Indy Eleven vs Dayton Dutch Lions - 04.10

Summary

- Opponent: Dayton Dutch Lions
- Location: Grand Park
- Attendance: -
- Final Score: 6-0 W

- Starting XI: Edwards (C), Satterfield, Kruer, Beasley, Foulk, Smith, Yamazaki, Pinto, Joyce, Sochacki, Jennings

- Substitution: Wyatt 45' (Edwards); Komori 64' (Yamazaki); May 64' (Jennings); Pittman 69' (Pinto); Touhey 69' (Smith)

- Unused: Phillips

Scoring Summary:
IND - Pinto 15' (unassisted)
IND - Kruer 19' (assist Sochacki)
IND - Jennings 22' (assist Joyce)
IND - Yamazaki 28' (assist Sochacki)
IND - Jennings 63' (unassisted)
IND - May 78'  (assist Sochaki)

- Bookings:

None

- Referee: Rachel Glago

- Adage goals: None.

Thoughts and Opinions

After the Racing game, I wondered aloud how Coach Kim might handle tonight's roster. Would the more experienced players like Osswald and Bulger play, or would he roll with the youth in the final game to keep building their experiences. As the roster came out, it was a dramatic emphasis on the youth. Not only were Osswald, Bulger, Chester, or Chatterton not on the starting lineup, they weren't even on the game day roster. In a league that is intended to be an avenue for players to grow - a pathway to the pros - or for some old pros to scratch a competitive itch, tonight's roster was heavy on the pathway to the pros variety. With the chance for the playoffs done and dusted, against the bottom team in the league, getting the youth some experience completely makes sense. 

Dayton arrived with 12 players. No, that isn't a typo. They had 12 players. Total. For those that are bad at math, that means they had just 1 substitute available. Indy had 6 subs, 2 of which were goalkeepers, so they had just 4 field players available. The number of fans were on par with the number of subs, as the stands were the emptiest I have ever seen them. It seemed like everybody was ready to just get through the game and move onto their high school or college seasons. 

Maddy Williams in just three games played finished the season as the team's leading goal scorer with her three goals. In many ways, that might have been part of the problem this season. The past three seasons, the team has never scored less than 30 goals and had only been shutout once. This year, they were shutout 3 times and only scored a total of 22 goals. Indy has some talented forwards, but seemed to struggle at times this year getting shots on target and passed the opposing goalkeepers. Dayton was prone to leaking goals with a -59 goal differential coming into the game (2 GF vs 61 GA). Indy had a couple of 3-nil results against Dayton until tonight's 6-nil result, but never looked as dangerous as they looked tonight. Indy could have doubled the score with just a little bit better finishing.

Dayton has had a rough introduction to the Valley Division this year and tonight was no different. Indy dominated this game from start-to-finish. Very few minutes of the game ever crossed into the Indy defensive half of the field. Emily Edwards spent the majority of the 1st half of the game 35-yards from her own goal and only fielded one long range shot on goal. When she made way for Wyatt, her teammate wasn't required to make a single save. Indy, contrarily, took 32 shots forcing Dayton's goalkeeper Shirley into 16 saves, meaning had 22 shots on target (or 68.75% of their shots found their way towards the goal).

A summary of tonight's goals:

Photo: Robbie Mehling

• Pinto in the 15th minute from a free kick that Sochacki put on frame. Shirley spilled the ball and Pinto put the ball into the goal from within the 6-yard box.
• Kruer in the 19th minute with a forceful header from a corner kick from Sochacki. 
• Jennings in the 22nd minute from a long ball sent from the Indy defensive half by Joyce that Jennings tracked down, pushed around Shirley and calmly passed into the goal from within the 6-yard box.
• Yamazaki in the 28th minute from a free kick by Sochacki. Sochacki put a perfect ball into the box near the penalty spot that Yamazaki headed passed Shirley.
• Jennings in the 63rd minute after Sochacki put a shot on target that Shirley spilled. Jennings had followed up the shot and slammed it into the goal. 
• May in the 78th minute from a cheeky chip over the defenders by Sochacki.

The Valley Division has become a very competitive division, but Dayton was way over their heads this season. This game was never in doubt, mostly from the opening whistle. Indy managed to finish the season with a good performance and Dayton continued their struggles. There's not much else that can be said about this game. Indy's talent was higher, and they played with more intensity. When those things combine, 6-nil results that could have been much much worse are what happen. 

The Game Beckons Game Ball

I've said it before this year, but the midfield duo of Pinto and Yamazaki often caught my eye. Tonight was no different. They were all over the place. Distributing the ball and defending when necessary.  Jennings was going to get the edge for the GBGB because the Dayton defense had no answer for her pace and crosses from the right side of the field. She didn't give up on balls, scored a goal herself, and could have had a couple more goals or assists. Clearly, I could talk about the spectacular service and play from Sochacki that had her involved in 5 of the 6 goals. She's shown moments all season, but she was in complete control tonight. Sochacki's delivery from set pieces and corner kicks was perfect, and her distribution was spot on. In a night where the GBGB could have been up for grabs, sometimes I just have to go with the player(s) that I keep noticing as doing positive things. Pinto and Yamazaki have been rocks in the midfield all season, so Jennings and Sochacki have to share the GBGB.

Indy Eleven vs Dayton Dutch Lions - 04.07

Summary

- Opponent: Dayton Dutch Lions
- Location: DOC Stadium
- Attendance: -
- Final Score: 3-0 W

- Starting XI: Edwards, Satterfield, Molloy (C), Beasley, Albert, Joyce, Yamazaki, Smith, Sochacki, Komori, May

- Substitution: Chatterton 45' (Satterfield); Touhey 61' (Molloy); Pittman 61' (Komori); Jennings 70' (May); Foulk 75' (Albert); Guthrie 75' (Sochacki)

- Unused: Phillips, Wyatt

Scoring Summary:
IND – Komori 24' (unassisted)
IND - Own Goal 26' (Grant)
IND - Own Goal 70' (??)

- Bookings:

DAY - McKinney 46' (Yellow)

- Referee: ??

- Adage goals: None.

Thoughts and Opinions

Tonight's starters looked drastically different than the previous game against Kings Hammer. Most notably was the absence of the stalwart in the back, and the team captain, Grace Bahr. I can only assume that the injury she sustained just before halftime against KHFC was as bad as it looked. I haven't been able to get a confirmation, but it certainly appeared to resemble her ACL injury in the 2023 Championship game. The starters were without Pinto, who has started every game before this one. There weren't any of Indy's veterans, with no Chester, Bulger, or Osswald making the trip. Joyce and Beasley both picked up their first starts; with Beasley having played a total of just 11 minutes all season before this game. With the nature of the W League, it's difficult to say if the changes were injury, day job related, or a function of Indy's inability to make the playoffs leading Coach Kim to make the decision to play the youth. Given the opponent's record and massive goal differential (-49 coming into the game), it could be felt that Coach Kim was playing down to the opponent, but I don't think that was the case. 

Regardless, the squad that Coach Kim fielded was the dominant side in the game. Possession, shots, and overall skill level was definitely skewed towards Indy. With the exception of a 19th minute shot against the run of play from Dayton's Morse that drifted just wide, the early part of the game was played nearly entirely in the Dayton defensive half of the field. Within five minutes of Dayton's first chance of the game, Indy was able to finally make good on their dominance when Komori put a shot past Shirley to open the scoring. Two minutes later, Joyce took on three defenders and managed to get her cross into the 6-yard box where Dayton's Grant inadvertently pushed it passed her own keeper to double the advantage for Indy. The two goals in two minutes were the difference when the two teams separated for the halftime break.

Seriously Dayton, you can't put the camera on top of the press box or in the last row before the box or almost literally anywhere else? I've seen photos of the stadium, you can get on top of the press box. Because streaming the game from within the press box, through the windows, creates a very poor, pixelated video stream with reflections from the window. I appreciate the effort, including have a play-by-play, but take an extra half step and put the camera (phone? tablet?) in a better spot. 

Just as I was typing the above paragraph, the livestream lost its signal. Which took 15-minutes for the team to acknowledge on X that they were having technical difficulties. As a result of the livestream being down, I have no idea how the team looked in the final 35-minutes of the game. I know there was a second own goal by Dayton, but not what led up to it nor who redirected the ball into their own goal. 

I know the final score was 3-nil, so Indy won. Guess that's the important part as far as Indy fans are concerned.

There's still a scenario where Indy could overcome Kings Hammer for the top spot, but the long and short if I did my math correctly is that Indy has to win out (at Lexington, at Racing, & home vs Dayton) and KHFC has to lose at least two of their remaining four (at Racing, home vs Dayton, at Lexington x 2). Lexington's draw against Kings Hammer yesterday opened the door again for Indy. Racing has played them close on the road, so with the final of their three-game series in Louisville, it might be possible. Similarly, Lexington drew KHFC in Cincinnati, so with the final two games both being in Lexington, getting a win out of one of them might be possible. At this point, Indy can only control the things they can control and that's to keep winning. Indy return to action on Friday when they face Lexington for the third time this season, this time in Lexington. The result there will go a long way in determining Indy's post-season fate.

The Game Beckons Game Ball

This game was never really in doubt. Indy was the better team. I think I should give Yamazaki the GBGB purely because she looked like the best player on the better team. She controlled the midfield, and routinely danced around the Dayton defenders to get the ball to her teammates. Without her typical midfield partner of Pinto on the field, Yamazaki was still able to show her class.

Indy Eleven vs Dayton Dutch Lions - 04.02

Summary

- Opponent: Dayton Dutch Lions FC
- Location: DOC Stadium
- Attendance: -
- Final Score: 3-0 W

- Starting XI: Edwards, Adam, Bahr (C), Kruer, Satterfield, Yamazaki, Pinto, Smith, Sochacki, Komori, May

- Substitution: Jennings 62' (Sochacki); Touhey 62' (Smith); Guthrie 67' (May); White 77' (Kruer); Malin 77' (Adam); Albert 77' (Satterfield)

- Unused: Wyatt

Scoring Summary:
IND – May 49' (unassisted)
IND – Kruer 57' (assist Sochacki)
IND – Touhey 90'+1' (assist Malin)

- Bookings:

DAY – Rylie McKinney 7' (Yellow)

IND – Olivia Smith 38' (Yellow)

- Referee: James Duling, Jack Haggard, Zachary Johnson, or Shawn Westerfield. I'm not sure how was the center ref, but those are the four listed on the Match Details, so one of them was likely the one with the whistle.

- Adage goals: None.

Thoughts and Opinions

There are two consistent frustrations in recaps on this site.

1. I dislike watching soccer played on baseball fields. I would rather deal with football lines than watch the game on a compressed field where players have to deal with the ball transitioning from permanent grass to temporary grass. 
2. The "streaming" requirement in the USL W League covers the gamut. There's Indy's professional, multi-camera broadcast through Greg Rakestraw (and others) and the ISC Sports Network. Then there's what Dayton Dutch Lions passed off as a stream for last night's game, which amounted to somebody sitting in the press box of DOC Stadium with, I'm guessing, a tablet or phone through the press box glass. So in addition to the pixelated nature of the stream, the rainy weather conditions further reduced visibility of the stream to the point where it's clear they're just checking a box saying they had a stream. It was impossible to distinguish any players. The feed had a constant watermark from Singular.Live, which indicates on their home page to be "The New Standard for Live Graphics." Not sure they can be held accountable for the camera work, but based on this stream, that "new standard" was poor. At least there was commentary from Lucas Kleimeyer, who did a good job, otherwise it would have been a worthless watch. When credit it due, this is my opportunity to once again thank Indy Eleven for taking the stream requirement seriously and doing so at a professional level.

Now that all that is out of the way, there was a game that was played, whether I could see it well or not. The general gist was that Indy dominated this game and deserved, at a minimum, their 3-nil victory. With better field conditions, and maybe slightly better finishing around goal, you could see how Racing's 9-nil drubbing of Dayton a week earlier could have had a similar result for Indy. There was a lot of one-way traffic towards Morgan Shirley (in the 1st half) and Sally Patton (in the 2nd half) in Dayton's goal.

Indy will face Dayton twice more this season, giving Coach Kim and staff a couple more chances to make a few tactical tweaks, or just hope for better weather conditions (which they'll definitely get inside the Grand Park Event Center), to give Indy a couple more wins and more goals. 

The Girls in Blue head to Racing Louisville next Tuesday before coming back home on the 31st for their first game this season against Kings Hammer, completing their first round of games against the divisional teams. 

The Game Beckons Game Ball

Based entirely on the commentator's descriptions, since I couldn't tell player from player, he was effusive of Pinto's control of the game in the defensive midfield spot. I'm going to take his word on it and give the GBGB to Pinto. 

Indy Eleven vs Dayton Dutch Lions - 2014 U.S. Open Cup

- Opponent: Dayton Dutch Lions

- Location: Indianapolis, Indiana
- Attendance: 9,181
- Final Score: 5-2 (win)
- Starting XI: Nicht (Captain), Norales, Smart, Hyland, Okiomah, Mares, Corrado, Moore, Smith, Ambersley, Spencer
- Substitutions: Omosegbon (Norales), Ramirez (Ambersley), Mendes (Spencer)
- Goals: Smith (26', 30', 88'), Ambersley (43'), Mares (46')
- Bookings: Corrado (19'), Hyland (66'), Moore (82')

As a result of this being a mid-week game, I was unable to attend.  While I was able to catch part of it online thanks to it being U.S. Soccer's Match of the Round, my brother Kevin agreed to provide the first-hand impressions since he was in the stadium.  So please enjoy our first guest post on this site.
Video replay here.




OFFENSIVE FIREPOWER. That’s the theme of the game for the Indy XI. This game was part of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, a midweek game outside of the NASL regular season schedule. Matching up against a lesser opponent in the Dayton Dutch Lions, the Indy XI put on an offensive exhibition, including an incredible hat trick from forward Blake Smith. The Dutch Lions play in the USL Pro Division, which is a league below the NASL. The difference in talent level was evident from the start as the XI dominated throughout the first half. The Indy offense was in control for nearly the entire first half, with goals being scored at the 26th, 30th, and 43rd minute. Mike Ambersley was the other goal scorer in the first half. Taking a 3-0 lead into halftime, the XI clearly controlled the time of possession and exerted their will over the seemingly inferior competitor.

The XI came out of the locker room with the same intensity as the first half and scored in the very first minute of the 2nd half. Dylan Mares was responsible for this first goal, keeping the momentum in the XI’s favor. This was setting up to be a blowout by the home team. The Brickyard Battalion and the fans were thoroughly enjoying this slaughter of the Lions.

But the Dutch Lions found their own offensive stride, scoring in the 66th minute on a questionable penalty kick when defender Kyle Hyland and goalkeeper Kristian Knicht teamed up to take down Dutch Lions player, Aaron Shoenfeld. The penalty kick was nearly stopped but the Lions scored to make the game 4-1. In the second half, the Lions were definitely more offensively focused and put the XI on their defensive heels with strong strikes inside Indy’s defensive third. It looked like this might turn into a competitive game after all. The Dutch Lions scored once again in the 76th minute to make the score 4-2. Fans were quietly murmuring that the XI were going to let their first win slip away. But Blake Smith put an end to those discussions when he scored his third goal at the 88th minute, making the final score 5-2 (Editors note: Of the Indy Eleven goals, Blake Smith was involved in all five; 3 goals, 2 assists).

To see a hat trick is a rare occurrence in soccer. It takes a special blend of luck, skill and timing to achieve this feat. As a spectator you root so hard when that player gets his second goal, hoping to see something so unique in sports. Seeing Blake Smith get his third goal and the XI get their first win was a special night indeed. Witnessing the XI’s first win was just as enjoyable and fans can rest assured that this team will win more games, in this season and into the future.