Indy Eleven vs FC Tulsa - 12.26

Summary

- Opponent: FC Tulsa
- Location: Carroll Stadium
- Attendance: 9,512
- Final Score: 2-1 W

- Starting XI: Pruter, Zalinsky, Ofeimu, Schaefer, Musa, Quinn (C), Murphy, Lindley, Blake, Kizza, Williams, R.

- Substitution: Rendon 60' (Williams, R.); Amoh 60' (Kizza); O'Brien, J. 81' (Murphy); Zalinsky 81' (White); Soumaoro 90' (Blake)

- Unused: Hunsucker, Sulte, Collier

- Scoring Summary:
IND - Schaefer 8' (assist Murphy)
IND - Blake 68' (assist Quinn)
TUL - Diallo 80' (assist Goldthorp)

- Bookings:

TUL - St. Clair 33' (Yellow)
IND - Murphy 45'+1' (Yellow)
IND - Zalinsky 51' (Yellow)
IND - Pruter 88' (Yellow)
TUL - Dalou 89' (Yellow)
IND - Lindley 90'+2' (Yellow)

- Referee: John Matto

- Adage goals: None.

Thoughts and Opinions

Not a lot of teams have beaten FC Tulsa once the calendar switched from May to June. Since that time, Tulsa has a 9W-6D-2L record, with one of those losses coming a few games ago at Colorado Springs and the other loss coming in a 2-1 loss against Indy Eleven in late July in the Jagermeister Cup. In the same timeframe that Tulsa has played so well, Indy has been more up and down, with a 8W-2D-9L record, with both "draws" resulting in a win and a loss as both results took place in the Jagermeister Cup. So while officially Indy has two draws in that stretch, realistically, they're 9W-0D-10L. So Indy knew coming into the game that they have the ability to beat Tulsa at The Mike, but their run of results has not been what Tulsa has been able to achieve the past 4 months. Yet, an early goal in the first half and a 2nd goal in the second half provided Indy with a 2-1 win over the leaders in the Western Conference.

In the opening minutes, Indy looked like the team that wanted to get the maximum amount of points out of the game, pinning Tulsa back into their half of the field. It didn't take long for Indy to find a free kick that they thought they could be a dangerous attempt on goal. As has been the case all season, Quinn and Murphy were the two Indy players standing over the ball as the rest of the team made their way into the box. Murphy put a ball to the six yard box that Schaefer managed to just touch with his head to find the far net; much like his assist last week, without the touch from a different player. In under ten minutes, the goal gave Indy an early lead. 

Half - Shots

After the goal, Tulsa seemed to realize that the teams' current forms weren't going to matter and began to tilt the field in their favor trying to equalize to keep their superb run-of-form intact. While Indy controlled the first part of the half, Tulsa controlled the middle portion, and then the two teams were fairly even in the final third segment of the half. Despite a 9 to 2 shot advantage for Tulsa in the half, the two teams went into the halftime locker room with Indy maintaining their early 1-goal advantage thanks to their one shot on target finding the goal while Tulsa's one shot on target resulted in a Pruter save. Indy's multiple blocks helped keep that halftime clean sheet.

FRISBEE DOGS!!!

The middle part of the first half that Tulsa dominated was duplicated as the teams returned after the halftime time break. The field was entirely tilted in their favor. Until... 

Until the 68th minute when second-half substitute Rendon held up the ball nicely. At which point, Indy's midfield did what they do. Rendon backheeled a ball to Lindley who one-timed a cross into the box. The ball cleared everybody, but quickly found Quinn. Aodhan took a touch before getting the ball to Blake near the six-yard box who promptly put himself in 2nd position in team history for goals scored trailing just Eamon Zayed for that 1st position, but now finds himself 1st in goals scored in the team's tenure in the USL Championship. The goal reminded me of the goal in July against Rhode Island where a decisive and quick balls from Lindley, Blake, and Quinn resulted in a goal by Amoh. The difference tonight was that the three midfielders took care of the final shot.

Up by two goals, Indy fans knew the game wasn't in the bag. This season has shown that until the referee blows the final whistle, anything can and will happen. With 10 minutes remaining in regulation, Tulsa did find their goal to make the final moments and stoppage time interesting. Indy's defense held and after 6 minutes of stoppage time, Indy pulled over yet another victory over the top team in the Western Conference.

As a fan, that might be the most frustrating about Indy this season. The talent is there. The results can happen. They just haven't been able to string together enough 90-minute performances to put themselves in a better position in the standings. Before the Louisville game at the end of August, Nicholas Murray with the league wrote a feature on the team that indicated that the team was leading the league in dropped points. At that point, they had dropped 17 points from winning positions. Indy then took a lead on Louisville before conceding three goals and losing, which would bring their total to 20 points dropped from winning positions. Independent of anything else, if Indy had 20 more points, they would be sitting at 52 points, firmly at the top of the table. Yet here we stand hovering at the playoff line. For the moment in the last playoff position thanks to tonight's results. 

Indy's final four games include road games against Louisville, Pittsburgh, and Orange County and a final home game against Loudoun. Indy's going to need to duplicate tonight's result as many times as possible in those four games to be able to squeak into the playoffs to likely face Louisville in the first game of the playoffs. Indy head south of the Ohio River next weekend to figure out if they can compete and beat the leaders in the Eastern Conference after taking down, again, the leaders in the Western Conference.

The Game Beckons Game Ball

It may be repetitive and it might be a bit of a cop-out, but the midfield of Blake, Lindley, Murphy, and Quinn once again get tonight's GBGB. I considered giving it to Sunday's winner in Schaefer for his continued effort and getting the goal, but the Indy midfield was solid on both sides of the ball tonight and kept showing why this team should be in most games. 

Photos: Don Thompson Photography