The Soccer Life - Jon Dawson

The Indy Eleven recently held an event for the season ticket holders and so I decided to take a long some of my surveys to see who might be receptive. I quickly realized that the guys had more than enough to keep them occupied with the team's activities without adding in one more task for them. However, I received immediate feedback from Jon Dawson and Dylan Mares (who I didn't realize until later that he didn't see there was a page 2 of my printed survey) so I present to you Jon's abbreviated survey here. If Jon would like to expand on his responses, I'll update the post. If Dylan would like to finish his, I'll get in touch with the front office. I'll also use this as a plug for any of the other Indy Eleven players who would like to join Dawson, Mares, and former player Chris Estridge (and others) who have filled out the questionnaire. 

Before I get to Jon's responses, I wanted to thank him for his time during a very busy event. When I asked him about the possibility of filling out the survey, he immediately said yes. I told him that he could fill it out later and get it to me, but he took the time to do it there.  Dylan did as well. While it surprised me at the time, after thinking about it since then, it shouldn't have surprised me. Jon has always struck me as one of the guys on the team that truly appreciates the fans and values them. I've seen him stop on numerous occasions to talk to fans through his two years with the Eleven and maintain the conversation as long as needed. He's a local guy who went to high school at Brebeuf and college at Butler (see his bio here), but I don't think that is the only reason he does it. As a guy who continues to wait his chance to get in a game for the Eleven, he could easily have become disenfranchised about his time, but he seems like he's taking it as a chance to get better and do the other parts of the job as best as he can. Thanks Jon for taking part!

1. Name:
Jon Dawson

2. Role (Player, Parent, Coach, Referee, General Spectator, All of the Above, None of the Above, Other):
- Player

3. Soccer-specific Nickname (and any story behind it):
- Shark
Editor's note: I've heard this was his nickname, but I've never seen an explanation. I had hoped to get it here, but Jon continues to keep it a mystery (at least to me).

4. Age started playing:
- 14

5. First recollection of the game:
- Playing with friends

6. Highest level of play achieved:
- Professional - Indy Eleven

7. Last competitive match – Date (if known) & Level of Play
- This season with the Indy Eleven

8. Position:
- Goalkeeper

9. Jersey number:
- 35

10. Most memorable moment(s):
- Going pro.

11. Least memorable moment(s):
- Losing in college conference finals.
Editor's note: If I correctly found the game that Jon references, it was in his senior season, he had 7 saves, and the shot that got passed him was in overtime in the 97th minute off of a rebound. I can understand why that sticks out as a least memorable moment.

12. Favorite team:
- Swansea

13. Favorite player:
- Historical: Victor Valdes

- Current: David de Gea

14. Indoor vs Outdoor:
- Outdoor

15. Grass vs Turf:
- Grass

16. Coaching experience:
- College

17. Refereeing experience:
- None.

18. Favorite World Cup moment(s):
- Women's World Cup win

19. Honors/Awards:
- Too many to list during the season ticket holder event

20. Other sports played (and to what level):
- Baseball until age 14.

21. Other Comments:
- None.

Indy Eleven vs Armada - 02.26

- Opponent: Jacksonville Armada
- Location: Jacksonville, Florida
- Attendance: 6,734
- Final Score: 1-1 T
- Starting XI: Cardona, Franco, Miller, Janicki, Hyland, Stojkov, Keller, Ceballos, Pineda, Richards, Wojcik
- Substitutions: Mares 64' (Keller), Lacroix 67' (Stojkov), Brown 76' (Janicki)
- Unused: Norales, Pena, Steinberger, Dawson
- Goals: Brown 83' (assist Wojcik)
- Bookings: None
- Adage goals: None

This was the kind of game that looked like what happens when you have two teams play that are mathematically alive for the championship, but there's a reason they are the bottom in the league. Even the Armada commentators stated early on that it seemed like the fans were just waiting for something to happen. Until the second half, there really wasn't much from either team, even with the Armada goal in the 29th min. Which while I'm taking about it, did anybody else see the shot in the back that Kyle Hyland took in the back from Keita? I don't know that it would have prevented the goal, but it's hard to defend when you get laid out from behind.

The bad news is that the Eleven once again conceded an early goal causing them to play from behind.

The good news is that they were able to get a draw-inducing goal of their own in the 83rd minute. More good news is that it was a well-timed run by Brown and perfect chip over the defense that created the goal.

The bad news, and this is the most concerning thing about the game for me, is that the Eleven had a man advantage for basically 30 minutes (give or take with the stoppage time and the injuries to Hyland and Richards) and only managed to get a single goal. As I watched the game the first time, it occurred to me that an opposing team's red card isn't the advantage that it would normally seem when you are talking about the Indy Eleven. Especially when that team already has a goal advantage on the Eleven. The Armada had a goal advantage and were a man down, but that played perfectly into their advantage rather than the Eleven's. The Eleven wanted to get the equalizer and go-ahead goal, but Jacksonville just needed to sit back and defend and wait for chances to push forward. For a team like the Eleven who have had issues scoring more than one goal lately, the man advantage wasn't that helpful.

The other thing that stuck out, particularly during the first half, was that it seemed like every time the Eleven pushed forward, there wasn't any support for the lead man. Some of that was the way that the Eleven were playing in a defensive position, but there was absolutely zero help when the ball switched fields.  Again, for a team struggling to get shots and goals, playing 2 or 3 versus 5 or 6 doesn't really bode well. Richards likes to make the run up the side and Hyland routinely makes the overlap on the other side, get it towards the end line, and then look to cross it into nobody. Or, at best, another short player likely to win a header. It just seems like the Eleven still aren't playing to their strengths.

Lastly, while my views of the game are always considered commentary and not reporting, this next comment can be filed under the "are we watching the same replay!" There's been a lot of commentary during the telecasts from the various teams that could be considered to be of the "homer" variety, and that includes Indy's own Greg Rakestraw and Brad Hauter. However, there is no way that they would watch an opposing player get elbowed in the back and knocked to the ground, and then while down have the ball kicked up their sphincter and say to the red card that was given, "that's unfortunate." "He just kicked the ball. Unfortunately, the ref is reacting to the players and not what he saw." "That's not one of those things where it's a cheap shot." "That's too bad. Occasionally those things will happen." That has to fall under the worst individual piece of commentary that I've heard all season and that's saying something!

Really?! That's a ref who is reacting to the players and not what he saw?

The Eleven finished the Florida trip with two draws and two points with a three game homestand awaiting, but I just don't see how they get enough points out of the remaining games to make the Playoffs. In this case, mathematics is one thing, reality is another.

Highlights:


UPDATES:
Brian Brown goal up for Play of the Week! Congrats!


Cory Miller part of the Team of the Week! Congrats!

Indy Eleven vs Rowdies - 02.25

- Opponent: Tampa Bay Rowdies
- Location: Tampa Bay, Florida
- Attendance: 4,691
- Final Score: 1-1 D
- Starting XI: Cardona, Franco, Miller, Norales, Frias, Smart, Pena, Steinberger, Lacroix, Mares, Brown
- Substitutions: Richards 63' (Brown), Keller 86' (Pena), Stojkov 70' (Pena)
- Unused: Nicht, Janicki, Pineda, Dawson
- Goals: Frias 70'
- Bookings: None
- Adage goals: None

These Wednesday games on One World Sports, where I can't record the game or easily find a replay and have a poor internet connection for the first viewing make it difficult to write as well as I normally like to do so I'm going to keep this fairly basic.

While it's nice to not write about an Eleven loss, ties just aren't going to get them into the playoffs at this point. Wins and many of them in succession are all that is going to get it done.  That being said, after the first 15 minutes of the game where the Rowdies had multiple chances at getting on the board early, and then falling behind, it's good to see them stick with it and get the equalizer.

The Rowdies' goal was one of the most mind-boggling defensive decisions by Norales that I have seen all season from him. He was ideally placed to head the ball out and just stopped and let it go right over him. In the replay, it appears almost as if he thought somebody called him off of it. To me, that's a function of the combinations of backline and goalie that the Eleven have had to enlist in the last couple of months due to injuries and suspensions.

It was good to see Sergio "From Distance" Pena back in the lineup and basically do a full 90 minutes (yeah, I just made up that nickname). He's a big body that this team has lacked in his absence and proved once again that he is unafraid to shoot on goal.

While Steinberger's presence on the roster coincided with Mares' injury, this was the combination that I was most excited to see function after seeing the starting lineup.  While Mares was listed as a forward, his interplay with Steinberger showed glimpses of what could have been with both of them on the field consistently. They are both fantastic on the ball and they seemed just a bit out of sync with one another, but I hope their pairing continues because I think their vision is going to create chances. I would be remiss if I didn't mention that it was Mares who tracked back and blocked an unmarked Adu shot on goal from the 6-yard line in the 10th minute. That's a good run by a player who has barely seen the field in recent months.

If the rest of the guys take the shots when they are available... I thought that Doug Starnes verbalized it well on the Frias goal. Simple, but exactly to the point.

Good things happen when you take a chance. Well done, @jfrias_3! @IndyEleven

— Grass In The Sky (@GrassInTheSky1) October 1, 2015

The Eleven need to take their point and head to Jacksonville to try and come home with four points in their suitcases.


Highlights:

Indy Eleven vs Eddies - 02.24

- Opponent: FC Edmonton
- Location: Indianapolis, Indiana
- Attendance: 7.232
- Final Score: 2-0 L
- Starting XI: Nicht, Franco, Miller, Norales, Hyland, Keller, Ring, Stojkov, Cuevas, Richards, Wojcik
- Substitutions: Lacroix 56' (Cuevas), Ceballos 66' (Wojcik), Smart 77' (Stojkov)
- Unused: Cardona, Janicki, Pena, Steinberger
- Goals: None
- Bookings: Ring 72' (Yellow)
- Adage goals: One

I saw something on Twitter recently that I didn't favorite so will never be able to find again, but in essence it went like this (paraphrasing for this topic):
1) Start Microsoft Word
2) Find Indy Eleven recap templates
3) Open "Indy Eleven lose due to defensive lapse and adage goal" article.

Of course there was more to the game than that, but it all feels the same these days. The Eleven in a basically "must win" game to keep any playoff hopes alive and they come up short by giving up multiple goals and not being able to make good on their own opportunities on goal. Which is probably why the Indy Star has basically given up writing anything for the Eleven for the Sunday paper edition, which went like this:

Eleven fall to Edmonton
Second-half goals by Daryl Fordyce and Sainey Nyassi gave FC Edmonton a 2-0 victory over the Indy Eleven on Saturday night at Carroll Stadium.

That's about as narrowed down to its essence as possible. Who? What? When? Where? The only thing missing is the Why? and that's the key part that seems to be missing for fans of the Indy Eleven.

Why?

Why was there no Mares or Steinberger in the starting lineup, who have been the team's best playmakers so far and done well to connect the defense to the forwards? This was the first thing I wrote down in my notes when I saw the starting lineup.

Why did Nicht start over Cardona, who has played well despite the results. Why the change, once again, to the defensive unit?

Why can't the Eleven sign a player taller than 6-foot?  The last five signings (Lacroix, Richards, Steinberger, Ceballos, Cuevas) have an average height of 5'-5" and an average weight of 154 lbs. Why is that important? Because with the tactical change to what seems like a 4-2-2-2, the Eleven's play through the midfield seemed to decrease against the Eddies and the team was relying on defending and counter attacking. Balls to the forwards in that scenario didn't always make it directly to their feet, which meant that the Eleven have quick, but relatively small, players trying to out-run and/or out-muscle opposing defenders to get their opportunities. The out-muscling part doesn't go very well. Richards does it better than the others, but he does this by not even attempting to win most headers and positions his body for the second bounce. He's a 5'-5" power forward blocking out for a rebound. That often makes it hard to give himself a shot on goal and needs to have other players running off of his first touch. It just wasn't effective on Saturday and didn't give them many realistic shots on goal.

Why do the Eleven have so many "adage" goals?

Why do the forwards (and midfielders) wait so long to try and take shots on goal?

Why can't the Eleven achieve consistent, successful, results?

Why? Why? Why?

I don't know the answer to any of those questions and based on the trajectory of the team right now (see the new chart addition to this site below), the playoffs are a goal for next season and this season's goal should be to not finish in their namesake position in either the Fall or Combined Tables. 11th.

Photos:

Highlights:

Indy Eleven vs Scorpions - 02.23

- Opponent: San Antonio Scorpions
- Location: San Antonio, Texas
- Attendance: 7.232
- Final Score: 2-0 L
- Starting XI: Cardona, Franco, Miller, Norales, Frias, Keller, Ring, Smart, Pineda, Richards, Steinberger
- Substitutions: Ceballos 62' (Keller), Lacroix 74' (Frias), Wojcik 83' (Smart)
- Unused: Brown, Brown, Janicki, Stojkov, Nicht
- Goals: None
- Bookings: Richards 17' (Yellow)
- Adage goals: One

I've decided the Indy Eleven are a lot like my golf game. I can put my drive into the middle of the fairway, flub my second shot, have a nice chip to just off the green, chip to within 10-feet, and then two putt to find myself with a double bogey. Every so often I'll eliminate the flub and reduce it to a bogey, but just as regularly, I'll add a second mishit to give me a triple bogey. Against Fort Lauderdale, the Eleven flubbed every shot and posted a quadruple bogey, but turned it around the next game against Minnesota and got rid of the flubs and single putted. This week against the last place San Antonio, the lack of consistency reared its head again and the Eleven were unable to take advantage of the other match results that would have allowed them to move up the NASL combined table. Instead, the Eleven double bogeyed their way back down the table to tenth place.

Due to the other results this weekend, the Eleven find themselves exactly where they started before the Scorpion game, 5 points behind the fourth and final playoff spot. The difference is that they are now one game closer to the end of the season. It's still technically possible for the Eleven to make it into that fourth playoff, but their lack of consistency seems to be their defining characteristic and what is going to make a late season push much more difficult.

With that said, that's the team's results and not the actual play of the team in this one. From my perspective, the team deserved a better result than happened. While the penalty kick is going to be called every time, Cardona was unfortunate that the slight touch pushed it out of his reach. If he managed to get any part of that ball, I don't think it gets called. The second goal by Castillo was a result of Frias ball watching and losing his defensive responsibility. Other than those two major issues, there was quite a bit to like about the team's play. There was good possession, there were good shots on goal (Richards' shot that blasted back off of the post was an unlucky break), and the defense did a good job preventing the counter attacks from San Antonio.

The 5-4-1 lineup of San Antonio makes it hard enough under normal conditions to get through, but there was no real need for them to try and push forward in the second half after getting the stoppage time penalty kick goal. There were multiple times when an Indy Eleven player received the ball and there were already 9 Scorpions behind the ball. The Eleven forwards and midfields aren't the tallest group so they don't regular serve the ball into the box to get a head on the ball and typically rely on quick passes to get their shots on goal, but that issue becomes exacerbated when there are so many Scorpion defenders clogging the passing lanes.

The Eleven had very good chances at goal, but the Scorpion goalkeeper Fernandes made some great saves and parries of the ball to prevent the Eleven from getting on the scoreboard. The Richards shot from around the six that Fernandes snagged with one hand was a very good reaction save.

Has there ever been a team that has used the delay tactic as much or as early as the Scorpions did in this game? It felt like Fernandes started delaying his kicks in the first half before they were even leading. Color commentator, and Scorpion player, Julius James thought it was the greatest thing in the world how much they were delaying and praised the potentially fake injury of Attakora as being "good play by a veteran professional." While delaying is part of the game, it was clearly excessive to the point that Richards resorted to going to get the ball to set it up for Fernandes' goal kicks.

Lastly, if there's one thing I've learned listening to the other team's commentators through the ESPN3 feed, it's that Indy is blessed to have Greg Rakestraw doing their games. Rake may not have the fame of JP Dellacamera, but Greg is better than nearly all of the other team's commentators, and world's better than San Antonio's. Add in San Antonio using a current player for the color commentary and they took partisan commentating to a completely obnoxious level. Maybe that was just me though...

The Eleven are where they started in points away from making the playoffs with one less game. If they have any intention of making it, Saturday's upcoming game at Carroll Stadium against Edmonton has to be the first peg in a win streak.

USMNT vs USWNT

This image was introduced this week ahead of the USMNT's game against Brazil, where Jozy Altidore has the possibility to join a very distinguished group of players to reach the 30 goal milestone. What's not included in the graphic is that McBride only played three more games and didn't score another goal (95 C / 30 G); Wynalda only scored 4 more goals in his next 23 caps (106 C / 34 G); Dempsey can still add to his total, but currently sits at 48 goals and 119 caps; while Landon reached 57 goals in 157 caps.

This is where I segue into a post that I've had in my head for awhile.  Landon scored nearly 60 goals for the USMNT, but that would barely crack him into the Top 10 for the USWNT, where Abby Wambach has tripled Landon's total and currently sits at 184 goals in 251 caps. Landon would be just behind Shannon MacMillan (176 C / 60 C) and right before Carin Gabarra (117 C / 53 G). If (when) Jozy gets goal number 30, that would put him in a tie for 17th place with Brandi Chastain (192 C / 30 G), albeit at a much higher rate than Brandi.

Statistics Sorted by Goals (first MNT player highlighted)

Put another way, the Top 5 USMNT goalscorers only have 15 more goals COMBINED than Abby. It's not just a function of caps either (though I'll get to that in a minute) because Abby has scored at a rate of 0.7331 goal/cap, while Dempsey leads the top men goalscorers with a 0.4034 goal/cap. What differentiates Landon from the other top USMNT scorers was his ability to also provide assists to his teammates (LD had 58 assist and Cobi Jones finished in 2nd with 22 assists) giving him a 1.0955 points/cap.  Landon would finish in 5th place in the Pt/Cap category of the Top 5 USWNT goalscorers and there are other USWNT scorers further down the list that have higher pt/cap totals, notably Alex Morgan at 1.5109 pt/cap (92 C / 53 G / 33 A) and April Heinrichs at 1.7609 pt/cap (46 C / 35 G / 11 A).

Statistics Sorted by Pt/Cap (first MNT player highlighted)
Note - Table created using only the data from Top Scorers.

Michael Bradley recently celebrated his 100th cap with the USMNT, which Alexi Lalas commented was a great achievement for a USMNT player. Donovan finished his national team career in 2nd place in caps for the USMNT behind Cobi Jones (164), but Cobi would be in 17th place on the USWNT between Carla Overbeck and Cindy Parlow. The USWNT's cap leader is Kristine Lilly with 352 caps or 31 more caps than Landon and Cobi combined. Lilly isn't alone in her cap total with 10 players exceeding the 200 cap milestone. I'm not sure where Bradley would fall on the USWNT list (now at 105 caps) because their list online stops at 30th place with Angela Hucles at 109 caps.

Statistics Sorted by Cap (first MNT player highlighted)
Note - Table created using only the data from Top Scorers. Other players are missing.

The differences are amazing when I started looking into them. I wish I knew why the USWNT players stay longer and score more than their male counterparts, but I don't. Is it competition level or tactical philosophies or something else entirely? I'm sure there are reasons, but I'm a numbers guy and the numbers are staggering. I've written on this site about the consistency (lineups and rosters) that can breed success in the NASL and I would assume that those play at least a part in the successes of the US National Teams as well. They women stick together, play together for longer, and success is bred from that and the culture to be the top team in the world. Though it doesn't hurt from the goal scoring aspect that the women never take their collective foot off the gas until the final whistle sounds.

Again, I don't know the difference between the two teams, but I hope you got something from my data dump.

Source Data:
WNT Records
MNT Records

Indy Eleven vs Armada - 02.22

- Opponent: Jacksonville Armada
- Location: Indianapolis, Indiana
- Attendance: 9.078
- Final Score: 3-0 W
- Starting XI: Cardona, Franco, Miller, Norales, Hyland, Keller, Ring, Smart, Pineda, Richards, Steinberger
- Substitutions: Stojkov 74' (Pineda), Ceballos 78' (Richards), Mares 88' (Keller)
- Unused: Brown, Janicki, Wojcik, Nicht
- Goals: Steinberger 9', 73' (both assisted by Smart), Ceballos 90'+
- Bookings: Keller 38' (Yellow), Ceballos 90'+ (Yellow)
- Adage goals: None

Sometimes I think that these types of games are as hard to write about as the losses. This full team effort and win was by the same team that had back-to-back losses by a combined 8-1 score. The ability is there, the fight is there, but the results haven't been there and this type of game only reiterates the point I've been making all season about every point matters and finishing the opportunities that are created. Going into half-time, my brother and I remarked that the team looked good and that the score could have been higher for the Eleven. I pointed out to him that was the concerning thing about this team and a 1-0 score for the Eleven has so often found its way to a 1-1 tie or a 2-1 loss and that I hoped the missed chances didn't come back to hurt them. Fortunately, despite an amazing 64-36% deficit in possession in the first half, the Eleven held the lead and played the same way in the second half.

Some of it is the opponents, but the 4-2-2-2 tactic the team has played the past couple games seems to be an effective one for them. This is the kind of game where I don't know who to highlight. I can't think of a single player who I thought had a bad game.

• Ring and Keller played the defensive midfielder role to perfection. They covered for the backline, while also getting the ball out to Pineda, Smart, Stojkov, et. al. Ring's blast in the 66th minute that went off the crossbar was great.
• If you don't appreciate the effort from Hyland, I don't want to talk to you. 
• I meant to keep track during my rewatch and forgot until midway through it, but Brad Hauter confirmed it for me in the 79th minute anyway.  Cory Miller didn't lose a header all night. Combined with his height, he times his jumps perfectly to rarely give the opposition a chance at those 50/50 balls. Oh, and all that while having what looked like his shoulder come out of its socket only to have him come back in and immediately hustle back in and defend.
• Pineda set up the first goal by doing a 360 on his defender and picking out Smart and had a couple more good runs and attempts.
• You wouldn't know it from his diminutive height, but Dane Richards is a beast. His hold-up play combined with his speed make him a perfect target man up top. I've been amazed at how many times he manages to use his body to get himself in a better position than the defender who is guarding him and the catapults off the defender and uses his speed to track down the ball. He's looking for shots, which is something that seemingly all fans have been yelling about for some time now. He had a shot in stoppage time of the first half from 45-yards out because he thought he could chip Sierra who was unafraid all night to be off his line. I would have liked Richards to go with the pass in that case since he had an open Steinberger making a run and Pineda across the field as well, but given how often I've harped on taking half-chances and the 1-0 lead at the time, I'm okay with it. 
• I was surprised by the start by Cardona, but he's making a case for Nicht to ride the bench for a bit. He was never seriously pressed, but he made the saves that he needed to make, one of them of the spectacular variety where he laid out and parried a ball out of bounds with his left hand in the 52nd minute (captured spectacularly by Matt Schlotzhauer).

Congrats to @keith_cardona on his first win and clean sheet as a pro! (h/t @schlotz1 on the pic) pic.twitter.com/Da9hMWni23

— Indy Eleven (@IndyEleven) September 6, 2015

• Steinberger could have easily had a hat trick, but now I'm just nit-picking. 
• Ceballos may be small, but that was quite the rocket into the upper ninety for his goal. Given that the Eleven have already had a yellow card this season for a shirtless goal celebration, I would like to have seen him celebrate differently, but again, I'm nit-picking.

The only part of this game that the Eleven didn't win was the possession, but the better team won this game. They had a plan of attack against Jacksonville's 4-3-3 and executed it exactly like I assume they had practiced it. As I left the stadium, Peter Wilt was thanking people for coming and he said, "that was much better tonight, right? Why can't they all be like that?" I don't know Peter, but this team has shown glimpses of this type of game and it was great to see them perfectly put their game plan into action for a full 90 minutes.

Winning's fun...

Highlights:


UPDATE:
Congratulations Zach on being selected as this week's Player of the Week!

UPDATE #2:
Congratulations Zach on being selected to the Team of the Week!

UPDATE #3:
Congratulations Marvin on the Play of the Week Nominee!