Indy Eleven vs Loudoun United - 12.19

Summary

- Opponent: Loudoun United FC
- Location: Segra Field
- Attendance: 2,413
- Final Score: 2-3 L

- Starting XI: Sulte, O'feimu, Hogan, Musa, O'Brien, J., Lindley, Murphy, Quinn (C), Blake, Williams, R., Foster

- Substitution: McRobb 67' (Blake); Amoh 67'; (Williams, R.); Neidlinger 76' (O'Brien, J.)

- Unused: Charles-Cook, Bryneus, Collier, Kizza

Scoring Summary:
IND - Musa 51' (assist Murphy)
LDN - Ordonez 63' (assist Valot)
IND - Amoh 78' (assist Lindley)
LDN - Ryan 82' (assist Tingey)
LDN - Ordonez 86' (unassisted)

- Bookings:

IND - Williams, R. 40' (Yellow)
LDN - Awuah 45' (Yellow)
LDN - Ordonez 74' (Yellow)
IND - Amoh 90'+3' (Yellow)

- Referee: Atahan Yaya

- Adage goals: Two.

Thoughts and Opinions

Indy have historically dominated the series, but this isn't the same kind of Loudoun team that Indy has faced in the past. The home squad was sitting in 4th place in the table when the night's games kicked off, while Indy was looking up at the playoff line. Neither team has been in spectacular form in their past 7 games with Indy having a 2W-0D-5L record and Loudoun with a 0W-3D-4L record. Loudoun was the team tonight that reversed their fortunes in a 5-goal second half to get a 3-2 win despite Indy holding a lead twice.

Half - Average Position

If you would like to see Indy hold a possession advantage, you haven't been watching Indy much this season. In league play, Indy have held the possession advantage just three times. Tonight was no different with Loudoun holding a 62/38% possession advantage (61/39% at halftime), as Coach McAuley arranged the team in a 4-4-2 lineup to keep everybody compact on the defensive side of the field. This isn't anything unusual this year, particularly on the road. Coach McAuley put the team in a position to keep Loudoun in front of them in defense and then try and work the counterattack. From Indy's perspective, Loudoun possession in undangerous areas is acceptable and permitted. However, Loudoun lived in Indy's defensive half of the field in the first half. All that possession in Indy's half allowed Loudoun to finish the first half with a 16 to 4 shot advantage, but somehow just a 3 to 1 advantage in shots on target. Indy's tactical style, particularly on the road, keeps Indy fans nervous, but it was effective in the first half.

Bend don't break. Punish the opponent when you get your chance, which is exactly what Indy did in the 50th minute from a corner kick. Murphy's delivery wasn't spectacular. Musa's header wasn't great. Loudoun's defense was worse. Indy did what the could in the first half to stay in the game and then found a lead. 

A lead that lasted just 12 minutes. Ordonez had been on the field for just 4 minutes when he found a shooting angle and opening to get the game back to level. 

A lead that lasted just 15 minutes. It took him a little bit longer than Ordonez needed to find a goal, but from a perfect Route 1 ball from Lindley, Amoh took a touch off his thigh to set himself up for a toe poke under Fauroux. 

A lead that lasted just 4 minutes. Loudoun responded with a goal from Ryan from close range to bring the home side back into the game.

A draw that lasted just 4 minutes. The end of the game became frenetic as both teams found opportunities and goals. The final goal of the game came from the second half sub, as Ordonez scored a brace by being a nightmare to defend in and around the goal. Sulte stopped Ordonez's first shot, but the ball deflected back to Ordonez who made no mistake with his second shot.

Full Time - Shots

An 86th minute goal left very little time for Indy to find a response. Even getting an 6 minutes of extra time, neither team found a shot on target after the final goal. McRobb had an opportunity from a corner kick, but his shot was well high of the goal. Loudoun held a 26 to 11 shot advantage and a 7 to 4 shot on target advantage, but the one that mattered most was that they had a 3 goal to 2 advantage. Indy held a lead twice and conceded each time. Indy bounced up and down over the playoff game as the game progressed, but finished the game in the same spot as when they started. If you've been watching the table, which I have been for several games now, and continued during this game, a Tampa Bay victory over Phoenix in one of the late (for Eastern time zone fans) games could push Indy further down the table as Tampa Bay would leapfrog three different teams to put themselves in a playoff position for the first time since Week 4. That's as much an indication of the closeness of the middle/bottom of the Eastern Conference as anything, but at this point in the season, every single negative result is making it that much more difficult for Indy to make the playoffs for a third year in a row, something they have never done in the history of the team. 

Indy don't have any time to lick their wounds as they have a midweek game at home in the Jagermeister Cup against Greenville Triumph before welcoming Miami to Carroll Stadium in a vital game to keep a tiebreaker in Indy's favor against another team that keeps hovering around the playoff line. Greenville is hovering around their own playoff line in League One so it's not like their the League One world beaters coming to Indy on Wednesday, but with a four-game skid for Indy (and losing 6 of their last 8), I have very little faith that Indy find a way to advance to the Jagermeister Cup semifinal.

The Game Beckons Game Ball

I don't like to give at least one player credit for having a good game, but where do you start? Literally the only play that stands out as a positive from all parties was the goal from Amoh and the assist from Lindley. Lindley's ball was perfect, Amoh's first touch and shot were perfect. Yet, are two touches in the span of 90+ minutes worthy of giving a GBGB? Williams and Foster had more offside calls than they had shots (on target or otherwise). Murphy and Musa's goal seemed to be more about poor defending from Loudoun than good soccer from the Indy players. Loudoun scored three goals and came back twice, so do any of the defenders really deserve it? I want to give somebody credit for a good game. I really do. I just didn't see any player that stood out as consistently playing well enough to get it. Maybe that's why Indy remains entrenched in a 4-game losing streak.

Indy Eleven vs Detroit City FC - 12.18

Summary

- Opponent: Detroit City FC
- Location: Keyworth Stadium
- Attendance: 6,317
- Final Score: 1-0 L

- Starting XI: Sulte, O'feimu, Musa, O'Brien, J., Rendon, Lindley, Murphy, Quinn (C), Blake, Williams, R., Foster

- Substitution: Neidlinger 69' (Foster); Williams, R. 69' (Amoh); Hogan 84' (Lindley); Kizza 84' (Blake); Collier 90'+1' (O'Brien, J)

- Unused: Charles-Cook, Soumaoro 

Scoring Summary:
DET - Own Goal 57' (Musa)

- Bookings:

IND - Rendon 30' (RED)
DET - Bryant 38' (Yellow)
IND - Charles-Cook 88' (Yellow)

- Referee: Matthew Corrigan

- Adage goals: None.

Thoughts and Opinions

Indy had all intentions of going to Detroit and coming away with at least a point, and preferably all three points to be able to make some significant movement up the table in a proverbial 6-point game with Detroit just ahead of Indy in the table. Indy started the game in a deep block with 5 midfielders clogging the very narrow Keyworth Stadium field to try and limit Detroit's opportunities and work for counterattacks. That deep block resulted in a nearly 70/30% possession advantage for Detroit City. 

The possession difference ballooned to an 80/20% advantage for the home side by the halftime whistle after Rendon was shown a straight red card in the 30th minute due to what was deemed a high elbow to the face of Amoo-Mensah. After Indy's second red card of the season, ironically both coming against Detroit City, Indy was content to try and get a point out of the game. However, Diouf beat O'Brien off the dribble, made it to the end line, and sent a close proximity cross off the chest of Musa that deflected into Indy's goal giving Detroit's man advantage a goal advantage. 

With the lead and up a man in the 57th minute, Detroit continued to push for a second for about 15 to 20 minutes. However, once the clock rolled towards the 80th minute and it became clearer and clearer that Indy didn't have it in them to get their own goal, Detroit began to take their foot off the gas and started taking the air out of the game. Indy was down to long balls and counterattacks, but couldn't find anything out of the game. Despite being down a player, Indy limited Detroit to just 4 shots on target. However, Indy's only official shot on target happened in the 17th minute from a Romario Williams backheel that went directly to Saldana.

A 30th minute red card and a 57th minute own goal gave Detroit the win. With the other results in the Eastern Conference tonight at the time of this article, Indy find themselves, once again, staring at the wrong side of the playoff line. They continue to have a game-in-hand (or two) on most of the teams around them, but they will be spending much more time in the dying weeks of the season on the road than they have during the middle part of the season, and against several of the conference contenders, including still having three games against the Conference leaders of Louisville and Charleston. The conference has a very crowded middle so Indy is going to need to be more effective around goal in the final 12 games than they have been in recent games.

Indy continue the journey with another game on the road next week at Loudoun United before returning home for a three-game homestand starting with a midweek Jagermeister Cup game against Greenville Triumph followed by Miami and the first 2025 edition of LIPAFC against Louisville. Indy definitely need points from the Loudoun and Miami games and a win against Greenville pushes into a semifinal of the Cup. I've said it before recently, but playing for trophies can change the opinion of whether a season was a success or not.

The Game Beckons Game Ball

Officially, he was credited with 4 saves, but each of those saves were special. Sulte's 6'-7" frame and his ability to move laterally was on full display tonight. It's rare that an opposing team has four shots on target and the goalkeeper makes four saves and the team still loses, but an own goal gets treated differently. Sulte did what he could to help keep Indy in the game, which was enough for me to give him tonight's GBGB. 

Indy Eleven vs Tampa Bay Rowdies - 12.17

Summary

- Opponent: Tampa Bay Rowdies
- Location: Carroll Stadium
- Attendance: 9,107
- Final Score: 3-1 L

- Starting XI: Sulte, O'feimu, Musa, O'Brien, J., Rendon, Lindley, Murphy, Quinn (C), Blake, Williams, R., Foster

- Substitution: Hogan 45' (O'Brien, J.); Collier 60' (Blake); Bryneus 78' (Lindley); Kizza 78' (Musa)

- Unused: Charles-Cook, Amoh, Soumaoro 

Scoring Summary:
TBR - Pacius 2' (assist Moon)
IND - Ofeimu 44' (assist Murphy)
TBR - Alvarez 57' (assist Pacius)

- Bookings:

TBR - Moon 38' (Yellow)
TBR - Pacius 73' (Yellow)
IND - Musa 75' (Yellow)
IND - Murphy 80' (Yellow)

- Referee: Abdou Ndiaye

- Adage goals: One.

Thoughts and Opinions

First things first. Congratulations to Cam Lindley for joining a very elite group of Indy Eleven players. Cam becomes just the 5th player in team history to reach 100 caps for the club, joining Ayoze, Ring, Quimette, and Smart. Cam's first game for Indy was a 2-1 win on July 18, 2020 against Sporting Kansas City II. Notable for that game was that Ouimette and Ayoze both played, and Nick Moon who now plays for tonight's opponent Tampa Bay, all played alongside Lindley that night in Lucas Oil Stadium.

Do you want the bad news? Indy and Tampa Bay have been playing each other since the NASL days and Indy has a 3W-7L-10D record against the team from Florida. Want more bad news? Indy hasn't beaten Tampa Bay in 9 games (5 losses, 4 draws), with the last Indy victory coming in 2018. Want even more bad news, Indy added to that list of poor results again tonight in a 3-1 lose to extend that streak to 10 games.

Tampa Bay went ahead in the12th minute as Moon and Pacius one-touched their way around the Indy defense. Quinn, in his new wing back role, was charged with marking Moon, who has more pace than Quinn. Quinn has a high soccer IQ, but Moon's pace put him behind Quinn, setting up the close quarters interplay between Moon and Pacius. While the goal was early, it had been coming due to Tampa Bay holding the possession and stifling all of Indy's attacks.

Just before the 30 minute mark, O'Brien had a rare foray into the Tampa Bay offensive third of the field and was bailed out by an TBR defender, setting up a free kick from around 30-yards away from the goal. The ensuing free kick from Quinn set off a string of attempts by the home squad, but nothing that made its way through the green jerseys to force a save from Bandre. The sustained effort from Indy didn't result in a save attempt or a goal, but the 5 bites of the apple were good to see out of the team. 

Photo: Don Thompson Photography

Indy found an equalizer from a corner kick just before halftime to go into the locker room with a better opinion of the half. What started as a short corner was given right back to Murphy and put in a cross to the 6-yard box from a better angle. Ofeimu rose above and headed the ball back the other direction away from Bandre who couldn't stop his momentum enough to get a hand on the ball. All the action after the corner kick started because Quinn received the ball in his half of the field. Something I've noticed he does frequently is to pop the ball up slightly with his back to the opponent's goal and then blasts the ball with his left foot up the line. Foster saw it coming and immediately started running up the line as well. By the time his defender realized where the ball was going, Foster was already chasing down the ball. The defender recovered enough to force the corner kick, but the direct play from Quinn and the anticipation from Foster set up the chance.

Indy's effort to get back into the game was upended through some more direct play through the center of the field by Tampa Bay and Alvarez found the left side of the goal as Sulte was sliding to his right. Earlier in the game, Romario Williams pushed his shot just barely wide of the same post and Alvarez bounced his shot off the post to push Tampa Bay back into the lead. With the lead, the game became a bit discombobulated as neither team could hold possession and Tampa Bay was in no hurry for restarts.

Down a goal and time running out, Coach McAuley signaled his intent to go for the equalizer as he subbed out Musa for Kizza. When that happened, Indy had Kizza, Foster, Collier, and Williams all on the field at the same time. That's a coach that was opening himself for Tampa Bay to find a third due to not having bodies in the back, but you can't fault him for the effort on attack. As the time ran out, Tampa Bay did exactly that, and found a third goal in the 90'+8' minute. The goal didn't do anything but change the goal differential and the Indy defense's frustration with conceding a third goal, but it once again showed that Coach McAuley is going to go for wins at home, even knowing that the third goal might happen. 

Indy might have deserved a bit more out of the game than a 3-1 loss, but the inconsistent, up-and-down season continues. The good news is that based on recent trends, Indy should win the next two games. Unfortunately, those next two games are on the road, which differs from much of their recent stretch of home games. 

The 2025 season has transitioned to the back half of the season, but it has no appearance of transitioning to a season where Indy isn't flirting with the playoff line. Indy's Summer of Soccer was filled with home games, but Indy's back half of the season is filled with away games, and games against the top of the Eastern Conference. Indy's path to a playoff game looks littered with more results like tonight's interspersed with enough wins to keep them in contention. Whether that will be enough as the season ends to actually be in the playoffs looks debatable at the moment, but I don't foresee any of these players nor Coach giving up until the season is over.

Indy head to Detroit next weekend.

The Game Beckons Game Ball

Thinking about the game, it feels like one of those games where no single player stood out either offensively or defensively. There wasn't a player that took the game by the scruff of the neck and tried to carry the rest of the team over the line. As a result, it feels like, despite the team conceding 3 goals, a bit weird to give a defender the GBGB, but Ofeimu put himself in really good position to get the Indy goal and took. He said after the game that Murphy's deliver was so good that he didn't have to do much, but that's taking away from his own ability to beat his man to the ball. He might have just needed to get a head to it to redirect it, but he had to put himself in that position to do so. Ofeimu, as a defender getting a goal, gets tonight's edge for the GBGB.

Photos: Don Thompson Photography

Indy Eleven vs FC Tulsa - 2025 Jagermeister Cup

Summary

- Opponent: FC Tulsa
- Location: Carroll Stadium
- Attendance: 9,065
- Final Score: 2-1 W

- Starting XI: Sulte, O'feimu, Musa, O'Brien, J., Rendon, Lindley, Murphy, Quinn (C), Blake, Williams, R., Collier

- Substitution: Foster 62' (Collier); Neidlinger 76' (Murphy); Kizza 77' (Williams, R.): Hogan 84' (Lindley); Soumaoro 84' (Blake)

- Unused: Charles-Cook, McRobb

Scoring Summary:
IND - Williams, R. 38' (assist Rendon)
IND - Own Goal 51' (Batista)
TUL - Colli 72' (assist Webber)

- Bookings:

TUL - Seagrist 7' (Yellow)
IND - Ofeimu 33' (Yellow)
TUL - Batista 35' (Yellow)
IND - Murphy 73' (Yellow)
TUL - Stauffer 90'+1' (Yellow)
IND - Rendon 90'+5' (Yellow)

- Referee: Gerald Flores

- Adage goals: None.

Thoughts and Opinions

As an Englishman, Coach McAuley values Cup wins and understands how success in a Cup run can help mitigate an otherwise frustrating season. Indy's last Jagermeister Cup game against Birmingham resulted in a draw in regulation but Indy picked up an extra point from the penalty kick shootout afterward. The extra point, thanks to a Hunter Sulte save, put Indy's advancement in the tournament in their own hands. With the Western Conference leaders FC Tulsa coming to town for the final game of the group stage, a win or draw (plus shootout win) was not going to be easy. Indy knew coming in that they were going to have to match or better Birmingham's result on the night with BHM at home against Forward Madison. Birmingham took care of their business, which might get them a Wild Card to the knockout rounds, but Indy also took care of their business with a 2-1 victory over the visitors from Tulsa.

Indy wasn't necessarily the dominant team in the early stages of the game, but they did tilt the game towards the Tulsa goal. However, as the game inched towards the 15th minute mark, Tulsa rattled off a series of corner kicks, the third of which forced a goal line save from Sulte who had made himself big at the post. The rest of the Indy defenders managed to get to the spilled ball and send it up the field to avoid an early deficit. The game was fairly even after the chance. Indy had a couple of reasonable chances and Tulsa found their own chances. The opportunities came through different styles of play, with Indy getting theirs through deliberate combination passing around the Tulsa defense, while Tulsa's seemed to come more through long balls and corner kicks.

Photo: Don Thompson Photography

Indy found a goal through a transitional moment as the ball quickly made its way through the Indy midfield until the ball made its way to Rendon via Murphy. Rendon took the opportunity to attack the Tulsa backline until he found a moment to get the ball to the middle of the box. Williams took two touches, the second of which was a toe-poke between three defenders and out of reach of a sprawling Penaranda. The goal, surprisingly, opened the game which became an end-to-end affair in the final 7 minutes (+ 4 minutes of stoppage time) of the half. Indy held onto the lead to go into the halftime locker room with a 1-nil lead. The halftime stats showed a fairly even game, and if it hadn't been for Williams' moment of brilliance for the goal, a nil-nil draw would have felt like a reasonable score line.

Indy found a second goal within the first 6 minutes and nearly a third within two minutes after that to put the game, and the group, squarely in Indy's favor. Coach McAuley clearly told the team at halftime that they needed to step up their effort and the Indy players took head of the coach's desire. While the first half finished with a flurry of end-to-end action, the second half took that style of play to another level. A second goal on the books changed Indy's tactics, and Tulsa began to tilt the field to their own advantage. Just after the 70th minute mark, Tulsa found a goal for their effort to give themselves some life and a potential to spoil Indy's win of the group. Indy had had chances and couldn't find the goal. As Indy has seen all season, if you let a team stick around, bad things can happen.

Photo: Don Thompson Photography

Despite the late drama and effort required from Indy to close out the game, they did in fact close out the game. The win, regardless of the result of the Birmingham vs Forward Madison game, clinched the group for Indy, allowing them to move on into the quarterfinals of the Jagermeister Cup. The topsy-turvy results of Group 6 means that Indy will play Greenville Triumph later this morning with a spot in the semifinal on the line. The win also means that Indy finished group play with a total of 11 out of a possible 12 points from their four games, and were it not for a 90'+4' equalizer from Birmingham, Indy would have achieved the maximum points from the group stage with 4 wins. The 3W-1D-0L record and the 11 points was the highest point total of any of the group winners. Helped out by the 4-nil victory in the first game against Forward Madison, Indy also finish with the 2nd best goal differential of all the teams in the tournament. After Indy's run in the U.S. Open Cup last year and their results in the Jagermeister Cup this year, Indy seem to have a knack of getting good results when there is a trophy on the line that isn't connected to the season-long league results. 

Indy return to league action next week against the struggling Tampa Bay Rowdies who found their own victory tonight in the Jagermeister Cup in the aforementioned Group 6 to finish 2nd in their group behind Greenville.

The Game Beckons Game Ball

If they gave assists to Own Goals, Rendon would have finished with a brace of assists tonight. His touch left him a couple times throughout the night, but his effort directly led to both of Indy's goals. There were some other good efforts tonight, but Rendon's contributions to the goals gives him the edge for the GBGB.

Photos: Don Thompson Photography

Indy Eleven vs North Carolina - 12.16

Summary

- Opponent: North Carolina FC
- Location: First Horizon Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park 
- Attendance: 2,383
- Final Score: 4-2 L

- Starting XI: Sulte, Musa, O'Brien, J., White, Quinn (C), Rendon, Murphy, Lindley, Blake, Williams, R., Amoh

- Substitution: Hogan 45' (O'Brien, J.); Collier 63' (Amoh); Bryneus 63' (Murphy); Kizza 64' (Williams, R.); Neidlinger 76' (Lindley)

- Unused: Charles-Cook, McRobb

Scoring Summary:
NC - Mentzingen 20' (uassisted)
IND - Murphy 43' (assist Amoh)
NC - Servania 48' (assist Perez)
NC - Conway 55' (assist Maldonado)
NC - Dolabella 73' (assist Perez)
IND - Blake 90'+3' (Penalty Kick)

- Bookings:

NC - Mentzingen 16' (Yellow)
IND - Rendon 18' (Yellow)
IND - Blake 41' (Yellow)
NC - Martin 58' (Yellow)

- Referee: Joshua Encarnación

- Adage goals: None.

Thoughts and Opinions

There's so much history between these two clubs. The very first Indy Eleven game in 2014 in the NASL. Indy's very first league win. The Miracle at the Mike in 2016. The W-League final in 2023. All that mattered to this iteration of Indy Eleven players was the last time these two teams met. Indy held a lead, but conceded in the 90'+3' for one of the proverbial "draw that felt like a loss" result. Indy has had an up-and-down season, but Indy knew coming into the game that with a win, and a Pittsburgh/Detroit draw, Indy would find themselves in 4th place in the table thanks to the Head-to-Head points tiebreaker. If you had said a month ago that Indy would even be sniffing a home playoff game, I would have thought you were crazy, but that's what a better run of form and a very even Eastern Conference can do for perception of how the season is going. 4th place sounds a lot better than the 10th place Indy was sitting after Week 12.

Instead, Indy's poor defending reared its head again and Indy gave up 4 goals to get the loss on the road. Detroit and Pittsburgh drew their game and depending on how Birmingham and Miami do this weekend, Indy could drop back down to 9th. Indy took a prime chance to climb the table and laid an absolute rotten egg with some of the worst defending I've seen out of them in several games. 

The first North Carolina goal happened in the 20th minute when a kick from NC's goalkeeper Mulqueen went over everybody. Sulte started out toward it before Musa had an absolutely atrocious clearance that went a total of 3-ft off of Mentzingen, which ricocheted off of him towards Indy's goal. Sulte was way out of position and couldn't outrun Mentzingen who tapped the ball under Sulte and into the goal. It's difficult enough to beat teams in this league on a good day. When you give up a self-inflicted goal, in a stifling heat, you make life exponentially more difficult for yourself.

Indy found a first-half adage goal in the 43rd minute when Amoh pushed a ball back to the center of the field towards Murphy. Murphy took a touch before curling the ball around the NC defenders and into the side netting. Indy's only shot on target in the half found the goal and the teams went into the locker room even at one apiece. 

Indy had clawed their way back only to concede again with minutes of coming back out of the locker room. Servania pushed the ball towards the center of the field and from nearly the same spot as Murphy in the first half, put the ball beyond Sulte and into the side netting. With their lead reestablished, the route was underway. NC doubled their lead less than 10 minutes later, when Conway did the same thing but from the opposite side of the field. Dolabella finished the scoring when nobody stopped him and he took a worm-burning shot from outside the 18-yard box that went under the outstretched Sulte. North Carolina scored 3 goals in the second half and based on the 9 shots on target, might have been able to score more (admittedly, a couple of those were right at Sulte). Indy, contrarily, put 2 shots on target for the entire game; both shots resulted in goals (Murphy's 1st half goal and Blake's stoppage time penalty kick). 

Full time - Goals

Not counting the Mentzingen goal from inside the box after the ball deflected to that spot, all of North Carolina's goals were from around 18-yards away. Normally, letting a player shoot from distance is an acceptable alternative with Sulte's range and reach, but the NC attackers had so much time on the ball that they could pinpoint and rip their shots. I'm not sure I can blame Sulte on any of the goals. Maybe the first one where he was so far out from his goal when Musa made a mess of his clearance? Maybe he could have done better there. Maybe. 

Or maybe the team defending was absolute garbage.

Indy return to Carroll Stadium next weekend for their final game of the Jagermeister Cup group stage. While Tulsa has been eliminated from advancing in the tournament, Indy will likely need to get the win to guarantee their advancement in the tournament since 2nd place Birmingham face Forward Madison. If you're not table watching like I have been, Tulsa sit at the top of the Western Conference. So yeah, if tonight's effort is duplicated next week, Indy likely won't be making it out of the group stage of the Jagermeister Cup. At least Indy still control their fate, but it's not going to be easy.

The Game Beckons Game Ball

Honestly, I don't have it in me to give out a GBGB tonight. I don't have the effort to find a player that stood out in a positive way. I'm sure I could give an Anti-GBGB, but I'm not willing to start down that path.

Indy Eleven vs Rhode Island - 12.15

Summary

- Opponent: Rhode Island FC
- Location: Carroll Stadium 
- Attendance: 9,039
- Final Score: 1-0 W

- Starting XI: Sulte, White, O'Brien, J., Musa, Quinn (C), Rendon, Lindley, Murphy, Blake, Williams, R., Amoh

- Substitution: Neidlinger 64' (Rendon); Kizza 70' (Amoh); Collier 71' (Williams, R.); McRobb 86' (Blake); Hogan 87' (White)

- Unused: Charles-Cook, Bryneus

Scoring Summary:
IND - Williams, R. 55' (assist Quinn)

- Bookings:

RI - Shapiro-Thompson 24' (Yellow)
RI - Yao 51' (Yellow)
IND - White 75' (Yellow) - though it looked during the game to be given to Lindley
IND - Collier 88' (Yellow)
IND - Sulte 90'+5' (Yellow)

- Referee: Mark Verso

- Adage goals: None.

Thoughts and Opinions

The last time these two teams met, Rhode Island was set to embark on their historic run through the playoffs in their inaugural season in the league by beating Indy, then Charleston, then Louisville in route to the league Final. The teams scored a combined 5 goals, with Quinn being involved in both of Indy's goals. All three of Rhode Island's goals were scored by JJ Williams, who came off the bench tonight as he recovers from an injury. The playoff meeting was the third time the two teams met last season with a 1W-1D-1L record and 6 GF and 6 GA. That's about as even as you can get for a season series. 

With tonight's 1-nil win, Indy put last year's disappointment behind them a little bit, while also bringing their record at the midpoint of the season to 5W-5D-5L. 

The first 45 minutes of the game was a midfield battle. Rhode Island had the bulk of the possession in that area, but neither team seemed to be able to put a substantial stamp on the game in their favor. The two teams combined for four shots in the half, but none of those were on target. Indy's 5-2-1-2 formation in defense with Murphy, Lindley, and Blake taking turns individually or collectively in front of Indy's three centerbacks proved difficult for Rhode Island to unlock. Similarly, Indy couldn't figure out a way through Rhode Island's defenders. The World Series of Poker is currently underway in Las Vegas, and both teams looked like they were playing low on chips, trying to make it through the bubble to get into the money. Just grinding it out looking for their chances when the cards presented themselves. As the first half came to a close, neither team found enough good cards to play and a nil-nil draw was an accurate assessment of the way that first half proceeded. Indy managed a 0.22 xG, while Rhode Island finished even worse with a paltry 0.05xG. Opta indicated there were just 3 touches in the opponent's 18-yard box. Three touches. Neither team could figure a way to do anything in a dangerous position. Maybe the most activity was when a burst of rain midway through the half sent fans scattering for some cover, but the rain didn't seem to affect the game in any way other than the players' footing both on and off the turf.

In the 55th minute, Indy had a true team goal that was super efficient in the touches between the players. Amoh is the beneficiary of an errant pass out of the back from Rhode Island, but his heavy touch forces yet another difficult decision from a 2nd Rhode Island defender who clears it towards the midfield circle. As the ball came to Lindley, he already knew what he wanted to do with it and one-timed a screeching pass along the carpet to Blake. Blake took two touches; a settling touch before sending a pass wide outside to his left to Quinn, who had come sprinting up from his wingback position. Following Lindley's lead, Quinn sent a screeching centered pass/cross towards the 6-yard box where Amoh had dragged defenders towards the front post, while Williams came from outside the far post to get to the ball and pass it first time to the left side of the goal as Lee and all the Rhode Island's defenders were shuffling to their right. The goal moved at lightning pace, preventing the Rhode Island defenders from being able to react quickly enough. The final shot wasn't fancy enough to probably warrant a goal of the week nomination, but it was as clinical of a goal of the week as you'll find. The game winner was the result of pretty soccer.

Second Half Heatmap

Once the game found a goal, the game became a lot more wide open. Indy continued to press their foot to the gas wanting to get a second goal, while Rhode Island attempted to get an equalizer. Indy tilted the field to their advantage in the second half, but shots were still at a premium. Indy finished with 6 shots (2 on target), while Rhode Island finished with 7 shots, none on target. Both teams did help their xG effort, with Indy increasing theirs to 0.77; Rhode Island managed to get theirs to 0.32 despite not getting any of the shots on target. Indy's first rounds of substitutes indicated Coach McAuley's desire to try and get a second goal when he replaced Rendon with Neidlinger, and Amoh and Williams with Kizza and Collier; respectively, and all like-for-like attacking players. With ~20 minutes remaining, he wasn't ready to bunker to preserve a win with a 1-nil lead. Win at home and win big to give the fans something to cheer about. That's been his mantra lately. His second round of substitutes showed that in the dying minutes of the game, he was ready to concede a bit of the attack to maintain a clean sheet victory. 

The game had 2 shots on target between the two teams (both by Indy) and just the 1 goal. The goalkeepers didn't have a ton of work to do, but Indy came away with a victory, their fourth win in the past 6 games, with all the victories including a clean sheet for Sulte. Indy leaked goals early but their attention to defensive detail late in the games have allowed them to get more positive results. There are a lot of things that I like about Coach McAuley, but his use of Lindley in the early portion of this season was not one of them. Whether forced into it because of other player availability or because he has come around to the quality that Cam provides, and it could obviously just be coincidence, but since Lindley has entered the starting lineup in the midfield, the team has a 4W-0D-2L record and 4 shutouts. Obviously, the addition of one player hasn't been a magic tonic that has righted the ship. A better effort from all the players for 90 minutes has certainly helped, but I do find it interesting that Lindley's presence alongside Murphy seems to have gone a long way to help stabilize the leaking late goals they were conceding early on. 

Indy head on the road for the first time in 5 weekends to play North Carolina. Indy's win tonight pushed them to 5th in the table (until Pittsburgh's win on Sunday dropped Indy back down to 6th) and with another win in Cary, North Carolina, Indy could officially be knocking on the "hosting a playoff game" door again as they turn the corner from the first half of the season to the second half.

The Game Beckons Game Ball

I have to give it to the Indy midfield. And more specifically, the 2nd Half Indy midfield...and I'll throw in the duo of Rendon and Quinn into the mix. I don't know what was said at halftime by Coach McAuley, but the Indy midfield and wingbacks came out of the halftime locker room and exerted their will against the Rhode Island midfield. Their play is what set up the first goal and is what demonstrated the concept of making a team adjust to what you want to do versus you dealing with how they want to play. The midfielders (and wingbacks) get tonight's GBGB for taking control of the midfield, allowing Indy's line of confrontation to be further within their offensive half of the field.   

Photos - Don Thompson Photography