Indy Eleven vs Toledo Villa FC - 05.09

Summary

- Opponent: Toledo Villa FC
- Location: Grand Park Event Center
- Attendance: -
- Final Score: 3-1 W

- Starting XI: Edwards (C), Lee, Kruer, Mill, Brecht, Dardano, Guthrie, Johnson, Jodoin, Sochacki, DeMartino

- Substitution: Hodsden 45' (Sochacki); Joyce 61' (Johnson); Jennings 61' (DeMartino); Chatterton 77' (Lee); Adam 77' (Kruer); Satterfield 86' (Brecht)

- Unused: Phillips, Cueto, May

- Scoring Summary:
IND - Kruer 14' (Sochacki)
IND - Own Goal 35'
TOL - Clark 45'+2'
IND - Johnson 47' (unassisted)

- Bookings: 

IND - DeMartino 31' (Yellow)
IND - Hodsden 80' (Yellow)

- Referee: Rachel Glago

Thoughts and Opinions

Indy began this year's USL W League season a bit slow, scoring just 4 goals through the first 4 games, including being shutout in two of those games. Once they found their scoring boots or held some kind of bad voodoo cleanse, the goals have come in bunches and the results have been drastically different. In the last 4 games, Indy has averaged 5.5 goals/game, scoring 6 goals twice, 7 goals once, and a paltry 3 goals once against Racing Louisville. Tonight's opponent, Toledo Villa FC, came into the game having scored just 3 goals total all season while conceding 24 times in route to a 0W-0D-7L record. Tonight they rolled into the Grand Park Event Center with just 2 substitutes. Let me repeat that a different way. As Norman Dale said in Hoosiers, "my team is on the floor," which wasn't far from being Toledo's mentality. It also goes back to what I've said before. Indy's depth can wear out some of the teams in this division. Even if they weren't overmatched from the start, with just two subs, Toledo didn't stand much chance if they somehow managed to keep it close late. As it turned out, Indy got on the board early, added to it, and overcame a rare mistake that lead to a Toledo goal , and finished with a 3-1 to do their part of trying to make the playoffs.

Photo: Don Thompson Photography

Indy got themselves on the board early in the half when Mac Kruer's height came through on a Sochacki corner kick. Indy was dominating the beginning stages of the game, but were struggling to find their moment on goal. Indy had a half dozen crosses that went through untouched showing that they were dominant in possession, but just a step behind with each other. Indy looked rushed in the final third taking crosses before there was somebody in a position or taking rushed shots AT goal, not ON goal. The goal took some of the pressure off as it related to the need to get the win, but Toledo showed much more pressure on the ball tonight than they did in the previous game.

As the first half was about to conclude, Edwards made one of her rare mistakes and misplayed a ball when Toledo's Clark pressured her and the ball got stuck under Edwards' feet. Clark pounced on the ball and calmly passed it into the goal to pull the visitors back within a goal going into the halftime locker. 

Indy came out of the half determined to restore the multi-goal advantage. Johnson latched onto a ball near the 18-yard box, beat one defender, and put a ball across the goal and out of the reach of Sluss to get the goal differential back to 2 within 2 minutes of the restart. From there, Indy's gas pedal remained firmly planted to the floor to try and further increase that lead and wear down the short-staffed Toledo. 

Photo: Don Thompson Photography

While the shots continued to get added to the score sheet, Johnson's early second half goal was the last of the scoring for the game. Toledo finished with just 3 shots, none of them on target, while Indy finished with 24 shots, 13 of them on target forcing Sluss into 10 saves, but Indy couldn't find another goal. 

While all this was going on in Indy, the fans, staff, and players were keeping an eye on the other game taking place tonight in Dayton as the Dutch Lions faced off against Racing Louisville. With Louisville's final game of the season against the winless Toledo team, Dayton looked to be Indy's best chance to slide into the playoffs if Dayton could get anything out of the game. Even just a draw would have been sufficient for Indy's strong finish to the season and their +23 goal differential to be enough to move on into the playoffs. Both teams scored within the first 11 minutes; Racing first in the 1st minute and then Dayton twice in the 6th and 11th minutes. Both teams then added one more goal apiece before halftime to give the home team Dayton a 3-2 lead at the break. A 58th minute goal from Racing brought the game back level and the nervousness set in. Racing added to their total with an 87th minute goal, likely ending Indy's chances of continuing their season. While no team from the Valley Division has officially clinched, it seems doubtful that Toledo will be able to go to the Lynn Family Sports Vision & Training Center and come away with another but another loss.

Indy's early season lack of finishing that lead to an opening game draw against Louisville and back-to-back shutout losses to Dayton and Louisville means that Indy is going to not be a part of the playoffs in back-to-back seasons. Indy is arguably the best team in the Division, but in a sprint 9-game season, every single game and every single point matters. The team did everything they could don in the back half of the short season, but the two losses and draw took the control of their fate out of their hands. It looked like Dayton was going to do Indy a solid and get a draw against Racing, but they couldn't hold on at the end. 

Indy have to wait until it's official on Saturday when Racing Louisville and Toledo wrap up the Division's last game, but the players, coaches, and staff looked dejected after tonight's game after the news of the other game's result became clear. Despite the 3-1 win and the 25 to 2 goal differential over the last 5 games, another season likely came to an end tonight. 

Game Beckons Game Ball

Three players stuck out to me tonight. Given that it's likely the last game of the 2026 season, I'm going to give the GBGB to each of them. Jodoin continued to be dynamic in the attack, fearing no defender, and being willing to take shots from anywhere and everywhere. Johnson did her best to try and control the midfield while still getting into the attack. And the puzzle piece that keeps all of the attack going is the defensive effort and leadership of Kruer. 

Photos - Don Thompson Photography

Indy Eleven vs Dayton Dutch Lions - 05.08

Summary

- Opponent: Racing Louisville
- Location: Grand Park Event Center
- Attendance: -
- Final Score: 7-1 W

- Starting XI: Edwards (C), Brecht, Mills, Kruer, Lee, Adam, Smith, Dardano, Guthrie, Sochacki, Jodoin

- Substitution: Hodsden 45' (Jodoin); May 67' (Sochacki); Johnson 67' (Dardano); Gillespie 78' (Smith); Chatterton 84' (Lee)

- Unused: Phillips, Hamm, Kikuchi, Satterfield

- Scoring Summary:
IND - Sochacki 16' (assist Jodoin)
IND - Lee 38' (assist Brecht)
DAY - McKinney 43' (assist Kerins)
IND - Guthrie 54' (Hodsden)
IND - Own Goal 65'
IND - Kruer 70' (assist Guthrie)
IND - Johnson 83' (Penalty Kick)
IND - Guthrie 87'

- Bookings:

DAY - Powell 58' (Yellow)
DAY - McKinney 78' (Yellow)
IND - Lee 80' (Yellow)
DAY - Brunetti 83' (Yellow)

- Referee: Jordan Hindes

Thoughts and Opinions

It's been 7 days since Dayton was here on Sunday, but in the week between the games, the visitors from Ohio weren't able to locate any other players and continued to just travel with a very limited roster, having just 4 substitutes available, while Indy had their full compliment. As with the game on Sunday, the ability to have fresh legs late looked to be a potential advantage for Indy if the game was in doubt. The game wasn't fully in doubt late, but things did get out of hand as Indy scored two goals in the first half and another 5 in the second half to secure a 7-1 win. 

Guthrie put a shot off the crossbar from the kickoff to signify that Indy was going to be on the attack. Dayton to their credit were much more engaged early to get the first official shot on target in the game. The ball went straight to Edwards, but it was clear that Dayton was looking to not leave Indy conceding 6 goals again. They once against put themselves into a bad spot though when Jodoin split two defenders near the right corner and then found a wide open Sochacki at the penalty spot who made no mistake with her shot passed Brandon. As with the game on Sunday, Dayton increased their intensity again after the first goal. The visitors were going to refuse to go down easily for a second time in a week.

The Lions nearly equalized in the 25th minute when a rare mistake in Indy's defense nearly came back to hurt them. Edwards was forced to come off her line and the ball was pushed around her. The centering cross rolled within feet of the goal line, but managed to go across the entire face of goal without a player from either team. Indy dodged the bullet, but Dayton had a really good opportunity to bring the game back to level.

As has been the trend this week, Indy dominated all the offensive stats going into the halftime locker room, including a second crossbar hit, the second one coming from Sochacki. However, Dayton made good on an opportunity as the half was winding down. McKinney received the ball from Kerins around 25 yards away from goal and immediately turned and went straight at goal. Before any of the Indy defenders could step close enough to her, she took a shot from outside the box that Edwards appeared to think it was going to go over the crossbar, but it suddenly dipped down and slide just under the bar to get the visitors on the board. As the teams went into the break, Indy could have, and probably should have, scored a couple more goals, but Indy's rushed shots and Dayton's defense kept the Lions within range.

Dayton came out of the locker room looking to make an immediate impact and change the tenor of the game with two really good opportunities on goal. Indy's defense and Edwards made a mistake and Dayton was nearly in on goal uncontested. The Indy defense managed to recover just enough to get the ball to trickle just wide of Edwards' post. The gauntlet was thrown down though that Dayton was not going to go quietly. 

After the early threats at the Indy goal, Indy decided that they were still going to play and found a third goal after second half substitute Hodsden got the ball away from her defender and did what she does; she went at goal. Instead of continuing to goal, she put in a cross that Guthrie redirected into the goal with her stomach to restore Indy's 2-goal lead.

The 3rd goal wasn't the game winner, nor was it the last of the scoring, but it was the precursor of things to come. Indy scored four more times after Guthrie's goal, including a second from Guthrie, an Own Goal, and a penalty kick from Johnson, fresh from her return playing with the USWNT U20s in Spain. 

A week ago, Indy sat behind Dayton and Louisville, needing to get wins to put themselves in contention to make the playoffs as the Valley Division winners. 7 days and 3 games later, Indy have done everything they needed to give themselves a chance. Three victories and 22 goals to put them on top of the division is all you can ask from a group of women who have only played 8 games together. Now Indy have to sit and wait to determine how important the Toledo game will be. If Dayton doesn't take points off of Louisville in one of their upcoming two games, it's still feasible that Indy's recent dominance of the Valley Division could be for naught.

Game Beckons Game Ball

Sitting a few seats away from Greg Rakestraw during the game, I could hear him reference me in the telecast and who he thought I might choose for tonight's GBGB winner. His guess was that I might select Brecht, who I admit had a legitimate argument to get the GBGB. Much of the first half went through her on the right side and she routinely blasted up field and caused issues for the Dayton defense. However... I have to give the GBGB to Guthrie. Sometimes the selected GBGB player comes down to a feeling about who sticks out for me. Sometimes it's that plus who fills up the stat sheet. Guthrie kept showing up for me as someone who was going non-stop to get to the balls or win them back. She also scored a brace, had an assist, had 9 of Indy's 22 shots, committed 5 fouls, and had the audacity to try and chip the Dayton keeper on the opening kickoff. Rakestraw is correct that Brecht is deserving, but tonight's GBGB goes to Guthrie.

Photo - Don Thompson Photograpy

Indy Eleven vs Racing Louisville - 05.07

Summary

- Opponent: Racing Louisville
- Location: Grand Park Event Center
- Attendance: -
- Final Score: 3-0 W

- Starting XI: Edwards (C), Brecht, Mills, Kruer, Lee, Smith, Dardano, Guthrie, DeMartino, Sochacki, Jodoin

- Substitution: Jennings 45' (Jodoin); Codd 45' (Dardano); Hodsden 45' (Sochacki); Chatterton 64' (Lee); Adam 64' (Kruer); Chong 77' (Smith); Hamm 83' (Guthrie)

- Unused: Phillips, Satterfield

- Scoring Summary:
IND - Sochacki 4' (assist Mills)
IND - Guthrie 36' (assist Smith)
IND - Jennings 62' (assist Codd)

- Bookings:

LOU - Snyder 68' (Yellow)

- Referee: Dana Hackney

Thoughts and Opinions

Three games in 7 days is a lot on the legs, particularly when the games may realistically determine whether you make it into the playoffs. Even more so when the two teams you are playing in those games are the most likely other alternatives to get that playoff spot, and they don't have any other games in the same period. Additionally, unlike Sunday's game where Dayton brought 3 substitutes, Racing Louisville rolled into the Grand Park Event Center with 19 players so Indy's ability to outwork and tire their opponent late was not going to be an option. Fortunately for Indy Eleven fans, Indy got on the board early, added to it twice more, and kept Louisville off the scoreboard to stay in the race for the Divisional lead with the season winding down. A lot left to play for in the final two games, and hope Louisville drop points in one of their final games, but Indy had 3 things on the To Do list this week - well, technically, it was one thing, but do it 3 times... win - and they have checked off two of those boxes.

Indy got off to a quick start when Mills put a ball through the Louisville lines. It didn't look like it was originally intended to be for Sochacki, but that's who latched onto the ball as it rolled into the box. Reece collected it nicely and put the ball over Lee and off the underside of the crossbar before the ball bounced beyond the line for the opening, and game-winning, goal.

After the goal, possession skewed towards Louisville, but they weren't able to get many good shooting opportunities from it. Much of that ineffectiveness in the final third was due to the defensive prowess of Mills, Kruer, Brecht, and Lee who seemed to be perpetually in the right places to stifle the attacks. Racing do a good job of playing spaces and working their way through the midfield, but Indy's tenacious defending constantly put them in positions to take the ball away or eventually force Racing into locations where they couldn't do anything with the ball.

Photo: Don Thompson Photography

As the half began to wind down, it could be easily argued that despite being down a goal, Racing was the better team...other than in their final third. Indy had 8 shots to Racing's 2 as the half closed. In the 36th minute, against the run of play, Indy found a second goal through a moment of brilliance from Guthrie. She found herself in open space 35-yards from goal and audaciously put a shot over the goalkeeper and tucked under the bar in the far corner to double Indy's lead that stunned everybody in attendance and completely surprised Lee. "Take me home momma and put me to bed. I have seen enough to know I have seen too much." When you have to get a win, putting your opponent down by two going into the halftime locker room creates a different momentum feeling than if they're only down by one.

The second half started with four consecutive corners for Indy, but after that the early part of the half had the same feel as the first half with Racing holding a significant portion of the possession in their defensive half of the field, but couldn't get much accomplished in the final third. That lack of attacking results were not Indy's problem as the shots continued to pile up until Jennings added a third goal in the 62nd minute. Indy finished the game with a 22 to 4 shot advantage, with 11 of those 22 shots being on target. Edwards, conversely, was credited with just 2 saves, neither of which I would consider to be overly threatening.

At this point, everything was finished but the whistle. Indy had some decent chances, while Louisville's offense continued to fizzle out in the final third. When the final whistle sounded, Indy took another step closer to potentially making the playoffs again, while Louisville knew their fates were now also on a razor thin edge. Everybody except Toledo still have a chance and everything to play for in the final two weeks of games.

Indy returns to the Grand Park Event Center on Saturday to play Dayton Dutch Lions for the second time in 7 days. Indy can't win the Division on Saturday, but they can lose it. It's still win out or definitely stay home. Any dropped points now will put them out of contention for the Valley Division's playoff spot.

 

Game Beckons Game Ball

It's a bit unfair that I haven't done this yet this season, but Indy's defense has been stout all season, never conceding more than 1 goal in any of the games and collecting three straight clean sheets. Indy's offense has finally started to connect on the shots they were missing early in the season and winning results have followed. However, a constant through all the results has been the play of defender Mac Kruer. The center back has been solid and constantly settled the Louisville attack that often made it through Indy's midfield far too easily. I'm going to throw in her CB-pairing of Mills, and the combined pair get tonight's GBGB for their constant effort against a very dangerous Racing Louisville attack. 

Photos: Don Thompson Photography

Indy Eleven vs Dayton Dutch Lions - 05.06

Summary

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

- Starting XI: Edwards (C), Brecht, Mills, Kruer, Yu, Lee, Smith, Dardano, Guthrie, Sochacki, Jodoin

- Substitution: Adam 43' (Yu - injury); Hodsden 45' (Sochacki); Chatterton 63' (Lee); Hamm 63' (Brecht); DeMartino 63' (Dardano); Chong 63' (Guthrie); May 72' (Jodoin)

- Unused: Phillips, Satterfield

- Scoring Summary:
IND - Jodoin 13' (unassisted)
IND - Dardano 45'+3' (unassisted)
IND - Hodsden 56' (assist Mills)
IND - Hodsden 76' (assist Mills)
IND - Hodsden 78' (unassisted)
IND - Chatterton 90'+2' (assist May)

- Bookings:

None

- Referee: Rachel Glago

Thoughts and Opinions

I stated it before, but in a Valley Division that includes just 4 teams and only the top team makes it to the league's playoffs, every game becomes a proverbial 6-point game. After you've lost two of your first five games, the importance of getting wins gets magnified. That's where Indy found themselves heading into tonight's game against the Division-leading Dayton Dutch Lions. After a 1-nil victory for Dayton two weeks ago in Dayton, Indy was able to flip the script and help themselves in the goal differential category with a 6-nil victory in the friendly confines of the Grand Park Event Center.

Dayton had just 3 available substitutes and were forced into an early sub due to injury, further reducing their bench. <sarcasm>Probably not related<sarcasm>, Dayton setup in a 4-4-1 in a bit of an immediate bunker, trying to to guard against Indy's anticipated waves of attacks as they looked to make amends for the first game's result and to keep Indy in front of them to keep their legs as fresh as possible for as long as possible. Within the first 15 minutes, Indy looked the better team, continually forcing Dayton further into that low block, forcing Dayton to question that bunker logic. After Indy scored in the 13th minute when Jodoin single-handedly took on multiple Dayton players and crushed a ball into the corner of the goal, Dayton had no choice but to open themselves up and the game became much more wide open after the opening goal. 

After the Yu substitute late in the first half forced Indy into their own unscheduled substitute, the Dayton Dutch Lions had to feel good about going into the half down just a goal given the discrepancy in all the stats. Indy dominated possession, shots, shots on target, crosses, etc. However, as stoppage time was winding down, the Lions' goalkeeper attempted to clear a ball, but Indy's Dardano put herself in the way and Spiller's clearance slammed against Dardano's shin and rebounded straight into the goal to give Indy a 2-nil lead going into the locker room. Drew Conner's goal that was blasted off his head came to mind as a similar, but less painful, scoring opportunity in Indy Eleven history. The goal completely changed the momentum going into halftime. Had the score remained 1-nil, Dayton could have come out of the locker room feeling refreshed and ready to tackle another half. The second goal meant they came out feeling tired, with limited substitutes, and staring at an uphill climb.

Coach Kim made a substitution coming out of the half, taking off Sochacki and bringing in Hodsden, who almost immediately made her coach look like a genius getting a shot very soon as coming in. The debut goal from Hodsden wouldn't take much longer as she found herself 1v1 with Spiller in the 56th minute after a long ball from Mills. Hodsden made no mistake and brought the game to 3-nil. Shortly after the goal, Kim used his ultimate weapon in this game, which was his bench. Kim made 4 substitutions in the 63rd minute, more than Dayton had available to start the game. 

Photo: Don Thompson Photography

The fresh legs increased the pace of play and the required defensive effort by Dayton worked into Indy's favor. I stated before the game that if Indy got the first goal, the game could get out of hand for Dayton late as they just didn't have the fresh bodies to throw into the game to complete a comeback or stem the tide. That was exactly what happened as the substitutes began to run the already ragged Dayton defenders into the ground. Hodsden made quick work at getting her second and then adding her name to Indy's lore by getting a third goal to secure her hat trick. In stoppage time, second-half substitute Chatterton, who is now 1 game away from tying Grace Bahr for most appearances, added one more to give a even half-dozen goals for the second consecutive game. 

Indy needed a win and got an emphatic one. Indy still has a chance. Toledo is out of the race. They're just trying to not get blown out at this point and maybe steal a win along the way. If Indy wins out, they would finish with a 6W-2D-1L record. If Dayton wins out (minus the loss to Indy), the two teams would be tied on record and Points Per Match, but Indy would win the tiebreaker and Racing would be out of the picture because Dayton would have beaten them twice to get to the tiebreaker point. If, however, Racing wins out (minus the loss to Indy), they would finish with a 6W-2D-1L record and would have one more point than Indy, securing the playoff berth for Racing. So Indy needs to take care of business and then hope Dayton and Racing split points somewhere in their two games against each other. 

Indy has to do their part and win against both those teams and they get two more chances to do that this week. Racing comes to town on Wednesday and Dayton returns on Saturday. Get wins this week and then wait to see how those two teams fare against each other in the following weeks.

Game Beckons Game Ball

Photo: Don Thompson Photography

Many times it's not easy to pick a player from Indy as the GBGB winner because everyone plays well. In a 6-nil win, many people have played well, including the goalkeeper and defense. However, a hat trick is a rare feat. So Hodsden is an obvious choice for tonight's GBGB as she joins Williams (2), Soderstrom (1), and Dewey (1) for the 5th hat trick in team history. She had another goal called off, which would have tied her with Williams for most goals in a game (Maddy scored four goals in the 16-nil drubbing of St. Charles in the 2023 season). While Hodsden's hat trick took just 22 minutes, Williams still has her beat due to her 15-minute hat trick in a game against Flint City in the 2022 season. We're mentioning Hodsden's night (where she had 9 shots in 45 minutes of action) in comparison to the best goal-scorer in the team's short history so she's an obvious choice and I have to give it to her. 

Photos - Don Thompson Photography

Indy Eleven vs Racing Louisville - 05.01

Summary

- Opponent: Racing Louisville
- Location: Grand Park Event Center
- Attendance: -
- Final Score: 1-1 D

- Starting XI: Edwards, Satterfield, Kruer, Yu, Brecht, Johnson, Mills, Guthrie, Jodoin, Sochaki, Boyd

- Substitution: Chatterton 72' (Satterfield); May 72' (Sochaki); Dardano 88' (Guthrie)

- Unused: Reason, Adam, Chong, Gillespie, Hamm, Kikuchi

- Scoring Summary:
LOU - Gibson 55' (assist Jones)
IND - Sochaki 65' (unassisted)

- Bookings:

LOU - Snyder 70' (Yellow)

- Referee: Rachel Glago

Thoughts and Opinions

I said coming into the year that there might be games where I'm not as detailed in my articles. While I don't like that it was this game for the Indy Women versus Racing Louisville to start the W-League season, it was either go to the game or go to my kid's Senior Night for the track team. Nothing against Indy, but my kid's more important. However, thanks to the ISC Sports Network and Greg Rakestraw, I was able to watch the game a day late.

I'm not sure how the other two teams in the Valley Division are going to look this year, but if history holds true to form, it will likely be Indy or Racing that will be in contention for representing the Division in the USL W-League playoffs. As such, a 1-1 draw doesn't necessarily hurt either team just yet, Coach Kim's post-game comments felt true to me. Indy controlled the game enough from all aspects to have been able to get the win, so while a draw doesn't entirely feel like a loss, the full three points was definitely there for the taking. Indy had a 15 shot to 3 advantage over the visitors from Louisville, with 7 of those 15 shots being on target, but they just couldn't find more than the one goal. 

After Indy went down a goal kind of against the run of play, it was good to see them come back and get their own goal to at least salvage the point. Much like their male counterparts last weekend against Sporting JAX, if they had been a bit more clinical around goal, this would have been a completely different game and discussion. 

Indy probably did deserve to get the win, but they'll get two more chances since the miniscule four-team Valley Division means that Indy plays each team 3 times. This year's team is going to be the definition of "familiarity breeds contempt" because there just won't be that many teams to spread the anger around. Indy return to action this weekend when the play Toledo Villa, the newcomers to the Valley Division.

Game Beckons Game Ball

I thought that several players had good games, notably goal scorer Sochacki, midfielder Johnson, and defender Kruer, but it was Jodoin who was the player that you couldn't avoid noticing. She had a good game, including 33% of Indy's shots. So she edges her teammates for the GBGB.

Indy Eleven vs Des Moines Menace - 2026 U.S. Open Cup

Summary

- Opponent: Des Moines Menace 
- Location: Community Health Network Events Center at the Droplight Grand Park Sports Complex (that's the only time I writing that this year... CHNECatDGPSC... nope, that might actually be worse)

- Attendance: 3,703
- Final Score: 3-0 W

- Starting XI: Charles-Cook, Barry, Herbert, Mitrano, Neidlinger, Gavilanes, O'Brien, Lindley, Williams, Kizza, Mesanvi

- Substitution: Quinn 45' (Lindley); Okello 45' (O'Brien); Sharp 72' (Kizza); Sing 72' (Williams); Thomas 81' (Mesanvi)

- Unused: Dick, Rasheed

- Scoring Summary:
IND - Mesanvi 31' (unassisted)
IND - Okello 61' (assist Mitrano)
IND - Sharp 72' (unassisted)

- Bookings:

IND - Herbert 42' (Yellow)
IND - Williams 70' (Yellow)
IND - Barry 79' (Yellow)

- Referee: Alex Beehler

- Adage goals: None.

Thoughts and Opinions

This has been a weird start to the Indy Eleven season. Indy went on the road to start the season, which is typical, but Indy did it against an inaugural team and looked like the lesser of the two teams for portions of that game. Then they already had a bye weekend in just the second week of the season. Before the team could play their second league game of the season, the U.S. Open Cup made its way to Indy and the Grand Park Events Center (I told you I'm not writing the full name all year) as Indy welcomed the Des Moines Menace in first round action of the country's oldest ongoing national soccer competition. Last season's star-studded "pre-professionals" that were part of Des Moines' team last year (Sacha Kljestan, Benny Feilhaber, Bradley Wright-Phillips, Dax McCarty, and Matt Hedges, among others) weren't part of the team that Indy faced tonight. In contrast to last year's team, Des Moines fielded a team of early twenty-somethings with just Leroy Enzugusi being born in the last century.

Despite the days between this game and the last, having the second league game this coming Saturday, Coach McAuley changed 9 starters from the roster against Brooklyn, with only Lindley and O'Brien as the holdovers, with Lindley wearing the captain's armband in Quinn's absence from the starting lineup. 

Indy started in a 4-4-2 and were completely unafraid, not surprisingly, is play the ball long from the back trying to get behind the DMM defense early and often. As Indy should against a "pre-professional" team, Indy were the dominant, and physical team early. It was DMM that had the first shot on target, but it was O'Brien's attempt within the first 11minutes that was the most pressing. Then in a flurry of activity in the 17th minute with a ghost from Gavilanes and a header from Kizza, the scoring was nearly opened. Two minutes later, Kizza had another crack at it from close range, but DMM's Barry made himself big enough to stop Kizza's point blank range shot. It looked like a matter of time befoer Indy was going to take the lead.

It took a little longer than it initially appeared it was going to take, but a very long clearance of a DMM corner kick, Mesanvi tracked down a poorly played ball from the DMM goalkeeper and proceeded to chip the defender that had tried to track back to protect the goal. The goal had been coming and it came from a long ball from the defense. The former Minnesota United player finally got Indy off the skid and into the scoring column. Despite a few more good chances, Mesanvi's goal took the teams to the halftime locker room with a 1-nil difference. 

It took a minute, but Indy doubled the scoring in the 61st minute on a Mitrano cross that Okello headed passed Barry. While Barry looked shaky for most of the game, he had enough good moments to keep Indy off the board until Okello's header. 

Indy's cohesiveness and level of effort dropped a bit as the scoreline increased and the subs began to make their way onto the field, but given Indy's less-than-perfect history in the U.S. Open Cup against amateur teams (*ahem Michigan Bucks & Mississippi Brilla), fans will take a 3-0 victory and the chance to move on in the tournament. The talent level should go up in the next round, but Indy will have a couple more weeks of training under their belts when that game takes place.

Indy now turn their attention back to the league on Saturday when Detroit City make the trip to Carroll Stadium.

Game Beckons Game Ball

He had the game-winning goal, but he was also the most dangerous player on the field for much of the game. Mesanvi isn't the most imposing figure at 5'-8" and a buck 30 pounds, but his pace and quick trigger is going to make opposing defenses lose track of him to find some unexpected goals. 

Photos - Don Thompson Photography