Indy Eleven vs FC Tulsa - 2025 Jagermeister Cup

Summary

- Opponent: FC Tulsa
- Location: Carroll Stadium
- Attendance: 9,065
- Final Score: 2-1 W

- Starting XI: Sulte, O'feimu, Musa, O'Brien, J., Rendon, Lindley, Murphy, Quinn (C), Blake, Williams, R., Collier

- Substitution: Foster 62' (Collier); Neidlinger 76' (Murphy); Kizza 77' (Williams, R.): Hogan 84' (Lindley); Soumaoro 84' (Blake)

- Unused: Charles-Cook, McRobb

Scoring Summary:
IND - Williams, R. 38' (assist Rendon)
IND - Own Goal 51' (Batista)
TUL - Colli 72' (assist Webber)

- Bookings:

TUL - Seagrist 7' (Yellow)
IND - Ofeimu 33' (Yellow)
TUL - Batista 35' (Yellow)
IND - Murphy 73' (Yellow)
TUL - Stauffer 90'+1' (Yellow)
IND - Rendon 90'+5' (Yellow)

- Referee: Gerald Flores

- Adage goals: None.

Thoughts and Opinions

As an Englishman, Coach McAuley values Cup wins and understands how success in a Cup run can help mitigate an otherwise frustrating season. Indy's last Jagermeister Cup game against Birmingham resulted in a draw in regulation but Indy picked up an extra point from the penalty kick shootout afterward. The extra point, thanks to a Hunter Sulte save, put Indy's advancement in the tournament in their own hands. With the Western Conference leaders FC Tulsa coming to town for the final game of the group stage, a win or draw (plus shootout win) was not going to be easy. Indy knew coming in that they were going to have to match or better Birmingham's result on the night with BHM at home against Forward Madison. Birmingham took care of their business, which might get them a Wild Card to the knockout rounds, but Indy also took care of their business with a 2-1 victory over the visitors from Tulsa.

Indy wasn't necessarily the dominant team in the early stages of the game, but they did tilt the game towards the Tulsa goal. However, as the game inched towards the 15th minute mark, Tulsa rattled off a series of corner kicks, the third of which forced a goal line save from Sulte who had made himself big at the post. The rest of the Indy defenders managed to get to the spilled ball and send it up the field to avoid an early deficit. The game was fairly even after the chance. Indy had a couple of reasonable chances and Tulsa found their own chances. The opportunities came through different styles of play, with Indy getting theirs through deliberate combination passing around the Tulsa defense, while Tulsa's seemed to come more through long balls and corner kicks.

Photo: Don Thompson Photography

Indy found a goal through a transitional moment as the ball quickly made its way through the Indy midfield until the ball made its way to Rendon via Murphy. Rendon took the opportunity to attack the Tulsa backline until he found a moment to get the ball to the middle of the box. Williams took two touches, the second of which was a toe-poke between three defenders and out of reach of a sprawling Penaranda. The goal, surprisingly, opened the game which became an end-to-end affair in the final 7 minutes (+ 4 minutes of stoppage time) of the half. Indy held onto the lead to go into the halftime locker room with a 1-nil lead. The halftime stats showed a fairly even game, and if it hadn't been for Williams' moment of brilliance for the goal, a nil-nil draw would have felt like a reasonable score line.

Indy found a second goal within the first 6 minutes and nearly a third within two minutes after that to put the game, and the group, squarely in Indy's favor. Coach McAuley clearly told the team at halftime that they needed to step up their effort and the Indy players took head of the coach's desire. While the first half finished with a flurry of end-to-end action, the second half took that style of play to another level. A second goal on the books changed Indy's tactics, and Tulsa began to tilt the field to their own advantage. Just after the 70th minute mark, Tulsa found a goal for their effort to give themselves some life and a potential to spoil Indy's win of the group. Indy had had chances and couldn't find the goal. As Indy has seen all season, if you let a team stick around, bad things can happen.

Photo: Don Thompson Photography

Despite the late drama and effort required from Indy to close out the game, they did in fact close out the game. The win, regardless of the result of the Birmingham vs Forward Madison game, clinched the group for Indy, allowing them to move on into the quarterfinals of the Jagermeister Cup. The topsy-turvy results of Group 6 means that Indy will play Greenville Triumph later this morning with a spot in the semifinal on the line. The win also means that Indy finished group play with a total of 11 out of a possible 12 points from their four games, and were it not for a 90'+4' equalizer from Birmingham, Indy would have achieved the maximum points from the group stage with 4 wins. The 3W-1D-0L record and the 11 points was the highest point total of any of the group winners. Helped out by the 4-nil victory in the first game against Forward Madison, Indy also finish with the 2nd best goal differential of all the teams in the tournament. After Indy's run in the U.S. Open Cup last year and their results in the Jagermeister Cup this year, Indy seem to have a knack of getting good results when there is a trophy on the line that isn't connected to the season-long league results. 

Indy return to league action next week against the struggling Tampa Bay Rowdies who found their own victory tonight in the Jagermeister Cup in the aforementioned Group 6 to finish 2nd in their group behind Greenville.

The Game Beckons Game Ball

If they gave assists to Own Goals, Rendon would have finished with a brace of assists tonight. His touch left him a couple times throughout the night, but his effort directly led to both of Indy's goals. There were some other good efforts tonight, but Rendon's contributions to the goals gives him the edge for the GBGB.

Photos: Don Thompson Photography

Indy Eleven vs North Carolina - 12.16

Summary

- Opponent: North Carolina FC
- Location: First Horizon Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park 
- Attendance: 2,383
- Final Score: 4-2 L

- Starting XI: Sulte, Musa, O'Brien, J., White, Quinn (C), Rendon, Murphy, Lindley, Blake, Williams, R., Amoh

- Substitution: Hogan 45' (O'Brien, J.); Collier 63' (Amoh); Bryneus 63' (Murphy); Kizza 64' (Williams, R.); Neidlinger 76' (Lindley)

- Unused: Charles-Cook, McRobb

Scoring Summary:
NC - Mentzingen 20' (uassisted)
IND - Murphy 43' (assist Amoh)
NC - Servania 48' (assist Perez)
NC - Conway 55' (assist Maldonado)
NC - Dolabella 73' (assist Perez)
IND - Blake 90'+3' (Penalty Kick)

- Bookings:

NC - Mentzingen 16' (Yellow)
IND - Rendon 18' (Yellow)
IND - Blake 41' (Yellow)
NC - Martin 58' (Yellow)

- Referee: Joshua Encarnación

- Adage goals: None.

Thoughts and Opinions

There's so much history between these two clubs. The very first Indy Eleven game in 2014 in the NASL. Indy's very first league win. The Miracle at the Mike in 2016. The W-League final in 2023. All that mattered to this iteration of Indy Eleven players was the last time these two teams met. Indy held a lead, but conceded in the 90'+3' for one of the proverbial "draw that felt like a loss" result. Indy has had an up-and-down season, but Indy knew coming into the game that with a win, and a Pittsburgh/Detroit draw, Indy would find themselves in 4th place in the table thanks to the Head-to-Head points tiebreaker. If you had said a month ago that Indy would even be sniffing a home playoff game, I would have thought you were crazy, but that's what a better run of form and a very even Eastern Conference can do for perception of how the season is going. 4th place sounds a lot better than the 10th place Indy was sitting after Week 12.

Instead, Indy's poor defending reared its head again and Indy gave up 4 goals to get the loss on the road. Detroit and Pittsburgh drew their game and depending on how Birmingham and Miami do this weekend, Indy could drop back down to 9th. Indy took a prime chance to climb the table and laid an absolute rotten egg with some of the worst defending I've seen out of them in several games. 

The first North Carolina goal happened in the 20th minute when a kick from NC's goalkeeper Mulqueen went over everybody. Sulte started out toward it before Musa had an absolutely atrocious clearance that went a total of 3-ft off of Mentzingen, which ricocheted off of him towards Indy's goal. Sulte was way out of position and couldn't outrun Mentzingen who tapped the ball under Sulte and into the goal. It's difficult enough to beat teams in this league on a good day. When you give up a self-inflicted goal, in a stifling heat, you make life exponentially more difficult for yourself.

Indy found a first-half adage goal in the 43rd minute when Amoh pushed a ball back to the center of the field towards Murphy. Murphy took a touch before curling the ball around the NC defenders and into the side netting. Indy's only shot on target in the half found the goal and the teams went into the locker room even at one apiece. 

Indy had clawed their way back only to concede again with minutes of coming back out of the locker room. Servania pushed the ball towards the center of the field and from nearly the same spot as Murphy in the first half, put the ball beyond Sulte and into the side netting. With their lead reestablished, the route was underway. NC doubled their lead less than 10 minutes later, when Conway did the same thing but from the opposite side of the field. Dolabella finished the scoring when nobody stopped him and he took a worm-burning shot from outside the 18-yard box that went under the outstretched Sulte. North Carolina scored 3 goals in the second half and based on the 9 shots on target, might have been able to score more (admittedly, a couple of those were right at Sulte). Indy, contrarily, put 2 shots on target for the entire game; both shots resulted in goals (Murphy's 1st half goal and Blake's stoppage time penalty kick). 

Full time - Goals

Not counting the Mentzingen goal from inside the box after the ball deflected to that spot, all of North Carolina's goals were from around 18-yards away. Normally, letting a player shoot from distance is an acceptable alternative with Sulte's range and reach, but the NC attackers had so much time on the ball that they could pinpoint and rip their shots. I'm not sure I can blame Sulte on any of the goals. Maybe the first one where he was so far out from his goal when Musa made a mess of his clearance? Maybe he could have done better there. Maybe. 

Or maybe the team defending was absolute garbage.

Indy return to Carroll Stadium next weekend for their final game of the Jagermeister Cup group stage. While Tulsa has been eliminated from advancing in the tournament, Indy will likely need to get the win to guarantee their advancement in the tournament since 2nd place Birmingham face Forward Madison. If you're not table watching like I have been, Tulsa sit at the top of the Western Conference. So yeah, if tonight's effort is duplicated next week, Indy likely won't be making it out of the group stage of the Jagermeister Cup. At least Indy still control their fate, but it's not going to be easy.

The Game Beckons Game Ball

Honestly, I don't have it in me to give out a GBGB tonight. I don't have the effort to find a player that stood out in a positive way. I'm sure I could give an Anti-GBGB, but I'm not willing to start down that path.

Indy Eleven vs Rhode Island - 12.15

Summary

- Opponent: Rhode Island FC
- Location: Carroll Stadium 
- Attendance: 9,039
- Final Score: 1-0 W

- Starting XI: Sulte, White, O'Brien, J., Musa, Quinn (C), Rendon, Lindley, Murphy, Blake, Williams, R., Amoh

- Substitution: Neidlinger 64' (Rendon); Kizza 70' (Amoh); Collier 71' (Williams, R.); McRobb 86' (Blake); Hogan 87' (White)

- Unused: Charles-Cook, Bryneus

Scoring Summary:
IND - Williams, R. 55' (assist Quinn)

- Bookings:

RI - Shapiro-Thompson 24' (Yellow)
RI - Yao 51' (Yellow)
IND - White 75' (Yellow) - though it looked during the game to be given to Lindley
IND - Collier 88' (Yellow)
IND - Sulte 90'+5' (Yellow)

- Referee: Mark Verso

- Adage goals: None.

Thoughts and Opinions

The last time these two teams met, Rhode Island was set to embark on their historic run through the playoffs in their inaugural season in the league by beating Indy, then Charleston, then Louisville in route to the league Final. The teams scored a combined 5 goals, with Quinn being involved in both of Indy's goals. All three of Rhode Island's goals were scored by JJ Williams, who came off the bench tonight as he recovers from an injury. The playoff meeting was the third time the two teams met last season with a 1W-1D-1L record and 6 GF and 6 GA. That's about as even as you can get for a season series. 

With tonight's 1-nil win, Indy put last year's disappointment behind them a little bit, while also bringing their record at the midpoint of the season to 5W-5D-5L. 

The first 45 minutes of the game was a midfield battle. Rhode Island had the bulk of the possession in that area, but neither team seemed to be able to put a substantial stamp on the game in their favor. The two teams combined for four shots in the half, but none of those were on target. Indy's 5-2-1-2 formation in defense with Murphy, Lindley, and Blake taking turns individually or collectively in front of Indy's three centerbacks proved difficult for Rhode Island to unlock. Similarly, Indy couldn't figure out a way through Rhode Island's defenders. The World Series of Poker is currently underway in Las Vegas, and both teams looked like they were playing low on chips, trying to make it through the bubble to get into the money. Just grinding it out looking for their chances when the cards presented themselves. As the first half came to a close, neither team found enough good cards to play and a nil-nil draw was an accurate assessment of the way that first half proceeded. Indy managed a 0.22 xG, while Rhode Island finished even worse with a paltry 0.05xG. Opta indicated there were just 3 touches in the opponent's 18-yard box. Three touches. Neither team could figure a way to do anything in a dangerous position. Maybe the most activity was when a burst of rain midway through the half sent fans scattering for some cover, but the rain didn't seem to affect the game in any way other than the players' footing both on and off the turf.

In the 55th minute, Indy had a true team goal that was super efficient in the touches between the players. Amoh is the beneficiary of an errant pass out of the back from Rhode Island, but his heavy touch forces yet another difficult decision from a 2nd Rhode Island defender who clears it towards the midfield circle. As the ball came to Lindley, he already knew what he wanted to do with it and one-timed a screeching pass along the carpet to Blake. Blake took two touches; a settling touch before sending a pass wide outside to his left to Quinn, who had come sprinting up from his wingback position. Following Lindley's lead, Quinn sent a screeching centered pass/cross towards the 6-yard box where Amoh had dragged defenders towards the front post, while Williams came from outside the far post to get to the ball and pass it first time to the left side of the goal as Lee and all the Rhode Island's defenders were shuffling to their right. The goal moved at lightning pace, preventing the Rhode Island defenders from being able to react quickly enough. The final shot wasn't fancy enough to probably warrant a goal of the week nomination, but it was as clinical of a goal of the week as you'll find. The game winner was the result of pretty soccer.

Second Half Heatmap

Once the game found a goal, the game became a lot more wide open. Indy continued to press their foot to the gas wanting to get a second goal, while Rhode Island attempted to get an equalizer. Indy tilted the field to their advantage in the second half, but shots were still at a premium. Indy finished with 6 shots (2 on target), while Rhode Island finished with 7 shots, none on target. Both teams did help their xG effort, with Indy increasing theirs to 0.77; Rhode Island managed to get theirs to 0.32 despite not getting any of the shots on target. Indy's first rounds of substitutes indicated Coach McAuley's desire to try and get a second goal when he replaced Rendon with Neidlinger, and Amoh and Williams with Kizza and Collier; respectively, and all like-for-like attacking players. With ~20 minutes remaining, he wasn't ready to bunker to preserve a win with a 1-nil lead. Win at home and win big to give the fans something to cheer about. That's been his mantra lately. His second round of substitutes showed that in the dying minutes of the game, he was ready to concede a bit of the attack to maintain a clean sheet victory. 

The game had 2 shots on target between the two teams (both by Indy) and just the 1 goal. The goalkeepers didn't have a ton of work to do, but Indy came away with a victory, their fourth win in the past 6 games, with all the victories including a clean sheet for Sulte. Indy leaked goals early but their attention to defensive detail late in the games have allowed them to get more positive results. There are a lot of things that I like about Coach McAuley, but his use of Lindley in the early portion of this season was not one of them. Whether forced into it because of other player availability or because he has come around to the quality that Cam provides, and it could obviously just be coincidence, but since Lindley has entered the starting lineup in the midfield, the team has a 4W-0D-2L record and 4 shutouts. Obviously, the addition of one player hasn't been a magic tonic that has righted the ship. A better effort from all the players for 90 minutes has certainly helped, but I do find it interesting that Lindley's presence alongside Murphy seems to have gone a long way to help stabilize the leaking late goals they were conceding early on. 

Indy head on the road for the first time in 5 weekends to play North Carolina. Indy's win tonight pushed them to 5th in the table (until Pittsburgh's win on Sunday dropped Indy back down to 6th) and with another win in Cary, North Carolina, Indy could officially be knocking on the "hosting a playoff game" door again as they turn the corner from the first half of the season to the second half.

The Game Beckons Game Ball

I have to give it to the Indy midfield. And more specifically, the 2nd Half Indy midfield...and I'll throw in the duo of Rendon and Quinn into the mix. I don't know what was said at halftime by Coach McAuley, but the Indy midfield and wingbacks came out of the halftime locker room and exerted their will against the Rhode Island midfield. Their play is what set up the first goal and is what demonstrated the concept of making a team adjust to what you want to do versus you dealing with how they want to play. The midfielders (and wingbacks) get tonight's GBGB for taking control of the midfield, allowing Indy's line of confrontation to be further within their offensive half of the field.   

Photos - Don Thompson Photography

Indy Eleven vs Monterey Bay - 12.14

Summary

- Opponent: Monterey Bay FC
- Location: Carroll Stadium 
- Attendance: 9,169
- Final Score: 3-0 W

- Starting XI: Sulte, White, O'Brien, J., Musa, Rendon, Quinn (C), Murphy, Lindley, Blake, Foster, Amoh

- Substitution: Bryneus 69' (Foster); Hogan 69' (Rendon); Williams, R. 80' (Blake); Kizza 80' (Amoh); Collier 87' (O'Brien, J.)

- Unused: Charles-Cook, McRobb

Scoring Summary:
IND - Quinn 8' (assist Blake)
IND - Blake 45'+11' (Penalty Kick)
IND - Williams 83' (assist Bryneus)

- Bookings:

MB - Muir 60' (Yellow)

- Referee: Natalie Simon

- Adage goals: None.

Thoughts and Opinions

July 4th weekend means fireworks across the country. Official fireworks by cities and towns and unofficial ones in neighborhoods. It meant that tonight's game against Monterey Bay had a later start time than normal so that the lighting would be better postgame for Indy Eleven's own fireworks display. After last week's fireworks against Birmingham in the Jagermeister Cup, when Birmingham pulled even with Indy in the 90'+4' only for Indy to get the bonus point in the penalty kicks in spectacular fashion 7-6 thanks to two saves by Sulte, tonight's game had its own share of fireworks in a 2-nil win by Indy.

Indy opened the scoring in the 8th minute when Quinn nearly mistouched a ball over the touchline. He managed to get back to it which put his defender on his heels. Quinn touched the ball to Blake, who returned a ball back to Quinn with his defender complaining about the lack of a throw-in. Quinn then put Garcia into a blender and put a left-footed shot on frame. A deflection on its way through off of Lara pushed the ball out of Campuzano's reach. There was some thought that it would officially be an Own Goal, but Quinn was given credit for the goal, his third of the league season. Indy nearly doubled their lead as the clock switched over to the 15th minute on a header from Rendon that somehow stayed out of the goal after bouncing inches from the line. MB cleared the ball off the line to survive the attack, but Indy's pressure was putting them on the front foot.

Statistically speaking, all the stats would indicate that Monterey would have been the team leading going into the halftime locker. However, their shots were generally from distance and were directly to Sulte. So while an argument could be made for Monterey leading, Indy's lead was deserved due to their more effective use of their attack. Monterey's frustrations were compounded in stoppage time when Campuzano was forced out of the game after coming down on his foot the wrong way. Campuzano couldn't put any pressure on it and was met with a pair of crutches on his way to the benches. The lengthy delay extended an announced five minutes of stoppage time to more than double that amount. Indy capitalized on the extra minutes when Foster and Amoh give-and-go'd their way through the Monterey defense until Foster was brought down in the box. Referee Natalie Simon immediately pointed to the spot, setting up a stoppage time penalty kick for Indy. After the ball passed around a few Indy players, it was Blake that took the kick. While newly introduced goalkeeper Gomez went to the correct side, Blake's shot was hard and made its way beyond Gomez's outstretched arm. 

The game turned weird when the Monterey subs and assistant coach seemingly refused to get themselves and their cones out of the way of Murphy who was trying to take a corner kick from that area. At one point, Murphy threw one of the cones frisbee style after he had moved the cone only to have the assistant put it immediately back in the same space. The referee gave the assistant a verbal warning, and then proceeded to give him a second warning when the assistant placed the cone nearly in the field of play. Once the weirdness door was opened, the game became a chippy affair with a MB player getting a yellow card for impeding a Sulte drop-kick. Every stoppage of the ball became a chance for MB players to argue calls, for Indy players to be slow to give the ball back, and just generally fill the game with unpretty fireworks. 

Another late goal was scored. In what has become a rarity this season, that goal did not come from Monterey, it did not draw Monterey level, or give Monterey the lead. Indy scored a third goal late to complete the scoring for the night and give them their third league clean sheet of the season (all within the past 5 games). After the game, Coach McAuley indicated that he was just slightly bothered by the fact that the Indy players began to take the ball to the corner flag to waste time. With a 3-nil lead and their opponent on the ropes, Coach McAuley wanted to see his guys go for the jugular. With tonight's tally, Indy bring their Goal Differential to -1, so I like the idea that the coach wants his team to not take their foot off the gas. Earlier in the season when the team was leaking goals, I think the bunker mentality crept in. Now that the defensive side is starting to solidify, the idea of bunkering to ride out a win seems to be giving way to the way that Coach McAuley wants to play, particularly at home. Score goals and, if possible, score more goals.

With the other results around the league (a draw between Tulsa and Miami and a draw between Birmingham and Rhode Island), Indy's win catapulted themselves above all three teams to find themselves back on the right side of the playoff line thanks to Indy's tiebreaker advantage over Miami. Rhode Island come to Indy next week in one of the proverbial 6-point games. A win by Indy keeps them moving in the right direction, whereas a win by Rhode Island would once again shuffle the teams around the playoff line. Coach McAuley stated tonight in the postgame that it's still a little too early to think about the playoff line, but with next week's game being the halfway point of the season, I don't think it's too early. Indy's end of year schedule means the team will find itself at home much less frequently than has been the case in June and July's Summer of Soccer. Games on the road in this league and this conference are never easy, so getting themselves above the playoff line at this point in the season is vital for their conference going into the final half of the year.

The Game Beckons Game Ball

Jack Blake seemed to be everywhere tonight. He was involved in the build-up and got the assist for Indy's first goal. He stepped up and buried the penalty kick just before halftime. His effort meant that my typical barometer for how I select this award - the eyeball test - had a clear vision. Jack gets tonight's GBGB.  

Photos: Don Thompson Photography

Indy Eleven vs Birmingham Legion - 2025 Jagermeister Cup

Summary

- Opponent: Birmingham Legion 
- Location: Carroll Stadium
- Attendance: 9,028
- Final Score: 1-1 D (Indy 7-6 in penalty kicks)

- Starting XI: Sulte, Bryneus, Musa, O'Brien, J., White, Rendon, Murphy, Lindley, Quinn (C), Foster, Amoh

- Substitution: McRobb 67' (Bryneus); Collier 82' (Foster); Williams, R. 82' (Amoh); Blake 88' (Murphy)

- Unused: Charles-Cook, Hogan, Kizza

Scoring Summary:
IND - O'Brien, J. 28' (assist Bryneus)
BHM - Tabort Etaka 90'+4' (unassisted)

Penalty Kicks:
IND - Williams, R. (FAIL) X-0
BHM - Pasher (Goal) X-1
IND - Blake (Goal) 1-1
BHM - Laszo (Goal) 1-2
IND - Lindley (Goal) 2-2
BHM - Hernandez-Foster (Goal) 2-3 
IND - Quinn (Goal) 3-3
BHM - Tabort Etaka (Goal) 3-4 
IND - McRobb (Goal) 4-4
BHM - Damus (FAIL) 4-4
IND - Rendon (Goal) 5-4
BHM - Suarez (Goal) 5-5
IND - Collier (Goal) 6-5
BHM - McIllhatton (Goal) 6-6
IND - O'Brien, J. (Goal) 7-6
BHM - Centeno (FAIL) 7-6

- Bookings:

IND - O'Brien, J. 50' (Yellow)
IND - Musa 69' (Yellow)
IND - Murphy 88' (Yellow)
BHM - Pasher 90'+6' (Yellow)

- Referee: Brad Jensen

- Adage goals: One.

Thoughts and Opinions

I wasn't at the game, and in all transparency, I decided to not watch the game. I only watched the highlights and looked at the stats. Somehow, I have a sneaking suspicion on how the game went based on just those two things. Indy scored early, and whether they began to bunker immediately or later, the defensive bunker did happen. I'm sure of it. There have been enough games this season where it has happened that I feel confident, even having not seen the game, to know that it started happening. After the 60th minute, Indy didn't have a single shot, while Birmingham had 7 in that same amount of time. Indy has struggled to close out games from winning positions. cross all competitions, Indy has held scored the opening goal 12 times. Counting last night's game against Birmingham, they have conceded a late goal or stoppage goal in 4 of those 12 games; 33% of the time, Indy has been unable to hold onto their lead. The same thing happened last night, and it took Sulte making a save in the 8th round of the penalty kicks to gain the slightest advantage over Birmingham in the Jagermeister Cup Group 3 standings. Indy could have solidified their spot in the Cup's knockout round, but instead find themselves still in a position where they have to get a win against FC Tulsa to make sure they move on out of the group. Tulsa is currently sitting 3rd in the Western Conference table, so a win is by no means a guarantee. The game last night was a much better opportunity against a fellow struggling Eastern Conference opponent and Indy squandered that chance.

Indy return to league action this coming Saturday when a different Western Conference opponent comes to town. Monterey Bay, sitting 6th place in the Conference, have had good results in their other games against Eastern Conference teams, so Indy's going to need to have a good game to get a result. Indy are closing in on the midpoint of the season and have officially reached the point where they can't keep giving away points and wins.

The Game Beckons Game Ball

Photo: Don Thompson Photography

Again, I wasn't at the game, but from the highlights and looking at the stats, is there anybody else besides Sulte that can be given the GBGB? Between the 6 saves in regulation that kept the game in Indy's favor, and the final save in the penalty kick portion of the Cup game, Sulte seems to be an obvious choice. 

 

Photos: Don Thompson Photography