Indy Eleven vs Louisville City - 12.21

Summary

- Opponent: Louisville City FC
- Location: Carroll Stadium
- Attendance: 10,230

- Final Score: 3-1 L

- Starting XI: Charles-Cook, Ofeimu, O'Brien, J., Musa, Rendon, Lindley, Murphy, Quinn (C), Blake, Foster, Williams, R.

- Substitution: Amoh 54' (O'Brien, J.); Kizza 76' (Williams, R.); Collier 76' (Murphy); Bryneus 85' (Foster)

- Unused: Sulte, McRobb, Soumaoro

Scoring Summary:
IND - Williams, R. 2' (assist Quinn)
LOU - McFadden 45' (assist Wilson)
LOU - Lambert 49' (assist McCabe)
LOU - Totsch 56' (assist Jones)

- Bookings:

LOU - Lambert 65' (Yellow)
IND - Foster 74' (Yellow)

- Referee: Greg Dopka

- Adage goals: Two (and a half).

Thoughts and Opinions

Whenever Coach McAuley was asked in the days leading up to tonight's game about the Indy and Louisville rivalry, he always said something to the fact that the games, the rivalry, is important to the fans, so the team has to make it important to show well for the fans. There's some subtlety in that response that wasn't overlooked by me. In sports, but particularly in a league like the USL Championship where players often come and go on a yearly basis and coaches often have just a short of tenures, the rivalry between the players, many of whom may have been former teammates, needs to be cultivated season to season. Coach McAuley understands supporter culture.

Louisville City understands winning games. Sitting in first place of the Eastern Conference with just a single league loss all season. A club that has historically been synonymous with winning has done a lot of it this season, came into Carroll Stadium and this season's first edition of the LIPAFC, with a 14W-6D-1L record. Tonight's game increases Louisville's win total for the season and their win total in the head-to-head matchup with a 3-1 despite going down early. 

To their credit, Indy came out of the gates swinging with a 2nd minute goal through good interplay between Blake, Quinn, and Romario. Williams received the ball in the box from Quinn and his first touch pushed the ball away and around his defender. Then it was just a matter of pushing the ball around Fernandez. With less than 1:30 on the clock, Indy was leading the top team in the league. Indy's offense was on a different level in the first 10 minutes than fans have seen much of this season and Danny Cruz started getting his bench warming in the 12th minute to send a message to the Louisville players on the field that being behind, and losing, to Indy was not acceptable. It was half-hearted warming up, but their presence was to make his team aware that he was not afraid to make an early change if necessary.

In a classic example of possession does not necessarily translate to being the dominant team, Louisville dominated the possession in the first half (63 to 37%), but Indy was making the most of their limited possession with the more dangerous opportunities on goal. By the 30th minute, Indy had 5 shots, 4 of which were on target to Louisville's 1 shot, which wasn't on target. At half, that statistic was 6/4 for Indy to Louisville's 9/1.

The issue for Indy all season has continued to be their inability to consistently put away their chances and then, by extension, putting the game out of reach for their opponents. Despite the shot on target advantage for Indy, Louisville put their one single shot they had on target into the goal to send the teams into the halftime locker room knotted at one goal a piece. Despite a 67% shots on target statistic for Indy versus an 11% shots on target stat for Louisville, the two teams were even. Prior to McFadden's goal in the 45th minute, Rendon had been trying to funnel McFadden away from McFadden's right foot, allowing left-footed crosses. On the goal, McFadden finally got Rendon to bite and pushed the ball away from Rendon towards the center of the field and put a perfect shot to the far upper ninety. Indy actually looked the better team through much of the first half and still found themselves with very little to show for it.

Within 5 minutes of the teams returning back to the field, Louisville found a goal on just their second shot on target in the game from a header from Lambert. Indy came out of the locker room a little flat compared to their first half effort and Louisville immediately made them pay for it.

Indy going to Indy. Louisville going to Louisville. 

Minutes after the goal, Coach McAuley once again showed his intentions for games at home in front of the Brickyard Battalion. He pulled O'Brien from the backline and inserted Amoh. Indy was going to look to score goals. If the team was going to go down, they were going to try and do it by hoping they could outscore Louisville. At which point Louisville said, "try us." In the 56th minute, Louisville converted a long throw in to a slip header from Totsch that floated over Charles-Cook to the far post that was left open as he pinched towards the near post. After an early goal from Indy, Louisville put three goals on the board in 11 minutes of game action. Whatever ideas of upset Indy had in mind after their early goal, Louisville wiped it away to show they still own this "rivalry."

In what will be one of Indy's toughest stretch of the season, Indy have no time to think about the loss. Wednesday, they head to Hartford who have 9 positive results out of their last 10 games, including a 7 game undefeated streak after former Indy Eleven player Adrian Diz Pe headed home a 90'+3' tonight against North Carolina to get a win. After that it's a trip to Charleston next Saturday to face the 2nd place team in the Conference.   

Louisville clinched a spot in the playoffs with the win (only needed a draw to do it though) with 8 games remaining in their regular season. Indy, once again, dropped below the playoff line with 9 games remaining in their regular season. I said it recently, but I honestly don't know where Indy finds a win in those games. Away games at Hartford, Charleston, and Rhode Island before coming home to face Birmingham (that might be Indy's best chance). Indy then face Tulsa, who Indy beat 2-1 at the end of July in the Jagermeister Cup, but will likely be hard to beat again, and then will go on the road to Louisville and Pittsburgh. Then it's just a final home game against the current #3 team in the Conference against Loudoun before finishing the regular season on the road against Orange County. 

Seriously? Other than maybe Birmingham, what are the odds Indy would be considered a favorite in any of the other 8 games? 

The Game Beckons Game Ball

Earlier this year I gave the GBGB to the entire midfield (and wingbacks) for their 2nd half effort against Rhode Island. Tonight, the entire midfield (and wingbacks) get it again for their 1st half effort against Louisville. They were very much in sync with each other, switching locations and switching the side of the attack with enough fluidity, pace, and soccer IQ that it had Louisville's Cruz get his bench out of their seats to start warming up within a quarter-hour of the start of the game. It's the play that I think we all know is possible with this midfield, and they were doing it against the best team in the league. The 2nd half was more of a challenge defending set pieces, but the first half midfield (and wingbacks) looked great. In a 3-1 loss, a great half effort is enough to get tonight's GBGB.

Photos: Don Thompson Photography

Indy Eleven vs Miami FC - 12.20

Summary

- Opponent: Miami FC
- Location: Carroll Stadium
- Attendance: 9,942

- Final Score: 3-2 W

- Starting XI: Charles-Cook, Ofeimu, Hogan, Musa, Rendon, Murphy, Quinn (C), Blake, Foster, Amoh, Kizza

- Substitution: Lindley 45' (Murphy)

- Unused: Sulte, Bryneus, Collier, Hunsucker, O'Brien, J., Soumaoro, Williams, R.

Scoring Summary:
MIA - Bonfiglio 21' (assist Vazquez)
IND - Blake 45'+ (Penalty Kick)
IND - Hogan 51' (assist Lindley)
IND - Blake 69' (assist Foster)
MIA - Hoyos 90'+1' (unassisted)

- Bookings:

IND - Murphy 28' (Yellow)
IND - Ofeimu 35' (Yellow)
MIA - Romero 39' (Yellow)
MIA - Bonfiglio 72' (Yellow)
MIA - Knutson 77' (Yellow)

- Referee: Carlos Rodriguez

- Adage goals: One.

Thoughts and Opinions

Not surprisingly after looking like the lesser team Wednesday night in the Jagermeister Cup, Indy came out of the gates with energy. Getting reamed by your coach three nights ago will do that. Coach McAuley also showed his intent with a three forward lineup of Foster, Amoh, and Kizza. The energy and the adjustments worked as the Indy came out ahead with a 3-2 win, breaking their 4-game losing streak, on a night when Cam Lindley was honored for his 100th cap for the team.

Indy immediately put their intentions of getting a positive result out of the game with a header from Rendon that hit the crossbar and bounced just short of the line on the field side of the line instead of the goal side of the line. The near goal seemed to settle Miami. With both teams playing in a proverbial 6-point game, the game starting to become wide open. The back and forth eventually led to Miami getting on the board first on a counterattack after stopping Indy's counter. The ball found Vazquez in the middle of the field with acres of space in front of him. As Indy's defense retreated, Vazquez pushed a ball to his left as Bonfiglio ran from the right in front of him with Musa unable to keep up with Bonfiglio. The striker put his left foot through the ball over a lunging Musa and out of the reach of a diving Charles-Cook who got the start over Sulte. 

Blake put a spectacular volley on target to put the fear into Campisi and the post, but Campisi managed to get himself in front of the ball to push it away for what ended as a throw in. It looked like that might be Indy's last chance before the halftime whistle, but Indy was able to level the game in stoppage time. Kizza picked up the ball in the middle of the field with acres of space around him. Heard this before? With the Miami defenders retreating, Kizza put a ball out to the right to Foster. Foster put his head up and placed a perfect ball back on the left side in Blake's path. Blake took a touch which put him in front of the Miami defender who clattered into Blake inside the box setting up a stoppage time penalty kick. Blake went hard and to the left, which Campisi was unable to stop. The goal sent the teams the locker room even, which was probably a fair result.

Immediately after the break, Coach McAuley subbed out Murphy for Lindley. Sitting on a yellow with the way Miami was playing, McAuley felt like it was important to make sure the midfield was solid. After being honored pregame for his previous 100th appearance, Lindley made his coach look smart by putting a perfect free kick towards the 6-yard box. Hogan found his way around his defender to get his head to it to put Indy ahead early in the second half. 

Indy fans have learned this season that the game is still entirely in doubt with a one-goal lead. The team continued to push and eventually found a third goal, and the eventual game-winner, in the 69th minute as the ball found Foster in acres of space. There seemed to be a trend to the goals tonight. Foster started toward the goal but instead threaded a perfect pass through two Miami defenders that found Blake to his left. Blake took a settling touch to his left and blasted a shot passed Campisi for the team's third goal.

A two-goal lead. Still not safe.

Indy conceded a second goal to the visitors in the 90'+1' when a shot from outside the box looked like it deflected off of Ofeimu, which then hit the post before being pushed passed Charles-Cook by Hoyos. It's difficult to tell from the camera angles whether Hoyos was offside when the initial shot was taken, but it demonstrates the need for Indy to take the chances they're given. If they hadn't scored the third goal, we would be talking about another late-game collapse. Instead, the late Miami goal made the 6 minutes of stoppage time an anxious one for the fans, but the losing streak came to an end with a 3-2 win at home. It doesn't fix the disappointment from Wednesday, but it does help push the team back up over the playoff line and gives Indy the tiebreaker against Miami, which might come into play as the season winds down.

Indy return to Carroll next weekend for the year's first edition of LIPAFC as Louisville comes to town. 

The Game Beckons Game Ball

I may have been tough on Foster and his first half effort from Wednesday's game, but he was dynamic tonight. He didn't make it onto the scoresheet, but his effort tonight directly lead to two of the three goals. I've said it many times in this segment. It's not always the player that jumps out from the stat sheet. Blake, while clearly struggling at times lately to be the player we know he can be, scored twice tonight for a brace. Clearly that seems deserving, but I'm going to give Foster the edge because of what it meant to the team's goals and how it differed from what I feel we normally see from him. Foster is dynamic. He went passed Knutson in the 77th minute like Knutson was stuck in quicksand. With nothing left to do, he had to pull on Foster's jersey to prevent the attack. In real time, I thought there was an argument for a red card because Knutson stopped a scoring opportunity with no other defenders around. Being that dynamic and speedy with the ball causes fits for defenders. However, I have often thought that Foster holds onto the ball too long and tries to do too much. Tonight, Foster had his head up and found guys in better positions. With Foster's speed, sometimes doing the exact opposite is more effective. Tonight, that effectiveness gets him the GBGB.

Photos: Don Thompson Photography

Indy Eleven vs Greenville Triumph - 2025 Jagermeister Cup Quarterfinal

Summary

- Opponent: Greenville Triumph SC
- Location: Carroll Stadium
- Attendance: 4,043
- Final Score: 1-1 D (6-5 Greenville in Penalty Shootout)

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

- Substitution: Kizza 45' (Blake); Bryneus 71' (Murphy); Amoh 72' (Williams, R.); O'Brien, J. 85' (Lindley); Soumaoro 85' (Rendon)

- Unused: Charles-Cook, Collier

Scoring Summary:
IND - Williams, R. 55' (assist Rendon)
GVL - Own Goal 90' (Quinn)

Penalty Kicks:
GVL - Evans (Goal) 1-X
IND - Foster (Goal) 1-1
GVL - Fricke (Goal) 2-1
IND - Amoh (Goal) 2-2
GVL - Herrera (Goal) 3-2
IND - Hogan (Goal) 3-3
GVL - Zakowski (Goal) 4-3
IND - Ofeimu (Goal) 4-4
GVL - Patti (Goal) 5-4
IND - Quinn (Goal) 5-5
GVL - Soto (Goal) 6-5
IND - Bryneus (FAIL) 6-5

- Bookings:

IND - Blake 12' (Yellow)
GVL - Evans 21' (Yellow)
IND - Foster 68' (Yellow)
IND - Ofeimu 76' (Yellow)

- Referee: Elvis Osmanovic

- Adage goals: One. One massive adage goal.

Thoughts and Opinions

I don't have an official stat to back this up, but it feels like soccer in this country is littered with examples of teams who have won the Supporters' Shield (or their league's version of it) only to finish the season without any Cup or Playoff hardware. While Indy have absolutely zero chance of having the best record in the league, and dropped out of the U.S. Open Cup awhile ago, the Jagermeiser Cup stood as a chance for the team to play for some hardware. Standing in their way in tonight's quarterfinal match was Greenville Triumph, the surprise team from Group 6 that included USL Championship sides Charleston Battery and Tampa Bay Rowdies. Greenville continue to sit as the lone League One side in the competition after a late goal pushed the teams back to level and then to the Penalty Shootout, which the visiting side won 6-5 to advance in the tournament.

As I said last week, Indy holding a possession advantage over any team in league play has been a rarity. To see a 60/40% disadvantage to a League One team is still a bit unexpected. In the first half, Indy could not hold onto the ball in any way and Greenville spent a large portion of the first half in Indy's defensive half of the field. Indy looked overmatched until around the 30th minute when they finally looked like they might get a foothold on the game. Not a strong foothold, but they did manage to get themselves into some dangerous locations. The plethora of whistles added another level of ragged play from both teams. Only 1 shot on target in the first half combined between the two teams and the half mercifully came to an end in a 0-0 draw. There were 25 fouls called, so there's that. 

Coach McAuley made no qualms about his feelings of the first half. He immediately subbed out Blake for Kizza after the halftime break. I wouldn't have wanted to be a player in the locker room, because I heard McAuley say that in his 1 and 2/3 seasons in charge, the first half was the worst effort he's seen from any team he's selected. Coach didn't say it, but from my perspective, only Lindley seemed to play with any kind of urgency required in a quarterfinal of a Cup game, and even he looked out of sync at times. I don't know if the team was overlooking their League One opponent, but it was definitely not good enough.

Tactically, McAuley had the team press the Greenville defense more and higher up the field, forcing the defenders to make quicker decisions than they had the entire first half. The press flustered the Greenville defense and the became tilted in Indy's favor. In the 55th minute, Foster, who had moved into the position that was vacated with Blake's substitution, turned and drove at the GVL defense. Foster laid the ball off to Rendon, who one-timed a cross that Williams one-timed into the goal. The goal was met with a simultaneous roar of applause and a sigh of relief from the Indy fans. 

Then Indy did what Indy has done all season. They couldn't hold onto a lead as a 90th minute Own Goal pulled the game level. In this competition, there are no Extra Time minutes, so the game went straight to a Penalty Shootout. The first five players for both teams scored. Soto then scored for Greenville while Bryneus had his shot saved by Rankenburg. In the span of about 15-20 minutes of time, Indy went from a spot in a semifinal game of a Cup tournament in back-to-back years to watching a League One side celebrate their victory in front of the goal immediately in front of the Brickyard Battalion.

Indy had the most points of any team in the Group stage and never actually trailed in the competition, including tonight, but find themselves wondering what might have been as they headed home. They were facing the lone remaining League One team. They were playing at Carroll Stadium after Greenville, who was originally scheduled to host tonight's game, couldn't acquire either of the two locations where they play. They were given two gifts before the game ever started. Somehow, they managed to go into the halftime locker room at 0-0 despite playing one of the worst halves of soccer they've ever played. They were ahead until the 90th minute when an Own Goal saw it all unravel. The penalty shootout occurred in front of the BYB. You almost have to try on purpose to not come out on top.

I honestly can't look at the schedule for the rest of the season and point to a game that I think should be an Indy win. Could they? Sure. Will they? Not in their current run of form with the mistakes that keep happening. They'll get their first chance to try and turn things around with a game this coming Saturday at home against Miami FC. 

The Game Beckons Game Ball

Lindley and it's not even close. Sure, Foster made the run, Rendon made the cross, and Williams scored the goal, but what I wrote earlier during halftime I stand by it postgame. For moments of the game, Lindley was the only one who showed any sense of urgency and effort. I don't know what kept him out of Coach McAuley's lineup for so long at the start of the season, but I would take 11 Lindleys every day of the week and twice on game day. 

There was a moment when an Indy counterattack stifled and the ball found its way to Lindley. He picked up his head, ready to start the second wave of the counter before Greenville could get reset defensively. Up field was Foster, 15 yards offside. Walking. He had a moment where he could have done a u-pattern to get back on side and start back up field before the defense was at his speed because Lindley was ready to get it to him. Instead, as he was lollygagging back on side (tonight's first but not last reference to the movie Bull Durham), Lindley was forced to recycle the ball around the defense and midfield. Greenville regrouped and everything had to start over again. 

Unfiltered Thoughts

Tonight was my 200th official game in attendance. There are some preseason games and an NPSL game that don't count that would get the number a bit higher, but my official number is 200. Between the men's team and the women's team, the club has played 442 games. That includes league games, playoff games, Cup games, and a few friendlies against Mexican teams and Detroit (which technically aren't "official" games, but if you sat in that heat for the game against Pachuca, it should count). I have written an article for every single one of those games, plus numerous articles about the stadium, and two different series (Top 5 Moments and The Soccer Life) that spotlighted players and fans. As such, this article will be my 605th article on this site. I have written millions of words about soccer and mostly about the Indy Eleven. 605 articles divided by 12 seasons (which isn't even complete yet) equals 50 articles a year, or roughly 1 article per week. Given that I more or less take most of Nov, Dec, Jan, and Feb off, that's a lot of dual article weeks. There was a stretch this year in June during the W League season where I attended 4 games and wrote 6 articles in a 9 day span (Friday to following Saturday). This isn't my full-time job.

I'm fucking tired.

If you haven't seen the movie Bull Durham, I'm about to spoil the ending for you, because you should have already seen Bull Durham by now. At the end, Crash turns up on Annie's porch and she asks him "what happened?" He responds with, "I quit. I hit my dinger and I hung 'em up. ... but now I'm tired and I don't want to think about baseball and I don't want to think about quantum physics and I don't want to think about nothin'. I just wanna be."

I have been eyeing this 200th game milestone for awhile now as maybe my version of a "dinger." I have toyed with it for seasons, but I might be getting closer to stopping writing full-time on this site. I don't get paid for this site in any way. There are no ads. No paid subscriptions. I get press credentials, but I still buy season tickets; have since the first season. This was always intended to be a hobby. And you're hobby is supposed to be more enjoyable than what this is bringing to me right now.

I have listened to the team talk about a stadium since before they ever kicked a ball. I drove by the site of what was supposed to be Eleven Park before tonight's game and I saw an excavation crew working the construction site south of "Eleven Park," but the only visual activity that's happened on Ersal's site is that the massive piles of dirt have been leveled. I have listened to the team say they want to be a premier team in the country, not just this league, and yet stadiums are going up for teams around the country that have been around less time than Indy. Rhode Island. Colorado Springs. Lexington. You can keep going. Not to mention Detroit's building a stadium. Sacramento is building one. Pittsburgh is expanding theirs to 15,000 seats, presumably so that they will be able to play in the USL Division One (or whatever they end up calling it...I assume USL Premier League). All while Indy continues to play in the "Greatest Dive Bar in American Soccer" with absolutely zero public word on a status of a stadium after the Mayor of Indianapolis killed Eleven Park.

I watch the team fail year after year. The team has never made the playoffs in three consecutive seasons, and I honestly don't see them making the playoffs this year.

I watch good men, good managers, leave every couple of years.

I watched the team lose to a lower league team at home in a penalty shootout after conceding in the 90th minute and was unfazed. I almost expected it.

It just feels like I'm not doing this for the fun of it anymore, and even in the good moments, it has become more of a job than I intended or wanted. I'm definitely finishing out the season, because that was what I agreed to do when I requested season credentials, but this off-season is going to get a hard look from me on what next season looks like.

Because I'm fucking tired.

Photos: Don Thompson Photography

Indy Eleven vs Tampa Bay Rowdies - 12.17

Summary

- Opponent: Tampa Bay Rowdies
- Location: Carroll Stadium
- Attendance: 9,107
- Final Score: 3-1 L

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

- Substitution: Hogan 45' (O'Brien, J.); Collier 60' (Blake); Bryneus 78' (Lindley); Kizza 78' (Musa)

- Unused: Charles-Cook, Amoh, Soumaoro 

Scoring Summary:
TBR - Pacius 2' (assist Moon)
IND - Ofeimu 44' (assist Murphy)
TBR - Alvarez 57' (assist Pacius)

- Bookings:

TBR - Moon 38' (Yellow)
TBR - Pacius 73' (Yellow)
IND - Musa 75' (Yellow)
IND - Murphy 80' (Yellow)

- Referee: Abdou Ndiaye

- Adage goals: One.

Thoughts and Opinions

First things first. Congratulations to Cam Lindley for joining a very elite group of Indy Eleven players. Cam becomes just the 5th player in team history to reach 100 caps for the club, joining Ayoze, Ring, Quimette, and Smart. Cam's first game for Indy was a 2-1 win on July 18, 2020 against Sporting Kansas City II. Notable for that game was that Ouimette and Ayoze both played, and Nick Moon who now plays for tonight's opponent Tampa Bay, all played alongside Lindley that night in Lucas Oil Stadium.

Do you want the bad news? Indy and Tampa Bay have been playing each other since the NASL days and Indy has a 3W-7L-10D record against the team from Florida. Want more bad news? Indy hasn't beaten Tampa Bay in 9 games (5 losses, 4 draws), with the last Indy victory coming in 2018. Want even more bad news, Indy added to that list of poor results again tonight in a 3-1 lose to extend that streak to 10 games.

Tampa Bay went ahead in the12th minute as Moon and Pacius one-touched their way around the Indy defense. Quinn, in his new wing back role, was charged with marking Moon, who has more pace than Quinn. Quinn has a high soccer IQ, but Moon's pace put him behind Quinn, setting up the close quarters interplay between Moon and Pacius. While the goal was early, it had been coming due to Tampa Bay holding the possession and stifling all of Indy's attacks.

Just before the 30 minute mark, O'Brien had a rare foray into the Tampa Bay offensive third of the field and was bailed out by an TBR defender, setting up a free kick from around 30-yards away from the goal. The ensuing free kick from Quinn set off a string of attempts by the home squad, but nothing that made its way through the green jerseys to force a save from Bandre. The sustained effort from Indy didn't result in a save attempt or a goal, but the 5 bites of the apple were good to see out of the team. 

Photo: Don Thompson Photography

Indy found an equalizer from a corner kick just before halftime to go into the locker room with a better opinion of the half. What started as a short corner was given right back to Murphy and put in a cross to the 6-yard box from a better angle. Ofeimu rose above and headed the ball back the other direction away from Bandre who couldn't stop his momentum enough to get a hand on the ball. All the action after the corner kick started because Quinn received the ball in his half of the field. Something I've noticed he does frequently is to pop the ball up slightly with his back to the opponent's goal and then blasts the ball with his left foot up the line. Foster saw it coming and immediately started running up the line as well. By the time his defender realized where the ball was going, Foster was already chasing down the ball. The defender recovered enough to force the corner kick, but the direct play from Quinn and the anticipation from Foster set up the chance.

Indy's effort to get back into the game was upended through some more direct play through the center of the field by Tampa Bay and Alvarez found the left side of the goal as Sulte was sliding to his right. Earlier in the game, Romario Williams pushed his shot just barely wide of the same post and Alvarez bounced his shot off the post to push Tampa Bay back into the lead. With the lead, the game became a bit discombobulated as neither team could hold possession and Tampa Bay was in no hurry for restarts.

Down a goal and time running out, Coach McAuley signaled his intent to go for the equalizer as he subbed out Musa for Kizza. When that happened, Indy had Kizza, Foster, Collier, and Williams all on the field at the same time. That's a coach that was opening himself for Tampa Bay to find a third due to not having bodies in the back, but you can't fault him for the effort on attack. As the time ran out, Tampa Bay did exactly that, and found a third goal in the 90'+8' minute. The goal didn't do anything but change the goal differential and the Indy defense's frustration with conceding a third goal, but it once again showed that Coach McAuley is going to go for wins at home, even knowing that the third goal might happen. 

Indy might have deserved a bit more out of the game than a 3-1 loss, but the inconsistent, up-and-down season continues. The good news is that based on recent trends, Indy should win the next two games. Unfortunately, those next two games are on the road, which differs from much of their recent stretch of home games. 

The 2025 season has transitioned to the back half of the season, but it has no appearance of transitioning to a season where Indy isn't flirting with the playoff line. Indy's Summer of Soccer was filled with home games, but Indy's back half of the season is filled with away games, and games against the top of the Eastern Conference. Indy's path to a playoff game looks littered with more results like tonight's interspersed with enough wins to keep them in contention. Whether that will be enough as the season ends to actually be in the playoffs looks debatable at the moment, but I don't foresee any of these players nor Coach giving up until the season is over.

Indy head to Detroit next weekend.

The Game Beckons Game Ball

Thinking about the game, it feels like one of those games where no single player stood out either offensively or defensively. There wasn't a player that took the game by the scruff of the neck and tried to carry the rest of the team over the line. As a result, it feels like, despite the team conceding 3 goals, a bit weird to give a defender the GBGB, but Ofeimu put himself in really good position to get the Indy goal and took. He said after the game that Murphy's deliver was so good that he didn't have to do much, but that's taking away from his own ability to beat his man to the ball. He might have just needed to get a head to it to redirect it, but he had to put himself in that position to do so. Ofeimu, as a defender getting a goal, gets tonight's edge for the GBGB.

Photos: Don Thompson Photography