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 Toledo Villa FC - 05.05

Summary

- Opponent: Toledo Villa FC
- Location: Paul Hotmer Field
- Attendance: -
- Final Score: 6-0 W

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

- Substitution: Yu 61' (Mills); Chong 61' (Dardano); Adam 61' (Lee); Kikuchi 73' (Guthrie); Farrell 73' (Jodoin); Cueto 83' (Kruer)

- Unused: Phillips

- Scoring Summary:
IND - Jodoin 39' (unassisted)
IND - Hamm 42' (assist Jodoin)
IND - Guthrie 50' (assist Sochacki)
IND - Sochacki 60' (assist Kruer)
IND - Sochacki 74' (assist Farrell)
IND - Farrell 90'+1' (assist Chong)

- Bookings:

TVF - Bourbeau 66' (Yellow)

- Referee: ?

Thoughts and Opinions

Let's get the important part of the way immediately. Well done Toledo for a proper stream. Proper camera work (though a bit too tight at times) with replays and proper commentary. It's nice to see that Indy isn't the only one in the Division who puts any value in their W League team's streaming requirements. Toledo may be currently sitting at the bottom of the table, having scored just 3 goals, but Louisville and Dayton can take a lesson in what a proper stream looks like. 

Now, more specifically to the play on the field. I've noticed a couple things in Indy's time in the W League. 

One of the first things that has been consistent is that when Indy is the more technically gifted team, which has been a lot of times in the first few seasons, oftentimes the opponent counteracts that difference by being far more physical; a physicality that Indy teams haven't always been inclined to reciprocate (Hal Hershfelt not included). Particularly in the first half of this game, that trend continued. As the one-way traffic persisted through the majority of the half for Indy, they were frequently met by hard tackles from the Toledo defenders who often found themselves in bad positions. To the referee's credit, many of those fouls were called, and it didn't ultimately matter, but it has shown the wide range of talent in the W League and how teams try to deal with the talent gap.

The second thing was finishing. If Indy had kept their body over their shots and been a little more composed on those shots when they had time, this game would have been out of hand score-wise long before it was actually out of hand score-wise. Indy was dominant from the start and had the field tilted towards Toledo's goal the entire time. What came to my mind was the difference the past two years' teams have had, with younger squads, as compared to the first couple of seasons, when Indy had Williams and Soderstrom up top. Both of those players were older, had more experience, and were far more composed on the ball. The past couple of games have shown that despite the talent that is clearly evident with the Indy Eleven players, time and experiences are invaluable for slowing the game down in a player's mind. Williams and Soderstrom had the game slowed down in their mind and as a result were far more clinical around goal when the opportunities came to them. If you're only trying to win games, having some veteran players has proven to be invaluable. If you're trying to develop local talent, you're going to take some lumps along the way when the shots are going in despite dominating the possession and attempts like Indy did the previous two games.

This was a definite "get right" and "feel right" game for the women after a couple of difficult losses the previous two games against Dayton and Louisville to finish off Indy's ridiculously long road stand. Six goals from 5 different players and a very solid defensive effort that snuffed out nearly all of Toledo's promising attacks is a good way to head home to finish off the season. With two games remaining against Division-leading Dayton and a game against Louisville, finally all at home, Indy's playoff possibility could still be firmly in their own hands, but they're still on the knife's edge. A draw along the way probably doesn't get it done, particularly if that draw is to Dayton unless Dayton and Louisville take points from each other in their remaining two games against each other. 

Despite some lapses in defensive and passing judgements by Indy after they had their 3-goal lead that could have given Toledo some life, Indy had a well-deserved 6-goal win in a game they completely dominated. Indy return home for their second home game of the season to host Dayton and start making their push to erase the hole the month-long away stretch put them in.

Game Beckons Game Ball

Pretty much a team effort, with good play by a lot of players. For getting the brace and an assist, I'll give Sochacki the edge for tonight's GBGB.

Indy Eleven vs Toledo Villa FC - 05.02

Summary

- Opponent: Toledo Villa FC
- Location: Paul Hotmer Field
- Attendance: -
- Final Score: 3-1 W

- Starting XI: Reason, Satterfield, Gillespie, Adam, Brecht, Smith, Dardano, Johnson, Jodoin, Guthrie, Hamm

- Substitution: Chatterton 45' (Brecht); Sochacki 61' (Guthrie); Joyce 61' (Dardano); Kruer 77' (Gillespie); Kikuchi 83' (Johnson); Farrell 83' (Jodoin)

- Unused: Edwards

- Scoring Summary:
IND - Johnson 21' (assist Smith)
IND - Guthrie 35' (assist Jodoin)
TVF - Sipsock 41' (assist )
IND - Sochacki 85' (Kikuchi)

- Bookings:

NONE

- Referee: 

Thoughts and Opinions

Towards the end of the game, one of the broadcast announcers said something to the effect of "Toledo's fans can take solace knowing that while the third goal makes the game look worse than it was, this year's team held one of the premier teams in the USL W League to just two goals through the majority of the game."

C'mon, Man!

Are you kidding me? What kept this game looking close was Indy's inability to keep their shots down and Toledo's goalkeeper Holland. This was one-way traffic from start to finish. Indy's players had too many shots go over the crossbar and Holland had some great saves. Otherwise, this would have been a massive blowout. Toledo rarely ventured into the Indy defensive half and I can only remember two clear shots on target; one they put in the goal over Reason towards the end of the first half, and the second went straight to Reason from a long-distance shot. If Indy had been more clinical around goal, this could have been one of those laugher score lines.

Indy return to action next Sunday, again on the road, to Dayton Dutch Lions.

Game Beckons Game Ball

I'm not sure why she would taken out at halftime, but I thought Brecht from her left wing position was a force in the first half. Constantly attacking, bringing the ball well up the field, and bringing the ball towards the center of the field before spraying it back out to other players, Brecht had her name called time and again in the first half. The second half, without her on the field, felt completely different for Indy's attack. In 45 minutes, Brecht gets today's GBGB.