Indy Eleven vs Loudoun United - 13.15

Summary

- Opponent: Loudoun United
- Location: Carroll Stadium
- Attendance: 9,234
- Final Score: 1-0 L

- Starting XI: Dick, Quinn (C), Craig, Herbert, Neidlinger, O'Brien, J., Lindley, Omar, Sharp, Rendon, Okello

- Substitution: Kizza 61' (Sharp), Kibunguchy 61' (Neidlinger); Mesanvi 61' (Omar); Mitrano 75' (Okello)

- Unused: Charles-Cook, Rasheed, Williams, K.

- Scoring Summary:
LDN - Aboukoura 60' (assist Awuah)

- Bookings:

IND - Lindley 12' (Yellow)
IND - Neidinger 47' (Yellow)
IND - Herbert 85' (Yellow)

- Referee: Servando Berna Rico

- Adage goals: None
- Points Lost from Winning Position (Year To Date): 8

Thoughts and Opinions

Indy's first home game after the conclusion of the World Cup coincided with the Brickyard 400 activities at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway so while announced attendance was listed as 9,234, it's difficult to definitively determine if there will be any kind of "World Cup bump" as a result of the tournament taking place in the United States. This is Indianapolis, so racing usually takes precedence over most other events in the city, but attendance looked more robust than in recent games. So the announced attendance was likely close to be actual attendance. Unfortunately, the good weather and the good crowd was spoiled by a 1-nil loss despite a fairly dominant performance by Indy. 

The fans in attendance saw a lot of Indy in Loudoun's half of the field early, dictating pace and maintaining possession, something that hasn't been observed much this year. For all the good things they did early, it nearly came undone when Murphy put a shot off the woodwork in the 12th minute and then followed it up with a second shot off the post in the 14th minute. Indy flirted with getting caught with the proverbial "against the run of play" goal by Loudoun, but the game stayed scoreless. After the close calls, the game became a bit more wide open with both teams getting opportunities. The "almost goals" by Loudoun also switched the possession stat, with Indy keeping less of the ball, but the back-and-forth nature of the counterattacking style from both teams meant that the possession stat settled into a near 50/50 value.

Plenty of activity in the first half, including 6 shots on target by Indy Eleven, but the teams took to the halftime locker rooms with a nil-nil score. Bandre had an acrobatic save to prevent a goal by Sharp, but most of Indy's shots weren't that threatening. Loudoun, conversely, officially didn't have a shot on target, but two balls off the woodwork felt much more likely to get the scoring started. 

I hate to say it, and I don't like doing it for a player of his age and experience, but I'm starting to worry about Neidlinger's progression as a player, at least defensively. There were frequent moments tonight where he felt like a liability on the right side of the field. It seemed like he was too easily bypassed, while also needing to grab jerseys as his attacker made it around him far too easily. One of those last-ditch efforts resulted in his yellow card mere seconds into the second half. I can only hope he gets better, and there aren't a lot of options at this point, but the immediate concern is that teams are going to start to key in on him, particularly when he runs forward as part of the attack. It's good he has some speed and the youth to run non-stop.

In a game where both teams look to counter, at some point one of those teams is going to find a goal. In the 60th minute, the first team to find a goal was Loudoun as the right side of the Indy defense broke down and Aboukoura, while falling down, put a chipped ball over Dick that snuck just inside the post. It doesn't have to look pretty, but the ball went in the goal for the game winner after a defensive mistake from Indy.  

Coach McAuley immediately made substitutions to get fresh legs, and speed, onto the field and Indy then began to turn the screw on Loudoun's defense. Despite the mostly one-way traffic towards Loudoun's end after the goal and the substitutions, Bandre's 9-save night was enough for the visitors to come away with the victory. 

Indy Eleven was absolutely abysmal in front of goal to keep the home fans from celebrating a win. On a night where 7 of the 11 games that were played resulted in the home team losing, Indy continued the league-wide trend on the night, but lost a chance to edge closer to the top of the table, again, with games to play. 

Coach McAuley stated after the game that they were going to need to look at the video to fully understand what happened tonight to determine whether "it was a lack of talent or if it just wasn't our night." Given the number of losses to home teams around the league, maybe there was just a "not our night" aspect to it, but watching the game, it feels impossible that Indy could get at least one goal from the multiple opportunities they had from close range. Bandre had a few good saves, but some of Indy's inability to score was based entirely on their struggle to get the ball out of their feet. 

Despite a 3-game losing streak, at the halfway point of the season, this is just Indy's first home loss. Yes, it would be great to make Carroll a fortress again, to win against the teams lower in the table, and to get better results on the road, but everything is still in front of them. With games in hand, Indy is only 3 points behind 4th place Louisville and 6 points behind 2nd place Charleston. With the lowest budget in the league, a constant reshuffling of lineups due to injuries (or national team callups or other factors), if you ask me, Coach McAuley has worked miracles getting this team into this position. The Cup runs weren't great, but the home league form has been really good, especially on a field that has historically been complained about by team after team, coach after coach.

Indy travel to San Antonio for a Friday night contest against one of the top teams in the Western Conference so they're going to need to find their finishing form again. After being held scoreless just twice in the first 10 games, Indy have been held without a goal in 4 of the last 5 games. That's going to need to get resolved quickly or they will continue to slide down the table and they're already teetering on falling below the playoff line.

Game Beckons Game Ball

I could probably do this more times each season, but I try to spread around the GBGB a little. However, Lindley always stands out for me. Lindley does a little bit of everything for this team. Energy. Restarts. Often dropping back deeper than the centerbacks to get the offense going again. Cam usually puts balls in positions where guys can do something with it (ironically as I typed that, he put a ball out of reach of Kibunguchy, but he's not perfect). Sometimes, and last night was one of those times, there were moments where it felt like Lindley was the only one who understood the assignment. Down a goal, time running out, against a team with a low block, you have to give yourself opportunities in front of goal. That often means quick restarts to catch the opponent before the defense gets reset or continually sending in crosses to get the ball in dangerous places. Lindley can often look like a guy with his hair on fire because he's all over the field, but if you blew the whistle and told every player to stop immediately and for Cam to close his eyes and tell you where players are located, I bet he could do a good job. He's constantly moving, constantly scanning for the next pass, the next corridor for the ball to go. And he's an Indy guy so the losses seem to affect him more than some of the others. Cam definitely gets tonight's GBGB.

Photos - Don Thompson Photography