Indy Eleven vs - San Francisco Glens 02.13 (Playoff)

Summary

- Opponent: San Francisco Glens
- Location: Grand Park
- Attendance: -
- Final Score: 3-2 W

- Starting XI: Reason, Chatterton, Creel, Bahr, Martin, Kraszula, Rogers (C), Dewey, S., Soderstrom, K., Chester, Williams

- Substitution: Whitsett 72’ (Dewey); Sexton 80’ (Chatterton);Kugler for 80’ (Kraszula); Soderstrom, S. 90’+2’ (Williams)

- Unused: Edwards, Johnson, Ojongmboh

- Scoring Summary:
IND – Chester 14’ (unassisted)
SFG – Gomes 40’ (unassisted)
IND – Williams 50’ (assist Dewey)
SFG – Penn 64’ (assist Gomes)
IND – Martin 90’+1’ (assist Whitsett)

- Bookings:

SFG – Immethun 60’ (Yellow)

IND – Chester 87’ (Yellow)

- Referee: --

- Adage goals: None

Thoughts and Opinions

The last time Indy Eleven hosted a playoff game was in November 2019 when Indy hosted Louisville City, and He Who Must Not Be Named, put the dagger in Indy fans’ hearts with a goal that salvaged Louisville’s day and pushed the game into extra time where Indy eventually lost. The last time the club played a team from San Francisco, Indy lost 2-1 in October 2017. Indy fans came into this USL W-League semifinal game against San Francisco Glens hoping that the Indy Eleven women fared better than their male counterparts. In Indy’s brief history in the USL W-League, success has been plentiful, but this was Indy’s first chance to host a playoff game. There was optimism that this wouldn’t be the last playoff game for Indy to host THIS season. 

The starting lineup for Indy remained much the same as it did for the games against Flint City and Minnesota with the exception that Chatterton and Martin found their way into the starting lineup to bring a high level of experience to the start of the game against an unknown foe. With some scouting and Dolinsky’s knowledge of the west coast due to his time there, San Francisco was kind of an unknown quantity. Having as much experience on the field to start was key, and this lineup was full of experienced players. 

The early minutes of the game had a frenetic clip as both teams tried to put their own stamp on the complexion of the game with the BYB in full voice. San Francisco showed early pace, getting behind Creel a few times early. Notably in the early stages of the game, Chester played up top with Williams, while Soderstrom held back in a more midfielder role. It didn’t take long to figure out the reason for Dolinsky’s tactical adjustment as San Francisco’s Nadia Gomes is fast. I’m certain that it was her pace that prompted the need for Soderstrom to hang further back to help Creel cover Gomes. The team’s talent, and particularly Soderstrom’s in this case, is what allowed Coach Dolinsky to make that kind of tactical adjustment to be able to cover a player who has Gomes’ speed. 

Indy’s team defense, not just on Gomes, was a thing of beauty in this game as Soderstrom wasn’t the only one who was tracking back to help defend. As an attack for Indy progressed forward in attack, but on the opposite side of the field of Williams, Williams immediately fell back into a defensive role after the ball was turned over until her midfielders that had moved forward could track back. Chester did the same thing a number of times, as did Dewey who was a constant threat moving forward throughout the half. The midfield rocks of Kraszula and Rogers were constant thorns in the SFG midfielders’ sides as they covered so much ground that it was a good thing this game was in the conditioned air of the Grand Park Event Center than outside in the nearly 90-degree and muggy Indy weather.

Soderstrom’s deep lying position allowed her to pass from just short of midfield that sprung Williams up the right side of the field. Williams put the ball into the mixer, where Chester had a chance to get to it, but it was headed away from her but towards the middle of the box. Rogers then had a chance before it was blocked directly towards a waiting Chester. Chester didn’t miss on her attempt now that the ball finally reached her, which put Indy ahead in the 14th minute, somewhat against the early run-of-play. 

As the half reached its midpoint, Indy had settled into San Francisco’s pace and attempts for Indy began to become more frequent. Indy’s midfielders and forwards had the appearance of a group that knew a second goal before half might put this game away. A 1-nil lead is tenuous against a team with SFG’s speed up top, and Indy looked like they knew that the best was to counteract that speed was to have a healthy lead at halftime. Indy’s defense, for their part, kept SFG’s forwards at bay by stepping to every player that received the ball to limit the time SFG had to make decisions for the next pass.

Just before the halftime whistle though, SFG were awarded a free kick that Gomes managed to make it around the wall, through the mass of bodies, and beyond the outstretched arms of Reason who saw the ball late after it took a slight deflection on its way through. 

Just like that, the game was level again. 

Both teams kept their foot on the gas pedal until about the 44th minute when a pause in the BYB showed that everybody was needing the break. Soderstrom put a ball towards the goal late, but two of the best teams in the nation went into the halftime locker room with a 1-1 scoreline.

In the start of the second half, Gomes had moved to the right side of the field, directly against Chatterton. Clearly, the SFG coaching staff didn’t pay attention to the fact that Chatterton has the speed to keep up with Gomes. While I was busy typing about the SFG coaching decision to disrespect Chatterton’s speed, Indy found their second goal. In the 50th minute, Dewey split the defense perfectly, Williams timed her run perfectly, and put a cheeky ball around Banuelos that tucked just inside the post. Minutes into the second half and Indy had recaptured their lead, but with a lot of time remaining. Yet, that 2-1 lead once again gave Indy confidence that this game was theirs to win. After the goal, the questions became whether Indy could find a reassurance goal, how long Williams and Dewey would be able to go, and whether Gomes would be able to put SFG on her back and speed past the Indy defense to get SFG on the board again. While she didn’t score SFG’s second goal, it was her attack that put the ball to an on-rushing Penn, who put the ball over Reason and into the goal in the 64th minute. 

Just like that, the game was level again.

The game also became wide open as both teams tried to find the game winner with end-to-end action

I also became a fan first, and completely neglected my writing duties for the last 20 minutes of the game. 

Sorry. Not sorry.

With time winding down, the game had all the appearances of going to extra time. Both teams going all out in both directions, with promising attacks stifled by superb defense. Williams has an absolute knack for timing her runs to beat defenders, and can make an offside trap look silly. If it hadn’t been for SFG’s  Banuelos making great save after great save, this game likely wouldn’t have been so close, or needed Martin’s late-game heroics. 

As the referee’s  watch and the stadium clock turned past the 90-minute mark, extra time seemed to be a given. However, a defensive clearance from Kugler allowed her to put yet another ball up the field into a place where Williams could run onto it to try and do something with it. With Chester, Whitsett, and Martin at full sprint to get in a position to receive a cross, Indy found themselves with a numbers advantage. Williams put a ball toward the penalty spot that kept Banuelos on her line. Whitsett found her head to the cross, that bounced straight up in the air. Martin had raced past the SFG defenders and found herself in the perfect position to get her head to the ball as it came back down. She directed the ball over Banuelos and under the crossbar, and an already raucous Grand Park became deafening as the Indy Eleven fans erupted with joy in celebration. A couple minutes of trying to keep the ball away from SFG, and Indy had punched their ticket to the USL W-League Final next week against NC Courage, who won their game 4-1 against Eagle FC. 

After the game, it was said to me that about the only thing missing from this game was a pitch invasion. With the way the game played out, I couldn’t disagree with their assessment, but I’m so glad that it didn’t/couldn’t happen. Indy’s history with pitch invasions is memorable. The first one happened in 2014 when Indy finally got their first home win late into the season against Minnesota United. The next one happened in 2016, with the famous Miracle at the Mike after defeating the Carolina Railhawks by a score of 4-1. The thing that would have differentiated a pitch invasion tonight is attitude. The first pitch invasion was a cathartic release from the fans after a long season waiting to celebrate a home win. The second one has a “miracle” designation because so many things had to come together for Indy to win its first piece of hardware with the Spring Championship. 

Indy’s women’s team is close to being able to hoist a league trophy to go with their divisional trophies, but the difference here is that I’m not surprised this team is one win away from winning a league championship. A pitch invasion wouldn’t have seemed right. There was no catharsis. There was no miracle. This is a group of women who are well coached, but maybe more importantly, have the talent, the heart, the desire, and the fight to never give up. They play for each other. They cover for each other. The celebrate for each other. These women are winners, and I think they’re going to show that next week against yet another talented NC Courage team.

Next week’s match will be here in Indy, but will take place as part of a doubleheader with the men’s team. Personally, I would have liked to see the men get bumped to the afternoon heat, and let a LEAGUE FINAL be the nightcap, but I don’t get to choose these things. A ticket gets you into both games, and I heard rumors of bands being around between the games to fill the time. So get a ticket and support Indy Eleven as they attempt to secure a league title.

The Game Beckons Game Ball

Martin is an obvious choice. Obviously. She had the game-winning goal in a 3-2 slugfest between two very good teams. One of Indy's starting defenders hustled down the field in the +90th minute to put herself into a position to get her head to a ball that she was able to direct over Banuelos, who had stifled many of Indy's previous attacks.

And yet...

My GBGB goes to Katie Soderstrom. I know. She didn't score. She didn't have any assists. Yet Indy's club leader in goals and points sacrificed her own personal potential stats to play a deeper midfielder role (you could argue a wing back role she was so deep at times) because that is what the team needed out of her in the tactical defending of San Francisco's offense. As Coach Dolinsky stated after the game, "We have our strengths as a team. Our strength, a lot of times, is taking away the other team's strengths and doing what we do individually in the attack. We could have scored 4 or 5 goals on the counterattack this evening, so it was well executed by the girls." A key part of that was Soderstrom and her ability to put the team goals ahead of her personal goals, which includes trying to make a professional team. For that level of effort and dedication, Soderstrom just edges out Martin for tonight's GBGB. 

Additional Photos (Don Thompson Photography)

Indy Eleven vs Deltas - 04.29

- Opponent: San Francisco Deltas
- Location: San Francisco
- Attendance: 1,542
- Final Score: 2-1 L
- Starting XI: Busch, Franco, Falvey, Watson-Siriboe, Miller, Ring, Henderson, Junior, Thompson, Vukovic, Goldsmith
- Substitutions: Zayed 61' (Thompson); Ubiparipovic 69' (Ring); Torrado 80' (Henderson)
- Unused: Cardona, Keller, Ables
- Goals: Henderson 7' (assist Junior)
- Bookings: Ring 35' (Yellow - 5th of the Fall Season); Henderson 36' (Yellow); Thompson 42' (Yellow); Watson-Siriboe 90'+1' (Yellow); Miller 90'+4' (Yellow)
- Adage goals: One

A late night game (at least for those in the eastern timezone) and another loss for the Indy Eleven, so I'm going to keep this basic. Here are the key elements as I see them:

NASL pregame formation

Coach Hankinson broke out a lineup that had so many "defenders" that the NASL thought he employed a 5-3-2 at the start of the game. It was later revised to a more accurate 4-2-3-1, but it certainly had the league confused. The team has played a lot of games (5) in not a lot of days (14) with another one in three days so I understand the roster rotation, but it looked odd to see it listed that way.

The Eleven got on the board early with a 7th minute golazo from Henderson. They promptly gave up an own goal on a San Francisco corner kick in the 12th minute to knot the game at 1 - 1. It would stay that way until the 81st minute, when second half substitute Dagoberto put in his own golazo to give the Deltas the win. The Eleven held a nearly 60/40 possession advantage, but were out shot 16 to 5.

The Eleven and the Deltas played a very physical game. Though only one team saw the bulk of the yellow cards, and that was the Eleven. The Eleven saw more yellow than Big Bird, with five different guys getting booked by center ref Baboucarr Jallow. Ring and Henderson received their cards a minute apart from each other in the first half, with Thompson adding a third yellow a few minutes later. KWS and Miller joined the card game in stoppage time of the second half. Ring's yellow card gives him 5 for the Fall Season, meaning he will be missing the Miami game due to card accumulation.

NASL/Opta Distribution Stats for Junior

Paulo Junior played a strong game. In fact, at times, he seemed like the only offense in the first half.

Don Smart didn't play and didn't even travel. That means that assuming he isn't injured, if he plays on Saturday against Miami, he will play his 100th officially recognized game* as an Indy Eleven player in front of the home fans.

The Eleven lost. With three matches remaining, they can achieve a maximum of 9 points, giving them a total of 41 for the combined table. Miami, San Francisco, and North Carolina have already obtained more points than that. Which means that the Eleven can finish no better than fourth place. Currently, New York and Jacksonville sit at 37 points. A win and a draw, at a minimum, by either of those teams would put all three of them on equal terms, but the goal differential tiebreaker does not go the Eleven's way. Both of those teams play this weekend and Wednesday next week. Theoretically, by this time next week, the Eleven could be officially out of the playoffs. Though a loss on Saturday to Miami and a draw by either of those teams, and the Eleven will be out as soon as this weekend. Honestly, that's what I expect, given that Miami just had a rare loss this past weekend and will be looking to make amends for that loss with 7 days to prepare while the Eleven will have two. It could get ugly.

*Unbeknownst to me, "friendly" matches are not included in the team's official count.

Highlights:

Indy Eleven vs Deltas - 04.22

- Opponent: San Francisco Deltas
- Location: Indianapolis
- Attendance: 8,702
- Final Score: 2-0 L
- Starting XI: Busch, Franco, Falvey, Miller, Vukovic, Thompson, Ring, Torrado, Goldsmith, Zayed, Speas
- Substitutions: Ables 78' (Goldsmith)
- Unused: Cardona, Watson-Siriboe, Ubiparipovic, Lomeli
- Goals: None
- Bookings: Franco 74' (Yellow)
- Adage goals: Two

The Indy Eleven took to Carroll Stadium on Public Safety Night on Labor Day weekend with both the Indianapolis Fire Department and Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department on hand and the Eleven could have used the IMPD at one point during the game. More on that in a minute. Given that it's a holiday weekend, I debated the extent of how much I would write about this gam. Various team members seem to not be playing to their full abilities (and if rumors are to be believed, it wouldn't surprise me) so maybe I wouldn't write to my full abilities. A relaxing weekend and another poor showing by the team produces a visual breakdown response. If you want more from me than this, tell the team to stop playing like there isn't any urgency, especially at home where they are 0W-0D-3L in the Fall season, and like they want to get off the bottom of the Fall table with only 10 games left. Other teams seem to have figured out they are all playing for 2nd place and are playing harder, with more urgency, and are pressing the Eleven more than the Eleven are reciprocating.

The bad:
4 shots for Indy
24 shots for San Fran

The really bad:
4 chances created for indy (three different players)
24 chances created for San Fran (EIGHT different players)

The visual evidence of the bad:

So let's talk about San Francisco's first goal. Pablo has the ball with relaxed defending from Vukovic, but he at least ushers him towards the center of the field where there is help.

Cory Miller steps forward to Pablo, who pushes the ball out wide to Stephens. Vukovic peels off to defend Stephens, while Ring, Torrado, and Miller to cover the run of Pablo. At this point, there are 6 defenders plus Busch and 4 Deltas players. Pablo continues his run to the center of the box, while Falvey maintains his man-marking of Teijsse.

Vukovic provides absolutely zero pressure on Stephens, who has free reign to center the ball. Pablo continues his run to the six-yard box unimpeded with only Ring in the general vicinity. Falvey continues his man-marking of Teijsse who made a run to the near post.

Pablo gets to the ball and heads it past Busch.

SFD 1 - 0 IND.

Now let's dive into the second Deltas goal. Pablo once again has the ball with multiple players around him. He goes at Falvey, who chose to defend like a matador instead of the bull, and easily gets around him and goes straight towards Busch.

Busch, not surprisingly, does everything correctly. 1) He cuts down the angle. 2) He kept his legs close to prevent Pablo trying the 5-hole. 3) Has his arms out to try and stop the ball. Pablo find the only available spot to put it in the goal.

This is the opening that Pablo saw to score his second goal of the game. Sometimes you just have to give it up to an individual effort. I haven't watched any of the other games for the weekend, but I'm banking on this being the Play of the Week.

The Eleven did see one of their own shots find the back of the net, but it was called back for being offside. An incorrectly called offside. I know the game moves fast, but these are the kinds of calls that "professional" referees shouldn't miss. Not only was Goldsmith onside when the ball was played from Zayed, he was onside when the ball passed him and the defender. Goldsmith continued the play and nicely slotted the ball under the keeper. Maybe as concerning, and this goes back to the "bad" and "really bad" stats above, there are two Eleven offensive players anywhere close to the final third with 7 Delta defenders + keeper behind the ball. It's difficult to see in the below screenshot, but Ring is running forward, Thompson is running forward, while Franco, Speas, and Vuko are well out of the play or walking (I'm looking at you Speas). No urgency...

Speas... The official NASL formation called this lineup a 4-4-2, but it played more like a 4-3-3 with Speas up top with Goldsmith and Zayed. I don't know if that was purposeful on Coach Hankinson's part because of the Delta's formation, but Speas is a defensive liability. If he loses the ball, I haven't seen the drive in him to run back and defend. As the ball heads the other direction, Speas walks back.

The Game Beckons Game Ball:

Cory Miller. It's been 11 months since he played a game and he played a full 90 minutes. Normally, Coach Hankinson likes to work guys back into match fitness, but he didn't do that with Miller. Whether that was because he trusts a "getting back into form" Miller more than a healthy Watson-Siriboe, I think it was the correct decision. He looked rusty at times, but his physical and aerial presence is right back where he left off last year.

Photos (courtesy of, now famous, Don Thompson Photography):

Highlights:

Indy Eleven vs Deltas - 04.10

- Opponent: San Francisco Deltas
- Location: San Francisco
- Attendance: 1,441
- Final Score: 2-2 D
- Starting XI: Busch, Franco, Falvey, Watson-Siriboe, Vukovic, Keller, Ring, Palmer, Speas, Ubiparipovic, Zayed
- Substitutions: Plumhoff 59' (Ubiparipovic), Manning 66' (Palmer)
- Unused: Cardona, Torrado, Thompson, Goldsmith
- Goals: Palmer 57' (assist Ubiparipovic), Ring 79'
- Bookings: Zayed 62' (Yellow), Busch 73' (Yellow), Ring 83' (Yellow)
- Adage goals: Two

After Ring picked up his 1st goal of the season (I believe he's contractually required to get one each year) in the 79th minute, I started writing this recap in my head about how the Eleven broke into the win column by stealing one on the road in San Francisco. If we're honest, the Eleven didn't deserve to win and the fact that they were even in the position to get the win as late as the 80th minute was surprising. The Deltas could have had a 3-nil lead going into halftime if it hadn't been for some spectacular saves by Busch and an inexplicable miss from inside the 6-yard box. The Deltas held the advantage in every single statistic in the first half. They finished the game holding the advantage in every single statistic except for the score. Probably only because they ran out of time.

As it was, the final 30 minutes of the game was packed. Four goals, five substitutions, and seven yellow cards. Maybe most disturbing for Indy Eleven fans is that the dreaded "adage" goal(s) returned in full force and heart-breaking fashion with the Deltas goals coming in the 85th minute and deep into stoppage time with the first goal being an Olimpico as Portillo scored directly from one of San Francisco's eight corner kicks.

The Deltas has 26 shots to Indy's 7.
The Deltas held a 70% to 30% possession advantage.
More than a third of the Eleven's passes were considered long, but were only 60% accurate on their passes and that figure dropped to 47% accurate in the Deltas half of the field.

Dylan Mares scored tonight for Miami, assisted by Blake Smith. Zach Steinberger played the month of May like a league MVP. Ben Spencer recently got his first start (and assist) for MLS's Toronto FC. The Eleven have had talent throughout the years, but just couldn't put it together. This year's team is composed of a great deal of last year's roster and have struggled to put games together and have absolutely failed to get in the win column. For whatever reason, this team can't put it together much like the team's in the early days of this club. The difference for fans, and likely the players, is that this squad has achieved success, making this year's results harder to accept.

On the surface, seven draws in ten games seems like reasonably positive results until you look at the league standings and see the Eleven in 7th place out of 8 and kept out of the bottom only because of goal differential while league leading Miami sits 21 points. At this point, the Spring Season cannot be won by the Eleven, but if they don't string together a long series of wins in the near future, they may not have anything to play for with most of the Fall Season remaining. It will be hard to get walk-up traffic to games in the fall if they're already mathematically eliminated from contention.

Am I getting too far on the pessimistic train? Maybe, but the fact that the team gave up a two-goal lead late and barely looked competitive tonight is no longer worrisome. It's troubling how much this team is underachieving this year, regardless of the injuries that don't seem to stop.

The Game Beckons Game Ball

This week it is easy to give the Game Beckons Game Ball. Jon Busch kept this game close for as long as possible before San Francisco's constant pressure overwhelmed his amazing effort. He'll probably tell you that he should have saved the Olimpico goal, but it took 85 minutes for him to make his first real mistake.

Highlights:

Indy Eleven vs Deltas - 04.04

- Opponent: San Francisco Deltas
- Location: Indianapolis
- Attendance: 7,124
- Final Score: 0-0 D
- Starting XI: Busch, Franco, Falvey, Palmer, Vukovic, Ring, Henderson, Torrado, Ubiparipovic, Zayed, Braun
- Substitutions: Thompson 60' (Ubiparipovic), Keller 62' (Palmer)
- Unused: Cardona, Watson-Siriboe, Goldsmith, Ables
- Goals: None
- Bookings: Palmer 44' (Yellow), Ring 67' (Yellow), Braun 71' (Yellow)
- Adage goals: None

I've spent a fair amount of the last 30 hours (with some obvious sleeping time exception) trying to figure out what to write about a game that was described by a couple that I overheard on the way out as "a very disappointing game." They weren't just talking about the final score, but rather the entirety of the game. With the exception of a few moments for both teams, the game was disjointed for both teams. Neither seemed to be able to consistently impose their will on the other team.

This team has most of the pieces back from a very successful team last year and yet four games into the season they've only been able to muster four draws. Granted, those four games are against only two teams thanks to the NASL's absurd scheduling so it's hard to know exactly where this team (or any of the teams for that matter) really stand, but I don't think anybody really expected the Eleven to not get at least one win at this point in the season. Yet that's exactly where they find themselves, staring at a road trip to league leading Jacksonville this coming weekend.

So what did 30 hours of ponder get me? Unfortunately, not much more than the notes I scribbled to myself during the game. So like the team's apparent desire to bypass the midfield against the Deltas, I'm going to go for the long ball too.

NASL/Opta Average Position

For all the things he is, Torrado is not a left midfielder. Torrado wants to be in the middle of the park and that can be okay when combined with Vukovic's desire to go forward. However, Torrado doesn't have Mares' ability last season to cover defensively when Vuko goes forward. So if Coach Hankinson is going to play someone out of position because of the injuries, putting Torrado on the same side as Vuko seems an odd choice. Torrado's average position was in the middle of the field, right next to Ring and Ubi, Zayed, and Braun are all on top of each other in the middle of the field as well. This lineup created absolutely zero width. More on this in a minute.

Photo: Don Thompson

On the other side of midfield, Henderson's first touch failed him frequently in the game and his defense was hit-or-miss throughout the game. I fully expected him to be one of the first subs after halftime and never would have pegged him to be one of the guys to go the full ninety minutes. Though given who was sitting on the bench, there weren't many other options. Particularly given that Coach has suggested that new signee Adrian Ables was brought on for depth. Yet, Coach's description of him on Soccer Saturday seems to fit nicely with what the team needed in the second half. A quick guy who's willing to take on players. Sounds like Lacroix 2.0. Instead Coach brought on Thompson for Ubiparipovic and Mr. Swiss Army Knife Daniel Keller for Palmer.

Photo: Don Thompson

Frias, I mean Palmer, has never been one to take two touches when one will blast it back down to the other side of the field, but on a day with 20+ mph winds, that approach wasn't overly effective. Palmer's not going to get out-muscled to a ball, but subtlety is not his strong suit.

The man that no coach has been able to keep off the field, Don Smart, was definitely missed. Don's speed, crossing ability, and his ability to stay wide would have been much more effective than the middle of the field gathering. In conjunction with the lack of width provided by the lineup, it's no longer a secret that Zayed isn't going to create his own shots. So if you want to defend the Eleven, find Braun and don't let the offense go through him. His work rate is going to continue to provide opportunities because opposing teams have to account for him at all times, but as of right now, the offense goes as Braun goes. Against San Francisco, Braun only connected on 63% of his passes, 43% of those were backwards, and he only managed two shots (neither on target). The Eleven managed two shots on goal, both of them from headers from Zayed, and both off of crosses. The team could have used some more crosses from Smart, who will continue to be out for a few more weeks. They need to find a better way to break down the final third than what they displayed on Saturday, but I'm not sure how I see that getting done.

The Game Beckons Game Ball

This game was difficult to select a player for the Game Ball, but I'm going to have to give it to Jon Busch this week. Buschy finished with 5 saves on the day, none of them more spectacular than the one in the 75th minute when Bekker blasted a shot from 30 yards out that was destined for the upper corner of the goal (see minute 1:10 in the highlights below). There weren't a lot of great opportunities in the game, but that was definitely one that looked like it was destined to end the undefeated streak at 19. While that was the highlight reel save from Busch that helped the team get to a modern-era 20 undefeated home record, his other saves were just as important and were a result of placing himself in appropriate spots in the goal.

Caption This candidate...

Highlights:

Indy Eleven vs Deltas - 04.01

- Opponent: San Francisco Deltas
- Location: San Francisco
- Attendance: 4,133
- Final Score: 1-1 D
- Starting XI: Busch, Franco, Watson-Siriboe, Keller, Vukovic, Smart, Thompson, Torrado, Ring, Speas, Braun
- Substitutions: Zayed 77' (Speas), Henderson 77' (Thompson)
- Unused: Cardona, Ubiparipovic, Manning
- Goals: Thompson 58' (assist Speas)
- Bookings: Watson-Siriboe 55', Vukovic 61'
- Adage goals: None

The Indy Eleven headed west to kick off the 2017 season in Kezar Stadium, the home of the San Francisco Deltas. In the Deltas' inaugural match in the NASL, the Eleven went into San Francisco without any real data on what to expect from the Deltas, with the exception of some video from the Delta's preseason game against Sacramento Republic the prior week. Yet the Deltas' coach, Marc Dos Santos, has had similar tactics at his previous coaching stops so the Eleven had at least a little bit of information from which to draw.

Knowing that Dos Santos would likely come out attacking in their inaugural game, Coach Hankinson looked to go with a more defensive lineup. Coach Hankinson likes to stress defense first and given that Falvey is still out with his surgery rehab and Palmer and Watson-Siriboe picked up injuries during the final preseason game against Louisville, it's not surprising that the lineup he employed against the Deltas had a defensive look to it. Four defenders and two midfielders in Ring and Torrado who tend more towards the defense than the offense and Saturday's game had the same feel of many of last year's away games. Defend first, attack when possible, and head back to Indy with at least a point from a road game.

Much like the Eleven's first game in the league in 2014, as well as when they welcomed Puerto Rico into the league last year, the home squad got on the board first when Kyle Bekker put his name in the Deltas' record books at the team's first goal scorer when he put one behind Busch in the 31st minute.

History at Kezar Stadium! Kyle Bekker finds the back of the net in the 31st minute for the first goal in club history. #SFDvIND pic.twitter.com/Wi6Ei3R99H

— NASL (@naslofficial) March 26, 2017

Seeing a lineup without Zayed caught a lot of fans' attention as last season's team leading scorer started on the bench. I assumed that he had an injury, but his appearance in the 77th minute off the bench gets the questions going of whether he's not fully match might or if he's taken his starting role for granted. Just like Indy's and Puerto Rico's first games, the away team found an equalizer so that both teams settled for a draw. With Zayed on the bench, Indy's goal came in the 58th minute from an unexpected source.

Here's @tthomps7's first professional goal to pull things level for @IndyEleven. #SFDvIND #MarchToNovember pic.twitter.com/btwBFWFzvk

— NASL (@naslofficial) March 26, 2017

With the exception of John Busch, the buildup to Indy's goal consisted entirely of the new guys to the team. Watson-Siriboe picked up the ball deep in Indy's third, but picked out Speas on a spectacular cross-field change that allowed Speas to get in a centering cross. A cross that, if we're all honest, Thompson had no business getting his head to as he was surrounded by two Delta players who were, not surprisingly, both taller than him. Significantly taller. He found himself a nice spot between the two defenders and put his header back across the goal where Peiser had just vacated. Thompson didn't get a lot of power to the header since he was falling backwards, but placement trumped power and the Eleven were on the board.

While the Eleven played a very direct style in their first game of the season (long passes statistically at 21%, but it appeared to be more), given the lineup, opponent, and situation, it wasn't unexpected.

NASL/Rob Edwards

This brings me to a new feature this season; The Game Beckons Game Ball. Sometimes this will be a typical Man of the Match kind of designation, and Thompson's first goal in his first professional game to even the match is definitely a worthy moment. Yet, I want to give credit to the effort that Daniel Keller put in during this game. Falvey is unavailable and most of what we've seen in preseason has been Watson-Siriboe and Palmer in the centerback roles, but Palmer's injury precipitated the need for Keller to step in. Keller continues to show his versatility by playing defense, midfield, and seemingly anywhere else that Coach Hankinson requires a smart soccer player. I don't recall ever seeing Keller out of position, even on the goal scored by San Francisco. Keller may be considered depth on this roster, but he once again proved on Saturday that "depth" doesn't eliminate "talent."

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