Indy Eleven vs Oakland Roots - 13.24

Summary

- Opponent: Oakland Roots
- Location: Carroll Stadium
- Attendance: 7,331
- Final Score: 1-0 L

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

- Substitution: Omar 54' (Lindley); Mesanvi 55' (Kizza); Henry-Scott 62' (O'Brien, J.); Sing 62' (Quinn); Rasheed 84' (Mitrano)

- Unused: Charles-Cook, Craig

- Scoring Summary:
OAK - Wilson 59' (assist Prentice)

- Bookings:

OAK - Garcia 42' (Yellow)
IND - Kibunguchy 67' (Yellow)
OAK - McIntosh 90' (Yellow)

- Referee: Rodrigo Albuquerque

- Adage goals: None
- Points Lost from Winning Position (Year To Date): 10

Thoughts and Opinions

Happy (early) Birthday to Neveal Hackshaw who turns 31 tomorrow (Monday). Fortunately for the former Indy Eleven player, his old team gave him and early birthday present as his new team came away with a 1-nil victory as the Indy Eleven couldn't find their own goal after conceding in the 59th minute.  

Indy came into the game with a terrible record against the Roots, having played them twice and losing twice by a combined 5-1 score. Indy's previous home game against Oakland took place in 2023 and resulted in a 3-nil loss, while 2024's contest was Coach McAuley's debut game with the club was a 2-1 loss. Not the largest sample size, but Indy (the club) wanted to get a game against the Western Conference opponent that was positive, while Indy (the current roster) wanted to maintain their good run of form the last month and a half, and particularly at home. Neither the club nor the current roster went away happy as the Roots continue their dominant results against Indy.

Let me know if you've heard this before. In the stages of the game up to the first half hydration break, Oakland held the slight possession advantage, but Indy and Oakland were even in shots. Indy knows their strengths (Rendon's speed, Kizza's holdup play, and a stacked midfield) and plays in a way that maximizes those strengths. To nobody's surprise, Indy was playing a lot of long passes and solid defense. Know who you are and play that way. 

As one-sided as the first half of the game was on Tuesday against Brooklyn, tonight's first half was a much more even affair. Possession was much closer to even, leaning slightly in Oakland's favor, but the attacking goals were still very close, with Indy having a slight edge in shots (8 to 5). However, Indy was doing a much better job of putting their shots on target (4 to 0). A nil-nil halftime score seemed mostly indicative of the way the half was played. 

The two teams came out of the halftime locker room with different intensities. Oakland found the second half to be tilted much more in their favor than it had been in the first half. Lindley was forced to leave in the 54th minute with an injury that McAuley would indicate post-game they were afraid is a calf tear potentially taking him out for the rest of the season. In my brief discussion with Lindley, he felt more confident than his coach that the injury wasn't that bad. The injury forced an unexpected substitution and an adjustment in how the team lined up. Minutes later, the ball bounced around from player to player with nobody really able to get the ball settled. Eventually, the ball found its way to Prentiss deep in Indy's half. Prentiss put the ball between the Indy defenders to Wilson, who one-touched the ball out of the reach of Dick to get the scoring started. 

Shots - Post Goal

Indy's multiple games in a short period in hot conditions finally caught up to them with Lindley's injury, but the other "regular minutes" guys also started come off the field around the same time. Kizza came out at the same time as Lindley and Quinn and O'Brien were substituted shortly after Lindley's departure. The substitutes came in and tried to find an equalizer with mostly one-way traffic the final 30 minutes, but they couldn't find the goal despite 9 minutes of stoppage time being announced due to the injuries and the hydration break. 

This game was a lesson in contrasting styles and how there isn't a single way to win a soccer game. Oakland came into the game with the second-most passes in the league, while Indy came into the game in absolute last place. With Oakland's tenuous place below the Western Conference playoff line, they needed to come to Indy and convert those passes into goals. Amazingly, Indy finished the game with a higher pass total than Oakland, but the visitors went home with the points. For a team that came into the game with so many passes, Oakland had a nearly identical percentage as Indy for pass that were considered "long." The two teams looked very similar at times during this game with periodic spells of possession, but also just as likely to send the ball long.

Both teams desperately needed the points to try and secure a playoff position with the season rapidly drawing to an end. Oakland found themselves 9 points behind the playoff line coming into the game, and the 3 points the picked up tonight makes their uphill climb a little better. Indy, on the flip side, are sitting above the Eastern Conference playoff line, and the lack of points tonight doesn't move them up or down the table, but the defeat adds even more importance to the results of the next three games, particularly if Lindley is unable to go and McAuley has to tweak the starting lineup. It's absolutely vital that Indy get as many points as possible against Miami, Rhode Island, and Loudoun (all teams behind them) if they want to have any chance of making the playoffs. Indy's final three games (home to Tampa, away to Louisville and Charleston) are games that will be difficult to get points so Indy needs to put themselves solidly in a position to be playoff eligible before those games. So other results will be helpful in that regard, but Indy need to put as much of their destiny in their own hands as possible. Tonight would have gone a long way for that, but given the loss, Indy need to finish this season strong and that will start with Miami next weekend.

Game Beckons Game Ball

Hafferty has been an important part of the end of the year roster as he's given McAuley options with players. I think there were a couple of guys who were deserving of the GBGB with good games, despite the result, but Hafferty's defense and his ability to get forward at times has proven to be important. Tonight was no different, so I'll give the edge to Joe tonight.

Don Thompson Photography