Indy Eleven vs Sacramento Republic - 12.07

Summary

- Opponent: Sacramento Republic
- Location: Heart Health Park
- Attendance: 9,358
- Final Score: 1-1 D

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

- Substitution: Kizza 70' (Foster); Williams, R. 70' (Amoh); McRobb 86' (Quinn)

- Unused: Charles-Cook, Collier, Lindley, Neidlinger

Scoring Summary:
IND - Amoh 36' (assist Quinn)
SAC - Amann 90'+6' (penalty kick)

- Bookings:

SAC- Timmer 17' (Yellow)
IND - O'Brien, J. 20' (Yellow)
SAC - Parano 33' (Yellow)
IND - Musa 58' (Yellow)

- Referee: Benjamin Meyer

- Adage goals: One. Of course...

Thoughts and Opinions

Maybe it's just my week, but it seems like much longer than 8 days ago that Indy played their last league game, a 2-2 draw against Detroit. Last Saturday, Indy conceded two early goals to Detroit before clawing their way back into the game, despite playing the final 30 minutes with 10 men, to get a draw. Then midweek, after a reactionary first half against the Philadelphia Union in the U.S Open Cup Round of 32 (which I'm now convinced was the plan going in), Indy stormed back in the second half to send the game to extra time before ultimately falling in penalty kicks. It's been a long week for fans and the team, who have not seen their own homes since they boarded the plane for Philadelphia after flying directly from Philly to tonight's opponent in Sacramento. Sacramento had their own midweek game, but had much less travel (they played San Jose) and they were out of their game much earlier than Indy, losing in regulation. 

In the early stages of this game, Sacramento looked like they had a bit fresher legs, putting Indy under pressure, predominantly in Indy's half of the field. Given Indy's miles on their legs, in all regards, it may have been a planned bit of bunker by Coach McAuley to get the squad to the second half as fresh as possible. While the stats were heavily weighted in Sacramento's favor in the half, clearly had a bend-but-don't-break mentality as they tried to keep the game within reach for as long as possible, and then counter when possible.

Half - Indy Distribution/Shots

Having spent very little of their time on the ball in Sacramento's half of the field, the game plan from Indy paid off as the game crossed over the 35-minute mark, when Indy had two of those counterattack moments.  The first involved Amoh and Foster, as Amoh threaded a ball between defenders into an on-rushing Foster. Foster pushed his shots just wide, but the attack was Indy's first good attack. A minute later and the two players were again involved as a ball over the top to Foster was collected and centered to Quinn in the middle of the box. Quinn kept the ball moving from right to left to Amoh, who settled the ball, and put his shot over Vitiello to open the scoring and continuing the strikers amazing run of form, getting his 7th goal on the season in the last 5 games. Despite having a 30/70 disadvantage in possession, Indy went into the halftime locker room with a 1-nil advantage on the scoreboard. 

The first half bunker turned into a second half bunker. Indy couldn't hold onto the ball, and Sacramento kept pushing their line of attack further and further up the field and Indy had to resort to continuing to move their line of defense further and further back towards their goal. As the game approached the 60th minute, Indy finally got a foothold on the ball and held a bit of possession to give themselves a break from the constant defending, and put Sacramento on their heels for a stretch. Once Indy eventually lost possession, Sacramento continued their onslaught of Indy's defense as they sought an equalizer.

As the game wound down, the possession and shots remained definitively in Sacramento's favor, but Indy looked to be giving a master class on how to defend as a bunker with team defending. Then Kizza wiped away all the effort from his teammates with a ridiculous foul in the box, giving Sacramento a stoppage time penalty kick. Indy went from having 3 points to sharing a point.

This has been an issue all season. Indy followed the game plan to perfection and finish another game where a draw feels like a loss. Seven points through 7 games. One mistake. One mistake cost Indy three points and a move up the table. There are still a lot of games left in the season, but if Indy can't figure out how to close out games, their current precarious position as a playoff team is going to slip away from them. The top portion of the table is not-so-slowly pulling away from Indy.

The Indy players will finally get back home to see their families, but will turn around and head right back out west to face El Paso next Friday night for a 9:00 EST start. Many Indy fans will be starting that evening watch the season and home opener of the Indy Eleven W League team as they face off against former coach Paul Dolinsky and his new team, Lexington SC (thanks for that Mayor Hogsett...). As I sit here tonight/this morning, I worry that Indy fans will see two games in one night not end in victory.

The Game Beckons Game Ball

Given what Coach McAuley wanted his players to do tonight, I thought that there were several guys who did exactly what they needed and played well. Notably, the midfield of Quinn, Murphy, and Blake all had good games. However, Stanley gets the edge for the GBGB. It just felt like he was a bit more impactful in his role tonight.