Indy Eleven vs Lexington SC - 02.06

 Summary

- Opponent: Lexington SC
- Location: Grand Park
- Attendance: -
- Final Score: 2-0 W

- Starting XI: Edwards, Sexton, Martin, Bahr, Chatterton, Kraszula, Rogers (C), Vanegas, Matsuhisa, Chester, Watson

- Substitution: Whitsett 45’ (Kraszula); Soderstrom 45’ (Matsuhisa); Hershfelt 45’ (Vanegas); Kugler 61’ (Sexton); Williams 61’ (Watson); Houweling 79’ (Chester)

- Unused: Reason

- Scoring Summary:
IND – Soderstrom 61’ (assist Chester)
IND – Whitsett 81’ (assist Soderstrom)

- Bookings:

LEX – Kiesling 35’ (RED)

IND – Watson 56’ (Yellow)

- Referee: ?

- Adage goals: None

Thoughts and Opinions

When you are playing your third game in a week’s span (Fri – Tues – Fri), lineup rotation was bound to happen. If there was going to be a moment when the plethora of riches available to Coach Dolinsky as it relates to roster depth was going to make itself known, this game was it. Coming OFF THE BENCH, were Soderstrom, Hershfelt, Kugler, Whitsett, and Maddy Williams. The starting lineup still consisted of Chester, Rogers, Chatterton, and Watson. I don’t know the Lexington players, but to look at a scouting report and know that you are going to have to prepare for Indy’s top scorer last year, their leading scorer this year, and Hershfelt, and then realize that they are going to be coming off the bench as a late burst of energy has to be deflating.

You still have to play the games though, and despite the rotation required due to the number of the games in such a short period of time, Indy knew that they had to come out an play hard. Otherwise, the draw and win against Racing Louisville will go for naught if Indy can’t close out the rest of the season ahead of Racing by losing one (or more) of their remaining games against the bottom portion of the table. 

In the opening minutes of the game, Indy controlled the tempo, but Lexington worked their way into the game with some steady pressure of the Indy backline. Lexington pushed the line of pressure forcing Indy deep into the defensive third to try and play out. Lexington managed a couple of shots out of the pressure, forcing good saves from Edwards. Indy tried to take back control midway through the half, forcing their first corner of the half in the 28th minute. The corner led to a header from Matsuhisa that was kept off the line by a Lexington player before a follow-up shot from Martin that was eventually cleared by Lexington. 

A straight red card to Lexington’s Kiesling in the 35h minute changed the entire complexion of the game. Lexington had been physical to that point, but was way too physical off the ball and it cost them as the infraction did not go unnoticed by the lineswoman even though the center ref hadn’t seen it. It was always going to be a difficult task for Lexington to come into Indy and get points, but being down a player only made it more difficult. Lexington spent the remaining 15 minutes killing off the game where they could and with desperation defending, just trying to give themselves time to regroup in the halftime locker. It just felt like a goal, or more, were going to come.

Watching the game, you would like to think that Indy would have broken through before halftime, but just couldn’t get past a very stingy Lexington backline. As mentioned before, Coach Dolinsky had a plethora of available high-powered substitutions in his back pocket, with a woman advantage to help tilt the field towards Indy’s favor. Lexington’s defense proved to be stout, particularly after going down a player. The question coming out of the halftime break was whether they could continue that effort for another 45-minutes. As Dolinsky gave his halftime speech, Hershfelt, Soderstrom, and Whitsett began their warm-up process, and made their way onto the field immediately after half.

"They [Lexington] came out with everything they had. We kind of expected it. We could throw out excuses and reasons. They were playing on more rest than we were. Our third game in eight days. And I think they had a point to prove after the first meeting against them. Again, they gave us their best shots in the first half, and we absorbed them, and I think fortunately, we were able to regroup at halftime. As I told the girls [at halftime], get a little bit of the arrogance or the let down after a big win out of our system, and fortunately we didn't get punished for it."

Watson had been playing striker in the first half, but moved out to the left with the appearance of Whitsett up top, who is a more natural striker, and as we’ve seen, a goal scorer. With fresh legs up top and a player advantage, Indy began to pour on the pressure in the opening minutes. Lexington was doing everything they could do to hold some possession and counterattack whenever possible, but it felt like there was going to be a moment when their defense wouldn't be able to withstand the Indy pressure. As the game neared the 60th minute, it looked like a matter of time as Indy’s pressure was unyielding and if not for good saves and timely defensive interventions, the game looked like it would break open. It was at that point that Chester recycled a ball to a perfectly timed run from Soderstrom, and the near miss she had minutes before was not going to be duplicated as she slotted the ball below Josephson and in the far corner. 

After that, Indy kept their foot on the gas, but just struggled to find the back of the net. Indy fans began to worry that a goal for Lexington against the run-of-play was going to undo the effort. It wasn't as if the quality from Indy wasn't there though. The quality of the passes between the midfield and the forwards was spectacular. The men's team have been quoted recently saying they're a new team and are still gelling. These women played their first game together a month ago today, and they have come together much quicker than the men. There were moments in the second half that the midfield and forwards looked like they had played together for a long time, not just over a month and a half. Admittedly, there were still some wayward passes, but I'm going to blame some of that on the tired legs. As good as this team can be, there were definite moments when they looked like the week had taken something from them. I remember one ball over the top to Watson, and you could just tell that she wanted to get to it, but knew she wasn't going to make it. It's a nice problem to have that you can take Watson off and bring on Maddy Williams.

When Williams came on, she took over Whitsett's striker role, which allowed Whitsett to fall in behind Williams and distribute. I say all that, but the roles between the forward and midfield lines of Indy during the latter stages of the game was very fluid. Williams would drop back and defend for a bit and Whitsett or Soderstrom would go forward. Hershfelt and Rogers would drop back between the centerbacks to receive a ball and then find themselves in attacking positions. Even on tired legs, they were fun to watch.

Just past the 80th minute, an inch perfect ball through the lines by Williams found Soderstrom streaking up the right side, who then to proceeded to put her own first time inch perfect cross to the far post that Whitsett headed home past Josephson. After that, the main focus was holding onto the clean sheet until the final whistle. In the dying minutes, Indy had a corner kick that didn't amount to much, but instead of recirculating it back into the mixer, Indy calmly went one pass backwards, then another, all the way back to Edwards. Then Indy played keep-away for the next few minutes. The second goal took the sting out of the game, and Indy's high IQ understood time and space, and maintaining possession at that point in the game was more important than their usual attacking mindset.

Indy finish a long week with a 2W-1D-0L record and sit at the top of the table, with four games remaining. I would expect to see a rejuvenated squad next Thursday when Indy return to Grand Park to face St. Charles in the first of another 3 games in 8 day stretch (Th-Sun-Th) where they will again face Lexington on short rest. The difference will be that Lexington will have played two days prior so Indy might not see the same fight as they saw in tonight's first half.

The Game Beckons Game Ball

If you've been paying attention to my GBGB awards, it's not always the goal scorers. Sometimes it's just the player that stands out for me. Somebody who I keep thinking to myself, "they're having one hell of a game, tonight." Look, the second half substitutes changed the game, and that's nothing against players like Matsuhisa, who continues to impress me. Yet, it was one of the starters that gets tonight's GBGB. Jenna Chatterton had the task of defending Lexington's Utley for large portions of the night. Utley was fast, good with the ball, and one of the main focuses of Lexington's attack. Chatterton was faster, better with the ball, and didn't really allow Utley to get many good looks, either at goal or with passes. It's no surprise that Chatterton is fast; we've seen that from Day 1. She also takes the Becky Sauerbrunn approach to wearing her jersey's sleeve in that she would wear a tank top with the Eleven crest on it if you let her. Yet, her game IQ was on full display tonight (and not just her biceps), and combined with her lighting speed allowed her to anticipate a pass and be able to get to it to intercept to stifle a Lexington attack before it happens. 

Additional Photos - Don Thompson Photography

Indy Eleven vs Racing Louisville - 02.05

Summary

- Opponent: Racing Louisville
- Location: Lynn Family Sports Vision & Training Center
- Attendance: -
- Final Score: 2-0 W

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

- Substitution: Sexton 60' (Chatterton); Isger 60' (Chester); Matsuhisa 60' (Soderstrom, K.); Williams 60' (Whitsett); Houweling 82' (Watson); Vanegas 85' (Kraszula) 

- Unused: Edwards

- Scoring Summary:
IND - Whitsett 12' (Assist Rogers)
IND - Whitsett 55' (Assist Chester)

- Bookings:

LOU – Huckaby 30’ (Yellow)

LOU – George 62’ (Yellow)

- Referee: ?

- Adage goals: None

Thoughts and Opinions

For whatever reason, Racing Louisville puts zero effort into streaming their W-League team's games, so I have nothing to go on in this article other than some periodic tweets from the Indy Eleven Live Twitter account. In light of that, this will be brief, and we're going to focus on big picture.

Indy jumped out to an early lead on Racing thanks to a Whitsett goal in the 12th minute. Whitsett doubled the lead about 10-minutes after the halftime break, and then rode out their lead to the finish line. With half of their season complete, Indy hold the series lead with Racing (The Barrel [Women's Edition] stays in Indy), and Indy have to play Lexington and St. Charles twice, and Kings Hammer once. Four of those five games will be at home at Grand Park, and Indy have already beaten all of those teams by a combined 12-0. It's never over until its over, but the past two games against Racing Louisville were the two games that looked like they might decide the division and Indy came out on the right side of those games. Kings Hammer has played Indy well the past two seasons, so Indy need to not overlook them, but tonight's game was a major hurdle that was successfully cleared.

Indy return to Grand Park on Friday night for the third game in a week against Lexington, who Indy beat 3-nil on May 21st in Lexington. Then Indy will get a few days of recovery and training before playing another 3 games in a week's span. Indy's depth and deep roster will likely come into play in the next couple of weeks. Tonight we saw (or didn't see...) the first appearance of Maddy Williams in a substitute role off the bench. I expect to see more of those kinds of things in the upcoming games.

For now, Indy fans can celebrate the series win over Racing.

The Game Beckons Game Ball

Without being able to see any of the game, it's difficult to select a player for the GBGB. However, when a player scores twice, chances are they played well. So without much to argue against it, Maisie Whitsett gets tonight's GBGB. Whitsett already has two braces on the season, and five goals total in five games, putting her in 3rd place in club history behind Soderstrom's and Williams' double-digit efforts from last season (which Soderstrom has added to twice this season...). If she can stay at this average, she might tie Williams' season total in fewer games played. 

Indy Eleven vs Charleston Battery - 10.12

Summary

- Opponent: Charleston Battery
- Location: Patriots Point
- Attendance: 2,573
- Final Score: 4-0 W

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

- Substitution: Molina 58' (Asante); Robledo 67' (Rissi); Tejada 86' (Guenzatti); Chavarria 87' (Martinez)

- Unused: Trilk

- Scoring Summary:
IND – Quinn 2’ (penalty kick)
IND - Quinn 72' (penalty kick)
IND - Molina 75' (assist Martinez)
IND - Own Goal 80' (Crawford)

- Bookings:

CHS – Archer 2’ (RED)
IND - Vazquez 8' (Yellow)
CHS - Wynne 29' (Yellow)
IND - Martinez 59' (Yellow)
IND - Rissi 61' (Yellow)
CHS - Muse 71' (Yellow)
CHS - Paterson 88' (Yellow)

- Referee: Sergii Demianchuk

- Adage goals: None

Thoughts and Opinions

In full transparency, I only peripherally watched this game while I was trying to finalize my article on the women's game and putting both teams' statistics in my spreadsheets. I mean, I knew the Boys in Blue (Red) won the game by a hefty margin against the conference's top team because it was part of the postgame talk at the women's game. Once I sat down to watch the replay of the game, it took me a grand total of 19 seconds to know there was a major factor in the result. I mean if you have 89 minutes and 41 seconds with a man advantage and have a penalty kick to open the scoring before some fans have even found their seats, you better win the game. You should win by multiple goals. It took a good portion of the game, but Indy eventually did that.

Look, Indy have been in most of the games this year, and have played the way they wanted to play. At least until recently when Coach Lowry has switched to a back five due to the injuries that have me wondering about what is in the water at Grand Park. Yet, scoring goals has not been the strength of this team so far, and getting four goals, however you can get them, is a good day on the road in the USL Championship.

Coming into the game, Reddit user /u/migerard24/ has been posting the team's expected goal values and Indy had an xG total of 10.21 for the season and had scored 9, while their opponents had an xG total of 11.65 and had scored 14. Indy has felt unlucky in the way that teams have been able to get goals against them, but the luck switched a little bit for this game. In addition to the early red card and penalty kick goal, Indy also finished the scoring in the 80th minute from Own Goal, when a header from Diz Pe was redirected by Charleston's Crawford, but redirected inside the post instead of outside of it. That's a turn of events that hasn't gone Indy's way this season. Has the luck turned for the Eleven so that they'll be going into the second third of the season with both luck and skill on their side? The up-and-down season continues for Indy, but with bottom-of-the-table Hartford coming to Indy next weekend, could Indy see their first win streak of the season?

The red card probably feels harsh if you're a Charleston Battery fan, but I can see why the ref gave it. Last defender pulls down an attacking player in an obvious goal scoring opportunity. However, many times a referee will pick one or the other in this situation. Award the penalty, but give just a yellow card. It feels like a double punishment since Indy was awarded a penalty kick and Archer was sent to the locker room. Watching the rest of the game, Charleston have to wonder what would have happened if they had remained at full strength. There were times when I was watching where I thought that if someone were to start watching the game without knowing that Charleston was a man down, it would have been a surprise when they found out. Charleston is a good team, and held Indy to just that initial penalty kick goal for 70 minutes before conceding again. Then the flood gates opened and Indy put Charleston away with a three goal in ten minutes stretch.

Indy return home to play Hartford next weekend, with a chance to better their position above the playoff cut line, depending on how the results go today. Seeing the ball go into the goal, no matter how that happened, could be the spark that Indy needs to keep moving forward until the injury report doesn't rival the substitution list.

The Game Beckons Game Ball

I thought about giving the GBGB to Quinn again for his two-goal effort. With Quinn's three penalty kick goals this season, and two penalty kick goals in this game, he catapulted Ambersley, Smart, Pasher, Hamilton, and Zayed to sit by himself in 3rd place in club history for PK goals. Only Kleberson (5) and Ayoze (7) sit ahead of him. Plus, it's always a challenge to take two kicks in the same game and the mental game that you have to play with the opposing goalkeeper.

However... Molina has been an offensive spark that can't go unrewarded. I heard this quote once about basketball players, but I think it applies here. In essence, it was that it's not always as important on who starts the game as who finishes the game. It's been Tejada's role to come in an create a spark, but now Tejada's effort is being magnified with Molina's effort, the latter of which was rewarded with a goal by attacking the back post. I don't know if his effort will supplement Guenzatti or Martinez in the starting eleven, but I think he's going to be a staple in the finishing eleven the rest of this season.

Indy Eleven vs Racing Louisville - 02.04

Summary

- Opponent: Racing Louisville
- Location: Grand Park
- Attendance: -
- Final Score: 1-1 D

- Starting XI: Reason, Chatterton, Bahr, Martin, Watson, Kraszula, Rogers (C), Hershfelt, Lindley, Soderstrom, K., Matsuhisa

- Substitution: Whitsett 45’ (Lindley); Chester 45’ (Matsuhisa); Kugler 64’ (Karszula); Sexton 64’ (Chatterton); Isger 75’ (Rogers)

- Unused: Edwards, Kevdzija

- Scoring Summary:
LOU – Rhodes 38’ (assist Dardano)
IND – Soderstrom, K. 60’ (assist Whitsett)

- Bookings:

IND – Kraszula 19’ (Yellow)

IND – Hershfelt 86’ (Yellow)

- Referee: ?

- Adage goals: None

Thoughts and Opinions

Due to a higher goal scoring effort from Racing Louisville against Kings Hammer than Indy was able to muster against them, Louisville came into this game with the same record as Indy, but with a slightly better goal differential, putting them on top of the Valley Division. As I suspected coming into the season after seeing the division breakdown, the female version of the LIPAFC will likely be what determines which one of the teams makes it out of the division and into the playoffs. If both teams are going to continue to put up large goal differentials against the other teams in the division, a split of this series will make this an interesting affair as the season comes to a close. Both teams realize how important this game, and the subsequent, pseudo doubleheader when the teams play again on Wednesday, and came out trying to control the game from the start.

While this is the fourth game of this season, in a game of this magnitude, Coach Dolinsky went with a starting lineup heavy on players from this season and more experienced players. The team’s centerback pairing were players both in the last millennium in Bahr and Martin, the former of which was an assistant coach last year for the team. Dolinsky didn’t want to have any excuses about what he wanted from his team and how to defend Racing, who play in a manner that mirrors the 1st division NWSL players. Both teams came into this game knowing the other team, which Coach reiterated after the game, saying, "I think we saw tonight what we expected from both groups. They had an idea of how we were going to press based on how we played against them last year, and unfortunately, the youth organizations that's attached to them, that's attached to us, we know each other really well. They were making adjustments on the fly in the first half, and we were able to match them. I think adjustments are natural. We know what their identity is. " 

The first ten minutes were pretty much what we expected from this game. A back-and-forth affair with decent attempts towards each other’s goals, but neither team was capable of putting shots on target in the early going. You could probably have given the early possession battle to Racing, but not really in many dangerous positions. That possession advantage stayed with Louisville in the first half, but it didn't really end that way.

For Indy, Watson put a couple shots towards goal that just crept over the crossbar. I talked about her a couple of games ago, but she’s quickly becoming my favorite player this season. I finished my playing days as a midfielder, but apparently I appreciate a good defender when it comes to this Indy Eleven W-League team. Don’t get me wrong, Hershfelt is running neck-and-neck with Watson for me. She finds herself in good positions and makes good decisions when she gets there. Tonight, she controlled the center of the midfield, completely unafraid to take on the opposition’s midfield. Hershfelt wanted to make good defensive decisions, but picked her moments to attack the Racing midfielders. When your midfield consists of Hershfelt and Rogers, you’re getting maximum effort and supreme soccer IQ.

While Indy probably had the better of the chances in the first half, Louisville were the ones that opened in the scoring in the 38th minute when Reason couldn’t get to a long cross that Rhodes headed over the former Noblesville goalkeeper and into the goal. After the goal, Indy tried to put more pressure on Louisville, but Racing were content in the dying minutes to just kick it between their centerbacks. However, neither team were able to put another ball behind the opposing goalkeeper, and the teams went into the half with a slim 1-nil lead.

Indy immediately made subs coming out of the locker room, with Whitsett and Chester replacing Lindley and Matsuhisa, respectively, trying to get fresh legs up top to attack the Louisville defenders. The fact that they’re proven goal scorers doesn’t hurt either. However, Indy came out a little flat for the first few minutes, nearly allowing Louisville to extend their lead. Once the two teams settled back into the rhythm they had in the first half, the dog fight in the midfield resumed. Soderstrom then found a gift in front of her in the 60th minute when a Whitsett cross made its way through the box and surprised Soderstrom, but who managed to get enough of a touch to direct it towards goal and out of the reach of Castaneda. It might not have been the most spectacular looking goals, but I think that when you're a goalscorer, sometimes the ball does bounce your way, even when you have had some shots that were not up to your standard. This was one of those goals. Kind of like a reaction save by a keeper, this was a reaction goal by a forward.

At that point, it felt like Indy thought they had another goal in them and Indy continued to ramp up their pressure, shifting the field closer and closer to the Louisville goal. Castaneda didn’t have an official save in the first half, but Indy drastically increased that number as the game progressed, and I think she, unofficially by my stats, finished with four saves. Indy wasn’t going to go down without a fight, but couldn’t get over the hump to get the winning goal.

So Indy and Racing Louisville finish the game in much the same place as they were when they entered; tied on points, with Louisville having a slight edge in goal differential. However, the players felt confident that they could now go to Louisville on Tuesday and come away with a win. Coach Dolinsky echoed his players, stating, "We now have 90 minutes playing against them, and what their individual strengths are and what their weaknesses may be. But I think we put them in vulnerable situations, especially in the first half. I think we go out [on Tuesday] with the same mindset and approach as we did tonight." 

Indy don't have to go to Louisville on Tuesday and come away with the win, but it will go a long way towards the division title. I've seen the other teams play, and while Kings Hammer continues to give Indy a harder game than expected, I still think this comes down to Indy and Louisville. If the two teams draw again, it's just going to be all that more important to score as many goals as possible in the remaining games against Lexington (2 games), St. Charles (2 games), and Kings Hammer (1 game). It's not something that Coaches like to say out loud, but it's difficult to not think about these two teams as the division contenders and the ramifications of Tuesday's game now that Round 1 finished in a draw. "I always want three points, but if we can go down there and snag another point and make it a goal differential race, then so be it. But, hopefully, three points."

The Game Beckons Game Ball

This photo makes me laugh.
"Whatever you say ref." - probably...

I know I've already given her on GBGB this season, but Hershfelt stood out for me again today. Her work rate was top notch, and Coach Dolinsky and I talked after the game about her effort and her being the engine in the midfield. I don't know if it was because she was playing a team that she knows is connected to an NWSL team, or whether it was because this was my first opportunity to see her in person and could see her movements off the ball, but she seemed to have a bit more motivation in a game where motivation wasn't lacking. I can recall her making a 40 yard sprint to chase down a Louisville player and funnel the player towards other Indy defenders who made the stop. When Indy makes the move to the USL Super League, Hershfelt is another one of those players that I hope Indy can attract to play here, even if she finds a team before that, which seems like a realistic option with what I saw tonight.

Additional Photos (Don Thompson Photography)

Eleven Park Groundbreaking - From My Perspective

Today was one of those days that many fans wondered whether it would ever come. There are still plenty of construction hurdles to go over before fans will sit (or stand) in a brand new Eleven Park to cheer on the team, but a ceremonial turning of dirt is a public indication of the team taking another couple of steps in the process of taking a factory (and stadium and cemetery before that) and converting it into a soccer stadium, hotel, apartments, and businesses. The club said they would make this step in May, and by the thinnest of margins, they met the self-imposed deadline, something they received grief about with another of their previous stadium deadlines.

Peter Wilt first talked about the potential of an Indy Eleven soccer-specific stadium back in 2013, which set off a flurry of activity from the haters who couldn't fathom a reality where a professional soccer team would be successful enough to warranty any kind of soccer-specific stadium, let alone one that could seat 20,000 people. The fact that Peter did it before the team had ever played a single game made it even worse for that segment of the population.

I've talked about the stadium ad nauseum on this site since the club's first season, including calling it Eleven Park in January of 2015, and suggesting, a few months later, an idea about additional developments around (or within) the stadium to make it more palatable to the masses and to help with being able to afford it. I feel like I have been talking about this stadium forever, with an ever increasing doubt that the stadium would ever come to fruition. Today was another step to proving me wrong.

In the presence of more suits than I could count, including mayoral and gubernatorial suits, Indy Eleven and Keystone managed to get the attention of Indianapolis' mainstream media outlets so that it wasn't just a handful of independent media representatives like me. Under a tent packed full of legislators, fellow sports team executives, players (thanks for being there Rebellon and Dambrot), board members of the BYB, and the media, the club gave notice that the idea of a 20,000 seat stadium is going to come to fruition. It's many years later than most of us had hoped, but it does look like it is actually going to happen.

Admittedly, and I said this to Indy's President and CEO, Greg Stremlaw, I think the summer of 2025 goal to have the team's first game is optimistic. Having Populous and Browning Day (and many others) finish the design, finishing the demolition (which I expect to include remediation and transferal of the bones found from the old burial grounds), and constructing the stadium given the current construction environment that includes material shortages and long lead times on all equipment, seems like a difficult goal to reach. I assume that both the design and construction teams associated with this project have evaluated all of this, but it still seems optimistic to me.

When I asked, Stremlaw indicated that the Eleven Park development will be constructed in phases, with the first phase including the stadium, the parking garage, and what they are calling Tower 1. Including Tower 1 in the first phase will allow for businesses and restaurants to begin providing income for the development, since the taxes generated in the development will be used to pay for it, per the law signed by Governor Holcomb. This makes sense, but also means that fans, naturally, should expect to deal with construction activities when the stadium opens as the other portions of the development are constructed around the site. He didn't indicate a timeline for the other components of the site, but I think those are going to be highly dependent on time and the money generated from the components of Phase 1. However, I think (but don't hold me to it) even getting just Tower 1 constructed will satisfy the requirements of the law to have a development within a mile of the stadium. I don't recall there being an indication of how much development, just that there needed to be a development. 

As far as what was said today, Rafael Sanchez (not that one, this one) was the master of ceremonies, and if felt like both he and Ersal were giving a history lesson on Indy Eleven. In some ways, it felt unnecessary because the team has been around for a decade, but I had to allow that there were quite possibly people in attendance that were doing so because of an invite to a corporate office and weren't fully aware of the history, or even that a team existed. Though that could just me making an incorrect guess about the audience.

Speaking of the audience, here are the people that were explicitly mentioned: 

• Ersal & family
• 
  Governor Eric Holcomb
• Mayor Joe Hogsett
• Secretary of Commerce Brad Chambers
• Council President Bob Osili
• Councillor Kristin Jones (development will be within her district - map here)
• Greg Stremlaw
• Secretary of State Diego Morales
• Attorney General Todd Rokita
• Indiana Senate members
• Indiana House of Representative members
• Mayor Brainard (Carmel)
• Mayor Collier (Lawrence)
• Mayor Jensen (Noblesville)
• Mayor Ballard (former Indianapolis mayor)
• Mayor Cook (Westfield)
• There were also representatives from the other sports teams in town. 

As I've talked about in my last article about the stadium, the location where we all stood today has had a long and complicated history. A history that has included being Greenlawn Cemetery, Federal League Park, and Diamond Chain. A history that includes the burial of Union soldiers and the City's black residents, the latter of which that might not have been properly relocated to other cemeteries as the development of downtown progressed into the cemetery. Both Ersal and Mayor Hogsett made a reference to that history, and Stremlaw indicated that there will be an archeologist on staff during the construction, all of which gives me some faith that the demolition and construction of the site will be done properly. Ersal stated, "As we move forward, it is our obligation to honor this place and its legacy in all we do." Mayor Hogsett was more explicit, stating,

"We recognize the significance of all that came before on this spot. This area served as one of the earliest burial sites for the City of Indianapolis. And in death, as in life, black residents were segregated. But in reimagining this as a space of community, commerce, and entertainment, we have an opportunity. With a more complete knowledge of the past, we can build a future that is more broadly prosperous, more broadly inclusive. ... Downtown is growing and it is changing rapidly. That's a good thing. We should change. We should grow. And in this time of change, we have an opportunity to learn. An opportunity to do, and to be, better than ever."

As Keystone and Indy Eleven embark on an estimated $1,000,000,000 development, both Governor Holcomb and Mayor Hogsett praised Ersal for his vision, and fortitude to embark on this path.

"Hearing of your passion that was converted into an idea that was converted into a vision that was converted into a mission and every step of the way, you never threw in the towel, never took a step back, you just leaned further in no matter what hurdle was thrown your way, or yellow card was thrown your way." - Governor Holcomb

"Only those who dare to fail greatly, will ever achieve greatly. Thank you for daring to fail." - Mayor Hogsett

As I've stated before, playing a game in the Eleven Park stadium, and whatever it will be called at that time once naming rights are determined, seems optimistic today. However, for those of us who have been thinking about this stadium for the past ten seasons, today marked an important milestone in the path to the stadium. There are a lot of other milestones yet to come, but it's important to look at this one and realize that this one happened as a result of not just the people that were on that stage, but also the people who weren't there. Peter Wilt. Molly Kruger. Tom Dunsmore. John Koluder. The early BYB leadership. The grassroots media that was prevalent in those early seasons. 

The team took root in this community because of their effort. This groundbreaking is also a result of countless hours of enthusiasm from fans for a team that has moved from Carroll Stadium to Lucas Oil Stadium and back to Carroll Stadium, and will soon play at Eleven Park.