Indy Eleven vs El Paso Locomotive - 12.08

Summary

- Opponent: El Paso Locomotive FC
- Location: Southwest University Park
- Attendance: 5,077
- Final Score: 3-1 L

- Starting XI: Sulte, Stanley, Musa, Hogan, Ofeimu, O'Brien, J., Murphy, Quinn (C), Blake, Foster, Amoh

- Substitution: Rendon 45' (O'Brien, J.); Collier 45' (Ofeimu); Williams, R. 45' (Amoh); Lindley 84' (Blake); Kizza 84' (Foster)

- Unused: Charles-Cook, White

Scoring Summary:
ELP - Moreno 13' (assist Ortiz)
ELP - Calvillo 32' (assist Cabrera)
ELP - Daroma 82' (assist Cabrera)
IND - Kizza 85' (assist Quinn)

- Bookings:

IND - Blake 29' (Yellow)
IND - Foster 37' (Yellow)
ELP - Ruiz 42' (Yellow)
IND - Hogan 47' (Yellow)
ELP - Cabrera 65' (Yellow)
ELP - Diaz 65' (Yellow)

- Referee: Greg Dopka

- Adage goals: None.

Thoughts and Opinions

I'm going to be honest, I watched the first half of this game on my phone while sitting in Grand Park hoping that the USL-W League team would regain the power and have a late kickoff. Then I more or less listened to the second half while I drove home. What I got out of both of those halves listening to El Paso's broadcast commentary from Duke Keith was that Indy couldn't finish around the goal (not until Kizza's late goal to ruin Jahmali Waite's clean sheet) and El Paso was more than content in the second half to take the air out of the game at every possible situation in the second half. They came away with a 3-1 win, and Indy continue to look like they need to figure something out because the team that took the Philadelphia Union to penalty kicks and nearly beat Sacramento in Sacramento a few days later was not the team that showed up in El Paso. 

Two things keeps jumping to my mind in this game.

1. Moreno's "gut-busting run" in the first half to open the scoring seemed like an issue of nobody stopping the ball. Indy got caught in transition from ELP against the run of play with Stanley the only player in a good position and O'Brien and Blake trying to catch up. I'm sure he had a reason in the moment, but I don't understand why Stanley went with the secondary runner on the break.
   
   Nobody stopped the ball. If you don't stop the ball, bad things often happen. If Stanley had gone to Moreno, the trailing runner would have likely been pushed offside unless Moreno had found an inch-perfect window to get the ball to Cabrera between when Stanley went to the ball before Cabrera went offside. Instead, Stanley went with Cabrera, allowing Moreno to continue to attack towards Indy's goal until he found the window he needed to get his shot with Stanley out of the picture. Cabrera did exactly what he wanted to do, but I'm unclear as to why Stanley made the decision he made. 
2. For the first time in several games, Amoh wasn't able to poach his one really good chance in the first half that probably would have turned the game back towards Indy. You can't get to all the balls, but he has looked like he might be capable of getting to everything lately. Missing the opportunity meant Indy continued to still play from behind and then when ELP found a long distance shot through traffic slip past Sulte, all that remained was the final score. For whatever reason, what I did see of the game, it didn't look like they were going to be able to get back into the game after going down by two.

Indy have to regroup and watch the rest of the league play their games Saturday before heading back on the road to face One Knoxville in Indy's second game of the Jagermeister Cup.

The Game Beckons Game Ball

I don't have to give a GBGB. I regularly have a game where I don't. While this won't be an official GBGB, I do want to give Lindley and Kizza some props for their effort when they came on late. Kizza has been supplanted by Amoh in the starting lineup due to Amoh's form, but the former Riverhound came into the game with the team down by 3 goals and found himself a goal. Forwards thrive on seeing a ball go in for them, so it's good to see him get rewarded for the late effort set up by Lindley's delivery into the box that Quinn headed back across goal. 

Indy Eleven vs El Paso Locomotive - 11.27

Summary

- Opponent: El Paso Locomotive
- Location: Carroll Stadium
- Attendance: 10,132
- Final Score: 3-1 W

- Starting XI: Sulte, Stanley, Diz Pe, Ofeimu, White, Quinn (C), Soumaoro, Blake, Foster, Williams, R., Williams, A.

- Substitution: Wootton 61' (Soumaoro); Collier 74' (Blake); Martinez 74' (Foster); Lindley 79' (Quinn); Guenzatti 79' (Williams, R.)

- Unused: Oettl, O'Brien, J.

- Scoring Summary:
IND - Williams, R. 12' (assist Williams, A.)
IND - Foster 49' (assist Blake)
IND - Collier 77' (assist Martinez)
ELP - Zacarias 83' (unassisted)

- Bookings:

IND - White 58' (Yellow)
ELP - Alfaro 63' (Yellow)
ELP - Bench 76' (Yellow)
ELP - Lyons 86', 90'+4' (Yellow, Yellow, RED)
ELP - Coronado 86', 90'+3' (Yellow, Yellow, RED)

ELP - Dollenmayer 88' (Yellow)
IND - Lindley 90'+6' (Yellow) - Has Cam ever had a yellow card that he didn't deserve? He's the king of the "professional foul" for Indy and is creeping up the club's leaderboard for yellow cards.

- Referee: Sergii Demianchuk

- Adage goals: None

Thoughts and Opinions

El Paso came into Carroll Stadium as the last place team in the Western Conference, as well as the last West Conference team to come to Indy for the season. From here on out, Indy face their Eastern Conference foes. Coming into the game, Indy absolutely needed a win tonight with just 8 points separating the teams in the playoff positions in the Eastern Conference not named Louisville City and Charleston Battery, who have already clinched playoff spots. The playoff teams from the Eastern Conference are going to come down to the wire and three points was vital to keep Indy in the hunt for one of the four opening home playoff games, but to also keep themselves from sliding backwards in the table. While not officially eliminated from contention in the Western Conference, El Paso was looking to maintain their recent run-of-form, having five positive results in the last six games that followed a string of 5 losses in a row, including three clean sheets in a row. 

It was Indy that got the game going quickly, getting their first shot on target in the first 30 seconds. The game settled down after Indy got out of the blocks quickly, but it was still Indy that put the first goal on the board in the 12th minute when Augi Williams slotted a ball across the middle of the box that Romario Williams one-timed passed Waite. The goal gave Williams his 60th goal in league history and prevented ELP from a fourth clean sheet in a row. ELP has also struggled this year when they concede first, with a 0W-12L-0D record under that scenario. On the season, Indy had an overall record of 10W-7D-9L coming into the game with a record of 5W-5D-8L against Playoff teams, a record of 5W-2D-1L against non-Playoff teams, and a record of 0W-2D-7L (-15 GD) against Top 4 teams. 

That poor trend from ELP and Indy's success against non-playoff teams continued with a 3-1 victory for the home side behind goals from Romario, Foster, and Collier. The win keeps Indy in the hunt for the fourth opening home playoff game as Detroit defeated New Mexico to stay just ahead of Indy, but Indy has games-in-hand over DCFC.

Somehow that free kick from Cavillo was saved by Sulte

The visitors nearly equalized in the 15th minute thanks to a free kick from just outside the box. With Hunter Sulte looking into the setting sunset, Calvillo perfectly put the ball around the Indy wall. From the west camera angle (see photo on the right), it was clear that the ball was destined for the upper 90. However, the 6'-7" frame of the Anchorage, Alaska native extended all of that frame and managed to parry the ball wide of the goal, keeping Indy's one-goal advantage intact. 

The game became a bit more tilted to Indy's offensive half of the field in the next 15 minutes as Indy continued to pepper Waite with shots on target. Augi put one just wide of the right post after a feed from Romario, while Blake continued to show that he has no fear of shooting from any distance, and mostly on target. The two teams tried to turn the game into a bit of a track meet for the next 15 minutes as ELP worked to claw their way back into the game and Indy looked to try to put the game out of reach before halftime. Neither team found another goal, and so the teams went into halftime locker room with Indy leading one goal to nil thanks to the 12th minute goal from Romario.

Indy came out of the halftime break just like they started the game with a Foster opportunity in the 48th minute that Waite managed to stop. The Indy fans began to wonder if this was going to be another one of those games where Indy couldn't make good on their chances, thereby letting a team hang around, and then things go badly for Indy late in the game. A minute later, however, Indy had another chance when Blake put a ball through the lines to an on-rushing Foster. Maalique put on the brakes sending his defender sliding well past him, brought the ball to his left foot, and pushed a composed shot around Waite to give Indy a two-goal lead.

With the goal, a collective sigh of relief spread around the Indy fanbase now that the team had a little breathing room with the two-goal lead. A late-game slip-up might not completely derail the victory. ELP, to their credit, refused to back down and continued to make their own in-roads into Indy's defensive half of the field. As they would get closer to the goal though, Indy's defense would come up big and prevent the most dangerous attacks from reaching Sulte, who finished with 4 saves. Waite, on the flipside, finished with 6 saves, but it seemed like he was the more active of the two keepers. If it had not been for his effort and a little bit more clinical finishing, this game might have been an embarrassing result for the Locomotive.

Some late game cards forced the game to finish with Indy up by 2 goals and 2 players as not one, but two different ELP players received their second yellow of the game late in stoppage time. Amazingly, both players didn't receive their first yellow card until the 86th minute, but still managed to find an early exit from the game due to multiple yellow cards. Indy defended well at the end, and finished with a 3-1 win.

Indy have three games remaining vs non-Playoff teams & three games against Top 4 teams. The next two weeks are games against some of those non-playoff teams in North Carolina and home against Miami (who are already eliminated from the playoffs). It's vital to get wins the next two weeks before Louisville City come to town.

The Game Beckons Game Ball

The attacking triumvirate of Williams, Williams, and Foster was the best we've seen all season. Augi and Maalique both had opportunities that should have been goals, but all three players found their way onto the scorecard tonight accounting for two goals and one assist. The law firm of Williams & Williams looked more connected tonight and are starting to figure out how to play with each other. Foster's pace gives teams one more thing to think about and his interplay between the Williams boys and his desire to help out defensively nearly forced me to give him the GBGB outright. The three together, though, were what really put ELP on their heels during Indy's 37% possession. Diz Pe gets one of my honorable mentions as he has learned to put a long diagonal ball over the top that bypasses the midfield, and that is an effective weapon when the defense pinches in while Foster maintains his width nearly to the touchline. A ball over the top to Foster who has the pace to outrun many defenders puts him in a position to make a play. Sometimes that play is taking it himself like he did for his goal, but it also allows him to pick out either Williams who were constantly making the runs into the box to receive potential crosses. Going with my eye test, I still have to give tonight's GBGB to all three players. 

Photos - Don Thompson Photography

Indy Eleven vs El Paso Locomotive - 10.25

Summary

- Opponent: El Paso Locomotive
- Location: Southwest University Park
- Attendance: 6,684
- Final Score: 3-2 W

- Starting XI: Trilk, Boudadi, Diz Pe, Chapman-Page, Dambrot, Blake, Lindley, Quinn, Asante, Velasquez, Guenzatti (C)

- Substitution: Robledo 66' (Velasquez); Martinez 66' (Blake); Pinho 85' (Asante); Jerome 90'+3' (Guenzatti); Rebellon 90'+3' (Dambrot)

- Unused: Crawford, Reveno

- Scoring Summary:
ELP - Calvillo 21' (assist Navarro)
IND - Guenzatti 53' (assist Blake)
ELP - Navarro 55' (assist Petrovic)
IND - Chapman-Page 64' (assist Diz Pe)
IND - Martinez 71' (assist Boudadi)

- Bookings:

ELP - Zacarias 32' (Yellow)
ELP - Calvillo 45'+3' (Yellow)
IND - Blake 47' (Yellow)
ELP - Diaz 58' (Yellow)

- Referee: Gerald Flores

- Adage goals: One

Thoughts and Opinions

The month of August has been a case of multiple games in short windows. Indy started the month with a Saturday-Wednesday-Saturday series against Memphis, Birmingham, and Miami, respectively. After a week of training, Indy began another Saturday-Wednesday-Saturday series, starting with El Paso tonight, and continuing with Memphis and Loudoun, respectively. Indy finished the first August series with a 2W-0D-1L record and were wanting to match, or better, that record in the second series of August. With the win tonight, Indy start the second series of August on a good note and extend their win streak to three games.

Indy also came into this game against Coach Lowry's previous team with their names all over the league's News & Notes. 

• Solomon Asante's three-assist night against Birmingham made him just the first player in league history to record three different three-assist games, two of which have occurred during his time here in Indy. The assist also meant that Solo became the first player in USL Championship league history to score 50 goals and have 50 assists. 
• Three days later, Aodhan Quinn assisted Diz Pe's goal against Miami to bringing the 50/50 club to two members. Both players, amazingly, sit at the same number of assists and goals at 103 (53/50 for Quinn and 51/52 for Asante). 
• In the BHM game where Asante moved into the 50/50 club, Guenzatti's goals on those assists put Guenzatti into sole place in 9th in the league's regular season goal scoring list.
• Coming into tonight's game:
• Quinn needed 3 more appearances to reach the 250-game mark in regular season appearances.
• Jerome needed 1 more appearance to reach the 150-game mark (which he achieved tonight with a late game substitution, as he and Rebellon were able to get a few minutes of action in their previous home field).
• Diz Pe was 192 minutes away from the 10,000 minute mark (now needing just 102 minutes after going the full 90 in tonight's game).
• Callum-Page had one of his yellow cards removed under the Good Behavior incentive to remove him from the the potential of yellow card accumulation suspension.
• Boudadi, however, is firmly at risk of being suspended after picking up his 8th card of the season against Miami (had previously had one card removed for Good Behavior), so he sits at 7 official yellow cards on the season.

Indy started the game doing what everybody thought they would do; hold possession. It wasn't a surprise to Indy fans, nor was it a surprise to the El Paso players, coaches, or fans. Also not a surprise to Indy fans was that despite all of the possession, and the early chances, it was El Paso that opened the scoring in the game even though ELP was on a 9-game winless streak and 4-game losing streak.  In their losing streak, ELP had been outscored 17-3, and yet they found themselves with the better chances and a lead going into the halftime locker.

 

Indy has just not shown an ability to get consistent results. I don't know if you can blame it on the later start, or the difference in altitude, but the urgency wasn't there for Indy throughout much of the first half. They maintained their deliberate approach to possession without overtly dangerous attacks. I couldn't have been the only Indy fan who was thinking at that point in the game that we were in for another round of the "we were the better team, but didn't get a result" speech from Coach Lowry.

Then the second half took a trip from El Paso to Crazytown. 

Indy equalized in the 53rd minute with a toe-poke goal from Guenzatti that slide under Diaz. About 90-seconds later, El Paso went back on top in the 55th minute from a rocket by Navarro that Trilk will likely think he could have done better parrying, after getting his hands to it, but unable to keep it out of the net. Chapman-Page redirected a corner kick that went through a swarm of people before finding its way to Callum who just needed to get his body in front of the ball to let it bounce off him into goal. Diz Pe was listed as the one who was credited with the assist, but I didn't see it touch anybody between Quinn's corner kick and Chapman-Page's touch. Finally, Boudadi sent a ball through the lines for second half substitute Martinez to run onto and toe-touch another ball under Diaz for the game winning goal.

The game finished as a 3-2 win for Indy Eleven with Trilk being credited with zero saves. ELP had 2 shots on target and two goals. Indy had 7 shots on target and three goals. Indy went into the halftime locker room with 1 shot on target and no goals. The difference in attack from Indy between halves was stark. It's almost like Indy was saving themselves in the first half knowing that if they could weather ELP's first half attacks, then Indy could throw the kitchen sink at the game to get the three points in Coach Lowry's first trip back to El Paso. 

I would have preferred to see more of the second half effort from Indy in the first half, but they managed to get the result. With the win, and the other results around the league for the night, Indy maintain their position on the table, but are now, amazingly, within 3 points of Louisville City for 5th place, and a win on Wednesday against Memphis would put Indy tied on points with MEM and needing tiebreaker levels to figure out who is above the other on the table (admittedly with MEM still having games in hand). I said it on Reddit this week, but a win against ELP and a good showing against MEM and I would have to reconsider my pessimism on this team's chances to make, and succeed in, the playoffs. Indy upheld the first part of that scenario tonight with the win.

Indy return to action on Wednesday against Memphis and then return home to face Loudoun who have lost 17 of the 27 games they have played. Indy squeaked by Loudoun in May thanks to a 73rd minute goal from Guenzatti and a 90th minute goal from Tejada. The teams are currently on different trajectories, but it's a game that Indy needs to win at home. 

The Game Beckons Game Ball

In a game that went the way that this one did, there are a few guys who I think could get the GBGB. There were three goals scored from three different players, with each goal being assisted by three different players. Six different players were involved in the 3 Indy goals. The midfield trio of Blake, Lindley, and Quinn were pretty good too. I think, though, that I'm going to give Martinez the GBGB for the game-winning goal where he had to time his run well to get behind the defense and then get the ball past the keeper. The run was perfect, the shot wasn't ideal, but it was effective. His goal brings Indy home on a legitimate win streak. That's worthy of the GBGB.

Indy Eleven vs El Paso Locomotive FC - 08.07

Summary

- Opponent: El Paso Locomotive FC
- Location: Southwest University Park
- Attendance: 5,189
- Final Score: 2-0 L

- Starting XI: Farr, Ouimette (C), Cochran, Timmer, Koffie, Law, Seagrist, Moon, Wild, Smith, Hamilton

- Substitutions: Gutjahr 45' (Koffie); Arteaga 61' (Moon); Ayoze 62' (Ouimette); Law 78' (Vassell); Sissoko 85' (Wild)
- Unused: Edwards, Malic

- Scoring Summary:
ELP - Ross 2' (assist Solignac)
ELP - Lung 49' (assist King)

- Bookings:
IND - Koffie 6' (Yellow)
IND - Smith 40' (Yellow)
IND - Ouimette 44' (Yellow)
ELP - Rebellon 57' (Yellow)

- Referee: Jon Freemon
- Adage goals: Two

Thoughts and Opinions

The number of games the Eleven have played in the past week and a half is the busiest stretch of the games they are going to face all season. Since the Louisville game, Indy played OKC, Memphis, and El Paso and finished with a 1W-1D-2L record, and a -4 goal differential, looking increasingly worse as the run of games progressed. It's difficult to look at Indy's passing accuracy stat of 87% against El Paso and reconcile it with the fact that they were not the better team on the field. I indicated after the Memphis game that I didn't think Indy could win in El Paso and that, unfortunately, came to fruition in a frustrating 2-nil loss. A loss that started much the same way that the Memphis game started.

Before you could get fully comfortable in your couch with your beverage of choice and some snacks. Indy found themselves down a goal in the second minute from a Macca King cross to a wide open Nick Ross, who calmly placed the ball out of Farr's reach whose body weight had him leaning the wrong way. Getting yourself down that early against a team like El Paso is a formidable task during the best of situations. When it's 100-degrees at game time and you have had plane issues that forced you to get into El Paso at 2:00 AM (Indy time), the prospect of getting a positive result goes down drastically. 

"It seems like after these stretch of games that we didn’t have that extra energy we needed to get the goal." - Coach Rennie

Not going down a goal within the first 5 minutes of games would drastically help not having to chase games and Indy have done that in back-to-back games. El Paso's 49th minute goal (proving Indy came out of the halftime locker room as slow the first half), can be chalked up to an individual effort from Luna and getting a 30-yard blast through traffic with Farr having his vision blocked. However, and I hate to single guys out like this, but the first goal was because of poor communication (and effort) from Moon and Ouimette.

As the play begins, the three CBs have a single ELP player covered, with Nicky Law covering the ball and forcing the player away from goal and the middle of the field. El Paso's Nick Ross is making the run on the left side of the field and Moon is behind him, watching the ball. Former Indy Eleven player Dylan Mares is near the ball, but is making a run towards goal as the ball gets recycled out to the right side to former Indy player Macca King.

As King gets on the ball and makes one of his 5 crosses for the game, Dylan has now joined his teammate and are occupying Indy's CBs. Moon is still lagging behind the play and still watching the ball.

The headed ball gets dummied (or missed) and heads to Ross, who has yards of space around him to control the ball, compose himself, and put the ball back across goal as Farr tried to recover. Moon never closed out on Ross or let Ouimette know if Ross's presence so Ouimette was unavailable to get to Ross, even though Timmer and Cochran could have been covering the other ELP attacking players.

I'm not a soccer savant, but it's not difficult to see where the play broke down when watching the replay. This kind of breakdown on defense can't happen that early in the game and indicates to me that the players didn't come out ready to go. It's also disheartening as an Indy fan that the breakdown occurred between two of the returning players, so it can't be rationalized as the new guys still needing time to gell.

Though the way that the starting lineups have changed in the past week and a half, it's no wonder that guys aren't sure where to be at any given time. Lineups and pairings have been tested during this run and not all of them have been good. Additionally, in the early parts of this game, Indy was playing a back four, with Seagrist dropping deep with Ouimette, Cochran, and Timmer to play the ball out of the back. Based upon the Average Position graphic on the USL match center, the tactics evened themselves out to what we have been seeing of the 3-5-2, but Coach Rennie was clearly concerned with the ability of El Paso to get forward. So the Rennie Bunker (TM) was enacted to start the game and it failed regardless. 

As the guys and Rennie have said since Wednesday, this run is on them and they need to do better. They're professionals and shouldn't use excuses for the results. That being said, Coach Rennie indicated that he does factor into how he looks at a stretch of games not just by the results, but by the circumstances. There is something to be said for that, but this run could see them drop far down the table depending on this weekend's results.

I want to remain optimistic, but the team does not look like a team yet and we're 7 games into the season. The tactics and lineups have been cycled through at a staggering rate, communication is still not there between defenders nor between attacking players, and the best player on the field so far (in my opinion) came to Indy mid-season from his team in England and is 33 years old, so I question his legs towards the end of the season. The team has also not looked like a cohesive unit without Hackshaw on the left side and this might not be the last time the team is without his services this year as he plays for Trinidad & Tobago. This difficult run of play may not be the last one we see from this team, particularly if history is any indication with a Rennie coached Indy squad.

Indy return to the Mike on Tuesday night to take on the Pittsburgh Riverhounds, who have also not had a great run of form to start the season. Will a longer run of rest days help Indy recover from this stretch to get them back in the win column? Or will Indy again start slow and get down early, allowing teams to clog the middle and dare them to play over the top as they have been forced to do recently without any success? We all know that this stretch of games have forced the team into player management mode, but now that these games are in the rearview mirrow, I think we're about to see exactly what players Rennie thinks are his "starters" and who are "depth."

The Game Beckons Game Ball

Photo Credit - EM Dash (from Louisville game)

While his goals against average isn't spectacular and he hasn't been able to keep a clean sheet since the Sporting Kansas City II game, I don't think too many people would argue that many of the goals haven't been Farr's fault. As Rennie put it in the post game, "The score line shouldn’t detract how good his performance was." In this run of 4 games, Jordan has been forced into 16 saves and so I think it's time he get some GBGB credit.