Indy Eleven vs New Mexico United - 11.23

Summary

- Opponent: New Mexico United
- Location: Carroll Stadium
- Attendance: 10,013
- Final Score: 3-1 L

- Starting XI: Sulte, Ofeimu, Chapman-Page, Diz Pe, Neidlinger, Stanley, Wootton, Quinn (C), Guenzatti, Williams, R., Williams, A.

- Substitution: Collier 60' (Guenzatti); Blake 60' (Williams, A.); Henderlong 79' (Williams, R.); O'Brien, J. 80' (Chapman-Page); Gibson 80' (Quinn)

- Unused: Oettl, Mines, Musa

- Scoring Summary:
IND - Neidlinger 28' (assist Wootton)
NM - Swartz 53'
NM - Rivas 64' (assist Bruce)
NM - Hurst 75' (assist Hurst)

- Bookings:

IND - Quinn 27' (Yellow)
NM - Rivas 27' (Yellow)
NM - Houssou 27' (Yellow)
NM - Ryden 45'+2' (Yellow)
IND - Diz Pe 61' (Yellow)
IND - Chapman-Page 78' (Yellow)
NM - Hurst 90'+4'(Yellow)

- Referee: Adam Kilpatrick

- Adage goals: None

Thoughts and Opinions

Ugh. Quinn and Blake get back to healthy and the team loses Lindley and Martinez to injuries sustained last week. The team definitely needs a "next man up" attitude right now, and Indy has talent on the bench, but it would be nice to see an injury report that didn't have at least three starter-level players on it. 

The teams weren't want for offense early in this game as both had opportunities within the first five minutes. Indy put a shot on target within the first two minutes and a long-range shot from Romario Williams that found the field suites on the east side of the field after a deflection from a New Mexico player. Indy would have liked nothing more than a quick goal to give the visitors something to think about after their flight from the Land of Enchantment. 

However loose you thought Ricardo Fierro's whistle was last game against Rhode Island, Adam Kilpatrick's while was 180-degrees. Both teams had legitimate complaints for calls, many of them not called. To be fair, he did seem consistent with his lack of calls, but it has to be nearly impossible as a player to know game-to-game how it's going to be called. Those lack of calls boiled over to a rash of yellow cards in the 27th minute when emotions boiled over and a bunch of pushing and shoving finally forced Kilpatrick's hand to do something to bring the tenor back in check.

Indy may be struggling to get the full roster fully healthy, but the injuries have led to the emergence of Academy product Neidlinger, who is looking calmer and calmer as the minutes continue to increase for him. The calmness and continued faith in him from McAuley was rewarded today with a goal in the 28th minute to get the scoring started. With the goal, Neidlinger became the youngest goal scorer in club history. Conversely in the experience category, Romario Williams missed a couple of sitters from within a yard of the goal line. Despite a few chances that should have been scored, the youngster's goal still took the home team into the locker room with a 1-nil lead against the Western Conference leaders. 

Eighteen crosses in the first half, 8 shots (3 on target), 22% long passes, and it looks like Indy is getting back to the way they played during the undefeated streak. Press the other team's offense, and when possession is pulled back, go forward as quickly as possible and put chances into the box to give the team a chance to score. 

I wouldn't call either guy a heavyweight, but Bruce vs Chapman-Page is the kind of matchup that tests a referee's conviction on how they are going to call a game. Neither player are going to back down and both are extremely physical with their play. Nearly every time the ball went in their direction, the referee likely had an opportunity to call a foul on one of them. To get New Mexico on the board, Bruce finally found some space away from Chapman-Page, and was able to get the ball to Swartz who sent a rocket past Sulte. Eleven minutes later, the United doubled their score, and eleven minutes after that, New Mexico found a third. Just like that, Indy's missed chances in the first half had come back to haunt them to hand them a loss. 

Indy's up-and-down run-of-form has been buoyed by the 8-game undefeated streak that preceded it, but a quick look at the table shows that the teams below Indy aren't going away. Indy remained at 4th in the table, the key spot to have a home playoff game, but Birmingham, Rhode Island, and others are nipping at their heels. Unless Indy can find some wins in the coming games, their precarious perch at the top of the table is going to come tumbling down. While Indy now have nearly two weeks off before their next game to potentially get a few bodies healthy, unfortunately, their next game is in Las Vegas, who are currently on an 11-game undefeated streak, getting 5 wins in the run. So it's not like Indy has a cupcake game coming up to get them back to winning ways. Indy also are looking at a 5-game stretch of home and away before finally getting a couple matches in a row at home. 

In and of itself, there's nothing terrible about losing to the best team in the Western Conference. However, when you had chances in the first half to put the opponent away but couldn't do it, and then continue to concede multiple goals in a game, the confidence that the undefeated streak created may be starting to wane. 

The Game Beckons Game Ball

The Academy product, Neidlinger, picked up his first professional goal and is looking better and better with each game. It looks like he is now one of McAuley's favored players and given McAuley's history with Academy teams around the world, it's probably no surprise that he has been given those kinds of players minutes. His professional goal is much cooler, but I'm going to give him his second GBGB award of the season. 

Photos - Don Thompson Photography

Cancer survivor, honorary captain, and goal scorer Bagner!

Indy Eleven vs New Mexico United - 10.29

Summary

- Opponent: New Mexico United
- Location: Isotopes Park
- Attendance: 8,527
- Final Score: 3-2 L

- Starting XI: Trilk, Rebellon, Jerome, Diz Pe, Dambrot, Blake, Lindley, Asante, Velasquez, Guenzatti (C), Pinho

- Substitution: Vazquez 70' (Pinho); Molina 81' (Dambrot); Robledo 81' (Blake)

- Unused: Crawford, Reveno

- Scoring Summary:
IND – Guenzatti 9’ (assist Lindley)
NM - Rivas 44' (assist Hernandez)
NM - Hernandez 64' (assist Bailey)
NM - Portillo 86' (penalty kick)
IND - Vazquez 90'+4' (unassisted)

- Bookings:

NM - Portillo 27’ (Yellow)
NM - Ryden 27' (Yellow)
IND - Blake 39' (Yellow)
IND - Trilk 84' (Yellow)
IND - Vazquez 84' (Yellow)

- Referee: Brad Jensen

- Adage goals: Two

Thoughts and Opinions

Direct quote from my last article for the Miami game: 

Diz has time to recuperate before the next game, which won't be until Friday the 15th at New Mexico, but not having guys available for selection is rearing its head again. Boudadi received a 27th minute yellow card, putting him out for the NM game. Callum-Page picked up a hip injury before the Miami game that might leave him out for a few weeks according to team sources. Martinez picked up a knock that kept him out. King is out indefinitely. If Diz is unable to go in two weeks, the backline is once again going to be light. Though getting Vazquez back helps, but he's only played 14 minutes since returning and probably still isn't fully match fit. 

The roster for tonight's game came out and missing from the lineup were Boudadi (of course, yellow card accumulation will do that to your ability to play), Callum-Page, Martinez, King, Walker, and Quinn. Indy had just four field players on the bench and Academy player Crawford as the backup goalkeeper. Indy's game day roster was reminiscent of so many other games earlier this season. Coach Lowry has talked to me about how the injuries and suspensions take away his ability to affect a game with substitutions (when and whom). Tonight was no different. Throw in a weather delay before the game could even get started and a game on a baseball field, and my concern about how this game would go was already skewed to the pessimistic side before it even reached 9:00 EST.

Amazingly, with the loss, Indy proved my pessimism to be founded and, at least temporarily, could have found themselves in 4th place in the table. Memphis, Louisville, and Birmingham still have games to play this weekend that could have a say in that ranking, but with the way Indy has hovered around the playoff cut line this season (never higher than 7th starting in week 6 until week 23, with 6 of those weeks sitting out of the playoffs), the fact that 4th place was attainable at all demonstrates the run-of-form this team had been on in recent weeks and the absolute unpredictability of results in the league.

I appreciate the need to play out of the back, but the field at Isotopes Park is too narrow to make some of the plays Indy were attempting early in the game after the first goal when NM were trying to immediately claw one back. With the compactness of the field, defenders don't have to go very far to press the ball, and as more defenders get into the press, it's okay to lob the ball up the field to release the pressure. Trilk and the CB duo of Jerome and Diz Pe put the team in some nervy positions early.

In the 26th minute, Indy were awarded their first penalty kick of the season where Quinn was unavailable to take it. Lindley did what he normally does and held onto the ball like he was going to be the one to take the kick, and then proceeded to hand the ball off to another player. Tonight, in Quinn's absence, that player was Guenzatti. Guenzatti is more than capable of scoring from the spot, and having scored once tonight and each of the previous two games, it seemed Indy would be up 2-nil within the first 30-minutes of the game. However, Thomas guessed the correct direction and was able to collect Guenzatti's shot, keeping NM in the game.  

Just before halftime, Indy had a wayward pass find its way to the feet of a NM player, and despite Indy being in good defensive shape at the start of the loss of possession, NM quickly countered through some lunging Indy defenders to find Rivas on the right side of the goal. Trilk managed to get something to it, but it still found its way behind him and into the goal, leveling the evening's affairs right before the halftime whistle. The missed penalty kick from Guenzatti in the 26th minute now loomed large as the two teams were level heading to the locker rooms with another half to play, at elevation, with just one forward and one midfield attackers left on the bench for Indy to make in the second half to try and get a win on the road.

Twenty minutes after the teams returned from the locker room, NM completed the comeback, getting a goal from Hernandez, who had streaked forward. As he received the ball, he had acres of space before Lindley came rushing back to defend. Hernandez put Lindley in the spin cycle, took another touch, and placed his shot nicely out of reach of Trilk who was leaning the wrong way. Indy then had 26 minutes to find their own equalizer. Unfortunately for Indy fans, Indy went 50 minutes without a shot (on or off target) going from the 30th minute to the 80th minute. Indy's only shot in the second half was the 90'+4' goal from Vazquez. New Mexico's high press worked perfectly. They allowed Indy to pass around the back line trying to probe for the next pass through the NM front line, but were slow enough about it to allow the NM team to organize their press. When the press worked, NM went at the Indy goal fast and with numbers. Those numbers led to goals.

New Mexico finalized the important part of the evening's proceedings in the 86th minute with a penalty kick goal after Trilk was forced to make a play on the ball and caught more of the man than the ball. Portillo calmly put his attempt in the goal and the game out of reach. Indy found a stoppage time goal in the 90'+4' to make the scoreline look a little better, but it didn't matter as the ref blew the whistle shortly after the restart. 

The loss brings the undefeated streak to an end with a disappointing thud. Indy's magic number remains at 10 with just five games remaining. Playoffs are still achievable, but this was a game were Indy could have found points to help their cause. As it stands, Indy didn't move up or down the conference table, but Birmingham could have something to say about that by the end of the weekend. 

Indy return to action on Wednesday on the road to take on the Juan Guerra-led Phoenix Rising, with former Indy striker Arteaga near the top of the league in goals behind only his teammate, Trejo, and Pittsburgh forward Dikwa ahead of him. Arteaga and Trejo by themselves have combined for 29 goals for Phoenix, or 78% of Indy's total. The Indy defenders are going to need to have good games on Wednesday.

The Game Beckons Game Ball

This is another one of those games where I have a hard time picking the GBGB. Players had moments, some good, some bad. Guenzatti stands out due to his amazing first goal, but then also his failed penalty kick goal. He also managed 3 of the teams 4 shots on goal. By a thread, Guenzatti gets tonights GBGB in the loss.

Indy Eleven vs New Mexico United - 09.11

Summary

- Opponent: New Mexico United
- Location: Carroll Stadium
- Attendance: 6,915
- Final Score: 2-1 L

- Starting XI: Trilk, Hackshaw (C), Jerome, Timmer, McQueen, Brown, Ingram, Powder, Fjeldberg, Arteaga, Pinho
- Substitution: Law 20' (Fjeldberg); Aguilera 62' (Ingram); Asante 62' (Powder); Cochran 76' (Jerome) 
- Unused: Meredith, Ault, Michael 

- Scoring Summary:
NM - Portillo 38' (Wehan)
NM - Own Goal 63' (Jerome)
IND - Pinho 80' (assist Asante)

- Bookings:
IND - Arteaga 35' (Yellow) 
NM - Kiesewetter 90'+4' (Yellow)

- Referee: Elvis Osmanovic
- Adage goals: None

Thoughts and Opinions

As Greg Rakestraw likes to say, Indy had Chamber of Commerce weather for this game, but after a 2-1 loss, Coach Lowry was anything but pleasant. I mean, he was his normal accommodating self and answered questions as well as he could, but there was a lot of heat and anger in his mood. He was unset with the result, but not upset with the way his team played. Which is fair. Indy limited New Mexico to just four shots, only two of which were on target, one in each half. Yet Indy found themselves on the wrong side of the result, partially because Indy saw a rare mistake from Jerome.

That's getting ahead of ourselves though. 

This was Indy's first league game with Trilk in goal, with Panicco having been pulled back from Nashville in time for Nashville to give him the start and victory against Louisville City FC in the U.S. Open Cup. Trilk did everything you could ask of him in his first start against a talented New Mexico team. New Mexico came to Indy for the first time, fresh off a 7-0 drubbing of Phoenix Rising on Tuesday, a game that was postponed due to COVID concerns, and featured a number of Rising academy players. More on my thoughts about Trilk later.

After a challenge for the ball, Fjeldberg did the "something is wrong with my hamstring" skip and proceeded to sit down, immediately after giving the universal sign in football for "prepare to make a substitution." The trainer agreed with him and he went to the bench in the 20th minute with an apparent hamstring injury, and Nicky Law entered. Fjeldberg was having success on the left side of the field, but its not like you lose any talent when Law enters the game. A minute after entering, Law put a dime towards the 6-yard box that Pinho headed off the crossbar. A few inches lower and this game likely had a different appearance. During halftime, I saw Fjeldberg walk back onto the field from the locker room and he wasn’t walking with much limp, so hopefully his injury is minor. Though, he also walked straight across the field, pausing briefly to talk to Asante, and went to one of the seats and immediately sat down. So while the injury might not be as bad as initially feared, his mental aspect of the tweak was still a bit fresh at halftime. As usual, Coach didn't say much about the status of the injury after the game.

In the 35th minute, a yellow card was shown to Arteaga for dissent. Shocking. Not that he received the card, shocking that it was only his first yellow card of the season, given his energy level and his propensity to vehemently argue calls that he doesn't think are correct. Which are most.

A few minutes later, and Indy found themselves trailing, somewhat against the run of play, but set up nicely by Wehan as he put it in a spot where Portillo could one time it in front of the Indy defense. That is one of those goals that Indy didn’t really do much incorrectly from a defensive standpoint, but the pass and shot was just a bit better. You don't like to give up goals, but sometimes, you just have to chalk it up to an incrementally better play by your opponent than by you.

You might go the rest of this season and not see a mistake by Jerome like he made today. You can blame it on the field or him looking two steps ahead of the play in front of him, but to watch a simple pass back to him go under his foot and into Indy's own goal is something that just doesn't happen. It's a rare mistake by Jerome that gave United a second goal and a steep 2-nil mountain to climb against a very stout United defense. 

There are times, and this game had several of those times, when Indy's attacking players were not in sync with each other. Passes were not where they wanted them. Shots were taken when a pass was preferred. When they were in sync, they looked dangerous, bringing the United out of their shape, and forcing the NM players to chase shadows. The guys just weren’t clinical enough to get the ball in the goal enough to overcome United’s first goal and the freebie from Jerome.

We all love Arteaga. We love his effort, his passion, and his goal scoring ability, but if I'm being honest today, he made some bad decisions in this game. The yellow was unnecessary, but more of my issue came towards the end of the game as Indy was chasing the result. There was a sequence where the ball went out for an Indy corner kick. Arteaga went to take it. Asante ran over to relieve him, but Arteaga brushed him off. There is absolutely ZERO reason for Arteaga to take a corner kick with 5'-2" Asante on the field. Asante isn't going to win a ton of headers from corner kicks, but can put in a perfect corner kick. The ensuing throw-in that happened after the kick went out not far from Arteaga and he, again, waved off other players who came over to take it. In this case, that player was Hackshaw, who we've seen be effective with long throw-ins. Arteaga's was effective, and Hackshaw can get to headers and is talented, but I, personally, would rather see Hackshaw taking that throw with my goal-poaching striker in the mix within the 18-yard box when I need that goal. I love his passion and desire to win, but neither of those two restarts should have been from him, but rather, TO him. I'm sure being 11 games into the season without a goal is affecting him and he's trying to affect the game as much as he can, but those are not the times to do it.

Indy pulled one back in the 80th minute with yet another goal from Pinho on a nice cross from Asante. Solo has now added to his career points total in less than 40 minutes of game action. Let's hope that continues.

 

Indy fall at home for the first time this season and now spend the next month away as the turf at Carroll Stadium gets replaced. That's not been officially announced by the team nor by IUPUI, but it seems to be a worst kept secret than to find out Indy fans hate Hoppenot. When Indy return home on July 2nd to Miami FC, it will be on new turf. Next week, though, Indy travel to Charleston to play another struggling team in the hopes of getting today's loss out of their system.

The Game Beckons Game Ball

It seems a bit strange to be handing out a Game Beckons Game Ball to a goalkeeper in a 2-1 loss, but Trilk deserves a lot of credit for the way he played today. He made good decisions on when to come out for balls, he was decisive, and didn't make any real errors. Even the own goal wasn't his fault. As the ball started back to the normally rock solid Jerome, Trilk made the right play and put himself in the position to back up Jerome. It just pushed him too far away when the ball went under Jerome's foot. Again, it feels weird to do it in a loss, but I think Trilk deserves the GBGB for his play today after having not played a single minute in league play before Panicco's departure. I don't know if it will remain his position with the addition of Meredith from Nashville, but he has played well, despite his 2 goals against average. 

Additional Photos (Courtesy of @DLTPhotog)