Summary- Opponent: Union Omaha
- Location: Carroll Stadium
- Attendance: Literally dozens of people
- Final Score: 2-1 L
- Starting XI: Charles-Cook, Mitrano, Barry, Rasheed, Neidlinger, Thomas, Okello, Lindley (C), Gavilanes, Williams, Kizza
- Substitution: O'Brien 45' (Lindley); Quinn 45' (Okello); Dick 61' (Gavilanes); Rendon 67' (Thomas); Blake 67' (Williams)
- Unused: Herbert, Mesanvi
- Scoring Summary:
OMA - Owusu 75' (assist Gutierrez)
OMA - Tekiela 83' (assist Billhardt)
IND - Blake 90'+3' (unassisted)
- Bookings:
OMA - Kallman 50' (Yellow)
IND - Charles-Cook 59' (RED)
- Referee: JC Griggs
- Adage goals: None
- Points Lost from Winning Position (Year To Date): 2
Thoughts and Opinions
The joys of Cup competitions and relatively random draws mean that Indy faced off tonight against Union Omaha in the U.S. Open Cup and will face off with them again in a month in the Prinx Tires USL Cup. The difference tonight is that Indy is playing 3 games in an 8-day stretch having traveled to Hartford this past weekend and will face visiting Pittsburgh this coming weekend, whereas the next time the two teams face each other, Indy will be working on a Sunday-Saturday-Saturday schedule. As a result, tonight's 2-1 win for Omaha doesn't necessarily mean anything next month, but Omaha will be happy to take the win that allows them to continue moving forward in the USOC while Indy sees their Cup journey come to a disappointing end.
The match notes from Union Omaha pointed out that Indy's average possession percentage is last in the Championship by a wide margin (35.9% to 43.4% for the next team above them), while The Owls' 58.7% ranks 2nd in USL League One. Maybe not surprising for the fans of both teams, that statistical category played out the same way in the first half (63%/37%), but Indy had more passes in the final third than Omaha. Which is a good reminder that where possession happens is as, or more, important as how much you have. Despite the plethora of corners (13 total; 9 for Indy, 4 for Omaha), the teams went into the halftime locker room deadlocked with 7 shots apiece, but with a nil-nil scoreline.
With a league game in play for Saturday, Lindley and Okello came off a halftime to be replaced by O'Brien and Quinn, respectively. By my unofficial records, Lindley is now just 2 minutes away from tying and 3 minutes from bypassing Brad Ring for Minutes Played to move himself into 3rd position in team history.
For the second time in team history, an Indy goalkeeper was shown a red card and forced to make an early exit to the showers during an Open Cup game. Charles-Cook came out of his box to collect a bouncing ball, but made much more contact with the Omaha player than the ball. After some calming of Omaha players' anger, referee JC Riggs reached into his top pocket and pulled out his red card. Charles-Cook joins Evan Newton with the dubious distinction of a goalkeeper not being able to finish out a U.S. Open Cup game. Newton's red card came in 2019 against Lansing Ignite and gave Jordan Farr his professional debut. Indy managed to win that game.
Tonight however...
Fifteen minutes after Reice walked off the field, Omaha put themselves on top with a cross from Guiterrez that Owusu firmly headed passed Dick. With time winding down, and down a man, Indy had to try and get a goal while also not conceding another. Which they couldn't do. Indy conceded a second goal in the 83rd minute and all that remained after that was the final score.
In his season debut, Blake scored a stoppage time goal to rob Jensen of his clean sheet, but Indy's 2026 U.S. Open Cup was short-lived. Just two years after making a semifinal run in the USOC, Indy had to back into even playing in this year's iteration and then proceeded to exit stage left by letting a USL League One team hang around and gain confidence. When Indy went down a man, Omaha (who has former Indy players Boudadi and Wooten on the roster and who played tonight) had the opening they needed to claw a result.
I said there would be bumps this season. Tonight was one of those bumps.
Based on the lineups we've seen so far this season, tonight's starting lineup could be considered Indy's "B" squad (with a couple notable exceptions). When the club decided that they wanted to be younger and hungrier, the squad was filled with players who aren't much different in level than tonight's League One foe. If you look at it that way, it's not surprising that the game was as even, statistically, as it was and that Indy came out on the wrong side of the score.
Indy return to Carroll on Saturday to play a much stronger side when Pittsburgh comes to town.
Photos - Don Thompson Photography
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