Indy Eleven vs Oakland Roots - 10.04

Summary

- Opponent: Oakland Roots SC
- Location: Carroll Stadium
- Attendance: 9,334
- Final Score: 0-3 L

- Starting XI: Oettl, Boudadi, Diz Pe, Vazquez, Dambrot, Lindley, Blake, Quinn, Martinez, Asante, Guenzatti (C)

- Substitution:  Robledo 68’ (Boudadi); Rebellon 68’ (Quinn); Tejada 82’ (Asante); Rissi 82’ (Dambrot); Torres 88’ (Lindley)

- Unused: Trilk, Jerome

- Scoring Summary:
OAK – Mfeka 43’ (assist Formella)
OAK – Formella 71’ (unassisted)
OAK – Rito 78’ (assist Nane)

- Bookings:

OAK – Morad 19’ (Yellow)

OAK – Klimenta 23’ (Yellow); 83’ (Yellow) – RED

IND – Tejada 85’ (Yellow)

OAK – Tamacas 86’ (Yellow)

OAK – Hackshaw 90’+2’ (Yellow)

- Referee: Matthew Thompson

- Adage goals: One

Thoughts and Opinions

To complete Indy’s three games in a week run to start the month of April, Indy have welcomed former teammates and old friends to The Mike. This week, Neveal Hackshaw made his return to Indy with his new club Oakland Roots. While Hackshaw has long been a fan favorite of Indy fans, for the ninety-minutes of this game, Hack was just another player to harass. Afterwards though, the BYB called Hackshaw over to say hello, and he obliged because he's a good dude.

Both Indy and Oakland entered this game having played mid-week games as part of the U.S. Open Cup; Indy against Michigan Stars, and Oakland against El Farolito FC. Oakland played on Tuesday night and had an easier time with their opponent than Indy did with theirs. They both finished their games with 3-1 scorelines, but Indy’s victory took extra time to accomplish, meaning Indy had a day less rest and another 30 minutes of action on their legs. Boudadi, Vazquez, and Guenzatti all went the distance in the game against a physical Michigan Stars team, putting 210 minutes of game time (plus stoppage times) on their bodies this week before they played a single minute in tonight’s game. Vazquez and Guenzatti played the entirety of this game to be the week’s iron men.  

Remember when I said a couple games ago that it was unclear whether we were starting to see Coach Lowry’s preferred starters from a deep, but not large, roster? Well, four games in and I think we can definitively say we know his preferred starters. In Indy’s first 4 league games, Lowry has started 9 of the same 11 players in every single game. Oettl is the team’s #1 keeper. Vazquez and Diz Pe are the preferred centerback pairing, with Boudadi on the right side. Lindley, Blake, and Quinn are the midfield, and Asante and Guenzatti are up top. The other 2 spots in the starting lineup have been spread out between Dambrot, Fjeldberg, Martinez, Rebellon, and Rissi.   

In a rarity so far this season, Oakland controlled the early possession, ultimately forcing Oettl into more saves than he’s had the entirety of the rest of the season combined. Whereas Las Vegas and Michigan set back in an attempt to stifle Indy’s attack, Oakland came out in a much more attacking mode. When Indy had the ball in Oettl’s hands/feet, Oakland had three players in position to immediately press once he laid the ball off to the defenders or midfielders. If Indy broke the initial pressure, Oakland were quick to recover to set up a back line of 5 defenders. In the early stages of the game, Indy found it difficult to get the ball through that back line as the passing lanes closed.

Once Indy’s press became quicker and further up the field, Indy’s possession numbers began to increase, and Oakland found themselves on their heels needing to have some last-ditch defensive recoveries. Around the 15th minute, Indy began to alternate between decent chances and corner kicks. Unfortunately, none of those chances resulted in a goal, but the attack was persistent. 

Oakland found some counterattacks around the 30th minute, but they couldn’t do much with their opportunities either until the 43rd minute when Formella put a ball over the top that found Mfeka sprinting through the back line and in a spot that forced Oettl to make a decision. He was unable to get to the ball as Mfeka tapped the ball around Oettl, and he easily ushered the ball across the line, putting Oakland up right before halftime. Oakland had attempted this same play several times leading up to their goal, but had either been called offside or Oettl had bailed out the defenders by getting to the ball. In that goal scoring instance, all the things Oakland had been trying to do finally worked and had them celebrating a lead in the halftime locker. 

Oakland put a second goal on the board in the 71st minute due to a bad giveaway as Indy tried to play out of the back. The initial shot from Mfeka was blocked by Oettl, but the follow-up from Formella was blasted by both Diz Pe and Oettl who were left scrambling to get a body part in front of his shot. Neither could do anything with the shot, and Indy found themselves staring at a two-goal deficit with time running thin. At which point, Indy turned up the pressure, which further opened up the game for Oakland’s counterattack. Oakland fixed that pressure by scoring their third goal of the game, in the 78th minute, in much the same fashion as their first goal; a perfectly timed pass that broke Indy’s off-side trap, and sent Rito one-on-one with Oettl. Rito chipped Oettl who was making a run out to cut off the angle, and Indy found themselves down 3-nil. 

Spectators began their departure from the stadium, and all they really missed after that 78th minute goal was Hackshaw making his appearance into the game, and a second yellow card on Klimenta that allowed Indy to finish the game with a man advantage. Interestingly, Oakland's 3rd goal pushed Indy into a dubious milestone since the goal was the club's 400th conceded goal in club history (across all competitions, including the mid-season friendlies that don't count towards the "official" stats). If that makes you wonder, Indy have 370 goals. If that makes you wonder, Indy have had just 3 seasons with positive goal differentials, with 2016 at +21 and 2019 at +20, which not surprisingly, also coincided with Indy's two most successful postseason runs. 

Indy’s persistent inability to capitalize on their chances in the early part of the game forced them to enter the second half chasing the game. At some point, Indy’s finishing touch is going to start providing some early goals, allowing Indy to turn all their possession into something positive and start to turn the screws on their opponents. Right? Indy has seen high volume scorer after high volume scorer come thru Indy without being able to produce at the same rate, but that’s not going to happen this year, right? Right? Through four league games, Indy has scored 1 goal from the run of play, despite out-possessing their opponents by an average of 70% to 30%, being more accurate in their passing by 20 percentage points, outshooting by a margin of 32 to 22, and having a +40 advantage in crosses.

At times tonight, it felt like guys were looking for perfect windows to shoot instead of putting the ball on target to force a save or get a rebound. In theory, the pieces are there for this team to score a ton of goals this season. In practice, they’re not getting it done yet.

Indy head to Orange County next weekend who will be trying to get their first win of the season, having gone 0W-3D-2L so far in their 2023 campaign. Indy will be looking to show that they can do something with all of their possession. 

The Game Beckons Game Ball

This feels like kind of a cop-out, but I'm going to give the GBGB to Vazquez and Guenzatti simply for the 300 minutes of game action they put on their bodies this week.  

Additional Photos (Don Thompson Photography)

Indy Eleven vs Michigan Stars - 2023 U.S. Open Cup

Summary

- Opponent: Michigan Stars
- Location: Carroll Stadium
- Attendance: -
- Final Score: 3-1 W

- Starting XI: Oettl, Boudadi, Jerome, Vazquez, Rebellon, Lindley, Blake, Torres, Tejada, Robledo, Guenzatti (C)

- Substitution:  Dambrot (Rebellon 45’); Asante (Torres 45’); Quinn (Blake 45’); Diz Pe (Jerome 64’); Fjeldberg (Lindley 85’); Rissi 105’ (Robledo)

- Unused: Trilk, Jerome, Rissi, Torres

- Scoring Summary:
MICH – Popovic 45’+2’ (penalty kick)
IND – Robledo 59’ (assist Asante)
IND – Guenzatti 92’ (assist Asante)
IND – Tejada 106’ (assist Fjeldberg)

- Bookings:

MICH - Chalbaud 15’ (Yellow)

MICH – Umeda 45’+3’ (Yellow)

MICH – Nikolla 79’ (Yellow)

MICH – Alewine 109’ (Yellow)

- Referee: Alex Beehler

- Adage goals: One

Thoughts and Opinions

There's a reason they call them Cupsets, and Indy has seen their fair share of them over the years, including most recently as Coach Lowry's inaugural year where Indy failed to score a goal and were booted out of the tournament by St. Louis CITY 2 by a score of 2-nil. Indy have only tasted victory 3 times in the previous 10 games they have played in the Open Cup. The first win was a 5-2 win at The Mike against the Dayton Dutch Lions in 2014 (these are all links to my previous articles on the games), when Blake Smith registered Indy's first club hat trick. Indy would move onto play the Columbus Crew, in Akron, before succumbing to an extra time goal to bow out of their first foray into the tournament. After that first season, Indy's success in the Open Cup was severely limited. Indy lost to a, then lower division, Louisville City in 2015 at Carroll Stadium. Indy turned around in 2016 to beat Louisville City at Carroll Stadium before losing in penalty kicks at the Chicago Fire at Toyota Park. Indy lost on the road to amateur teams in 2017 and 2018, Michigan Bucks and Mississippi Brilla, respectively. Indy picked up a win in 2019 against Lansing Ignite playing at the Butler Bowl, despite a red card handed out to Evan Newton in the 21st minute, where we saw the first step of Jordan Farr's rise to his current goalkeeper of the year status (I hope I never forget the excitement from Jordan as he experienced his very first media scrum. I'm glad I get to say I was there for that first one.). Indy then fell on the road to league rivals Pittsburgh 1-nil in the next game. Two years of absence to due the pandemic, before the aforementioned loss to St. Louis CITY 2 last year at The Mike. If you're keeping track, that's technically 3W-1D-6L (the game against the Fire technically goes into the record books as a draw, but somebody has to lose in a single-elimination tournament, so the penalty kicks determines that). 

While it didn’t help Indy last year, working in Indy's benefit was that this game was at home, where Indy have managed a 3W-0D-2L record at home, and a pathetic 0W-4L-1D record on the road. Despite an hour delay in the start time, Coach trotted out a very similar starting lineup to what was seen on Saturday against Las Vegas. With a Saturday-Wednesday-Saturday week of games, Coach Lowry started Jerome, Torres, Tejada, and Robledo, in lieu of Diz Pe, Quinn, Asante, and Martinez. 

Fortunately for Indy fans, the lineup didn't take the reigning NISA champions for granted, and came out trying to get ahead early. From Coach Lowry, "our objective was to score early today, come out aggressive. And we did, but I don't think our quality in the final third was good enough. The crossing wasn't quite good enough, the final ball wasn't quite good enough, Even in the second half when we were creating a ton of chances, the finishing wasn't quite good enough."

With Sacramento’s run last year and the publicity that it brought to their club, it feels like there might be a renewed interest in taking the early rounds of the Open Cup seriously. Indy could have pulled in some of the Academy players, fresh off their Academy Cup championship, but Coach Lowry’s starting lineup made it evident that they were not taking the Michigan Stars lightly. “When you look around the scores of the Open Cup, games are tight. A couple of Championship teams lost today. These games are never easy. You just have to get through them and move onto the next round. ... Sacramento showed last year what you can do in this tournament. Kind of made it a little bit more believable for people, and we definitely have a team where we think we can make some noise in this tournament and make it exciting.”

Open Cup games are different. Mid-season elimination games create a different energy when you know that there is going to be a winner and a loser, and that the loser doesn’t get to continue playing for a trophy. Add in that these early games are generally teams of different divisions, the lower division team is motivated to have a good showing, and the higher division is trying to not be one of the Cupsets. There’s often not any kind of live stream, the number of fans are reduced, and even some of the Indy Eleven staff are left to cover other tasks. The normal color commentator, and VP of Marketing & Club Growth, Brad Hauter, had no television work to be done, so was charged with running the clock. Having no experience with running the clock, Hauter had some nervy moments as he learned his new role, but managed to do his job like, wait for it, clockwork.

If you thought Las Vegas’ compact 4-4-2 lineup was difficult to breakdown, Michigan Stars spent a good portion of their time defending in what looked like a 5-3-1 Fort Knox Bunker ™. Even when they had possession, it looked like a 4-3-2-1 Christmas Tree. Indy held possession, and probed and probed, but had difficulty early in finding enough passing lanes to break through. Indy kept trying to probe from far left to far right, but it rained a lot today, and this was the first time many of the Indy players have had to deal with the wet Carroll Stadium turf so those early passes consistently skipped away from the intended recipient.

It took until the 36th minute for Indy to have a “shot on target.” I put that in quotes because there was some disagreement in the press box on whether it actually qualified as an actual shot. My contention was that it was definitely a cross, but calling it a “shot” was a bit of a stretch. 

With Hauter in the press box, I went over just before halftime and did my best Rakestraw impression and asked Brad what he thought about the first half, what Coach Lowry might tell the boys at halftime, and what the team could do differently. “Happy with the possession, but things have to move quicker. There are too many touches to get the ball from one side to the other, and Michigan is shifting too easily to cover.” 

“Would you make any player changes?”

“Not at this point.”

Then moments later, Michigan was awarded a penalty kick in the 45’+2’ minute on a clumsy challenge from Jerome in the box. Everything changed from that point forward as Indy tried to prevent themselves from becoming yet another Indy Eleven team to fall to a lower division team in the Open Cup. Lowry made three subs at halftime to try and jumpstart the attack. Asante, Dambrot, and Quinn entered for Torres, Rebellon, and Blake. 

Indy finally found their equalizer in the 59th minute thanks to quick passing and a cross. Indy made a much more concerted effort with the substitutes to move the ball faster and get the ball into the box. As Coach said, they just weren't clinical enough with their finishing to pull ahead and finish the game.

Six minutes of added time in the second half wasn’t enough, so on a night when rain forced a late start, the fans who attended the game had to go home even later as extra time started just past 10:00 in the PM.  As Coach Lowry stated after the game, "It should have been put to bed in the 50th to 60th minute, to be honest with you. When you don't take your chances and you aren't clinical, you have to play an extra thirty minutes."

Then within 90-seconds of the start of the first extra time period, Indy finally found the back of the net again. After that, it was 28-minutes of managing the clock, managing field position, and trying to hang on without giving up a goal against the run of play on a counterattack. With three games in a week, an extra thirty minutes of action on many of the guys’ legs was not what the team needed, but at least the weather was at a temperature where nobody was cramping. 

Indy put another goal on the board in the 105’+1’, and nearly put a fourth in the 105’+2’ by Fjeldberg that went inches wide as a result of a 4-on-1 break. It’s those missed chances that continue to put Indy in the position they find themselves in the early stages of the season. Plenty of possession, but struggling in the final third. Indy was punished for one of their few backline mistakes on defense, but needing 60-minutes to get a goal and extra time to finish off an opponent after dominating possession is something Indy needs to get fixed soon. Until Indy figure out how to connect in the final third, this will be a reoccurring trend moving forward. Las Vegas made it work to a scoreless draw, and Michigan Stars pushed it to extra time with generally the same tactics. Defend, defend, defend as Indy possess, pass the ball around, without any kind of significant threat on goal. There isn’t any film on this game, but another 80-90% to 10-20% possession tells teams that the tactics were the same, and that they work or nearly work. 

The good news is that Indy found a way to win and will move on in the tournament. With this kind of tournament, not all the goals for the team were met during this game, but the one that matters most happened. Coach Lowry was still optimistic about the team moving forward. "The way we're playing is fantastic. These performances have to start translating into goals and wins obviously." 

Indy return to The Mike on Saturday night to play Oakland Roots with hopes that their recent absolute domination in possession can turn into more goals to keep the team's undefeated start to the season going.

The Game Beckons Game Ball

Prior to Indy's first goal, Asante had sent in a handful of crosses trying to get the ball into the mixer in the hopes of somebody from Indy getting a good touch to it, or for Michigan to get a poor touch to it. The finishing touch wasn't there, but Asante’s presence changed the game. In addition to his crosses, he was attacking the backline with pace, which forced the Michigan defenders to react more quickly than they were forced to do in the first half. Another hat trick of A brace of assists from Asante speaks volumes to what he was able to accomplish tonight. [Editor's note: Indy's official recap credited Asante with an assist on all three goals, which was inconsistent with how it was announced during the game, but I used their value thinking I had not seen it correctly, or misheard the announcement. However, in the team's recap video, it's clear that the assist on Tejada's goal came from Fjeldberg.]

Additional Photos (Don Thompson Photography)

Indy Eleven vs Las Vegas Lights - 10.03

Summary

- Opponent: Las Vegas Lights FC
- Location: Carroll Stadium
- Attendance: 9,091
- Final Score: 0-0 D

- Starting XI: Oettl, Boudadi, Diz Pe, Vazquez, Rebellon, Lindley, Blake, Quinn, Martinez, Asante, Guenzatti (C)

- Substitution:  Robledo 81’ (Blake); Dambrot 85’ (Rebellon); Tejada 90’+1’ (Lindley)

- Unused: Trilk, Jerome, Rissi, Torres

- Scoring Summary:
NONE

- Bookings:

LV – Bushue 21’ (Yellow)

IND – Lindley 76’ (Yellow)

LV – Ayimbila 79’ (Yellow)

IND – Rebellon 81’ (Yellow)

- Referee: Calin Radosav

- Adage goals: None

Thoughts and Opinions

As I settled into my normal seat in the press box at Carroll Stadium (spot #11 of course) last night, I was glad to have the warmer temperatures of the press box, but also intrigued to see how Indy Eleven looked in person. Watching the previous two games on ESPN+ is nice, but you naturally lose some of the way the team is arranged due to the limited camera angle. So I was anxious to see exactly how far Oettl is playing out of his box (a long way... at one point, I saw him run all the way past the midfield line to give some instructions to Lindley before Cam went over to take a corner kick), how wide are Rebellon and Boudadi staying when the ball isn't on their side of the field (very wide), and would the weather affect Coach Lowry's tactics from everything he has been teaching us this season in the Tactical Tuesday series (not really, though I don't remember if any of them explicitly discuss how to play his preferred pressing style against as compact a bunker arrangement as Las Vegas employed last night). Getting to write about the team, in person, is a different writing experience for me than watching the games online through ESPN+. 

The USL Championship season is going to provide some new opponents with the league’s arrangement of having each Eastern Conference team play the other teams in the conference twice, while also playing each of the Western Conference teams one. So while Indy Eleven is playing Las Vegas Lights for the first time in club history, the team is not without some familiar faces. LV’s roster includes not one, not two, but three former Indy Eleven players, including two that were on tonight’s gameday lineup. Last year’s rookie, Justin Ingram began the game on the bench, but came into the game in the 60th minute. Andrew Carleton was in the starting lineup, and showed what everybody has known about him for a long time. His skill and effect on the game can't be denied, but it's his off-field life that has continued to get in the way, which is partially why he is on his 8th team (counting ATL and ATL2 as one team) since signing with Atlanta United as their first homegrown player in 2016 as a 15-year old, including stints in the NPSL, USPL, and Costa Rica. Lastly, Las Vegas's roster includes Emmanuel Ledesma, but he did not make the trip back to Indy. 

Indy's former players head back to sunny and warmer temperatures than what they experienced on Saturday night with temperatures and wind gusts in the 40s, and unluckily for Indy fans, the former players headed back west with a point as the two teams played to a scoreless draw.

Despite being at home, Indy Eleven decided to forego the home blues, and instead showed off the new away red jerseys to the home fans. I'm still hoping to see a mix of the red and blue at some point this season, but the reds looks good. It's a nice change of pace. 

Photo Credit

Coach Lowry rolled out the same starting lineup as was used last weekend in Detroit. Too early to tell if Coach is setting into his preferred starters, but back-to-back games leads me to think that it might be a possibility. Robbie Dambrot was back in the 18 after getting injured during preseason, which is good to see. His presence pushed Fjeldberg out of the game day roster. With the upcoming Saturday-Wednesday-Saturday schedule due to the US Open Cup game at The Mike this week, there will be some adjustments to the lineup on Wednesday. Indy's small roster has better depth this year than in year's past, so the lineup against Michigan Stars on Wednesday should still be a formidable one.

Indy’s width this year is drastically different than last year. It’s not consistent, but there were rare moments that either Rebellon or Boudadi weren’t hugging the sideline. Las Vegas, however, maintained a very compact 4-4-2 core in the middle of the pitch, both horizontally and vertically. Stretching the field forced Las Vegas to cover a lot of ground in defense, which I thought would have helped wear them down towards the end of the game, but Las Vegas looked fine at the end of the game. The cool temperatures probably helped with preventing the Vegas players from being gassed at the end. This might have been a different game in a few months. Las Vegas's low block is a bit of a change from recent visits from opponents. Las Vegas came to Indy with a definite plan in mind to sit low and force Indy to work the ball around to find the opportunities. That bunker was on a different level as Indy had a nearly 80% to 20% advantage in possession in this game, with Las Vegas not getting a single shot on goal. 

Admittedly, Las Vegas is a different team than they were in the past, due to their connection with L.A. Galaxy coming to an end, so it’s difficult to describe them as a pushover at this point in the season, but Indy controlled this game from start to finish, with the exception of a couple of close shots, including an extremely close opportunity from LV at the end of the first half when Boudadi failed to get the touch on a free kick that allowed LV’s Botello Faz to get a shot. LV came out of the halftime locker with renewed energy. Indy continued to hold possession, but it was sloppier and less in control than it was in the first half. Around the 60th minute, LV seemed to get a hold of what they wanted to do in the game. They still weren’t highly successful with it, but they looked like a team that were more inclined to snag a goal against the run of play then they did in the first half. 

Despite all of Indy's possession and control of the game, this had the appearance of a game that if it didn't end 0-0, was going to end 1-nil, either way. As if it was going to be just as easy for Las Vegas to get a goal on a break as it was for Indy to break through Las Vegas' bunker.

Around the twenty-minute mark, LV had a free kick on the left wing and I thought to myself, “Indy continues to do it, but what’s the point of putting Asante in the wall? I know he needs to go somewhere and he can cover the kicker, but has he EVER stopped a free kick at his height?” 

Then, literally, about two minutes later, he wins a header on a corner kick that he directed off the woodwork… Proving, once again, that I don’t know crap about this game.

What I do know is that Indy’s speed of thought, footwork, and passing are on a different level this season. I don’t know what the salary increase is to get to this level, but it’s apparent that this team is at a different level than any team Indy has previously fielded, and Indy has had some good teams. Indy only has two goals in three games, one of which came from the spot, but my early impression of this team is that the defense is going to keep the team in some games until the goal scorers figure out some things. If Indy had found that early 22-minute goal from the Asante header, this could have been a much more open game with Indy scoring 3 or 4 goals on the night. As it was, Indy continues the season on an undefeated run, with two consecutive clean sheets. I would have loved to see the possession translate to a goals, but at this stage of the season, I'll take the draw in the poor weather conditions. 

FRISBEE DOGS AT HALFTIME! Love to see a fan favorite make their return this year. Would guess it won't be the last night the dogs entertain us this year.

Indy returns to The Mike on Wednesday for the Open Cup game, and then face off against Oakland Roots on Saturday, again at Carroll Stadium. 

The Game Beckons Game Ball

In a game like this, where the opponent comes in with such a defined plan to bunker, and executes that plan as well as Las Vegas did, preventing a goal on the counterattack is vital. The Match Center stats for the game indicates that Las Vegas was credited with just 184 passes, 61 of which were considered "long" (33%), and which they were only successful at 54% of the time, and down to 40% in Indy's half of the field. This means that in back-to-back games, Indy's opponents have attempted more than 30% of their passes as "long" passes. When that is the game plan, it's vital that Indy have a center back pairing capable of withstanding the over the top counters that are going to occur when Rebellon and Boudadi are streaking forward on attacks. Vazquez and Diz Pe provided that stability in spades tonight. As a result, Indy's CB pair receive the GBGB. 

Additional Photos (Don Thompson Photography)

Indy Eleven vs Detroit City FC - 10.02

Summary

- Opponent: Detroit City FC
- Location: Keyworth Stadium
- Attendance: 6,893
- Final Score: 1-0 W

- Starting XI: Oettl, Boudadi, Diz Pe, Vazquez, Rebellon, Lindley, Blake, Quinn, Martinez, Asante, Guenzatti (C)

- Substitution:  Tejada 80' (Martinez); Robledo 87' (Quinn); Jerome 90'+8' (Asante)

- Unused: Trilk, Fjeldberg, Rissi, Torres

- Scoring Summary:
IND - Rebellon 62' (unassisted)

- Bookings:

IND - Boudadi 14' (Yellow)
DET - Ballard 16' (Yellow)
IND - Asante 21' (Yellow)
IND - Martinez 33' (Yellow)
DET - Matthews 39' (Yellow)
DET - Williams 48' (Yellow)
DET - Matthews 74' (Yellow - RED)
DET - Carroll 90'+6' (Yellow)
DET - Lehland 90'+9' (Yellow) 

- Referee: Jervis Atagana

- Adage goals: None

Thoughts and Opinions

In Indy Eleven's previous 9 seasons, they have started with positive results in the first two games (all away games each season) 5 times, only one of which culminated in a trip to the NASL or USL playoffs. So, Indy's four points out of their first two games is no guarantee of season success. However, Saturday night's match in Detroit looked like an Indy team that was in control of the game for the majority of the game. Despite the blustery conditions in Keyworth Stadium where the cold and the 30+ mph winds consistently pushed the ball everywhere, Indy was able to hold onto the ball, move it around the field, and set up good chances.

Indy had a 2 to 1 possession advantage, and were much more effective at controlling the tempo of the game. They struggled to translate that to a significant number of shots, but executed a short corner style set piece in the 62nd minute to perfection, which Rebellon blasted through so much traffic that Steinwascher could do nothing about it but watch it go past him as he was rooted to his spot. 

As I watched the game, every Tactical Tuesday that the team has released recently, came flooding back to me as Coach Lowry has explained the tactics of this team. When to high press. How to high press. Playing against a direct team. Why to high press. Exploiting wide areas. Lowry's explanation of Indy's system was in full display on Saturday afternoon against Detroit. 

The only deviation from his lessons on "when to high press" was a few moments when I thought the forwards were exerting a bit too much energy chasing the ball when Steinwascher had the ball. He's pretty good with the ball at his feet, which goes against Lowry's Tactical Tuesday lesson. Detroit certainly met the "playing against a direct team," though with more than 30% of their passes being of the "long ball" variety with a less than 60% accuracy (42% in Indy's half of the field). Many of Detroit's unsuccessful passes came from the back as the defense was forced to relieve some of the pressure. 

Detroit did manage to keep Indy to a 28% accuracy rate on their shots, and a paltry 17% on successful crosses, so those are some definite points the team would like to improve upon moving forward. It was also clear that Indy also felt that the team had an advantage attacking Detroit's left side of the field. There were many moments were Rebellon, on the left, was staying as close to the sideline as possible and was without any pressure, but the ball would swing back to the right side of the attack. I'm not sure what it was that Indy thought they could exploit, but it happened frequently enough that Rebellon's raised arms in the air caught my attention each time as he begged to have the ball swung his way from the center backs.

This was a good win, in a difficult place to play, during miserable weather conditions (despite what you might believe from the streaker that ran onto the field late in the game). Once Indy took the lead, and then had the man advantage after Matthews' 74th minute second yellow card sent him to the locker rooms to warm up early, Indy very professionally saw the game out. This felt like a different result than what last year's team would have accomplished.

There are still a lot of games to be played, but this felt like a different team from even last week's team, despite its positive result last week in Tampa Bay. Indy returns home to play their home opening next Saturday against Las Vegas Lights, and former players Justin Ingram and Andrew Carleton. I suspect the two players will receive different welcomes from the BYB, but maybe I'm wrong. It should be a win for Indy, but to this point in the season, Las Vegas is also undefeated, having played to a couple of draws against Rio Grande Valley and Orange County.  

My final thought on the game is that at some point during this season, Oettl is going to allow a goal from 40+ yards out when a player chips him after a bad giveaway from a player in front of him. He definitely played the "sweeper-keeper" role in this game (in line with the tactics laid out by Lowry in the Tactical Tuesdays), and it nearly cost him twice in this game. The first time, Detroit did find the goal after a giveaway by Lindley, but there was an offside call to negate it. The second time, it took all of Oettl's 6'-2" frame to stop the ball from going over his head. The play was ultimately stopped for another offside call, but my worry that this will eventually happen this season increased. I won't go so far as to say I guarantee it, but after watching it happen twice against Detroit, it seems highly likely.

The Game Beckons Game Ball

Other the Rebellon's goal, this felt like a solid team win, so awarding the GBGB feels difficult to do. As a result, Rebellon gets it for putting his shot low, hard, and through traffic in a spot away from the keeper. With the amount of traffic in the box and the weather conditions, it's a shot that could have gone somewhere else, but his strike found the back of the net, giving Indy their first win of the season.