win to a draw in the second game of the Prinx Tires USL Cup group play. Indy have played two games in group play against two of the USL League One teams in their group and have come away with just 2 points (all of them obtained tonight thanks to the 3-1 shootout win). 

It's become more and more evident as the season has progressed that Indy is likely an average to maybe below average USL Championship team this year, at least based on results. However, through three games this year with USL League competition (twice with Union Omaha and once against Fort Wayne, who are in their first season as a professional team), Indy has lost twice and drawn once, indicating that this year's Indy Eleven team might be an average to below average League One team. Particularly when you factor in that two of those three games utilized what could be considered Indy's "A" team. The average age more closely resembles that of a League One team and it turns out that the overall talent level may reflect that too. 

I'm not saying anything any fan that has watched all season couldn't tell you. There are deficiencies in this team; the play of Quinn, Blake, Lindley, and Rendon not included in that statement. Those are the only players on this team that I feel are playing at a high level. Even Dick, who was brought into the team to be a solidifying force in the back, has looked shaky. The team has had just a single clean sheet this season and that was Charles-Cook's effort in the U.S. Open Cup against the amateur squad from Des Moines. The first goal for Fort Wayne was Dick spilling the ball instead of holding onto it and his defenders all standing around while Healy wanted it more. The second ball was straight at Dick at head height and it went through his hands. 

Based on Indy's previous loss and their competitors in the group (Louisville, Detroit, Lexington, etc.), it was unlikely that Indy was going to make it out of the group play. Tonight's win turned to draw would seem to nearly solidify that fact even though the top teams in the group still haven't played their second game. I just can't see a way for Indy to advance.

While the game doesn't count against Indy's league standings, and there will almost certainly not be any extra USL Cup games after the group play, the "bumps along the way" that I foresaw earlier in the season are turning out to be massive trenches of disappointment and are happening much more regularly than I anticipated. Yes, the team has a 4W-4D-4L record in all competitions at this point, meaning they are getting positive results from the games 67% of the time, but this does not feel like a winning team. 

Indy return to action next Saturday at The Mike against another struggling team when Lexington SC come to town. 

Indy Eleven vs Toledo Villa FC - 05.02

Summary

- Opponent: Toledo Villa FC
- Location: Paul Hotmer Field
- Attendance: -
- Final Score: 3-1 W

- Starting XI: Reason, Satterfield, Gillespie, Adam, Brecht, Smith, Dardano, Johnson, Jodoin, Guthrie, Hamm

- Substitution: Chatterton 45' (Brecht); Sochacki 61' (Guthrie); Joyce 61' (Dardano); Kruer 77' (Gillespie); Kikuchi 83' (Johnson); Farrell 83' (Jodoin)

- Unused: Edwards

- Scoring Summary:
IND - Johnson 21' (assist Smith)
IND - Guthrie 35' (assist Jodoin)
TVF - Sipsock 41' (assist )
IND - Sochacki 85' (Kikuchi)

- Bookings:

NONE

- Referee: 

Thoughts and Opinions

Towards the end of the game, one of the broadcast announcers said something to the effect of "Toledo's fans can take solace knowing that while the third goal makes the game look worse than it was, this year's team held one of the premier teams in the USL W League to just two goals through the majority of the game."

C'mon, Man!

Are you kidding me? What kept this game looking close was Indy's inability to keep their shots down and Toledo's goalkeeper Holland. This was one-way traffic from start to finish. Indy's players had too many shots go over the crossbar and Holland had some great saves. Otherwise, this would have been a massive blowout. Toledo rarely ventured into the Indy defensive half and I can only remember two clear shots on target; one they put in the goal over Reason towards the end of the first half, and the second went straight to Reason from a long-distance shot. If Indy had been more clinical around goal, this could have been one of those laugher score lines.

Indy return to action next Sunday, again on the road, to Dayton Dutch Lions.

Game Beckons Game Ball

I'm not sure why she would taken out at halftime, but I thought Brecht from her left wing position was a force in the first half. Constantly attacking, bringing the ball well up the field, and bringing the ball towards the center of the field before spraying it back out to other players, Brecht had her name called time and again in the first half. The second half, without her on the field, felt completely different for Indy's attack. In 45 minutes, Brecht gets today's GBGB.

Indy Eleven vs Racing Louisville - 05.01

Summary

- Opponent: Racing Louisville
- Location: Grand Park Event Center
- Attendance: -
- Final Score: 1-1 D

- Starting XI: Edwards, Satterfield, Kruer, Yu, Brecht, Johnson, Mills, Guthrie, Jodoin, Sochaki, Boyd

- Substitution: Chatterton 72' (Satterfield); May 72' (Sochaki); Dardano 88' (Guthrie)

- Unused: Reason, Adam, Chong, Gillespie, Hamm, Kikuchi

- Scoring Summary:
LOU - Gibson 55' (assist Jones)
IND - Sochaki 65' (unassisted)

- Bookings:

LOU - Snyder 70' (Yellow)

- Referee: Rachel Glago

Thoughts and Opinions

I said coming into the year that there might be games where I'm not as detailed in my articles. While I don't like that it was this game for the Indy Women versus Racing Louisville to start the W-League season, it was either go to the game or go to my kid's Senior Night for the track team. Nothing against Indy, but my kid's more important. However, thanks to the ISC Sports Network and Greg Rakestraw, I was able to watch the game a day late.

I'm not sure how the other two teams in the Valley Division are going to look this year, but if history holds true to form, it will likely be Indy or Racing that will be in contention for representing the Division in the USL W-League playoffs. As such, a 1-1 draw doesn't necessarily hurt either team just yet, Coach Kim's post-game comments felt true to me. Indy controlled the game enough from all aspects to have been able to get the win, so while a draw doesn't entirely feel like a loss, the full three points was definitely there for the taking. Indy had a 15 shot to 3 advantage over the visitors from Louisville, with 7 of those 15 shots being on target, but they just couldn't find more than the one goal. 

After Indy went down a goal kind of against the run of play, it was good to see them come back and get their own goal to at least salvage the point. Much like their male counterparts last weekend against Sporting JAX, if they had been a bit more clinical around goal, this would have been a completely different game and discussion. 

Indy probably did deserve to get the win, but they'll get two more chances since the miniscule four-team Valley Division means that Indy plays each team 3 times. This year's team is going to be the definition of "familiarity breeds contempt" because there just won't be that many teams to spread the anger around. Indy return to action this weekend when the play Toledo Villa, the newcomers to the Valley Division.

Game Beckons Game Ball

I thought that several players had good games, notably goal scorer Sochacki, midfielder Johnson, and defender Kruer, but it was Jodoin who was the player that you couldn't avoid noticing. She had a good game, including 33% of Indy's shots. So she edges her teammates for the GBGB.