Indy Eleven vs Charleston Battery - 13.30

Summary

- Opponent: Charleston Battery
- Location: Patriots Point
- Attendance: 5,621
- Final Score: 1-0 L

- Starting XI: Charles-Cook, Rasheed, Barry, Herbert, Craig, O'Brien, J., Hafferty, Quinn (C), Kibunguchy, Mesanvi, Rendon

- Substitution: Kizza 77' (Mesanvi); Sing 81' (Hafferty); Lowden 87' (Rasheed); Henry-Scott 87' (Barry)

- Unused: Dick

- Scoring Summary:
CHS - Swan 78' (assist Blackstock)

- Bookings:

NONE

- Referee: Joshua Encarnación

- Adage goals: None.
- Points Lost from Winning Position (Year To Date): 14

Thoughts and Opinions

For the second year in a row, Indy's playoff fate came down to the final game of the season. Win and they live to play another day. Lose and they watch the playoffs as spectators like the rest of us. As I mentioned midweek after Louisville won their Wednesday game, the frustration of being an Indy Eleven fan is that even in a down year for Louisville (which included a 4-game losing streak), they still manage to find enough results and have results go their way that they still ended in 4th place with a guaranteed home game. Indy, conversely (at that point of the week) were 90-minutes away from being eliminated from the playoffs despite having a 6-point advantage ahead of Miami with 2 games in hand just 5 weeks ago. A spectacular run-of-form from Miami, a continued string of injuries for Indy, and 1 point from their final six games left Indy in desperation mode headed to Charleston. 

I knew that the injury bug has continued to take a massive bite out of the Indy roster, but when the starting lineup was announced and it included just 16 players, was without Mitrano and Lindley, included a 16-year old Academy player, and had Charles-Cook starting in goal ahead of Dick, my opinion of Indy getting the needed result dropped to about 6%. I watched because I'm a glutton for punishment and it's the last regular season game of the year. It took until the 78th-minute, but it also became the last game (full stop) of the year for Indy Eleven as the home team scored just the one goal , but it was enough to give Charleston the 1-nil win.

Despite what the Charleston announcers kept trying to tell everybody that Rendon was playing out of position up top, they were correct that Indy's lineup was largely defensive-based to start the game as they looked to keep the game close as long as possible and either 1) find a way to get a set-piece goal, 2) get the Route 1 ball to Rendon in a way to give him a shot, or 3) use the late attacking-player heavy substitutes to come in late to try and steal a result. Given what was available to McAuley, it wasn't the worst plan. Through the first half, the game play was working. Most of Charleston's 82% possession was in undangerous locations and Indy actually found more shots than the home side (9 to 7; 3 to 1 on target). Indy's 5-4-1 formation didn't leave much space for Charleston to find open passing lanes, which allowed the visiting side to go into the halftime locker room with a nil-nil score line and giving themselves a fighting chance in the second half.

Indy had chances. Rendon and Quinn both had at least a couple of opportunities that both would tell you they should have done better with, and Zamudio made enough great saves to help Charleston's case, but Indy did nearly everything they needed to do to give themselves a chance to extend their season. In the end, they just couldn't find the goal to extend the season and the year comes to its expected conclusion.

Indy was always going to have an uphill battle this season given their limited budget and the number and types of players they were going to be able to sign within that budget. When the presumed starting center back and right back (Hogan and White, respectively) were out of the mix before the season ever started, the hill became a bit steeper. As inexperience and injuries took more fuel out of the engine, and then the massive amount of miles on the experienced players' legs took more fuel, the sputtering that happened in the last quarter of the season seems obvious. 

The fact that Indy had anything that resembled a chance this late in the season is amazing. The fact that they were so close is frustrating. I'll have more in my season recap article in the near future, but tonight we just have to reflect on the fact that the season is officially finished.

Game Beckons Game Ball

I'm going to give this one to the entire defense, which basically means I'm giving it to the entire team based on the way that the game plan was enacted. The players showed grit and effort to give themselves a chance to get a result. With the exception of the one chance that resulted in the goal, Indy came into the game with a plan and enacted it as close to perfectly as they could. Indy's roster overperformed their budget and talent ability, but it wasn't enough to get them into the playoffs. Regardless, tonight's effort by the entire team should be applauded, or at least awarded the final GBGB of the year.

Indy Eleven vs Charleston Battery - 13.12

Summary

- Opponent: Charleston Battery
- Location: Carroll Stadium
- Attendance: 8,143
- Final Score: 2-0 W

- Starting XI: Dick, Quinn (C), Barry, Rasheed, Neidlinger, Lindley, O'Brien, J., Blake, Omar, Rendon, Okello

- Substitution: Sharp 65' (Omar); Mesanvi 81' (Okello)

- Unused: Charles-Cook, Kizza, Lowden, Mitrano, Williams, K.

- Scoring Summary:
IND - O'Brien, J. 82' (assist Rasheed)
IND - Rendon 90'+4' (assist Blake)

- Bookings:

CHS - Kelly 18' (Yellow)
IND - Quinn 35' (Yellow)
IND - Blake 36' (Yellow)
CHS - Smith 68' (RED)
CHS - Kissiedou 90'+2' (Yellow)

- Referee: Matt Thompson

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

Thoughts and Opinions

Indy Eleven have played two other times on the Fourth of July. The first time was in 2017, a 1-1 draw at the New York Cosmos. The second time was in 2018, when the Ottawa Fury came into a sweltering Lucas Oil Stadium and beat Indy 0-1 due to an Own Goal by Mitchell. The night concluded with an open north window at LOS and fans able to hang out in the stadium and watch the downtown fireworks. The goalkeeper that night for Ottawa was Crepeau, who saw his World Cup run with Canada come to an end today against Morocco an hour before Indy's start time tonigh. Today, Indy instead decided to do The Fourth at Four, with game time bumped up three hours from the normal 7:00 start to 4:00, presumably to allow fans to get to any Fourth of July fireworks festivities with their families, but it also meant that fans and players were in an absolutely brutal afternoon heat of 90-degrees F and 50% humidity giving a feels like temperature of 98-degrees. The fans that braved the heat, and there weren't that many of them (regardless of what the announced attendance indicated), were treated to a 2-nil victory against one of the best teams in the league.

The game felt to me a lot like the friendly against Pachuca in June of 2016. That day, temperatures were in the low 90s, with a start time of 1:30. That day, I had measured the temperature of the turf with a baking thermometer, which pegged at 137-degrees. Water bottles were spread out around the field, but I remember watching as many players spray their boots with the water as they did actually drink the water. The turf has been changed since then, but I doubt that the new version is any cooler than it was that day. Following the World Cup's lead, midway through both halves, both teams walked over to the benches for a hydration break to replenish the fluids that the heat was taking out of everybody.

The first half progressed much like you might expect from a Charleston team in form and an Indy team who has been forced to rotate their backline as injuries continue to be an issue for the team. Charleston dominated possession (70/30 ratio), and dominated it in reasonably dangerous locations, getting 10 shots, but just 1 shot on target that was straight at Dick. Indy's restructured backline generally stayed home with rare overlapping runs from Neidlinger or Quinn because of the need to keep Charleston in front of them and not over-exert themselves due to the heat. Indy's forays into the Charleston half weren't overly frequent, but did manage to have some potential options, including a goal pulled back due to an offside, something that both teams had in the half. The two teams sniffed at getting the scoring started, but instead went into the halftime locker room with a nil-nil score line.

Photo: Don Thompson Photography

As the game crept toward the 60th minute, Charleston's attack began to show itself with two close calls. For chunks of the game, it looked like the game was going to finish with either a nil-nil result or possibly just a one-goal differential. Charleston's flurry of shots in that portion of the game made it look like it was likely to be Charleston that got that break-through goal and not Indy. The 68th minute red card to Charleston's Smith, after he pulled down second-half substitute Sharp who had been sent through the lines by Neidlinger, changed that feeling with 22 minutes with a man-advantage for Indy. Neidlinger has been thrust into his role due to the back line injuries, and he's still a young player growing into his skills. Today, though, he had some nervy moments on the right side as he lost his man or overran them. He'll eventually get better, but a team of Charleston's talent had moments against him that could have gone poorly for Indy. Yet it was his ball that put the team in a position to get points out of the game against one of the best teams in the league, and one of the most in form teams.

Charleston came into the game against Indy in spectacular form. They were undefeated in 5 games, and with their 4-1 victory against Loudoun United last week, equaled a record for most goals in a 3-game span with 14 goals. They tied the record with...themselves. The 2024 squad also scored 14 goals in a 3-game span, starting from a 4-2 victory against...Indy. Colton Swan has scored 7 goals in the league and 10 across all competitions. Maalique Foster had scored in 4 consecutive games coming into tonight's game, his longest scoring streak in the USL Championship. Indy managed to keep them scoreless tonight.

Indy has had some rough results against Charleston in the past with a 4W-7L-2D record against the Battery, and hadn't beaten Charleston since 2023. Cards change games, and Smith's deserved red card in the 68th minute did exactly that. There aren't a lot of the game stats that point to an Indy victory, other than Indy's ability to get their shots on target at a higher rate than the Battery. Indy didn't have as many chances, but they did a better job of converting their chances. The red card also allowed Indy to hold onto the ball more and stifle the attack that Charleston had going for them before the ejection.

Indy continues to have games in hands on all the teams above them and don't have another game until the 15th. Indy has a definite back-loaded schedule so it's good they can get results like tonight despite the heat. Indy return to action in a week and a half on the road against Miami who play tomorrow and then next week in the Prinx Tires USL Cup, which Indy no longer has to deal with due to completing their group stage games and not advancing in the tournament. How Indy survives the back-loaded schedule with the continued string of injuries is going to go a long way to determining whether this team exceeds the preseason expectations of them being a fringe playoff team.

Game Beckons Game Ball

This afternoon's GBGB goes to a player whose stats don't exactly pop off the page; just 2 of 5 duels won and 1 of 4 aerial duels won. However, Barry was averaging less than 16 minutes per game and always late in the game. Due to the injury to Paco Craig, tonight was Barry's first start and he had to go the full 90 minutes. Against a team with as much offensive power as Charleston, and with as few minutes as he's played this year, Barry did as well as a job as possible. It might not always be the best factor in who gets the GBGB, but I think it's as valid a reason as any tonight. As each injury has occurred this season, it's been the "next man up" mentality and this afternoon's next man up was Barry.

Indy Eleven vs Charleston Battery - 12.23

Summary

- Opponent: Charleston Battery
- Location: Patriots Point
- Attendance: 5,012
- Final Score: 2-1 L

- Starting XI: Sulte, Ofeimu, O'Brien, J., Musa, Rendon, McRobb, Murphy (C), Schaefer, Bryneus, Soumaoro, Kizza

- Substitution: Blake 60' (Bryneus); Williams, R. 61' (Kizza); Foster 61' (McRobb); Lindley 76' (Soumaoro); Collier 88' (Murphy)

- Unused: Charles-Cook, Hunsucker, Neidlinger

- Scoring Summary:
CHS - Jennings 38' (Penalty Kick)
CHS - Jennings 67' (unassisted)
IND - Blake 72' (assist Ofeimu)

- Bookings:

IND - McRobb 30' (Yellow)
IND - Murphy 38' (Yellow)
CHS - Myers 45'+4' (Yellow)
CHS - Ycaza 57' (Yellow)
IND - Schaefer 65' (Yellow)
IND - Foster 70' (Yellow)

- Referee: Nabil Bensalah

- Adage goals: None.

Thoughts and Opinions

First Half - Indy Passes

Jack Blake will likely have one of the Goals of the Week for the Championship. But is there much else to talk about in this one as Charleston continue their recent dominance over Indy with a 2-1 win? If you look at the stats... You know what? Don't look at the stats. This was about as one-sided an affair as can happen. All stats pointed one direction. Towards the end of the game, Charleston's defenders played keep away in their own half just salting away the game. 

Indy had 45 passes in the first half, and an 86% to 14% deficient in possession. Those aren't typos. Add in a botched header from O'Brien that went over Sulte (who I'm sure you've heard is 6'-7" tall) that Jennings tapped in from 1-foot out, and Indy looked like they had no chance of winning this game.

Indy stay on the road next weekend in Rhode Island, who also lost tonight to allow Indy to maintain their precarious position in the final playoff spot.

The Game Beckons Game Ball

C'mon man.

Indy Eleven vs Charleston Battery - 12.05

Summary

- Opponent: Charleston Battery
- Location: Carroll Stadium
- Attendance: -
- Final Score: 3-1 L

- Starting XI: Sulte, Musa, Hogan, White, Stanley, Quinn (C), Murphy, Rendon, Blake, Kizza, Foster

- Substitution: Ofeimu 60' (Hogan); Collier 60' (Rendon); McRobb 60' (Stanley); Amoh 69' (Kizza); Lindley 81' (Foster)

- Unused: Charles-Cook, Hunsucker, McCoy, O'Brien, J.

Scoring Summary:
CHS - Myers 4' (assist Torres)
CHS - Myers 8' (assist Jennings)
CHS - Rodriguez 49' (assist Malloy)
IND - Amoh 90'+4' (assist Musa)

- Bookings:

IND - Blake 28' (Yellow)
IND - Rendon 43' (Yellow)
IND - White 68' (Yellow)
CHS - Zamudio 90'+4' (Yellow)

- Referee: Natalie Simon

- Adage goals: Most definitely!

Thoughts and Opinions

Based solely on the records, Indy Eleven and the Charleston Battery has been a fairly even affair, with Indy holding a 4W-2D-5L record against the opponent from South Carolina. The problem from an Indy Eleven perspective is that the past three games have been an absolute nightmare for the Boys in Blue, losing all three by a combined 14-2 score. Charleston dominated the 2023 playoff game to the tune of 5-nil, followed that up with a 4-2 win in Indy, and most recently beat Indy in August of last year, again by a staggering 5-nil scoreline. Coach McAuley wants to make The Mike a fortress, but getting a win against Charleston has been a difficult proposition. By the time Charleston scored their second goal in just the 8th minute, getting a win seemed an impossibility. Getting a win this season against a team not named Miami FC has proven to be a much larger challenge than expected. Holding onto leads had been the issue coming into the game, so the team decided to mix it up and dig themselves a massive hole against one of the best teams in the conference/league. Narrator: "It didn't go well."

Photo Credit: Don Thompson Photography

Charleston came to town with one of 4 announced Indy Eleven signings that never played for the club, in Cal Jennings. There are a lot of #IndyForever players, but Cal is about as fringe of that group as possible. Cal was signed to Indy in December 2020, but was transferred to MLS's LAFC in March 2021, having never suited up for the Eleven (not even a preseason game). So I had little hesitation to hope he wouldn't do well tonight. Jennings had an assist by the 8th minute...

Indy's horrible start to the game forced them to play from behind far too early. Indy's best early chance came in the 16th minute, but Kizza's shot went straight to Zamudio. After the two early goals, Indy looked discombobulated across all the lines, but it was the poor defense that was most troubling in this game. Indy's defenders were in constant last-ditch defending mode. Charleston's front three players of Torres, Myers, and Jennings ran the Indy defenders all over the field. It didn't help that Indy's attack was doing almost nothing to help out their defenders. The midfielders and forwards couldn't string anything together, and as a result, play was constantly tilted in Charleston's favor. The defenders weren't helping themselves either, as their distribution wasn't any better than the midfielders. A repeat of last year's trend of Indy struggling against the top tier teams looked to be rearing its head again.

Indy and Charleston went into the halftime locker room 2-2. Unfortunately, that was 2 goals for Charleston and 2 yellow cards for Indy. In all honesty, Indy was lucky to be down just the two goals. There was a clear better team on the field in the first half, and it most definitely was not the team that was wearing their special black alternate third kit with the checkers. 

Second verse, same as the first. 

Full Time - Shots

Charleston came out of the locker room and put a third goal on the board in the 49th minute to put a "COMPLETE" stamp on the game. All that remained was the final 41 minutes of the half and the final score. After the goal, it looked like 3 Charleston goals was not going to be the end of their scoring, and there was no indication that Indy was going to undo their goose egg for the night. To their credit, Indy didn't roll over and let the game balloon any further. Based on the shots in the game, and the number of saves each goalkeeper made, Indy's loss wasn't for a lack of effort. By the end of the game, Indy had doubled Charleston in shots (16 to 8), and had a +2 shots on target advantage (6 to 4). Indy had gone into the half with a 0.16xG to Charleston's 0.71, but finished the game with 0.68 to 0.87, respectively. The issue was that by that stage of the game, Charleston was content to ride out their three-goal lead, slow the game down, and get out of town with the three points. In a flurry of activity at the end, Indy managed to score twice, one of which was called back for offside, and a second that Amoh blasted out of the reach of Zamudio, who promptly retrieved the ball from the net and blasted it out of the field of play over the Brickyard Battalion as he watched his clean sheet get erased late. His frustration was met with a yellow card from referee Natalie Simon, Charleston's only card of the night.

Indy now have just 5 points from 5 league games, with three of those games taking place at Carroll Stadium. Making The Mike a fortress isn't going very well this season, but getting another crack at setting the foundation for the fortress is going to have to wait to get started for a little bit longer. The next chance to get a home win will be in two weeks when Detroit City make the trip down from Michigan on Saturday May 3rd. Between now and that game, Indy will have their first foray into the Jagermeister Cup when they take on another Peter Wilt started team in Forward Madison. Coach McAuley has repeatedly stated that he wants the team to take Cup games (USOC or Jagermeister) seriously, with a desire to win a trophy. He reiterated that again tonight after the game. Since Indy won't be dealing with multiple games next week, I won't be surprised to see the normal starters starting that game. Hopefully, Indy's first game in the Jagermeister Cup doesn't take as long to get a win as this past Wednesday's game against Miami in the USOC.

The Game Beckons Game Ball

In a game where the team conceded early goals in each half, and the squad generally performed poorly enough that I had to use the term discombobulated to describe how they all played, it's always nice to see a guy come off the bench and make an impact. I could be talking about Lindley again after his stellar performance during the Open Cup game (he had 3 chances created in this game in just 9'+6' of action tonight), but I'm specifically talking about Amoh. He's been playing limited minutes, but as a forward, you just want to see the ball go in. With just 12 touches, he nearly scored twice, and did get the goal that pissed off Zamudio so much he reacted like a high school player rather than a professional. On a night where not a lot went well for Indy, Amoh getting a goal can only help the forward group.

Photos: Don Thompson Photography

Indy Eleven vs Charleston Battery - 11.21

Summary

- Opponent: Charleston Battery
- Location: Patriots Point
- Attendance: -
- Final Score: 5-0 L

- Starting XI: Sulte, Ofeimu, O'Brien, J., Diz Pe, Mines, Stanley, Neidlinger, Lindley (C), Martinez, Williams, A., Williams, R.

- Substitution: Quinn 45' (Mines); Guenzatti 75' (Diz Pe); Wootton 75' (Lindley); Gibson 79' (Williams, R.)

- Unused: Oettl, Chapman-Page, Henderlong

- Scoring Summary:
CHS - Myers 52' (assist Markanich)
CHS - Ycaza 70' (unassisted)
CHS - Markanich 78' (assist Torres)
CHS - Conway 85' (unassisted)
CHS - Crawford 90'+5' (unassisted)

- Bookings:

IND - Williams, R. 51' (Yellow)
IND - Diz Pe 67' (Yellow)
IND - Neidlinger 77' (Yellow)

- Referee: Joshua Encarnación

- Adage goals: Two

Thoughts and Opinions

Indy Eleven didn't lose a game across all competitions through the entire month of May and throughout most of June, not losing until the game on the 22nd against Orange County SC. If not for the US Open Cup game against Atlanta United, Indy would have gone through the entire month of July without a victory. As the calendar switched yet another month, now into August, Indy looked to remedy that trend on the road in Charleston. Indy's past two games against Charleston have finished 5-nil in last season's playoffs and 4-2 at Carroll Stadium in April. Charleston had a rough outing last week in Tampa Bay when they scored twice in the first 13 minutes in Al Lang Stadium, only to lose 4-2, lose Molloy to injury by halftime, and lose starting GK Grinwis to red card late in the game (& his replacement keeper was not even on the roster until this week), not counting the fact that head coach Ben Pirman was also unavailable for this game due to a red card. To say both teams came into this game wanting a win is an understatement.

Charleston was the team that was the team that was able to turn their poor result around. Emphatically. 5-nil emphatically. The two teams made a game of it in the first half, but Indy had no answers for Charleston in the second half. Indy's rough July is now creeping into August.

In the first half, Charleston looked like the team that was higher in the table while Indy looked inconsistent and a bit out of sync with each other. One of the Charleston commentators stated in the pregame and reiterated in this part of the game that the thought Indy's recent run of form was because they had been "found out," but also conceded that Indy's USOC run and additional games could have been a factor too due to the additional minutes on a short roster. I've agreed with the "minutes on legs" assessment, but I'm not sure Indy has been "found out" in this stretch. If anything, I think Indy has started to get away at times from the things that made them successful in May and June. Indy has struggled in recent games, and definitely in this game, with their decisions about when they are going to go fast and when to slow it down. Several times in the half, the "going too fast" bug got the best of the Indy forwards and promising attacks came to a screeching halt. The Williams boys were regularly seen with their hands in the air in exasperation with their running mate. When hands weren't in the air, they were being placed firmly on their own heads as shots were blasted solidly into the stands but nowhere close to the goal.

That being said, despite a 65/35 possession advantage for Charleston, Indy's team defense in the first half continued to keep them in the game as they kept CHS in relatively innocuous situations. After those early season hiccups against Louisville and Charleston where they conceded 5 and 4 goals, respectively, Indy have only conceded more than two goals once. The team defensive effort continues to keep Indy in games. Both teams finished the first half with two tame shots on target, and found themselves going into the locker room with a nil-nil scoreline. A little dust-up right before halftime made things a bit more interesting to what an independent viewer might call a ho-hum half of action.

It didn't take long for things to change coming out of the halftime locker room. Coach McAuley made an immediate substitution by taking off Mines and bringing on Aodhan Quinn for his first minutes this season after his long-term injury sustained last season. That's good news for Indy fans moving forward the rest of the season. In the near-term though, Charleston found the game's opening goal through Myers and Markanich forcing Indy to play from behind. Shortly after that, newly inserted Quinn put a cross directly into Segbers face from close range, stopping the game while the athletic trainers tried to stop the bleeding from Segbers' nose.

Then the wheels fell off for Indy and that 3 goal barrier was breached soundly and emphatically by Charleston who found the goal 4 more times in the second half to beat Indy 4-nil. Charleston have now scored at least 4 goals against Indy in the last three games the two teams have played. Indy have conceded 14 goals to Charleston in that timeframe and have scored just twice. For all the things Indy did reasonably okay with defensively in the first half, they did none of those things in the second half. 

There was only one team that deserved to win the second half and that was Charleston. As was mentioned in the closing minutes of the telecast, Charleston was close to a 3.0 expected goal value while Indy was a paltry 0.18 xG. Charleston put 8 shots ON TARGET in the SECOND HALF! Indy put just one, and have now been held without a goal in three consecutive games. Indy made no dent going forward with their possession while having absolutely zero answer for Charleston's effort in the final third. 

Indy return to action on Wednesday against Rhode Island who are, at the time of this writing, on a 7-game undefeated streak. RI play Detroit tomorrow night and the two teams sit next to each other in the table. If Indy has anything going for it, it will be one more days rest/training. After tonight's debacle of a second half (5 goals in a half conceded...!), that's not saying much. Indy also get to scoreboard watch as a Birmingham win tomorrow night against Hartford would push Indy out of the top 4 playoff spot.

The Game Beckons Game Ball

Nope. Not tonight. I hate to do it, but nobody had a good night. At any position on the field. This was a night where Indy was outclassed from GK to forward. Nobody gets a GBGB for tonight's effort.

Indy Eleven vs Charleston Battery - 11.06

Summary

- Opponent: Charleston Battery
- Location: Carroll Stadium
- Attendance: 8,556
- Final Score: 4-2 L

- Starting XI: Oettl, Boudadi, Chapman-Page, Diz Pe, Stanley, Gibson (C), Schneider, Blake, Ikoba, Guenzatti, Williams

- Substitution: King 45' (Boudadi); Martinez 65' (Schneider); Mines 79' (Gibson)

- Unused: Sulte, Collier, Ofeimu, Wootton

- Scoring Summary:
CHS -  19' Ycaza (assist Markanich)
IND - 27' Ikoba (assist Schneider)
IND - 28' Guenzatti (assist Stanley)
CHS - 45'+ 2' Markanich (unassisted)
CHS - 76' Own Goal (King)
CHS - 86' Meyers (assist Ycaza)

- Bookings:

CHS - Allan 32' (Yellow)
IND - Chapman-Page 45'+ (Yellow)
IND - Blake 52' (Yellow)
IND - Stanley 68' (Yellow)
CHS - Smith 78' (Yellow)
IND - King 90'+1' (Yellow)

- Referee: Greg Dopka

- Adage goals: None

Thoughts and Opinions

Star Wars night brought Jedi, Storm Troopers, Mandalorian, and Grogu to Carroll Stadium on a perfect night for soccer in Indy. It also brought new faces to the gameday lineup with the newly acquired Bens (Mines and Ofeimu, not Kenobi). The arrival of the Bens meant that Babir was sent south to Miami in the trade, so Chapman-Page returned from his injury to anchor the backline with Diz Pe. The Force also took Lindley out of the lineup with a lower body injury (1st time in 41 games), keeping him out of the game, with Quinn and Sanchez listed as the only other injuries. With the Academy teams scattered in other places for their MLS Next Pro games this weekend, the new rule permitting Indy to have more than 18 players on the gameday roster wasn't able to be used. So it was just the pros tonight and no Padawan.

Coming off back-to-back losses and looking ahead to a 3 game in 8-day stretch due to the upcoming midweek U.S. Open Cup game on Wednesday against Chicago Fire FC II, Indy needed to kick off the week with a positive result. Standing in their way was Charleston Battery, the team that bludgeoned Indy 5-nil during last year's playoff game, who also took down Louisville 3-2 this past Tuesday, to put themselves at the top of the table (admittedly having played more games than every other team). Indy opened the game facing into the setting sun (luckily there weren't two as on Tatooine) to give Oettl something else to deal with in the early going. 

Full-time Average Position

Indy put themselves on the front foot early with Blake getting his first shot on goal within the first 30-seconds. Indy also started this game with pressure on Charleston every time they touched the ball, but what was most notable about the way Indy was playing was that there seemed to be a more concerted effort to maintain possession. The frequent and immediate blasts forward were not as frequent nor as immediate. Coach McAuley indicated this week that the team might need to look at different players or different tactics. With the announced transfer this week, the former was done and the tactics to start the game looked like the latter was being evaluated too. Indy spent the bulk of the first half in Charleston's half of the field, and finished the game overall with an average player position in Charleston's half.

However, a flurry of activity at both ends of the field after the 15th minute resulted in a 19th minute goal from Charleston, arguably against the overall run-of-play. Stanley put a difficult ball to Gibson who couldn't handle the pass and Charleston counterattacked to give them the go-ahead goal, forcing Indy to once again play from behind. The goal gave Charleston some confidence and the next few minutes were played in Indy's box with repeated corner kicks, shots, and forays into Indy's box. 

Photo Credit: Don Thompson Photography

Then Indy found their own goal to bring things level as Indy attacked through the center of the pitch. Schneider found Ikoba who took on a defender, continued further towards the center, and then put a shot to the right of Grinwis to bring the score level. Less than a minute later, Indy put themselves up when Stanley put a ball to the back post that Guenzatti headed into the goal. Before the Brickyard Battalion's smoke from the first goal subsided across the pitch, they had to start some more. Indy continued to put their foot on the gas in the next few minutes and nearly found a third goal when Stanley put another ball across the goal that nearly found the head of Ikoba. 

The game slowed down a bit for the next 10 or 15 minutes, but a stoppage time goal from Charleston put the teams again level going into the halftime locker. Markanich found himself with the ball and space to drive at the Indy goal. Before Indy could step to him, he put a ball to the far side of the goal passed Oettl. It would be harder to consider the goal to be against the run-of-play like the first goal since Charleston had worked themselves into the game, but Indy only had a few times when they seemed to switch off, and Charleston took advantage of both of them. Charleston finished the half with three shots, all of them on target, with two going for goals. That's an efficient effort from the visitors. 

Photo Credit: Don Thompson Photography

Due to a late half injury to Boudadi that he gutted out until halftime, there was an immediate substitution after the break as King came in to replace him. The substitution was a like-for-like with King taking the right back position, but King isn't quite as fleet of foot as Boudadi. Though he is a bit more physical, picking up his first yellow card of the season late in the game, in just 63 minutes of action this season.

Charleston started the second half much the way that Indy started the first half. Within the first couple of minutes, they had a couple of good chances from back-to-back corner kicks, and were holding the ball well forcing Indy to defend more. While it looked like this was a conscious effort by Charleston to hold the ball more, Indy were also not as effective with their press. The Indy players were more selective on when they pressed, but generally did not attack Charleston in the second half the way they did in the first half. 

The time on the ball eventually led to a corner kick for Charleston. The resulting kick pinged off two separate Indy Eleven players, the last of which was the second half sub King, before dropping over Oettl's outstretched arm over the goal line. Indy now stared at a 3-2 deficit with time winding down. Coach McAuley pulled out Gibson and inserted Mines to add yet another attacking player after having brought on Martinez for Schneider. If nothing else from his time here, Coach McAuley has made good on his promise that Indy would be an attacking team. 

When Indy conceded a fourth goal late, Indy has now been outscored 11 to 6 in their last three games, all losses. Indy is scoring goals, being tied for 7th in the league in goal creation, but are sitting in the bottom five in goal differential at -5. Whatever Indy is doing right or wrong at this point in the season, conceding goals has become a major issue at the moment. Whether that is miscommunication between Oettl and the guys in front of him, or the fact that the back four has constantly changed each game (only the Memphis to Sacramento games used the same defenders in back-to-back games), something has gone wrong the past few games.

Photo Credit: Don Thompson Photography

As Coach McAuley stated in the post-game press conference, "when this team is good, it's good. When it's bad, it's really bad." Indy was clearly the better team in the first half, but something changed after conceding the second goal right before halftime, and they looked like a different team in the second half. I don't want to alarm anybody, but this is now just marginally ahead of the worst 6-game start to a season since the 2014 season, and that season didn't see a home league win until late in the season (the 24th game...out of 27 games). This year's team is now 1W-2D-4L, whereas that 2014 team was 0W-2D-4L. The 2024 version of Indy Eleven is far more talented than that 2014 team, but aren't getting any better results at the moment.

Indy head to Chicago to take on the Chicago Fire II in the U.S. Open Cup. Indy defeated the Fire II during preseason by a score of 2-nil, but preseason is different from a tournament format game. The preseason game was hard-fought as fans got their first chance to see the team's new style and tactics, and I would expect a similar effort from Chicago this time around. McAuley has said he takes the U.S. Open Cup seriously, but with some injuries already (or still) plaguing this team, it will be interesting to see what players get used on Wednesday, knowing that they need to travel to Colorado on the weekend.

Indy returns to The Mike on April 27th to take on North Carolina FC, having made their way back up to the Championship level. Indy has had a long history with the club from North Carolina, in some very key moments. Maybe Indy fans will get to see another classic chapter in this series. Or maybe it will be another one to forget. Hard to tell with this team right now.

The Game Beckons Game Ball

I wanted to give tonight's GBGB to Ikoba for his goal tonight, opening his account for the team. However, looking at his personal stats for the game, they just don't compare favorably to some of his other teammates. He did look better than he has all season, and for a young player, getting experience playing with Williams and Guenzatti around him will help, but he's still holding onto the ball a touch long at times. I suspect he's still figuring out the speed of the game at this level. I saw some good things from him tonight, so it was close.

Guenzatti - Fulltime Distribution

However, I can't overlook Guenzatti. I hate that I keep giving the GBGB to Blake or Guenzatti, but right now, they are far and away the players that I keep seeing as the most impactful (with a nod to Lindley and Gibson as well). Guenzatti was all over the pitch trying to get his teammates involved. He scored a goal, was close on a couple others. He may not be this year's explicit captain, but he's playing like one. His runs off the ball to help his teammates are likely going unnoticed by many fans, but he's putting in a hell of a shift every game. So, Guenzatti gets tonight's GBGB.

Additional Photos - Don Thompson Photography

Indy Eleven vs Charleston Battery - 10.35 (Playoffs)

Summary

- Opponent: Charleston Battery
- Location: Patriots Point
- Attendance: 2,972
- Final Score: 5-0 L

- Starting XI: Trilk, Boudadi, Jerome, Diz Pe, Dambrot, Lindley, Robledo, King, Velasquez, Martinez, Guenzatti (C)

- Substitution: Molina 64' (Robledo); Pinho 64' (Velasquez); Vazquez 64' (Dambrot)

- Unused: Oettl, Chapman-Page, Reveno 

- Scoring Summary:
CHS – Ycaza 12’ (assist Rodriguez)
CHS - Williams 37' (assist Markanich)
CHS - Rodriguez 40' (Barajas)
CHS - Barajas 47' (Rodriguez)
CHS - Markanich 63' (Williams)

- Bookings:

CHS - Williams 16’ (Yellow)
IND - Boudadi 57' (Yellow)
IND - Vazquez 72' (Yellow)
IND - Diz Pe 76' (Yellow)
IND - Lindley 83' (Yellow)
CHS - Ycaza 90' (Yellow)

- Referee: Jeremy Scheer

- Adage goals: Two

Thoughts and Opinions

When this game started, I was walking around the National Mall in Washington D.C. with the family, but let my phone continue to keep me notified of what was going on in the game. I continued on with my vacation knowing that there wasn't going to be a home match in the second week of the playoffs after all the other high seeds in the Eastern Conference lost on Saturday. Despite knowing the result of the game,  I went ahead and actually watched the game now that I'm back, because, apparently, I'm a glutton for punishment after watching Purdue (football) lose to Nebraska on one screen and Purdue (men's basketball) lose to Arkansas in a scrimmage for charity in overtime to Arkansas. 

Before I watched the game, with full knowledge of the final score, I thought about what I might see. I wondered how Indy, one of the stingiest defenses in the entire league, could concede five goals in a playoff game. Indy hadn't conceded more than 3 in a game this season, even during the rough up-and-down stretch through the majority of the middle of the season. What I saw ran the gamut of issues.

1. Charleston's first goal was a set piece corner kick.
2. The second goal happened when Diz Pe was dispossessed 30 to 40-yards from goal, which led to a shot from outside the box that Trilk let bounce off his hands into the bottom right of the goal. Trilk nearly allowed a similar goal earlier in the game, but Diz cleared the ball off the line while being fouled.
3. Just a few minutes later, 5 Indy defenders tracked 3 CHS attackers, but leaving the 4th attacker wide open in the middle of the box for an open header past Trilk. 
4. Immediately after halftime, on a recycled corner kick, Charleston out-hustled the Indy defenders for yet another middle of the box shot through 5 Indy defenders that parted like the Red Sea.
5. Finally, a cross past Diz went mere feet past Trilk across the goal mouth to an on-rushing Ycaza who beat Boudadi to the ball. 

Indy couldn't defend. When Indy had the ball, CHS defended in numbers and defended quickly, rarely giving Indy time nor space to effectively accomplish much. Indy couldn't attack. Indy managed just a single shot on target, a shot from Macca King that went straight to Muse. A shot that happened from just outside the box in the 19th minute. Not a single shot on target the rest of the game. Not even a 66th minute breakaway where Martinez seemed to be ahead of everybody, but Segbers overtook Martinez and prevented a shot. 

As good as Indy looked the week before during large stretches in San Antonio, they looked just as badly during large stretches in Charleston. When Indy lost Quinn with 6 games to go in the season, Indy took a few games to settle into not having him available. Indy went into this game without Asante due to his red card suspension in the San Antonio game, and Blake who had an ankle injury. As a result, Indy started both King and Robledo. Robledo had only started a dozen games before this one and had only played a total of 48 minutes in the past three games combined. Similarly, King had also only played just 48 minutes in a substitute role in the past two games combined after having not played for the preceding ten games. I appreciate Macca, but the midfield looked completely different than it has when Indy has looked its best. 

Indy struggled this year, with injuries and suspensions derailing any momentum that they managed to get going. It's probably fitting that two more (one injury and one suspension) factored into their performance against Charleston. As promising as this season looked coming into it, and as good as the team looked at times throughout the season, it's a bit disheartening to think that the team has such an issue with depth that just one or two players can have Indy go from looking like they did in the first half against San Antonio to a team that gets clobbered by 5-nil in the first weekend of the playoffs. It's something I'll likely discuss in my end-of-season recap, but not here.

 

As I thought about the game during my vacation, my pessimistic nature (and being a long-time Cubs fan) kicked in and Indy fans should have known that things wouldn't go well for the men's 1st team. The club isn't at a point where fans should realistically think that it's possible for the club to win an USL W League championship and win (or even make a run in) the USL Championship in the same season. We're just not there as a club where that seems feasible. Maybe some day.

The Game Beckons Game Ball

I don't really want to finish the season without awarding the Game Beckons Game Ball, but does any player really deserve it when the team gets beaten by 5 goals and only manages one shot on target in 90 minutes of action? After arguing with myself that there had to be at least one good performance by one of the players, I just couldn't rationalize it in that kind of loss in that kind of game.

Indy Eleven vs Charleston Battery - 10.18

Summary

- Opponent: Charleston Battery
- Location: Carroll Stadium
- Attendance: 9,059
- Final Score: 1-1 D

- Starting XI: Oettl, Boudadi, Dambrot, King, Diz Pe, Quinn, Blake, Lindley, Velasquez, Martinez, Guenzatti (C)

- Substitution: Asante 58' (Velasquez); Pinho 58' (Guenzatti); Molina 84' (Martinez); Rissi 90'+1' (Blake) 

- Unused: Trilk, Jerome, Robledo

- Scoring Summary:
IND - Quinn 61’ (Penalty Kick)
CHS - Trager 77' (assist Ycaza)

- Bookings:

CHS - Palma 38’ (Yellow)
IND - King 65' (Yellow)
IND - Dambrot 85', 89' (Yellow, Yellow, RED)

- Referee: Elton García

- Adage goals: None

Thoughts and Opinions

When these two teams met in early June, Indy headed back from South Carolina with three points in the bag, thanks to a 2’ converted penalty kick by Quinn, a 72nd-minute penalty kick goal by Quinn, a 75th-minute goal by Molina, and an 80th-minute own goal for good measure to make Charleston Battery’s night one to forget. Indy has won just once since that victory, a 2-nil win in Hartford. Indy had a 2W-2D-2L record counting the victory in South Carolina, keeping Indy in a playoff spot but not able to make any moves up the table. Tonight's draw pushes Indy down below Tulsa, hovering dangerously at the playoff line with tough games upcoming against the top of the table.

Starting with the first game against Charleston, Quinn has catapulted to be Indy’s leading scorer, bagging a brace twice in the 6-game span. All his goals have come from the spot, which has now moved him up to second place in club history for penalty kick goals, and just one behind Ayoze with tonight's goal. It’s good that Quinn is so effective from the spot, but Indy shouldn’t be relying on his ability to finish from 12-yards out. Indy has proven scorers on this roster (including Quinn who is now an assist away from joining the 50 goals/50 assists club in league history), but Indy need to find another way to score goals.

In an attempt to not leak an early goal, Indy was in a 5-3-2 formation early in the game as Charleston held the early possession, likely hoping they could prevent a repeat of the last game between the two teams by not letting Indy have the ball. Indy, true to form, nearly went down a goal early when an 8th minute shot rang off the crossbar after Barajas beat the offside press and found himself all alone. As the entire backline raised their arms and actually looked at the assistant referee on the right side of the field, Barajas had a clear attempt at the goal, but put it just 6-inches too high. I have grown tired of watching game after game of defenders raising their arm, and slowing down, thinking they have a better angle than the assistant referee who is looking down the line and seeing King keep Barajas onside. Raise your hand if you want, but don't slow down. That's how you nearly gave up another early goal.

My computer died at halftime so it was handwritten notes for the entire second half, and the first half ended with a nil-nil draw. Does it matter though? We've all seen this story play out in the same, but different ways, all season. Coach Lowry didn't come back out from the locker room to answer any questions. So we're going to finish this post in bullet format because tonight I'm kind of tired of writing the same article. I’m going to ask some questions in some of them. If you know the answers, let me know.

• 

  Martinez distribution

  The team scored a goal to give themselves a lead. Yay!
• From the spot... Shocking, right?
• The team gave up a lead. Another defender was lost to red card. Coach Lowry never came back out to talk to the press. 
• How many times did Martinez, Indy's fast midfielder/forward, receive a pass leading him towards goal only to pass backwards? Oh wait, I can answer that. See the image to the right (keeping in mind Indy was going left to right in this image). Answer... A LOT. That's a lot of going backwards for a player who is expected to go forward. 
• How many times did a quick counterattack come to a grinding halt once Martinez received the ball? Same answer.
• Why is Indy so hesitant to shoot the ball in the attacking third? 
• Individual mistakes costing Indy points. This time it was Boudadi and Oettl who weren't on the same page for a ball that EITHER OF THEM should have been able to get to before Trager. And yet, both of them watched him take the ball and easily score.
• I don't know how, but Indy managed to win the aerial duels battle, but lost the duels battle. My eyeball test said that those values should have been much more in favor of CHS.
• Congrats to Quinn for reaching the 20,000 minute mark in USL league history. 
• 
  Another defender, Dambrot, gets a yellow/yellow/red card and will have to sit out next game.
• From the league's Discipline Report - "Following a review by the Independent Discipline Panel, Indy Eleven's Adrian Diz Pe has been suspended for one game for violent conduct following an incident in the side's contest against FC Tulsa. Diz Pe will be unavailable for selection in Indy's contest against the Tampa Bay Rowdies on July 22."
• So that means more shuffling of the back line because Vazquez is also going to be out for the next month (or more) with his injury. So Jerome and Rissi, who seemingly everybody has lost confidence in recently will likely be back in the starting eleven. 
• I say "likely" because Lowry might decide to go 3-4-3 and just turn the game against Tampa into a high scoring affair. Throw everybody forward and see who can outscore the other. Defense first, the recent tactical adjustment hasn't been consistently achieving points, so maybe a shift forward instead of backwards will be considered. Who knows?

As I keep repeating because the team keeps repeating their mistakes, "you are what your record says you are." With the way Indy has continued to self-inflict problems on themselves, while also not being able to stay healthy, Indy is a bottom of the table team who are going to struggle to stay in the playoff picture, particularly given their upcoming opponents.

Indy get a week and a half off to think about what they've done, and to think about what they'll do, since the next game is the aforementioned game against Tampa Bay. Then they just have to play Tampa (home), Pittsburgh (away), and Louisville (away) in an 8 day span. The way things are going for the team right now, they'll be lucky to get a single point out of those 9 available points.

The Game Beckons Game Ball

You can call me lazy, but I don't feel like giving a GBGB tonight. The closest I have in me is to congratulate Quinn on reaching such a major minutes milestone.

Additional Photos (Don Thompson Photography)