Indy Eleven vs St. Charles FC - 03.04

Summary

- Opponent: St. Charles FC
- Location: St. Charles Field - Lutheran High School
- Attendance: -
- Final Score: 9-0 W

- Starting XI: Reason, Otto, Cherry, Cuneio, Snyder, Unkraut, Rogers (C), Pelkowski, White, Jacomen, Mitchell

- Substitution: Adam 61' (White); Bagley 61' (Rogers); Budish 61' (Cuneio); Chester 61' (Mitchell); Darey 61' (Otto); Sexton 61' (Jacomen)

- Unused: Blair

- Scoring Summary:
IND - Jacomen 13' (assist Mitchell)
IND - Rogers 27' (unassisted)
IND - Rogers 31' (assist Pelkowski)
IND - White 45' (assist Mitchell)
IND - Mitchell 49' (assist Rogers)
IND - Jacomen 55' (assist assist Mitchell)
IND - White 58' (unassisted)
IND - Bagley 75' (assist Budish)
IND - Pelkowski 79' (unassisted)

- Bookings: 

STC - Hollingsworth 8X' (Yellow)

- Referee: Velimir Stefanovic

- Adage goals: None

Thoughts and Opinions

With a midweek game on the road, the veterans of the team stayed back home with their day jobs while the up-and-coming players returned to the starting lineup. St. Charles started the same four players up top, but from the midfield back to goal, Barcom was the only other holdover from last week's game. In the early stages of the game, the names and faces changed, but the possession and play was clearly still tilted in favor of Indy Eleven. With the exception of a single effective counterattack by STC that ultimately resulted in a shot from Hollingshead that rattled the crossbar, the ball rarely crossed the midfield line into Indy's defensive half. 

Mitchell and Jacomen broke through the compact STC defense to get the scoring started. That goal by Jacomen in just the 13th minute of the game was the game winner. Indy tacked on three more goals before halftime as Rogers picked up a brace, and White rounded out the scoring to go to the halftime break up 4-nil. After last week's game, when I asked him what he could take from the game moving forward, he stated, "not much really." The goal of this game was to show that the younger players could do the same thing as the vets did last week against an overmatched opponent.

St. Charles haven't scored on the season. They were outscored 4-nil in back-to-back games against Lexington, lost 10-nil to Indy last week, and gave up another 9 tonight, but have yet to score their own goal on the season. After tonight, they sit with a -27 goal differential and have just 4 shots on target.

St. Charles have the distinction of being the only team to have defeated Indy Eleven in regular season play, but these are two teams that have drastically different levels of talent. Indy dominated in the loss last year when they had one of those days when they couldn't capitalize on their chances and STC found the back of the goal twice in their only two real opportunities. With the exception of that result, this has been a completely one-sided affair. Since the loss, Indy has outscored St. Charles 35-nil. There were moments in this game when the camera didn't even bother panning to Indy's defensive half and just waited for the ball to return to STC's defensive half where the majority of the action occurred. 

The best defense St. Charles provided tonight was late in the game when Darey stepped up to take a penalty kick and the turf literally came out of the ground, forcing Darey to slip and send the ball skyward. Between the crappy camera work and a missed penalty due to turf issues, it will be nice to return return home to Grand Park on Sunday to play Lexington with reasonable turf and good television production. Lexington has started the season with two early wins against STC, but lost to Kings Hammer this past Saturday. Coach Dolinsky thinks the remaining home games (Lexington, Racing on the 7th, & Kings Hammer on the 12th) might determine who makes the playoffs from the Valley Division so Indy fans get out in force to support your Girls in Blue.

The Game Beckons Game Ball

Like the last game, it's difficult narrow it down when three players score a brace, but the edge tonight goes to Mitchell who accounted for 4 of the goals before being subbed out in the 61st minute. She opened the scoring in the second half, but contributed a hat trick of assists. So Mitchell gets tonight's GBGB due to her ability to affect the game and put other players in positions to get their own goals.

Indy Eleven vs St. Charles FC - 03.03

Summary

- Opponent: St. Charles FC
- Location: Grand Park
- Attendance: -
- Final Score: 10-0 W

- Starting XI: Blair, Martin, Darey, Bahr, Sexton, Chatterton, Rogers (C), Chester, Dewey, S., Williams, Soderstron, K.

- Substitution: Adam 45' (Sexton), Otto 45' (Chatterton), Smith 45' (Rogers); Mitchell 63' (Williams); Johnson 63' (Dewey); Thompson 63' (Chester); Weiger 63' (Blair)

- Unused: No unused

- Scoring Summary:
IND - Dewey 16' (unassisted)
IND - Chester 20' (penalty kick)
IND - Rogers 25' (assist Martin)
IND - Soderstom 28' (unassisted)
IND - Soderstrom 35' (assist Sexton)
IND - Williams 40' (assist Bahr)
IND - Williams 54' (assist Soderstrom, K.)
IND - Chester 62' (unassisted)
IND - Mitchell 70' (assist Darey)
IND - Soderstrom 84' (assist Otto)

- Bookings: 

STC - Watson 19' (Yellow)

- Referee: Adam Saleh

- Adage goals: None

Thoughts and Opinions

Indy and St. Charles have had an interesting short history. Indy holds a +22 goal differential between the two teams in their first three games. Indy beat St. Charles 8-nil in the first meeting at St. Charles' home, and defeated an outnumbered St. Charles 16-nil when they arrived to Grand Park late in the season with just 9 players. However, in the middle game, St. Charles handed Indy their first and only defeat in division play. The loss stung deeply for the Indy players and may have been what fueled their fire through the rest of the season and through the playoffs. It might not be a surprise that Coach Dolinsky pulled all the veterans into tonight's starting lineup instead of the upcoming young players that fans have seen the first two games. These players may still have a grudge that they are holding against the St. Charles team and want to beat them when they are at full strength and not a depleted team with less than a full starting lineup.

The game started entrenched in Indy's offensive side of the field, but a couple of offside calls slowed down some promising attacks. Indy switched side-to-side to try and break down the St. Charles defense. STC's rare forays forward were fairly easily dealt with by Martin, Bahr, and Darey. The early effort from STC made it look like they might rely on counterattacks and potential set pieces.

Indy's persistent pressure eventually resulted in a goal in the 16th minute when Williams found Rogers who attacked the center of the pitch running along the 18-yard box. Griffith spilled the shot and Dewey was on hand to tap in the ball that Griffith couldn't handle. 

A penalty kick was awarded to Indy in the 20th minute when Chester made her way around her defender in the box who then took Chester down from behind. She tried to hand the ball to Dewey to take the penalty kick, and Dewey promptly gave it right back to Chester. She stepped up and put the ball to the keeper's left out of Griffith's reach to double the scoring.

Martin to Rogers in the 26th minute with an in-perfect ball over the top that Rogers took off her chest to her feet and put it past Griffith to further extend the lead.

Things then started to get out of hand when Soderstrom put in an individual effort in the 28th minute against her defender and put her finish near post between Griffith and the post in a tight window. 

After the fourth goal, STC raised their line of pressure when they realized that the low block they had been doing wasn't being effective against, but they just couldn't handle the effort from the Indy defenders and midfielders. The game remained one-way traffic towards STC's goal until Soderstrom scored once again in the 35th minute. As she did last game, Sexton made a run up the right side, put her foot on the ball, and picked up her head to find a teammate. That teammate was Soderstrom, who once again put a ball in a location where Griffith had no chance at it.

Williams looked a tad rusty with her shots, but her timing and vision looked just as high level as last season. As the half was drawing to a close, Indy's fifth corner of the game finally put Williams on the board when she was able to get her head to Bahr's delivery. The 6-nil lead at halftime could have been more, but it's hard to nit-pick a game where every single statistical category was heavily weighted in Indy's favor. If Indy's starters were wanting to prove something to themselves and St. Charles, they emphatically did that in the first 45-minutes of action.

Indy made a few subs at halftime taking off the captain in Rogers, as well as the two pacy wingbacks in Sexton and Chatterton. Coach Dolinsky didn't fully call off the players, but the play slowed down just a little. Just under 10 minutes into the second half and Soderstrom took the ball deep into the corner before putting a ball across the six-yard line that Williams redirected into the goal for her second on the night.

After the goal, Coach Dolinsky finished off the substitutions taking off some of the vets and bringing on younger players. He continued to not tell them to stop scoring and Indy continued to do just that with Mitchell bringing the goal total to 9. Thompson and Johnson looked extremely dangerous after their arrival into the game and it looked like just a mater of time before they found one. They were unable to cash in on any of their chances, but their lone remaining vet up top, Soderstrom, rounded out the scoring in the 84th minute to bring the victory margin to double digits. 

It's a bit crazy to say with a +10 goal differential and a clean sheet, but this is one of those games where the final score doesn't reflect how dominant Indy was throughout the entirety of the game. STC put a couple shots on target, but nothing that could have been considered truly threatening. With the exception of last year's loss where Indy wasn't clinical around goal and STC was efficient in their limited shots, this series has been very one-sided. Indy now has a +32 goal differential with an average margin of victory of +11.3. 

"There was a little bit of redemption in the back of their minds, and to make amends for last year's performance. Not performance, the result. They came out and they got their goals tonight." - Coach Dolinsky

Indy head to St. Louis next week to face this same St. Charles team. Gotta love the USL W League scheduling. With tonight's starters predominantly being the players that are now working day jobs, fans  will likely see a return to the younger lineup that played the first two games. 

The Game Beckons Game Ball

Seriously, how can you possibly narrow it down to one player to receive the GBGB? There isn't a single player that I can think didn't play exceptionally well tonight. Goals came from everywhere and everybody. Martin and Bahr looked like the same players we saw in the Final last year against North Carolina FC. The goalkeeper pair had minimal work to do, but were effective when called upon to do their job. There was still a little struggle on one of STC's corner kicks that looked threateningly like it was going to spoil the clean sheet, but it was eventually cleared. Since it was a true team effort tonight, I guess I have to just give the GBGB to the stat-sheet-stuffer in Katie Soderstrom. She nabbed the season's first hat trick, while also providing the assist to Williams. 

Photos (Don Thompson Photography)

Indy Eleven vs St. Charles - 02.10

Summary

- Opponent: St. Charles FC
- Location: Grand Park
- Attendance: -
- Final Score: 16-0 W

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

- Substitution: Edwards 45’ (Reason); Kugler 45’ (Dewey, S.); Soderstrom, S. 63’ (Williams); Ojongmboh 63’ (Chester); Lynch 63’ (Sexton); Martin 63’ (Creel)

- Unused: Johnson

- Scoring Summary:
IND – Williams 3’ (assist Watson)
IND – Dewey, S. 14’ (unassisted)
IND – Bahr 19’ (Penalty Kick)
IND – Chester 35’ (assist Rogers)
IND – Dewey, S. 38’ (assist Creel)
IND – Dewey, S. 40’ (unassisted)
IND – Chester 42’ (unassisted)
IND – Williams 48’ (assist Chester)
IND – Williams 53’ (assist Rogers)
IND – Williams 54’ (assist Chester)
IND – Own Goal 58’
IND – Soderstrom, K. 73’ (assist Soderstrom, S.)
IND – Soderstrom, S. 77’ (assist Bahr)
IND – Soderstrom, K. 78’ (assist Soderstrom, S.)
IND – Kugler 88’ (Penalty Kick)
IND – Kugler 89’ (assist Soderstrom, K.)

- Bookings:

STC – Barcom 87’ (Yellow)

IND – Kugler 90’ (Yellow)

- Referee: ?

- Adage goals: None

Thoughts and Opinions

Nona Reason feeling lonely...

Coming into the season, there looked like a very real possibility that the Valley Division winner could be determined by the higher goal differential between Indy and Racing Louisville. However, the math has been easy since Indy beat Racing Louisville on June 6th, giving Indy the first tiebreaker of head-to-head results, with Indy winning the season series 1W-1D-0L. So while Racing has put a ton of goals on the board this season, particularly recently as Racing beat tonight’s opponent, St. Charles, on Saturday by a score of 7-nil and then again on Monday by a score of 9-nil, the only goal differential that mattered was the +2 differential between Indy and Racing. Indy made things a little more difficult by getting a surprise home 2-nil loss to St. Charles, but Indy have returned to their goal scoring ways making tonight’s game an official win-and-your-in scenario.

Indy was going to be fired up to not make any doubt that the loss to St. Charles was a fluke, but when starting lineups were given, and as St. Charles began warming up, they had 10 players on the paper, and only 9 players warming up. That’s it. This was some Norman Dale, “that’s my team on the floor,” situation. Nine players. No substitutes, and a backup keeper playing in the field. That’s a tough ask against a team with revenge on their mind, and was a game away from making a second trip to the playoffs as long as they won. 

Earlier this year, the men's team had an approximate 80/20 possession advantage over Las Vegas. While the women's games don't keep track of possession, this game was more lopsided than the men's game. At best it was a 90/10 advantage, but this game could have been sponsored by WFMS, because possession was probably closer to 95/5.

Indy made no mistake about their intentions, when Soderstrom, K. fired on St. Charles' goal within 12 seconds that Miller managed to parry over the crossbar, setting up the first of many corner kicks on the night. St. Charles managed to clear that corner kick into Indy's defensive half, but it didn’t take long for Indy to get the ball back into their offensive half, and not much longer to get the scoring started as Williams put a header on the board in the 3rd minute (2:27). At that point, already down a goal and down two players, St. Charles tried to take the pace out of the game by not being overly quick about their restarts. However, trying to slow Indy tonight was an impossible task as there wasn’t much time between shots as Indy kept firing frequently. At halftime, Indy had taken a 7-nil lead thanks to a 24-nil shot advantage. That would balloon to a 16-nil win on a 47-2 shot difference.

Once STC came out with 9 players giving Indy a full ninety minutes with a two-player advantage, the objectives for Indy changed. After Williams opened the scoring early, things changed for what Indy needed to do after taking the first step to solidifying their playoff spot against a team that wasn't going to be able to keep up. With Williams' scored, Indy only wanted/needed to keep a clean sheet, to keep everybody healthy, to work on possession, and to work on how to beat a very compact, very low block. St. Charles were as compact as they could be, but there was nothing they could do tonight against Indy's talent and personnel advantage.

All that being said, I have nothing but respect for Miller, Thorpe, Adams, Imming, White, Osvath, Lande, Rutherford, & Barcom for making the trip and competing as best they could under an adverse situation. They were outmatched and outnumbered, but they played as best they could given the circumstances. It’s a tough night for them, and one that they will likely not want to remember, but they competed and I respect them for that.

Tonight's game was the final regular season game for the Valley Division, so the final stats are in. Thanks to Indy's onslaught of goals tonight, they finish with an 8W-1D-1L record, and 40 goals on the year versus 3 goals against for a final goal differential of +37. Despite having the same win/loss record, Racing Louisville finished in 2nd place thanks to the head-to-head tiebreaker, having scored 42 goals versus 4 against for a final goal differential of +38. Everyone thought it might come down to goal differential, and even that ended up being close. Lexington, Kings Hammer, and St. Charles finish the season in that order, with St. Charles taking an absolute beating this year to the tune of a -48 goal differential, largely as a result of the 32 goals they gave up this week to Racing Louisville and Indy. 

Indy will now head to Flint, Michigan to play their, hopefully, first playoff game this season next Thursday. They don’t yet know who they will be playing at this point, but they do know that they can put the ball in the goal. Admittedly, whoever they play on Thursday will likely have more than 9 players on the field, but being able to watch the ball hit the net 16 times right before starting the playoffs is never a bad thing. 

The Game Beckons Game Ball

Where do you start when the team puts a Sweet Sixteen on their opponent? Rogers for her two assists? Chester for a brace within a 7-minute timeframe plus two assists? Kugler for her brace within 2-minutes? Dewey for a first-half hat trick? Williams for a second-half hat trick to go with her first half goal for a total of 4? With so much offensive prowess on display tonight, nearly everybody is deserving of the GBGB. However, I want to give it to the Soderstrom sisters. Katie finished with 2 goals and an assist, while Susie finished with 1 goal and 2 assists, with all of that (with the exception of Katie's assist) happening within a 5 minute stretch. Oh yeah, and Susie's assists were for Katie's goals. Katie has had issues lately keeping her shots on target, but seeing the joy on her face as the two of them destroyed St. Charles in that five minute stretch might be the thing that she needs moving into the playoffs. On a night when everybody was deserving, the Soderstrom Sisters edge our their teammates for the GBGB.

Indy Eleven vs St. Charles - 02.07

Summary

- Opponent: St. Charles FC
- Location: Grand Park
- Attendance: -
- Final Score: 2-0 L

- Starting XI: Edwards, Kugler, Watson, Bahr, Sexton, Kraszula, Rogers (C), Hershfelt, Isger, Chester, Soderstrom, K.

- Substitution: Whitsett 45’ (Isger); Chatterton 45’ (Sexton); Matsuhisa 61’ (Soderstrom); Slimak 69’ (Kraszula); Kevdjiza 71’ (Chester)

- Unused: Kile, Houweling

- Scoring Summary:
STC – Baca 54’ (unassisted)
STC – Adams 72’ (unassisted)

- Bookings:

IND – Hershfelt 45’+1’ (Yellow)

STC – Imming 56’ (Yellow)

STC – Adams 70’ (Yellow)

IND – Whitsett 82’ (Yellow)

- Referee: ?

- Adage goals: None

Thoughts and Opinions

Before I get into tonight’s game, there was something that I noticed during my watching of the Louisville/Lexington game that I want to discuss. Lexington’s Utley was highly effective against Louisville with her speed & skill. Watching her against Louisville, especially in the first half, made it clear how well Indy, and particular Chatterton, defended her when Lexington played here. Lexington kept trying to get Utley the ball when they played here, and Chatterton kept her at bay, which was even more impressive after seeing how effective Utley was against Louisville.

As I watched the first half of the Lexington versus Louisville game, it looked like Lexington was going to make life a little easier for Indy Eleven, as they went into the halftime locker room with a lead. They were unable to maintain that lead as Louisville scored 2 goals in the second half to take the win and stay within arms-length of Indy on the table. Yet the math was still fairly easy for Indy. Keep winning, and they make the playoffs. It’s only if they drop more points, and particularly if they lose, that things get interesting again. Louisville followed up their win against Lexington with a 6-nil blow-out win over Kings Hammer. So their goal differential took a massive step up. Indy knew those results coming into tonight’s game, and knew they needed a few goals tonight to help their cause in the goal differential category, just in case something went poorly in the remaining three games after tonight. 

Unfortunately, something went poorly tonight.

After a delay in the start time for tonight’s game due to transportation issues with St. Charles, Indy couldn’t get themselves in the goal scoring column. Indy was called for being offside several times in the early going as the front line couldn’t quite get their runs timed correctly. They continued to put St. Charles under pressure, but the final pass and the final touch was missing in the early stages of the game. Near the 20-minute mark, Soderstrom found herself with the ball and, amazingly, no defender near her. Uncharacteristically, Soderstrom decided to go for a cross, when a 1v1 on the goalkeeper was available to her. Miller read the cross appropriately and held onto the ball to stifle the attack. 

That was how the first half progressed; with a 0-0 score line and Indy dominating the chances. Indy was the only team significantly challenging the opposition’s keeper, but were just unable to break through. Soderstrom even had another shot in the 28th minute that made it through the uprights behind the goal, even though she was only about 10-yards out, and probably had enough time to take a second touch to settle the ball instead of the one-touch ball that she caught while leaning back. Much like some of the other games, this had all the feel of a game that was going to break wide open if Indy could get a goal. 

They just couldn’t find that goal.

It was probably not visible from the telecast/stream, but Indy was maintaining a very wide midfield, with the players nearly touching the sidelines on both sides of the field at the same time. Watson continued to try and put balls over the midfield to the opposite side of the field, but Indy couldn’t turn those field switches fast enough once they brought the ball down, as St. Charles looked like they came into this game with the mindset that they were going to defend with everybody and hope for a counter or a set piece. Coming off an 8-nil drubbing in the first meeting between the two teams, their goal looked like they just wanted to not be beaten by 8 goals again.

Like the game against Lexington, Coach Dolinsky had players warming up during halftime (Whitsett and Chatterton), and both were immediate substitutes after the players returned from the field. Dolinsky returned to the sideline a few minutes earlier than the players, and I had to wonder if there was a moment where the players wanted to take responsibility for their results without the coaches present. It had all the appearances of the team leaders putting the team on their back and wanting the coach to leave. When I asked him about it, he said he was just done talking. He told them what he wanted, which was basically "get it done." They were the better team, who just couldn't get the ball in the goal.

If you let a team hang around, bad things can happen and that is exactly what happened. St. Charles had their first decent counterattack in the 54th minute, put the ball on frame, which Edwards spilled. Baca continued running to the goal, and tapped the ball past Edwards. For the second time this season, Indy found themselves down a goal at home. The difference is that the first time it was against a team that had a chance to be in the playoffs. St. Charles, on the opposite side of the spectrum, were already eliminated from that possibility coming into this game. After the goal, Indy began to look concerned about the result, and St. Charles had a minimum of 7 or 8 players behind the ball whenever Indy got close to the 18-yard box. 

 

If you let a team hang around, and then gain confidence, bad things happen. Another counter and Indy found themselves down 2-nil, having watched all their chances go wide and St. Charles’ chances find the back of the net. Then the concern was exacerbated, and for the first time in two seasons, I saw a team that looked panicked. Down two, and with such an effective offside trap from St. Charles that Indy could not figure out how to beat it, the players on the field looked rattled, and unsure of how to turn the game in their favor.

Sometimes it's just not your night. Much like the men's first team this season, dominating in all the stats didn't matter when the game played out as if there was an invisible force field preventing anything from going into St. Charles' goal. Indy had chances, and just couldn't capitalize on them. If they had put one in early, this game would have likely been another blowout. 

Instead, Indy notched their first loss in regular season play in club history, as well as being the first time that the team has been held scoreless in a game. Coach Dolinsky hopes that the frustration from this result motivates the team moving forward since "we're in a must win situation from here on out." "If you can learn from your failure, you're better because of it." 

As it is, Indy now have a challenging three games in front of them to make the playoffs. Fortunately, they still currently hold the tiebreaker with Racing Louisville, thanks to the win and draw against them. The margin, however, just became much thinner. While Racing took Kings Hammer to the woodshed on Tuesday, Kings Hammer have played Indy close in both seasons the teams have been in the league. Sunday won't be easy, and playing Lexington for a third time won't be an easy task. What happens the rest of the season will likely come down to Indy finding the finishing touch around the goal, which was just not there tonight.

The Game Beckons Game Ball

"I thought the girls played well, all things considered." That was something that Coach Dolinsky stated after the game, and I would agree with him. I think they became a bit too flustered after St. Charles scored, and it became even worse after the second goal. However, overall, they played well. They were called offside somewhere between 8 and 10 times, and they outshot St. Charles 25-2. That's 35 opportunities that could have easily switched the tide of the game. As the game was closing, there were three of us in the media area that said, out loud, and nearly in unison, "when it's not your night, it's not your night," and that personified the result. There were good moments from every player, but the one that stood out to me tonight was Matsuhisa. When the team is down a goal, it seems strange to sub out last year's leading goal scorer in Soderstrom, but Matsuhisa was able to break down St. Charles' left back in a way that Soderstrom hadn't been able to consistently do. Some of that could have been tired legs towards the end of her shift, but Matsuhisa's substitution sparked more crosses and 1v1 wins on the right side of the field. So, even in a loss, and in substitute minutes, I'm going to give tonight's GBGB to Matsuhisa.

Additional Photos - Don Thompson Photography

Indy Eleven vs St. Charles - 02.01

Summary

- Opponent: St. Charles FC
- Location: St. Charles Field - Lutheran High School
- Attendance: -
- Final Score: 8-0 W

- Starting XI: Edwards, Kugler, Chester, Dewey, R., Dewey, S., Rogers (C), Hershfelt, Isger, Soderstrom, K., Simmons, Whitsett

- Substitution: Leonard 45' (Isger),Ojongmboh 45' (Simmons), Hunt 65' (Soderstrom, K.), Houweling 65' (Dewey, R.), Vanegas 69' (Dewey, S.), Uko 69' (Rogers) 

- Unused: Fancher

- Scoring Summary:
IND – Dewey, S. 16’ (unassisted)
IND – Whitsett 21' (assist Simmons)
IND – Dewey, S. 52' (assist Whitsett)
IND – Soderstrom, K. 54' (assist Leonard)
IND – Hershfelt 56’ (unassisted)
IND – Whitsett 70' (assist Chester)
IND – Vanegas 77’ (unassisted)
IND – Leonard 85’ (unassisted)

- Bookings:

IND – Hershfelt 65' (Yellow)

- Referee: Matt Geringer

- Adage goals: None

Thoughts and Opinions

It's crazy to think that Indy absolutely destroyed St. Charles' inaugural game mood with an 8-nil thrashing, and could have easily scored more. Without some good saves from St. Charles keeper, Miller, or Indy having a little bit better shot at times, or if Indy had reduced their number of offside calls that negated good opportunities, this could have been a 13 or 14 goal differential. Coach Dolinsky likes an attacking style of play, so I'm sure Indy would have continued playing the way they did regardless, but I'm already thinking about the fact that Indy have to win the division to make the playoffs. With Racing Louisville in the division with Indy, this could come down to the head-to-head matchup between those two teams, and a goal differential. Getting goals now, and getting as many as you can, may help solidify another playoff birth, and puts the pressure on the other teams. You never know if St. Charles will get significantly better as the season progresses and they have more practice time together, but getting 8 goals against them and knowing Indy get to play them two more times makes my goal scoring heart excited.

Without official stats, I'm not sure that I'm correct, but I think Edwards had 2 saves for Indy, on not too many more shots than that. Indy dominated the game from start to finish, rarely allowing St. Charles time to do anything on the ball and rarely getting into Indy's defensive third. The midfield and defenders for Indy swarmed to balls to thwart the St. Charles attack. Coach Dolinsky has said that with this kind of team in this kind of league, you put good players on the field in positions to help them succeed, and let them use their talent to make good things happen. Indy's talent level, speed, and soccer IQ looked drastically better than St. Charles in this game.

Indy has a little break to get some more players into practice as they continue to trickle in from their respective locations before playing another team in their inaugural season in the USL-W league in Lexington SC. Lexington beat Kings Hammer 2-1 to start their campaign on the right foot. Lexington will play Racing Louisville a few days before Indy head to Lexington, so the extra rest and practices should help Indy.

The Game Beckons Game Ball

Two players scored a brace, and neither of those players were named Katie Soderstrom. Emily Edwards made the saves she had to make. As I mentioned before, the midfield and the defense were compact, swarming, and dominant in gaining possession back for Indy when the lost the ball. Take your pick on who gets the GBGB. If backed into a corner, I'll give it to Sam Dewey for the game-winner, but also because her goal immediately after halftime helped break any spirit that St. Charles might have felt about only being down by two after the way the first half was played. The third goal, and Dewey's second, opened the floodgates for the scoring after that. So Dewey (Sam) gets the edge, but this really was a good team win.