Indy Eleven vs Racing Louisville - 04.09

Summary

- Opponent: Racing Louisville SC
- Location: Grand Park
- Attendance: -
- Final Score: 2-1 L

- Starting XI: Edwards (C), Chatterton, Adam, Kruer, Albert, Smith, Yamazaki, Pinto, Komori, Sochacki, Chester

- Substitution: Satterfield 45' (Albert); Jennings 45' (Komori); Sochacki 45' (May); Joyce 60' (Chester); Beasley 68' (Pinto); Malin 68' (Chatterton)

- Unused: Phillips, Bahr

Scoring Summary:
LOU - Smith 21' (unassisted)
LOU - Smith 33' (penalty kick)
IND - Joyce 85' (assist Yamazaki)

- Bookings:

LOU - Lund 54' (Yellow)

- Referee: Sao Kamara

- Adage goals: None.

Thoughts and Opinions

Photo: Matt Schlotzhauer

I've said before that when Indy Eleven decide to start honoring players that have had a significant affect on the club, Brad Ring should be the first. I'm going to adjust that statement slightly. Brad Ring should be the first from the men's team. The first woman to be honored should be Grace Bahr. There will be others that can and should be mentioned in the conversation, but Bahr should be the first. Part-time coach, part-time player, full-time captain. She has given everything in the service of the club, including now two ACLs. She has been the rock in the defensive line, and the leadership voice across all the lines across four seasons and age groups. Bahr is the team's all-time leader in Appearances (40), Starts (38), Minutes (3,416), Top 3 in Assists (6), and Top 4 in Game Winners (3), proving that the defensive captain impacted the game everywhere and every time she stepped onto the field. All the stats aside, Bahr is likely your favorite player's favorite player. When Indy clinched the league title in 2023, most of the players ran to her first to celebrate as she sat in a knee brace with the first ACL injury sustained in that game. After her most recent ACL injury a few games ago against Kings Hammer, Grace has decided to hang up her boots and move to Ohio for the next stage of her life working at the club where she first got her start playing. Brad Ring may have been the first to be dubbed as the Legend by Indy fans, but those of us who have had the privilege of watching Bahr give everything to this club know that not having the official club nickname doesn't mean that you aren't one. Grace Bahr is a legend and I wish her nothing but the best moving forward. The respect she deserves extends beyond just the Indy Eleven fans and players, which is why both teams tonight agreed to allow Grace to start tonight's game and receive the accolades she deserves from her teammates and competitors. Good luck Grace in your next phase of life (and, more imminently, in your upcoming surgery and rehab), but you'll always be #IndyForever. 

After Grace received her accolades, she stepped off the field and Chatterton stepped in to play the remaining 89 minutes. The early moments of the game looked very much like two teams that have played each other before and were trying to figure out the best way through their opponent. Indy had just the slightest of edge in control of the tempo and possession, but couldn't do much with it. As time passed, Louisville began to tilt the field in their favor.

A couple minutes after the 20-minute mark, a recycled ball found Louisville's Smith about 25-yards from goal. A touch to her right to get the ball in a more central location and she put a shot over Edwards to get the scoring started. The goal further energized the Louisville squad and the field firmly tilted entirely towards Edwards in goal. The continued pressure eventually forced a lunging defensive effort from the typically stalwart Chatterton where she missed the ball and caught the Louisville player. Unfortunately, that foul occurred within the Indy 18-yard box and the referee quickly and correctly pointed to the spot. Smith stepped up again, firing her attempt low and to her right. Edwards guessed correctly, but couldn't get down quickly enough and the ball slide under her outstretched arm, giving the visitors a 2-nil lead. Indy found a bit more possession and opportunities after the second goal, but were unable to be too dangerous in the final third of the field and the teams went to the halftime locker rooms with the two-goal differential. 

It's been a reoccurring thought for me this season, but Indy's opponents have just seemed more physical in their approach to 50/50 balls and tackles. I'm not sure why or if I'm accurate in that assessment, but it has just felt like Indy has been afraid to get a foul called against them and never adapted over the course of the season to the continued lack of whistles from the referees. The other teams have seemed to learn that they can get away with physical play and routinely muscled the Indy players off the ball. Or maybe it's a function of the youth of this team and not knowing they can, or maybe it's that they aren't yet capable of physically doing so against some older, more experienced players. Tonight, and in general in the losses this season, it often felt like Indy was missing a player that would try to throw the team on their back and will a victory. Bahr often tried, but she can't do all the scoring from the back. Seeing that timidity tonight made me nostalgic for a player like Hershfelt. Somebody who wasn't (and seemingly still isn't) afraid to get in on a tackle, yellow card be damned. I never thought Hal was dirty, but she made sure you knew she was in the midfield with her. The talent level is obvious for most of this current version of Indy Eleven players, so maybe it's just an experience and growth that will help their confidence to remove some of the timidity and decision-making. 

The second half was more evenly matched, with Indy getting a few more of the dangerous chances than Louisville was able to muster, but Indy couldn't find the goal early enough that would have given them a light and make Louisville nervous. Indy did find the net in the 85th minute from a feed from Yamazaki that Joyce looped over Teague to prevent the shutout. Indy turned up the pressure some more in the dying minutes of the game, including nearly drawing their own penalty kick (which was correctly determined to be outside the box), but couldn't find the equalizing goal.

With the loss tonight and Indy's 5 total losses on the season, the best Indy can finish this season is .500 depending on the result Friday against Dayton. Indy could also finish 4th out of the 5 team division depending on Indy's result and the two games between Lexington and Kings Hammer. Now that Kings Hammer have clinched the Valley Division and Indy are out of the running, I have to root against Coach Dolinsky and Lexington when I was rooting for them just a couple of games ago (KHFC won tonight vs LEX 4-2). Indy finish off the season on Friday against Dayton, who have struggled to even get goals much less wins, so hopefully Indy can finish on a strong note. It will be interesting to see if, or how much, the more experienced players like Osswald and Bulger play, or if Coach Kim rolls with the youth in the final game to keep building their experiences.

The Game Beckons Game Ball

Despite the losing result, there were some good performances from players. Kruer played well in the back. Pinto had a decent game. Yamazaki continues to impress me. Tonight, though, the player that I kept noticing doing good things time and again was Olivia Smith. She seemed to be everywhere for Indy. She was good on the ball, good on defense, and seemed to be doing whatever she could to get the team a win. Tonight, she might have been the closest one to being the player I mentioned earlier about trying to put the team on her back. She looked like a player that is going into her Senior season at IU. Tonight's effort didn't get the team a win, but it does get her the GBGB.

Indy Eleven vs Las Vegas Lights - 12.12

Summary

- Opponent: Las Vegas Lights 
- Location: Carroll Stadium
- Attendance: 9,132
- Final Score: 1-0 L

- Starting XI: Sulte, McRobb, Musa, Hogan, Ofeimu, Quinn (C), Murphy, Rendon, Blake, Lindley, Amoh

- Substitution: Collier 67' (Quinn); Foster 67' (Blake); White 67' (Rendon); Kizza 68' (Amoh); O'Brien, J. 80' (McRobb)

- Unused: Charles-Cook, Soumaoro

Scoring Summary:
LV - Pickering 90' (assist Stojanovic)

- Bookings:

LV - Nigro 2' (Yellow)

- Referee: JC Griggs

- Adage goals: One.

Thoughts and Opinions

Las Vegas Lights came to town and were greeted by some Las Vegas-like temperatures, with a game time temperature hovering around 90-degrees, but the humidity hovering around 60% made it feel like 100-degrees. Being "used to the heat" is different than being "used to the oppressing feeling that the humidity weighs on you," and I'm not sure anybody ever really gets used to that feeling. Keeping in mind the temperature and the heat index, there seemed to be little chance that this was going to be a high tempo, defensive pressing type of game for the full game. This had all the initial expectations of a "grind-it-out, wait for a mistake from your opponent and capitalize on it" type of game. It took until the 90th minute for that mistake to happen, but when it did happen, it allowed Las Vegas to leave Indianapolis with a 1-nil victory. Las Vegas also managed to do something no other team had been able to do all season and that was keep Indy scoreless. 

Indy came out early with a defensive press, likely looking to get an early goal to force Las Vegas to get an early deflated feeling about their time in Indy, and in essence end the game early. Las Vegas, contrarily, looked disinclined to press at all, or even counterattack in any kind of numbers. However, once the clock crossed over about the 15-minute mark, Indy's press took a noticeable reduction in its intensity. The less intense press by Indy allowed Las Vegas to get a better hold in the game, but they still didn't look inclined to stretch themselves too much out of their defensive shape and only went forward in numbers a couple of times. As the game approached the halftime whistle, Las Vegas began to push the momentum in their favor, but still weren't that effective in getting much out of their increased effort. 

Photo: Don Thompson Photography

After the break, Blake and Quinn switched sides of the field in a tactical adjustment by Coach McAuley, but the game mostly looked the same as it had in the second half. Neither team looked overly dangerous in their offensive third of the field, and the pace remained very measured trying to leave something in the legs in the heat for any kind of late game push. 

Coach McAuley made a line change substitution in the 67th minute, when he put fresh legs up top with Collier, Foster, and Kizza all coming in. Based on the substitutions, it seemed like Coach McAuley was conveying his intent to get a win out of this game. McAuley has regularly stated that the team need to get better results at home to reward the fans for their continued support and voice during the games. Post-game, he even stated that he was always going to go for a win at home. On the road, with the same kind of weather and late game draw scoreline, he might do something different. At home though, the team was going to do for a win.

The 4-3-3 lineup Indy played at the end eventually had a breakdown defensively, and a couple of Las Vegas' substitutes put the visitors ahead 1-nil in the 90th minute. Once the goal was scored, it was just a matter of getting across the finish line. With the weather and the heat, the game always felt like a single goal would be the winner. When the goal happens in the 90th minute, there just isn't much time to try and get something back out of the game. 

The loss brings Indy's home league record to 1W-3D-3L. After a game that was fairly even from a stat perspective, and even from the eyeball test, the result remains the same; Indy close to getting full points only to watch it dissipate to a draw or loss. The up-and-down emotions of the games and their results are leading to an up-and-down trajectory of this team. After two 1-nil victories, there were some signs that maybe Indy was turning the corner and figuring out some of their defensive issues with a more collective defensive effort. Tonight, though, Indy couldn't find their own goal and then conceded late, proving that this team still seems to be a work in progress when it comes to playing a full 90 minutes. Indy's run of having games-in-hand continues to make the table look deceiving, but the loss pushed Indy back below the playoff line. With Indy's inconsistent form this year, it feels like the discussion of the playoff line is more relevant much earlier in the season than in the past. At times, they feel and look like they could go on a run of wins. At times, they look like a team that is struggling. 

Indy head to Tampa Bay for a midweek fixture against another struggling team before returning back to The Mike next weekend to play Birmingham as part of the Jagermeister Cup. Both games seem winnable, but I really no longer know how to guess what kind of result this team is going to get from game to game.  

The Game Beckons Game Ball

Photo: Don Thompson Photography

Coach McAuley has said it was partly out of necessity because of minor injuries to other players, but the insurgence of Cam Lindley into the starting lineup has helped. His effort can't be disputed. His ability to hit a 50-yard change of field pass is impressive. Where I think it helps the team most is that it has allowed Quinn to move further up the field to pull the strings, while also providing defensive cover in front of the defenders. What I kept noticing tonight, though, was that it felt like (because the distribution chalkboard from the match center doesn't necessarily agree with my eyeball) Lindley's first preferred thought was to push forward with the ball whereas his holding midfielder counterpart, Murphy, seemed to think about going backwards first before thinking to go forward. In a game like tonight where chances were going to be spread out and difficult to get, thinking of going forward was going to maximize those chances. Particularly when Coach McAuley singled his intent with the three forward substitutions. As I state over and over, many times the GBGB goes to the player who I keep noticing, and noticing doing good things. Tonight, that was Lindley.  

Photos: Don Thompson Photography

Indy Eleven vs Lexington SC - 04.08

Summary

- Opponent: Lexington SC
- Location: Lexington SC Athletic Complex
- Attendance: -
- Final Score: 4-0 L

- Starting XI: Phillips, Adam, Pinto (C), Kruer, Albert, Joyce, Yamazaki, Smith, Komori, Sochacki, May

- Substitution: Beasley 45' (Joyce); Satterfield 45' (Albert); Malin 60' (Kruer); Jennings 60' (Sochacki); Budish 70' (May); Pittman 70' (Smith) 

- Unused: Wyatt

Scoring Summary:
LEX - Mitchell 3' (assist ??)
LEX - Mitchell 35' (assist Snyder)
LEX - Mitchell 56' (assist ??)
LEX - Mitchell 68' (assist ??)

- Bookings:

None

- Referee: ??

- Adage goals: One.

Thoughts and Opinions

It's hard to beat a team three times in a season. It's harder to beat a team three times when the coach is a former member of your club. It's even more difficult when you're without some of your main cogs of leadership due to injury (or other life obstacles). That challenge gets even further exacerbated when the third game of the three games is on their home field, and you absolutely positively have to beat them. Indy's up or down season continued, and a 4-nil loss brought their playoff hopes to a definite and depressing end. For the first time in the history of the USL W League, Indy Eleven will not be a part of the playoff portion of the schedule. Putting the final FINISHED stamp on Indy's playoff hopes were some of the former players that followed Coach Dolinsky to Lexington. Natalie Mitchell scored a hat trick +1, with at least one of those being assisted by Hadley Snyder. 

With Edwards' callup to the US Soccer Talent ID camp, Kate Phillips picked up her first start of the 2025 season. However, that meant that the team was now without three of the main parts of the defensive spine of the team, with Edwards, Bahr, and Molloy all not making the trip to Lexington. Bahr's and Molloy's absences required some more shuffling of the starters by Coach Kim, with Pinto dropping back in the defense next to Kruer. 

At least I assume that was how they lined up. The camera feed for the game continued to show an empty field. Shortly after I questioned the empty field on X, the livestream stopped and Indy's Ian Gilmour responded back to me indicating:

"Sounds like they moved from normal field with the men’s game on ESPN2, assuming the broadcast was still routed to that camera. Hearing they are actively trying to fix it though."

From everything I didn't see, it looked like they didn't manage to get it fixed. The stream on sportsengine never restarted, and Lexington's X channel was silent throughout the entirety of the game. So the other teams in the division still lag way behind Indy when it comes to its telecast of the games. Even if they had been pointing the camera at the correct field, you could see from stream that it was just one of those cameras on a telescoping pole that tracks the action. Or no action in this case, and no commentary. 

Indy still have two games remaining, both at home, so fans still have a chance to root for the team to do well against Racing Louisville and Dayton Dutch Lions next Tuesday and Friday, respectively. The playoffs may be out of reach, but I'm sure I won't be the only one in Grand Park wishing the players well as they try to finish the season with a couple of high notes.

The Game Beckons Game Ball

Given the lack of a stream, it's impossible for me to personally give out the GBGB. 

Indy Eleven vs Dayton Dutch Lions - 04.07

Summary

- Opponent: Dayton Dutch Lions
- Location: DOC Stadium
- Attendance: -
- Final Score: 3-0 W

- Starting XI: Edwards, Satterfield, Molloy (C), Beasley, Albert, Joyce, Yamazaki, Smith, Sochacki, Komori, May

- Substitution: Chatterton 45' (Satterfield); Touhey 61' (Molloy); Pittman 61' (Komori); Jennings 70' (May); Foulk 75' (Albert); Guthrie 75' (Sochacki)

- Unused: Phillips, Wyatt

Scoring Summary:
IND – Komori 24' (unassisted)
IND - Own Goal 26' (Grant)
IND - Own Goal 70' (??)

- Bookings:

DAY - McKinney 46' (Yellow)

- Referee: ??

- Adage goals: None.

Thoughts and Opinions

Tonight's starters looked drastically different than the previous game against Kings Hammer. Most notably was the absence of the stalwart in the back, and the team captain, Grace Bahr. I can only assume that the injury she sustained just before halftime against KHFC was as bad as it looked. I haven't been able to get a confirmation, but it certainly appeared to resemble her ACL injury in the 2023 Championship game. The starters were without Pinto, who has started every game before this one. There weren't any of Indy's veterans, with no Chester, Bulger, or Osswald making the trip. Joyce and Beasley both picked up their first starts; with Beasley having played a total of just 11 minutes all season before this game. With the nature of the W League, it's difficult to say if the changes were injury, day job related, or a function of Indy's inability to make the playoffs leading Coach Kim to make the decision to play the youth. Given the opponent's record and massive goal differential (-49 coming into the game), it could be felt that Coach Kim was playing down to the opponent, but I don't think that was the case. 

Regardless, the squad that Coach Kim fielded was the dominant side in the game. Possession, shots, and overall skill level was definitely skewed towards Indy. With the exception of a 19th minute shot against the run of play from Dayton's Morse that drifted just wide, the early part of the game was played nearly entirely in the Dayton defensive half of the field. Within five minutes of Dayton's first chance of the game, Indy was able to finally make good on their dominance when Komori put a shot past Shirley to open the scoring. Two minutes later, Joyce took on three defenders and managed to get her cross into the 6-yard box where Dayton's Grant inadvertently pushed it passed her own keeper to double the advantage for Indy. The two goals in two minutes were the difference when the two teams separated for the halftime break.

Seriously Dayton, you can't put the camera on top of the press box or in the last row before the box or almost literally anywhere else? I've seen photos of the stadium, you can get on top of the press box. Because streaming the game from within the press box, through the windows, creates a very poor, pixelated video stream with reflections from the window. I appreciate the effort, including have a play-by-play, but take an extra half step and put the camera (phone? tablet?) in a better spot. 

Just as I was typing the above paragraph, the livestream lost its signal. Which took 15-minutes for the team to acknowledge on X that they were having technical difficulties. As a result of the livestream being down, I have no idea how the team looked in the final 35-minutes of the game. I know there was a second own goal by Dayton, but not what led up to it nor who redirected the ball into their own goal. 

I know the final score was 3-nil, so Indy won. Guess that's the important part as far as Indy fans are concerned.

There's still a scenario where Indy could overcome Kings Hammer for the top spot, but the long and short if I did my math correctly is that Indy has to win out (at Lexington, at Racing, & home vs Dayton) and KHFC has to lose at least two of their remaining four (at Racing, home vs Dayton, at Lexington x 2). Lexington's draw against Kings Hammer yesterday opened the door again for Indy. Racing has played them close on the road, so with the final of their three-game series in Louisville, it might be possible. Similarly, Lexington drew KHFC in Cincinnati, so with the final two games both being in Lexington, getting a win out of one of them might be possible. At this point, Indy can only control the things they can control and that's to keep winning. Indy return to action on Friday when they face Lexington for the third time this season, this time in Lexington. The result there will go a long way in determining Indy's post-season fate.

The Game Beckons Game Ball

This game was never really in doubt. Indy was the better team. I think I should give Yamazaki the GBGB purely because she looked like the best player on the better team. She controlled the midfield, and routinely danced around the Dayton defenders to get the ball to her teammates. Without her typical midfield partner of Pinto on the field, Yamazaki was still able to show her class.

Indy Eleven vs Pittsburgh Riverhounds - 12.11

Summary

- Opponent: Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC
- Location: Carroll Stadium
- Attendance: 9,207
- Final Score: 1-0 W

- Starting XI: Sulte, Hogan, Ofeimu, Musa, McRobb, Blake, Murphy, Quinn (C), Rendon, Lindley, Amoh

- Substitution: Kizza 69' (Amoh); White 69' (McRobb); Foster 69' (Blake); Soumaoro 77' (Murphy); Collier 84' (Quinn)

- Unused: Charles-Cook, O'Brien, J.

Scoring Summary:
IND - Blake 45'+2' (assist Quinn)

- Bookings:

None

- Referee: Alyssa Nichols

- Adage goals: None.

Thoughts and Opinions

It's been 10 days since Indy played a game, but the introduction of last week's game still applied tonight. 

"Both needed points from the game. Both really needed a win from the game."

It doesn't take a detailed look at the table to see that the top teams in the conference have separated themselves from the rest of the conference. Below them, it gets messier. Detroit came into the night at 5th, but had played 2 more games than the teams around them. Pittsburgh sat in 6th after getting a couple of wins in the past two games. Indy, Miami, and Hartford had all played one or two less games than everybody else on the bottom end of the table. As such, it's difficult to say exactly what the table should look like. Indy sat below the playoff line, mostly because Indy's results map showed a bunch of draws, a few losses, a two bookend wins. Playing at home, Coach McAuley has stressed how much the team needs to convert the draws and losses into wins. With a 1-nil win against the visiting Riverhounds, Indy have strung together back-to-back wins for the first time all season, while also giving themselves a 4-game undefeated streak across all competitions and a 3-game undefeated streak at home. You can't call it a fortress by any means, but maybe the team is trending in the right direction.

What struck me looking at the two teams was that both teams came in with a negative goal differential (-2 for Indy, -1 for Pittsburgh). More importantly though was how those goal differentials were created. Pittsburgh has scored 9 goals and conceded 10, while Indy has scored 18 goals and conceded 20. So far this season, Pittsburgh hasn't scored many goals, but they also haven't conceded many either. Contrarily, Indy haven't had any issues scoring, having not been held without a goal in any game, league or otherwise, all season, but they've also leaked goals a ton of goals, often at inopportune times. Which team won seemed to hinge on who could overcome their goal scoring/conceding trend. Would Pittsburgh's defense remain stout or would Indy's goal scoring win out? 

Half Heatmap

In nearly the entirety of the first half of the game, it had all the appearances that a single goal could be a winner, with the game playing out as a midfielder battle. However, in stoppage time, Pittsburgh's Barnes slipped in the Indy defensive half. McRobb picked up the gift and pushed it forward to Quinn. With Pittsburgh's defense in a rare position of being out of shape, Quinn had a 30-yard run uncontested. Amoh drew the remaining defenders to him with a run to the near post, which opened up space for an onrushing Blake. Quinn found Blake in stride. Blake took one touch that forced Vacter to overrun the play, which gave Blake just enough window to get a left-footed shot on frame. The ball took a slight deflection on the way through, helping it get passed Dick to allow the home team to go into the locker room with a 1-nil lead. 

The question in Indy's fans' minds was whether Indy could keep that lead. Getting a lead hasn't been a problem this year; holding onto them until the final whistle has been a major problem. As the game crept beyond the 65th minute, Pittsburgh began to step up their pressure and tilt the field towards Indy's goals. With 10 games of history under their belt, the Indy fans began to get that sinking feeling. Was the season of near-wins going to continue? 

In an increased focus on team defending, and defending for the full ninety minutes translated to Indy's first home win of the season. 

"Every week, sometimes one player steps up. Today, I think today was a full team performance. Everybody played their part on both sides of the ball. I will say the work that Jack, Elvis, and Quinny did from a defending standpoint and putting pressure on the ball and then retaining possession of the ball when we had to, I thought they were excellent. But then their work rate is infectious, cause then it drops into the midfield, and then once the back 3 start seeing everyone winning challenges in front of them, they have a massive responsibility to compete and I thought they were excellent tonight."

Indy continue their Summer of Soccer next week when the Western Conference's Las Vegas Lights make the trip to The Mike. 

The Game Beckons Game Ball

As I've stated many times, sometimes the GBGB comes down to an eyeball test, many times independent of stats. I nearly gave this to Amoh for his effort up top, and statistically he was very similar to my actual winner of the GBGB, but he was edged by Quinn. Just barely, but my eyeball test just kept noticing the effort from Quinn, and that's not dig on Amoh's effort which was stellar. The insertion of Lindley into the lineup has allowed Quinn to push forward more knowing that Lindley is helping cover the ground in front of the back 3, and Quinn is making full use of that assistance. Obviously he had the assist on Blake's goal, but he was constantly forcing the Pittsburgh defenders into making quick decisions with the ball, thereby helping Indy win back the ball. As Coach McAuley indicated, it was a good team effort, but Quinn edges his teammates for the GBGB.

Photos: Don Thompson Photography

Indy Eleven vs Kings Hammer - 04.06

Summary

- Opponent: Kings Hammer FC
- Location: Stadium Field - Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy
- Attendance: -
- Final Score: 2-0 L

- Starting XI: Edwards, Chatterton, Bahr (C), Molloy, Albert, Smith, Pinto, Yamazaki, Chester, Soderstrom-Bulger, Guthrie

- Substitution: Joyce 45' (Bahr); Sochacki 45' (Guthrie); May 61' (Bulger); Komori 61' (Chester); Satterfield 74' (Chatterton); White 74' (Molloy)

- Unused: Wyatt

Scoring Summary:
KHFC – Simmons 23' (unassisted)
KHFC - Bain 76' (assist Yordy)

- Bookings:

KHFC - Frey 72' (Yellow)

- Referee: Jeff Chop

- Adage goals: None.

Thoughts and Opinions

Playing simultaneously to this game, Racing Louisville and Lexington SC were playing their Kentucky Derby (I don't know what they call it... Maybe the Bluegrass Derby since the Kentucky Derby is probably trademarked...). Regardless, Kings Hammer had already helped Indy by beating Racing last week. If Lexington could do the same tonight, that would bring Racing to 2 losses, even with Indy, assuming Indy took care of business against Kings Hammer to avenge their earlier loss to the team from Cincinnati. Kings Hammer would still be ahead of Indy, and Indy would still need help, but the math would start working its way towards Indy winning the Division if they could take care of their business in the remaining games. Unfortunately for Indy fans, neither happened as Indy fell 2-nil to Kings Hammer and Racing finished in a 1-1 draw to Lexington. With three losses on the season and two against Kings Hammer, Indy will play out their final 4 games for pride now that the odds of winning the Division are out of reach.

Another game, another appreciation post for the work of ISC Sports and their telecasts of the Indy Eleven games, and Indy Eleven's use of ISC Sports for said streaming purposes. I'm not sure how Kings Hammer was streaming this game, but I lost track of the number of times I was watching green grass without a ball anywhere in sight. For so many of the other teams in the Division (I'm looking at you Racing), pre-professional players means bare minimum camera work. To be fair to Ethan Herzog, commentary was fine. I also have to give credit to the Kings Hammer staff responsible for the X feed, which was much more detailed than any of the above mentioned teams (including Indy).

While I'm on the topic of pre-professional meaning a reduced standard in other places, refereeing in the league is, how do I say this nicely, woefully inconsistent. Apparently, in this game, being in an offside position means that you are offside even if the ball isn't played anywhere close to you. Also, if a player is falling on their own because they're trying to spin their self out of the defense, a free kick is awarded just outside the box. A free kick, in this game, that led to the opening goal by Kings Hammer in the 23rd minute when the ball deflected off a player adjacent to the wall and snuck passed an outstretched Edwards. 

The goal turned out to be the game winner, but Kings Hammer deserved to win this game. I honestly not sure that I would call them the more technical team, but they were much more effective in doing what they wanted to do than Indy was able to do. Winning teams score more goals. Indy's goose egg means the team has now lost more games this season (excluding playoff results) than the past three seasons combined. Interestingly, when Indy keeps a clean sheet, they win by a combined 10-nil score line. When the concede goals, they lose being outscored by a combined 6-2. Indy also are either hot or cold on the season; wins or losses but no draws.

The last time we saw Grace Bahr carried off a pitch, she had torn her ACL in the League Championship game in 2023. As soon as I saw her crumble to the ground after a late first half challenge, I was worried. When I saw Chatterton immediately run to Grace once the ball was cleared, I feared the worst. When she didn't return after the halftime break, my fear grew. It's difficult to overstate what Bahr means to this team and the defense. She's the rock in the defense, and the connecting piece for the team culture between this team and the winning teams in the past. Her experience is vital for a team full of young Academy players. 

Maybe it's an incorrect assessment on my part, but I have had a feeling each game this year that teams are playing Indy more physically than in the past. I've also felt like Indy has struggled with that physicality, expecting a whistle to be blown more often. An expectation that continues to not be met.

Due to the poor camera work, I can't say that every call was correct, but when the two teams combine for double-digit offside calls, either the players never learned to adjust their runs or the assistant referees don't know what constitutes offside. In this game, I think it was likely a combination of both. I'm not convinced that the two goals that Kings Hammer had called back due to offside calls were truly offside. 

Indy hit the woodwork two more times, bringing their total to 7 across both games against Kings Hammer. Kings Hammer converted two set piece attempts, which proved to be the deciding factor in this game. Kings Hammer are in the driver seat as the seats turns into the second half of the schedule. They finish with three games against Lexington, who haven't shown me that they are capable of beating KHFC that many times; a game against Louisville, who they have already beat once this season; and a game against Dayton, who everybody has beaten. An undefeated season from Kings Hammer doesn't seem out of the question.

Indy return to action next Monday when they return to Ohio to face the Dayton Dutch Lions, then Lexington at their place, before returning to Grand Park for the final two games of the season against Racing and Dayton. 

The Game Beckons Game Ball

This was another game on the road where players just didn't look like their normal selves. Some of that can be attributed to Kings Hammer, but even a player like Chester was having a hard time with her decisions, passes, and footing (there was a lot of that issue). Once again, though, the players that kept jumping out to me on the effort and decision making was Pinto and Yamazaki. In a 2-nil loss, it's unlikely that any player still had a perfect game, but I'll give tonight's GBGB to those two players, who have quickly proven to me to be assets to this team.

Indy Eleven vs Lexington SC - 04.05

Summary

- Opponent: Lexington SC
- Location: Grand Park Event Center
- Attendance: -
- Final Score: 5-0 W

- Starting XI: Edwards, Chatterton, Bahr (C), Kruer, Albert, Yamazaki, Pinto, Smith, Chester, Williams-Osswald, Soderstrom-Bulger

- Substitution: Komori 61' (Chester); Adam 61' (Chatterton); Sochacki 73' (Bulger); Joyce 73' (Yamazaki); Beasley 79' (Smith); Budish 79' (Osswald); White 79' (Albert)

- Unused: Wyatt, Molloy

Scoring Summary:
IND – Pinto 6' (assist Smith)
IND - Osswald 26' (assist Yamazaki)
IND - Osswald 44' (assist Bulger)
IND - Chester 45' (unassisted)
IND - Sochacki 85' (assist Bahr)

- Bookings:

LEX - Sexton 36' (Yellow)

- Referee: ??

- Adage goals: None.

Thoughts and Opinions

In the midst of an unprecedented losing streak for The Girls in Blue, having Lexington show up at Grand Park was not the team Indy was most eager to see. Former Coach and former teammates on the other side of the ball, and the second of three times playing the team from Lexington, creates a chess match of tactics. Coming into the night, Indy likely would have preferred to see Dayton, a team that's conceded a lot of goals this season, but you have to play the team in front of you when they're scheduled. By the end of the night, Indy had defeated Lexington 5-nil and showed that when they play to their potential, they're still a good team. 

Photo: Don Thompson Photography

The game within the game was always what intrigued me about the games against Lexington this year. In the first outing a few weeks ago, Indy was without Chester, Bulger (Soderstrom), and Osswald (Williams) so that was a new wrinkle for Lexington to defend. But, Coach Dolinsky really knows what all those players are capable of providing to Indy. But, I've always been impressed with Osswald's tactical IQ and I knew she would be able to figure out and adjust to whatever Coach Dolinsky wanted his defenders to do against her and Bulger. Whoever could win the chess match, the game within the game, was going to be the one to come out on top tonight. That, and if Indy could be clinical and avoid the woodwork like last week's game...

It was Indy that got out of the gates fast, scoring a 6th minute goal off the boot of Pinto who took a long-range shot that found the lower right corner of the goal. Unlike their male counterparts who scored an early goal on Wednesday and then became more defensive-minded, Coach Kim and the women are not inclined to do that. Knowing that Coach Dolinsky also wants to attack and then attack some more, the potential for more goals by both teams was high with 84 minutes to go. In the early stages of the game, Coach Dolinsky had his Lexington side overloading the midfield when they were in possession, regularly leaving just two defenders back. Indy's early goal and propensity to go forward caused him to rethink that strategy for a little bit, but quickly dropped back into that tactic. 

Interestingly, both coaches could be easily heard barking commands to their players over the sparse crowd, telling each other what they were doing or wanting to do. The chess match is a bit more interesting when you can hear what your opponent is thinking.

Osswald doubled the advantage in the 26th minute that she admitted to me was intended to be a cross that she mishit slightly. So instead of the ball finding a path along the 6-yard box for an on-rushing teammate, it drifted towards the goal. Garrity was unable to push it over the bar cleanly and it dropped into the goal after a couple of deflections off the post and her knee. Given that it was headed into the goal without the touches from the goalkeeper, Osswald was given credit for the goal. 

Photo: Don Thompson Photography

As the half began to close, Lexington's Garrity made a questionable decision trying to play out of the back that nearly resulted in a goal by Bulger who hadn't given up on the ball. Garrity just barely got the ball out of her feet and across the end line for a corner kick. Looking flustered by conceding two goals and nearly giving up a third, Indy's forwards smelled blood in the water and became persistent. Immediately before the clock ran out of regulation time, Osswald brought down a ball near the six-yard box, took a touch to her left that freed a window when her defender overran the ball, and Osswald put a left-footed shot under the outstretched leg of the recovering defender and passed Garrity who was leaning the wrong direction. Seconds later, Chester intercepted a ball being played out of the back by Lexington and immediately ran at the goal. A slight push of the ball to the left, and she uncorked a left-footed shot to the right side of the goal. At halftime, Coach Dolinsky had his backup keeper, Bolton, warming up, realizing his starting net minder was rattled having given up 4 goals in the half.

After the break, Coach Dolinsky made two other changes in addition to his keeper trying to breath some life into his shell-shocked squad. For the first ten minutes, the game was very even with both teams getting opportunities on goal. However as much as Lexington wanted to control and overload the midfield, it was Indy's midfield that was up to the task and stifled the Lexington offense. The midfielders and defenders put themselves in good positions to limit whatever Lexington was trying to do. They switched well as Lexington tried to change the point of attack, and recovered nicely when Lexington did get balls into the final third.

Indy and Lexington have now played each other twice in this compact, fast-paced season. So far, Coach Kim is getting the best of his former boss in this chess match:

Indy Eleven 7 - Lexington SC 0

Coach Kim 2 - Coach Dolinsky 0

This team isn't used to losing, and a 5-nil clean sheet helps restore some of the confidence for the upcoming games that Indy are going to need to win to stay in the conversation for the Division title and the playoffs. The official stats indicate that Indy had 11 shots and Lexington goalkeepers had 4 saves. 4 saves + 5 goals = 9 shots on target. 9 shots on target out of 11 shots = 81.8% shot accuracy. That also helps with confidence.

Indy return to action next Wednesday when they go on the road to face Kings Hammer.

The Game Beckons Game Ball

Tonight, the GBGB isn't going to a single player. Coach Dolinsky brought his Lexington squad to Indy and put them into a 2-5-3 arrangement while in attack, severely overloading the midfield. Not discounting the effort from Indy's back four, which did a stellar job, the midfield, anchored by Pinto in the holding midfielder position, completely stifled the Lexington midfield. In the second half, it was clear that they had run out of ideas on how to get through the Indy midfield. In the rare occasions when they did, Bahr and company helped put out any of those fires. The midfield four of Pinto, Yamazaki, Smith, and Chester get tonight's GBGB for their ability to take away what Lexington wanted to do.

Photos - Don Thompson Photography