Indy Eleven vs Phoenix Rising - 13.20

Summary

- Opponent: Phoenix Rising
- Location: Phoenix Rising Stadium
- Attendance: 6,127
- Final Score: 2-1 L

- Starting XI: Dick, Mitrano, Craig, Herbert, Hafferty, Quinn (C), Lindley, O'Brien, J., Blake, Kizza, Rendon

- Substitution: Mensavi 64' (Kizza); Rasheed 70' (Mitrano); Henry-Scott 70' (Rendon); Omar 71' (O'Brien); Barry (Craig)

- Unused: Charles-Cook, Sing

- Scoring Summary:
PHX - Badji 5' (assist Sacko)
IND - Own Goal 7' (Boye)
PHX - Flores 28' (unassisted)

- Bookings:

PHX - Moursou 24' (Yellow)
IND - Herbert 59' (Yellow)
IND - Lindley 64' (Yellow)
PHX - Sacko (Yellow)

- Referee: Benjamin Meyer

- Adage goals: One
- Points Lost from Winning Position (Year To Date): 10

Thoughts and Opinions

After a long week that included a three-day conference for my day job, and a late-night start in Phoenix, I think this game requires one of my periodic bullet point recaps:

• In the "if it ain't broke, down fix it" category, McAuley seems to have found a lineup that he likes with Indy starting the same lineup in Phoenix that started last week against Louisville. 
• Indy's start was disastrous, conceding within the first 5 minutes.
• Much like last week's second goal against Louisville, Indy immediately responded getting a goal within seconds to equalize.
• Indy fell behind in the 28th minute from a free kick outside the box that went through so many people that you have to wonder how it didn't accidentally hit anybody on its way to goal. Instead, the ball went under legs and off Dick's hand who was shielded from the ball by the mass of humanity in front of him. The goal proved to be the game winner.
• With his yellow card tonight, Lindley is now just one card away from tying Ring for the team's all-time lead. 
• With his 90 minutes tonight, Blake overtook Ayoze and now sits 2nd in terms of Minutes Played in team history, behind only Lindley. 
• Indy never gave up and had some chances to find the equalizer, but couldn't get over the line.
• Phoenix was limited to mostly shots from outside the box, including both goals, but it doesn't matter how you score, just that you score. Indy had 23 crosses, connecting on nearly 1/3 of them, but lacked the finishing touch tonight, from nearly everybody. 
• Indy's road results this season is abysmal. A 1W-3D-7L record on the road across all competitions makes for a daunting prospect for a team that if they make the playoffs will be on the road in the first game.

Indy could have helped themselves in the table with at least a point tonight, but continue to struggle to string more than just a few games together with positive results. Indy may, ultimately, make the playoffs, but it appears like they are going to make it difficult on themselves to get there. A cathartic win at home against Louisville was followed by a disappointing loss out west. Indy return home next weekend to play Birmingham, who are also struggling, getting just one win out of their last thirteen games. Hopefully Indy's ability to get good results at home (9W-3D-3L record across all competitions) shows up and they get a win against Birmingham, one of those key aspects of trying to make the playoffs; beat the teams below them.