Indy Eleven vs El Paso Locomotive - 12.08

Summary

- Opponent: El Paso Locomotive FC
- Location: Southwest University Park
- Attendance: 5,077
- Final Score: 3-1 L

- Starting XI: Sulte, Stanley, Musa, Hogan, Ofeimu, O'Brien, J., Murphy, Quinn (C), Blake, Foster, Amoh

- Substitution: Rendon 45' (O'Brien, J.); Collier 45' (Ofeimu); Williams, R. 45' (Amoh); Lindley 84' (Blake); Kizza 84' (Foster)

- Unused: Charles-Cook, White

Scoring Summary:
ELP - Moreno 13' (assist Ortiz)
ELP - Calvillo 32' (assist Cabrera)
ELP - Daroma 82' (assist Cabrera)
IND - Kizza 85' (assist Quinn)

- Bookings:

IND - Blake 29' (Yellow)
IND - Foster 37' (Yellow)
ELP - Ruiz 42' (Yellow)
IND - Hogan 47' (Yellow)
ELP - Cabrera 65' (Yellow)
ELP - Diaz 65' (Yellow)

- Referee: Greg Dopka

- Adage goals: None.

Thoughts and Opinions

I'm going to be honest, I watched the first half of this game on my phone while sitting in Grand Park hoping that the USL-W League team would regain the power and have a late kickoff. Then I more or less listened to the second half while I drove home. What I got out of both of those halves listening to El Paso's broadcast commentary from Duke Keith was that Indy couldn't finish around the goal (not until Kizza's late goal to ruin Jahmali Waite's clean sheet) and El Paso was more than content in the second half to take the air out of the game at every possible situation in the second half. They came away with a 3-1 win, and Indy continue to look like they need to figure something out because the team that took the Philadelphia Union to penalty kicks and nearly beat Sacramento in Sacramento a few days later was not the team that showed up in El Paso. 

Two things keeps jumping to my mind in this game.

1. Moreno's "gut-busting run" in the first half to open the scoring seemed like an issue of nobody stopping the ball. Indy got caught in transition from ELP against the run of play with Stanley the only player in a good position and O'Brien and Blake trying to catch up. I'm sure he had a reason in the moment, but I don't understand why Stanley went with the secondary runner on the break.
   
   Nobody stopped the ball. If you don't stop the ball, bad things often happen. If Stanley had gone to Moreno, the trailing runner would have likely been pushed offside unless Moreno had found an inch-perfect window to get the ball to Cabrera between when Stanley went to the ball before Cabrera went offside. Instead, Stanley went with Cabrera, allowing Moreno to continue to attack towards Indy's goal until he found the window he needed to get his shot with Stanley out of the picture. Cabrera did exactly what he wanted to do, but I'm unclear as to why Stanley made the decision he made. 
2. For the first time in several games, Amoh wasn't able to poach his one really good chance in the first half that probably would have turned the game back towards Indy. You can't get to all the balls, but he has looked like he might be capable of getting to everything lately. Missing the opportunity meant Indy continued to still play from behind and then when ELP found a long distance shot through traffic slip past Sulte, all that remained was the final score. For whatever reason, what I did see of the game, it didn't look like they were going to be able to get back into the game after going down by two.

Indy have to regroup and watch the rest of the league play their games Saturday before heading back on the road to face One Knoxville in Indy's second game of the Jagermeister Cup.

The Game Beckons Game Ball

I don't have to give a GBGB. I regularly have a game where I don't. While this won't be an official GBGB, I do want to give Lindley and Kizza some props for their effort when they came on late. Kizza has been supplanted by Amoh in the starting lineup due to Amoh's form, but the former Riverhound came into the game with the team down by 3 goals and found himself a goal. Forwards thrive on seeing a ball go in for them, so it's good to see him get rewarded for the late effort set up by Lindley's delivery into the box that Quinn headed back across goal.