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