Indy Eleven vs Dayton Dutch Lions - 04.07

Summary

- Opponent: Dayton Dutch Lions
- Location: DOC Stadium
- Attendance: -
- Final Score: 3-0 W

- Starting XI: Edwards, Satterfield, Molloy (C), Beasley, Albert, Joyce, Yamazaki, Smith, Sochacki, Komori, May

- Substitution: Chatterton 45' (Satterfield); Touhey 61' (Molloy); Pittman 61' (Komori); Jennings 70' (May); Foulk 75' (Albert); Guthrie 75' (Sochacki)

- Unused: Phillips, Wyatt

Scoring Summary:
IND – Komori 24' (unassisted)
IND - Own Goal 26' (Grant)
IND - Own Goal 70' (??)

- Bookings:

DAY - McKinney 46' (Yellow)

- Referee: ??

- Adage goals: None.

Thoughts and Opinions

Tonight's starters looked drastically different than the previous game against Kings Hammer. Most notably was the absence of the stalwart in the back, and the team captain, Grace Bahr. I can only assume that the injury she sustained just before halftime against KHFC was as bad as it looked. I haven't been able to get a confirmation, but it certainly appeared to resemble her ACL injury in the 2023 Championship game. The starters were without Pinto, who has started every game before this one. There weren't any of Indy's veterans, with no Chester, Bulger, or Osswald making the trip. Joyce and Beasley both picked up their first starts; with Beasley having played a total of just 11 minutes all season before this game. With the nature of the W League, it's difficult to say if the changes were injury, day job related, or a function of Indy's inability to make the playoffs leading Coach Kim to make the decision to play the youth. Given the opponent's record and massive goal differential (-49 coming into the game), it could be felt that Coach Kim was playing down to the opponent, but I don't think that was the case. 

Regardless, the squad that Coach Kim fielded was the dominant side in the game. Possession, shots, and overall skill level was definitely skewed towards Indy. With the exception of a 19th minute shot against the run of play from Dayton's Morse that drifted just wide, the early part of the game was played nearly entirely in the Dayton defensive half of the field. Within five minutes of Dayton's first chance of the game, Indy was able to finally make good on their dominance when Komori put a shot past Shirley to open the scoring. Two minutes later, Joyce took on three defenders and managed to get her cross into the 6-yard box where Dayton's Grant inadvertently pushed it passed her own keeper to double the advantage for Indy. The two goals in two minutes were the difference when the two teams separated for the halftime break.

Seriously Dayton, you can't put the camera on top of the press box or in the last row before the box or almost literally anywhere else? I've seen photos of the stadium, you can get on top of the press box. Because streaming the game from within the press box, through the windows, creates a very poor, pixelated video stream with reflections from the window. I appreciate the effort, including have a play-by-play, but take an extra half step and put the camera (phone? tablet?) in a better spot. 

Just as I was typing the above paragraph, the livestream lost its signal. Which took 15-minutes for the team to acknowledge on X that they were having technical difficulties. As a result of the livestream being down, I have no idea how the team looked in the final 35-minutes of the game. I know there was a second own goal by Dayton, but not what led up to it nor who redirected the ball into their own goal. 

I know the final score was 3-nil, so Indy won. Guess that's the important part as far as Indy fans are concerned.

There's still a scenario where Indy could overcome Kings Hammer for the top spot, but the long and short if I did my math correctly is that Indy has to win out (at Lexington, at Racing, & home vs Dayton) and KHFC has to lose at least two of their remaining four (at Racing, home vs Dayton, at Lexington x 2). Lexington's draw against Kings Hammer yesterday opened the door again for Indy. Racing has played them close on the road, so with the final of their three-game series in Louisville, it might be possible. Similarly, Lexington drew KHFC in Cincinnati, so with the final two games both being in Lexington, getting a win out of one of them might be possible. At this point, Indy can only control the things they can control and that's to keep winning. Indy return to action on Friday when they face Lexington for the third time this season, this time in Lexington. The result there will go a long way in determining Indy's post-season fate.

The Game Beckons Game Ball

This game was never really in doubt. Indy was the better team. I think I should give Yamazaki the GBGB purely because she looked like the best player on the better team. She controlled the midfield, and routinely danced around the Dayton defenders to get the ball to her teammates. Without her typical midfield partner of Pinto on the field, Yamazaki was still able to show her class.