Indy Eleven vs Loudoun United FC - 11.18

Summary

- Opponent: Loudoun United FC
- Location: Carroll Stadium
- Attendance: 9,672
- Final Score: 1-1 D

- Starting XI: Sulte, Ofeimu, Chapman-Page, Diz Pe, Stanley, Mines, Wootton, Lindley (C), Guenzatti, Williams, A., Martinez

- Substitution: Gibson 45' (Lindley); O'Brien, J. 45' (Diz Pe); Williams, R. 45' (Williams, A.); Collier 60' (Mines); Neidlinger 84' (Guenzatti)

- Unused: Oettl, Henderlong, Schneider

- Scoring Summary:
LDN - 58' Leggett (assist Awuah)
IND - 74' Collier (assist Gibson)

- Bookings:

IND - Chapman-Page 28' (Yellow)
IND - Williams, R. 46' (Yellow)
LDN - Ryan 63' (Yellow)

- Referee: Brandon Stevis

- Adage goals: None

Thoughts and Opinions

This game marked the first game of the second half of the season. After Indy's rough start, who would have thought that Indy would finish the first half of the season in 3rd place? Thanks to their continued success in the U.S. Open Cup, Indy was forced into a mid-week fixture against Atlanta United on Tuesday. Loudoun, contrarily, hadn't played since before the July 4th holiday. 

2023 Rankings Chart

While the differences in freshness might have been a factor, this isn't your older brother's Loudoun United. Around this time of the season last year, Loudoun cemented themselves out of the playoff race, finishing just ahead of Hartford. However, at the midpoint of the 2024 season, Loudoun is hovering just above the playoff line with very similar statistics as Indy, with similar goal totals (30 to 26 advantage to Indy), goals conceded (25 to 20), shots on target (82 to 85), shots faced (70 to 75), and with Loudoun having a better edge in clean sheets (3 to 6). Amazing what having a consistent group of players and not being treated like a secondary endevour to the "mother" team will do for an organization. There's still an entire half of the season to go, but the visitors entered this game on a 7 game undefeated streak.

Whether it was a result of having 3 games in 9 days in high heat and humidity, the game felt very underwhelming to me from Indy's perspective. It was interesting to hear postgame that McAuley had similar thoughts. The effort to get the win in Atlanta on Tuesday could have taken the legs out of them, but Coach McAuley said that it didn't look to be the case during training leading up to the game. It just felt like from my perspective that Indy's movement was just too slow. When Loudoun was in defense mode, they had 11 guys behind the ball. As Indy tried to break down that compact defense, the passes and decisions weren't quick enough. As a result, Loudoun was able to just shift back and forth when Indy was in possession and slowly moved the ball from left to right and back across the backline. Indy's offense was very predictable for much of the game.   

Photo Credit: Don Thompson

The notable exception to this was the infusion of Collier in the 60th minute. Whether by instruction or just his nature during this game, Collier made an effort to attack the Loudoun defense. After the game, McAuley reiterated something he (and his predecessors) have stated from time to time. Tactics are numbers on a whiteboard. Once the game gets underway, the game is so fluid that it comes down to player understanding of the goals, and individual effort. Indy, as a team, didn't have the effort in the first half. Collier, with his inclusion into the game, was all effort. His goal leveled the game, turning what was starting to look like a rare loss in Indy's recent run-of-form.

Indy, despite not playing their best game, still accumulated points. Indy haven't lost a game since before the U.S. Open Cup run started with the game aginst the Chicago Fire II. One loss in 16 games across all competitions after starting the season losing 4 of their first 6 games. With teams like Louisville, Charleston, and Tampa Bay playing the way they are playing, getting points is important. Tampa Bay moved ahead of Indy in the table thanks to their result, but Indy keeps everybody ahead of them in arms reach and helps keep the teams behind them behind them with the point.

For now, I'm going to blame the poor effort from the squad on the number of games in a short period, one of them against an MLS side, all in hot weather. However, it's interesting to note from the statistics that I keep that this game was Indy's 2nd lowest long pass percentage of the season. The lowest on the season? The loss against Orange County. I had previously praised the tactical change from McAuley over Lowry and Rennie in that trying to play "the beautiful game" with passes, possession, and picking apart your opponent may not be realistic at this level of soccer on these types of fields. Statistically, in the past two league games, Indy seem to be getting away from what has made them successful in this run, which has been to attack with longer balls, crosses into the box, and trying to take the Carroll Stadium turf out of play. Watching the team pass the ball around the back trying to break down Loudoun, I wondered if the change was game specific or an evolution of the team's tactics. One that hasn't worked in Indy in the past, and was close to not working for a second home game in a row. I love the "beautiful game" as much as the next person, but it might not be what works for Indy, in this league, in this stadium. 

Guess we'll find out more next week when Tampa Bay, and their roster full of former Indy Eleven players, come to Indy.  

The Game Beckons Game Ball

Sulte came up big a few times, helping keep Indy in the game, so I was inclined to give him tonight's GBGB, but Collier's individual effort was clearly the difference maker for Indy tonight. His goal salvaged what had been an underwhelming effort from the team, just 4 days removed from securing their place in the U.S. Open Cup semifinals. Collier came into the game and did exactly what you want second half substitutes to do when you're trailing. Bring a shot of energy into the attack and change the tenor of the game. Collier did both of those things.

Photographs - Don Thompson Photography

Indy Eleven vs Rhode Island - 11.17

Summary

- Opponent: Rhode Island FC
- Location: Beirne Stadium
- Attendance: 4,728
- Final Score: 3-3 D

- Starting XI: Sulte, Ofeimu, O'Brien, J., Musa, Stanley, Mines, Wootton, Lindley (C), Guenzatti, Collier, Williams, R.

- Substitution: Chapman-Page 45' (Musa); Martinez 61' (Guenzatti); Williams, A. 61' (Collier); Gibson 71' (Williams, R.); Scheider 83' (Lindley)

- Unused: Oettl, Neidlinger

- Scoring Summary:
IND - Wootton 20' (assist Lindley)
IND - Collier 28' (assist Williams, R.)
RI - Nodarse 52' (assist Ybarra)
RI - Nodarse 69' (assist Ybarra)
IND - Gibson 79' (assist Martinez)
RI - Angking 90'+5' (assist Kwizera)

- Bookings:

RI - Nodarse 19' (Yellow)
IND - Mines 35' (Yellow)
IND - Sulte 54' (Yellow)
IND - O'Brien, J. 59' (Yellow)

RI - Williams 80' (Yellow)
RI - Kwizera 84' (Yellow)

- Referee: Ricardo Montero Araya

- Adage goals: One (but boy was it a big one)

Thoughts and Opinions

The Stadium at Tidewater Landing

One of these teams is in season 11 of their existence. The other is in their first season. One of these teams has plans for their own stadium. The other has their stadium in active construction. If you thought that the longer existence team is the one with a stadium in construction, you would be wrong. Rhode Island, despite a decade less history is currently constructing their own stadium, while Indy's stadium plans have been mired in starts, stops, and a mayoral MLS debacle. The good news for Indy is that they came into the game with an 11 point advantage over Rhode Island and a 6 position lead in the table. Rhode Island came into this game with a 3-game undefeated streak including a 5-2 win AT Louisville, while Indy are trying to bounce back after a 12-game undefeated streak across all competitions came to a screeching halt in a 1-nil loss to Orange County.

Despite Indy's 10-day hiatus from game minutes and the bad taste in their mouths from the Orange County defeat, the Eleven had two immediate chances at goal from corner kicks, but were unable to get the scoring started. After the second attempt, the game become wide open with end-to-end action with Rhode Island putting two of their own shots on target. Once the two teams both found their chances, the game settled down until just before the 20th minute. Mines tracked down a ball before it went over the end line and turned back towards the center of the pitch. Nodarse was late with his challenge, giving Indy a free kick just outside the box, and receiving a yellow card for good measure. Instead of Indy putting the ball into the mixer in the box, Lindley put a perfectly weighted ball to Wootton who was standing at the top of the box. Wootton first timed the ball and with the help of a slight deflection found the back of the goal.

Indy then doubled their lead with a quick counter and a deft chip from Romario Williams over the back line that put Collier in on goal alone against Lee. Collier calmly put the ball to Lee's right to give them 2 shots on target and 2 goals despite a significant disadvantage in possession. Through the first 30-minutes, Indy utilized the counterattack perfectly to give themselves a two-goal advantage. Rhode Island had a couple of good forays into Indy's defensive third, including an effort from Dikwa that required some last-ditch defending from Musa and O'Brien. As the half neared the halftime whistle, Rhode Island was forced to defend three consecutive corner kicks, all of which Lindley would tell you he should have done better with as none of them made it past the first or second defender. The corner kicks just didn't give the rest of the Indy players a chance to make a play. However, Indy had done enough to get to the halftime break with the 2-nil advantage.

All those missed opportunities at the end of the half were exacerbated when Rhode Island pulled a goal back in the 52nd minute turning the game on its head with a corner kick headed goal by Nodarse. Then Rhode Island pulled the game level in the 69th minute with a nearly exact corner kick head goal by Nodarse. Rhode Island's dominance in the second half were rewarded with goals that forced the final 20-minutes of the game to be an unnecessarily nerve-wrecking affair from the Indy fans' perspective. As the game began to look like it was getting out of hand for Indy, Coach McAuley brought in Gibson to try and regain control over the midfield. It was the late game substitute that found what looked to be the game-winning goal in the 79th minute. However, a 90'+5' stoppage time goal from Angking solidified a win that went to a draw that went to a win that went to a draw. Indy begins another undefeated streak, but conceding such a late goal definitely has the "draw that feels like a loss" vibe to it. 

As Indy reaches the halfway point of the season, it's definitely better to conclude the first half with a positive result on the road. When the team is still sitting in 3rd place in the table and reached the 30-point mark 7 games faster than they did last year, it's difficult to complain about this result. Yet, Indy let this one slip away from them. 

Indy return to action on Tuesday in the U.S. Open Cup in Atlanta before returning back to The Mike to take on Loudoun United.  

The Game Beckons Game Ball

I thought about giving this to Romario Williams again this week due to his clear ability on the ball that facilitates getting others into the attack or not lose the ball, but I want to reward a different player this game. Tyler Gibson is a player that has not had the kind of minutes that Indy fans are accustomed to seeing from him during his previous time with Indy. Gibson has made due with a substitution role, often as the team is trying to see out a game and they need his defensive abilities. I honestly thought that was why he was brought on tonight, to help stabilize a midfield that was getting torched in the second half. While I do think that he did that, he also showed a concerted effort to break the Rhode Island defense and get into the attack. He nearly had one goal just a minute before he scored if Lee hadn't kept his body large and closed down the angle to prevent Gibson from getting a good shot through Lee's legs. Gibson was dynamic in his substitution role and I'm going to reward him with tonight's GBGB.

Indy Eleven vs Orange County - 11.16

Summary

- Opponent: Orange County FC
- Location: Carroll Stadium
- Attendance: 9,490
- Final Score: 1-0 L

- Starting XI: Sulte, Ofeimu, O'Brien, J., Diz Pe, Stanley, Mines, Blake, Lindley (C), Wootton, Guenzatti, Williams, A.

- Substitution: Schneider 38' (Diz Pe); Williams, R. 45' (Blake); Collier 79' (Wootton); Ikoba 79' (Guenzatti)

- Unused: Oettl, Gibson, Henderlong

- Scoring Summary:
OC - Zubak 25' (assist Lambe)

- Bookings:

OC - Sorto 35' (Yellow)
OC - Zubak 42' (Yellow)
OC - Karlsen 45'+7' (Yellow)
IND - Ofeimu 45'+8' (Yellow)
IND - Williams, R. 52' (Yellow)
OC - Chattha 73' (Yellow)

- Referee: Joe Surgan

- Adage goals: None

Thoughts and Opinions

Back-to-back weeks brought Western Conference foes to The Mike, with both teams hovering around that conference's playoff line. On a night where the starting kickoff temperatures were right at 90-degrees but felt slightly higher than that due to the humidity, I came into this game expecting it to be a slow paced game with a mistake by one of the teams potentially being the deciding factor. Orange County, like San Antonio last week, are accustomed to higher temps, but tonight's temps are the kind where you sweat in the shade. Or maybe that's just me. 

Given how slowly Orange County took every single throw-in during the early stages of the game, they knew they needed to take some of the humid air out of the game. The referee and fourth official were both observed telling the OC players that they needed to keep the game moving. To their credit, the OC players disregarded those requests and continued to milk the game where they could. Indy, contrarily, tried to restart every free kick as quickly as possible. Many times with multiple restarts because they didn't let the ball come to a complete stop or were further up the field than Surgan deemed acceptable.

While I thought a mistake would be what separated teams, OC proved me wrong. From a corner kick recycle in the 25th minute, Lambe put a ball into the middle of the box that found Zubak forcefully headed past Sulte to open the scoring. The protestations of offside from the Indy players were met with deaf ears and Indy found themselves chasing the game, a position they haven't found themselves much during this undefeated streak. Despite tilting the field in their direction as the half progressed, OC's one-goal lead was how the teams went into the locker, but not before Blake went down finishing his day. Coach McAuley made the decision to play a man down for the remainder of the half, wanting to get to halftime before using his second substitution window. 

As expected, Blake did not return to action after the halftime break, but was instead replaced with newly signed Romario Williams. The change in personnel also provided a change is formation as Guenzatti dropped back into the midfield with the Williams duo up top together and a change to a back four. Indy's desire to equalize put them on the front foot early. Their exuberance to claw one back also put them offside a couple times, one of which called off a goal. 

Their exuberance also meant that many of their touches were slightly off and they couldn't keep things going smoothly. The team looked like they were trying to effort their way to a goal because things weren't coming easily as OC stayed compact and physical defensively. Indy's effort resulted in 38 crosses, connecting on 24% of them, which led to 36 clearances from the OC defense. Sulte wasn't credited with a single save, while his counterpart Shutler had 7 saves. Shutler's saves and Indy's lack of clinical finishing in their offensive 1/3 of the field marks the first time all season that Indy has been held without scoring a goal. Let that sink in for a minute. The 16th game of the season is the first clean sheet for an Indy opponent.

Indy's effort, in the second half, was much better than in the first, but this wasn't one of those games where they were able to effort their way to an equalizer or win. If the team had been more clinical in their shots, they might have won this game going with ease. As it was, the early injuries to Diz Pe and Blake, the latter of which was carted from the sideline because he was unable to walk, created a bit of a disjointed midfield. Diz and Jack join the rest of Indy's injured list (Quinn, King, Chapman-Page...) that seems to be ever growing, and ever worrisome. The off weekend this coming weekend might be helpful in getting guys healthy again. 

I've often heard Coach Painter of Purdue men's basketball say that winning can hide a lot of problems. Indy have been grinding out games, getting timely Own Goals and penalty kicks, to keep the undefeated streak going. However, maybe the wins were hiding some problems that reared their head tonight. Regardless, Indy go into their bye week with a bad taste in their mouth and a longer line into the medical staff's room during next week's training. The undefeated and winning streak are something they will look at appreciatively at the end of the season, but post-game, both McAuley and Lindley said the same thing. What has happened in past games is in the past. Neither could take solace in knowing the loss came at the end of a near record-breaking club results streak. For now, the 2016 team remain as the undefeated torchbearers in (men's) club history, but this 2024 team will be known for their win streak, whether they were in a place to admit it last night or not. 

 As we creep towards the halfway point of the season, Indy sit in 3rd place in the table. The teams immediately behind them have games-in-hand so we'll see where they start to land once those teams begin to become more even in games played. 

The Game Beckons Game Ball

It might seem strange based on his stat line and his amount of time in the game, and while Lindley's control of the midfield makes my midfielder heart want to give it to him, he's going to get edged tonight for the GBGB by his newest teammate, Romario Williams. His stats weren't eye-popping, but his first touch was really good and he looked dynamic. With a little more time with his teammates, the up top pairing of the Williamses with Guenzatti tucked underneath should prove to be a formidable weapon. I think fans saw in this game just a glimpse of what the trio could be capable of providing moving forward. They'll want to see any or all be more clinical in their finishing than they were tonight, but there's promise there that could separate them from the other recent starters in Martinez and Ikoba. 

Photos - Don Thompson Photography

Indy Eleven vs San Antonio FC - 11.15

Summary

- Opponent: San Antonio FC
- Location: Carroll Stadium
- Attendance: 10,491
- Final Score: 1-0 W

- Starting XI: Sulte, Ofeimu, O'Brien, J., Chapman-Page, Stanley, Mines, Lindley (C), Blake, Guenzatti, Martinez, Williams

- Substitution: Wootton 60' (Guenzatti); Collier 73' (Mines); Gibson 90' (Blake)

- Unused: Oettl, Henderlong, Ikoba, Schneider

- Scoring Summary:
IND - Own Goal 29' (Burks)

- Bookings:

IND - Ofeimu 2' (Yellow)
SA - Taintor 32' (Yellow)
SA - Chol 50' (Yellow)
IND - Mines 52' (Yellow)
SA - Gomez 54' (Yellow)
IND - Chapman-Page 79' (Yellow)

- Referee: Adam Kilpatrick

- Adage goals: None

Thoughts and Opinions

Thanks to the U.S. Open Cup, Indy and San Antonio had the rare opportunity for multiple interconference matchup games against each other in a season without it being a playoff game. Indy faced off against San Antonio in early May in the USOC Round of 32, coming away from the Sellick Bowl with a 2-nil victory behind goals from Blake and Williams in the first 10 minutes of the game. Including that earlier game against San Antonio, since that May 8th victory, Indy has scored 17 goals in all competitions and have conceded just 4, getting 3 clean sheets in the process. Indy is on a 5 game home win streak, a 7-game win streak in league play, a 9-game win streak across all competitions, and an 11-game undefeated streak. Conversely, in that same timeframe, San Antonio has just 1 win and a record of 1W-1D-4L and hovering just above the Western Conference's playoff line. To use an Ocean's Eleven joke, "apparently, he's [they've] got a record [injury report] longer than my... well, it's long." Their injury report is longer than any report I have seen in quite some time. Eight players were listed on their report, forcing San Antonio to suit 5 Academy players for their substitutes. It's hard to overcome that level of unavailable players very often.

Despite their limited bench, San Antonio took the early part of the game to Indy, spending a significant amount of time in Indy's defensive half. On a night where the temperature at the starting whistle was hovering higher than 80-degrees, it's a reminder that San Antonio are used to these temperatures.

Just before the 15th minute, Chapman-Page's right arm was hanging out away from his body when a shot was blasted off of his arm. The handball rule can be a tricky one, as it was definitely ball to hand because it would have been nearly impossible for him to get his arm away from contacting the ball due to the proximity of the shot, but if a referee doesn't call that one, they'll never call a handball. It was whistled for a penalty kick and without much protestations from the Indy players about the actual call. However, when the penalty was awarded, the Indy players were irate about a high boot from SA that wasn't called that happened in the build-up to the shot that resulted in the penalty kick, when the same infraction by Ofeimu resulted in a yellow card in just the 2nd minute. Hernandez stepped up and went to his right. Unfortunately for him, but good for Indy, Sulte went to that same side making the save. As Sulte collected the ball and picked himself off the turf, you could nearly hear Indy fans throughout Carroll Stadium saying "ball don't lie." The save allowed Indy to stay in the game, and shows how well things are going for Indy right now during this run. Sure it helps when your goalkeeper is 6'-7", but he still needed to go the correct direction and make the save.

Fifteen minutes of back-and-forth action eventually led to a corner kick from Indy. The resulting service from Stanley was redirected nicely into Indy's goal...by Burks. Stanley's continued great service once again led to an Indy goal. It just wasn't an Indy player that found the ball first. In 15 minutes, Indy went from appearing that they were going to have to chase the game to being ahead. LaCava found a shot less than 10-minutes later that was textbook way to break a defensive line, but Sulte once again came up big with a kick save that took more of San Antonio's steam away from them. San Antonio's own goal was the difference between the teams as they went into the halftime locker. Looking at the halftime stats, SA could feel a bit upset that they were behind at the break as most of the stats were skewed their direction.

San Antonio's deficit and lack of bodies on the bench began to show itself in a physical way and they tried to just make the game ugly. Yellow cards starting to be shown more, sometimes in the wrong direction. Mines' yellow card resulted because he threw a player to the ground that had placed a shoulder into Mine's chest when Adam Kilpatrick, the referee, was looking elsewhere. It's always the second player that gets caught, and by itself, Mine's infraction could have resulted in a red card. The yellow card wasn't the correct call, but it was a fortunate one, that allowed Indy to stay at full strength.

As the half progressed, Indy tilted the field in their favor, but couldn't find the insurance goal to put San Antonio away. The precarious advantage was nearly undone by Chol in the 80th minute when he brought down a ball from Hernandez behind the Indy back line, but lifted his shot just over the bar into the top of the goal. Much like the "ball don't lie" feeling after the penalty save, a collective "whew" could be felt from the Indy fans.

When the fourth official raised the board and showed the stadium that there would be an additional 5-minutes of stoppage time, Indy fans had no idea they would spend the entirety of that time on the edge of their seat, hoping that their team could prevent a goal from San Antonio and see out the victory. Indy Eleven had to weather a barrage of corner kicks, a couple of them arguably unnecessarily, as San Antonio made a final push to equalize and Indy had difficulty clearing the ball. In two minutes of game time, Indy faced not one, not two, not three, but four corner kicks. Just as time was about to expire, Burks, who was responsible for the Own Goal, nearly made up for his earlier mistake with a shot from well outside the box that he dragged just barely wide of goal. An outstretched Sulte might have been able to get to it had it been on frame, but another "whew" from Indy fans could be felt throughout the stadium. San Antonio knew that was their last chance, and the final whistle was blown shortly after Sulte kicked the ball back into play. 

Indy extends all the streaks. With upcoming games against Orange County, Rhode Island, and Loudoun, all teams hovering around their respective playoff cut lines, it's amazing to think that Indy could realistically continue those streaks until Indy faces Tampa Bay on July 20th and in the process tie the club record for undefeated streak set by the benchmark team for club success, the 2016 squad that made it to the NASL Soccer Bowl. 

Indy has won in multiple different ways during this undefeated streak and tonight was more of the same. It wasn't completely pretty and nobody from Indy scored a goal, but much like the women's game earlier this week, it took a gritty performance to come away with the win. Indy will, probably, lose at some point, but this undefeated streak is enjoyable if a bit nerve-wrecking to watch at times.

Indy return to The Mike next week to play another Western Conference opponent in Orange County.

The Game Beckons Game Ball

C'mon man! You all know who gets tonight's GBGB. Two shots on target. Two saves. One a penalty kick save and the other a kick save on a breakaway. The man with a very vocal preteen/teen girl fan club gets the GBGB.

Photos - Don Thompson Photography