Indy Eleven vs Monterey Bay - 12.14

Summary

- Opponent: Monterey Bay FC
- Location: Carroll Stadium 
- Attendance: 9,169
- Final Score: 3-0 W

- Starting XI: Sulte, White, O'Brien, J., Musa, Rendon, Quinn (C), Murphy, Lindley, Blake, Foster, Amoh

- Substitution: Bryneus 69' (Foster); Hogan 69' (Rendon); Williams, R. 80' (Blake); Kizza 80' (Amoh); Collier 87' (O'Brien, J.)

- Unused: Charles-Cook, McRobb

Scoring Summary:
IND - Quinn 8' (assist Blake)
IND - Blake 45'+11' (Penalty Kick)
IND - Williams 83' (assist Bryneus)

- Bookings:

MB - Muir 60' (Yellow)

- Referee: Natalie Simon

- Adage goals: None.

Thoughts and Opinions

July 4th weekend means fireworks across the country. Official fireworks by cities and towns and unofficial ones in neighborhoods. It meant that tonight's game against Monterey Bay had a later start time than normal so that the lighting would be better postgame for Indy Eleven's own fireworks display. After last week's fireworks against Birmingham in the Jagermeister Cup, when Birmingham pulled even with Indy in the 90'+4' only for Indy to get the bonus point in the penalty kicks in spectacular fashion 7-6 thanks to two saves by Sulte, tonight's game had its own share of fireworks in a 2-nil win by Indy.

Indy opened the scoring in the 8th minute when Quinn nearly mistouched a ball over the touchline. He managed to get back to it which put his defender on his heels. Quinn touched the ball to Blake, who returned a ball back to Quinn with his defender complaining about the lack of a throw-in. Quinn then put Garcia into a blender and put a left-footed shot on frame. A deflection on its way through off of Lara pushed the ball out of Campuzano's reach. There was some thought that it would officially be an Own Goal, but Quinn was given credit for the goal, his third of the league season. Indy nearly doubled their lead as the clock switched over to the 15th minute on a header from Rendon that somehow stayed out of the goal after bouncing inches from the line. MB cleared the ball off the line to survive the attack, but Indy's pressure was putting them on the front foot.

Statistically speaking, all the stats would indicate that Monterey would have been the team leading going into the halftime locker. However, their shots were generally from distance and were directly to Sulte. So while an argument could be made for Monterey leading, Indy's lead was deserved due to their more effective use of their attack. Monterey's frustrations were compounded in stoppage time when Campuzano was forced out of the game after coming down on his foot the wrong way. Campuzano couldn't put any pressure on it and was met with a pair of crutches on his way to the benches. The lengthy delay extended an announced five minutes of stoppage time to more than double that amount. Indy capitalized on the extra minutes when Foster and Amoh give-and-go'd their way through the Monterey defense until Foster was brought down in the box. Referee Natalie Simon immediately pointed to the spot, setting up a stoppage time penalty kick for Indy. After the ball passed around a few Indy players, it was Blake that took the kick. While newly introduced goalkeeper Gomez went to the correct side, Blake's shot was hard and made its way beyond Gomez's outstretched arm. 

The game turned weird when the Monterey subs and assistant coach seemingly refused to get themselves and their cones out of the way of Murphy who was trying to take a corner kick from that area. At one point, Murphy threw one of the cones frisbee style after he had moved the cone only to have the assistant put it immediately back in the same space. The referee gave the assistant a verbal warning, and then proceeded to give him a second warning when the assistant placed the cone nearly in the field of play. Once the weirdness door was opened, the game became a chippy affair with a MB player getting a yellow card for impeding a Sulte drop-kick. Every stoppage of the ball became a chance for MB players to argue calls, for Indy players to be slow to give the ball back, and just generally fill the game with unpretty fireworks. 

Another late goal was scored. In what has become a rarity this season, that goal did not come from Monterey, it did not draw Monterey level, or give Monterey the lead. Indy scored a third goal late to complete the scoring for the night and give them their third league clean sheet of the season (all within the past 5 games). After the game, Coach McAuley indicated that he was just slightly bothered by the fact that the Indy players began to take the ball to the corner flag to waste time. With a 3-nil lead and their opponent on the ropes, Coach McAuley wanted to see his guys go for the jugular. With tonight's tally, Indy bring their Goal Differential to -1, so I like the idea that the coach wants his team to not take their foot off the gas. Earlier in the season when the team was leaking goals, I think the bunker mentality crept in. Now that the defensive side is starting to solidify, the idea of bunkering to ride out a win seems to be giving way to the way that Coach McAuley wants to play, particularly at home. Score goals and, if possible, score more goals.

With the other results around the league (a draw between Tulsa and Miami and a draw between Birmingham and Rhode Island), Indy's win catapulted themselves above all three teams to find themselves back on the right side of the playoff line thanks to Indy's tiebreaker advantage over Miami. Rhode Island come to Indy next week in one of the proverbial 6-point games. A win by Indy keeps them moving in the right direction, whereas a win by Rhode Island would once again shuffle the teams around the playoff line. Coach McAuley stated tonight in the postgame that it's still a little too early to think about the playoff line, but with next week's game being the halfway point of the season, I don't think it's too early. Indy's end of year schedule means the team will find itself at home much less frequently than has been the case in June and July's Summer of Soccer. Games on the road in this league and this conference are never easy, so getting themselves above the playoff line at this point in the season is vital for their conference going into the final half of the year.

The Game Beckons Game Ball

Jack Blake seemed to be everywhere tonight. He was involved in the build-up and got the assist for Indy's first goal. He stepped up and buried the penalty kick just before halftime. His effort meant that my typical barometer for how I select this award - the eyeball test - had a clear vision. Jack gets tonight's GBGB.  

Photos: Don Thompson Photography