Indy Eleven vs United - 01.16

- Opponent: Minnesota United FC
- Location: Blaine, Minnesota
- Attendance: 5,420
- Final Score: 5-1 L
- Starting XI: Nicht (Captain), Frias, Norales, Hyland, Okiomah, Smart, Kleberson, Smith, Pena, Pineda, Ambersley
- Substitutions: Mares 58' (Okiomah), Corrado 58' (Pineda), Estridge 67' (Hyland)
- Goals: Kleberson 71' (assist Ambersley)
- Bookings: Hyland 64' (Yellow)

I tried all week to think of a good way to write the recap of the Minnesota game.  I couldn't do it.  For the first time in this inaugural season, I feel glad that I didn't watch the entire game and suffer through it.  It was bad enough to follow the game through the @IndyElevenLive feed, but at least I could do other things at the same time.  I don't do very well watching games when my favorite team is getting pummeled, and a 5-1 loss seems to be the exact definition of getting pummeled.  Plus, the script didn't change from previous losses, just the extent of it.

Have yet another starting lineup? Check.

Give up the first goal so they play from behind?  Check.

Continue to fight?  Check.

Give up another goal?  Check. (Every single game that the Eleven have lost, they have surrendered at least two goals.)

Give up an "adage" goal.  Check and Check. (One goal right before halftime and then after the Loons scored in the 53rd minute, they scored again in the 58th minute.)

Win the possession battle. Check.  (Though I expect some of that was Minnesota letting the Eleven control the ball after getting out to such a big lead.)

Score a goal in the late stages of the game. Check.

Walk away with a loss.  Check.

I would like to look at the upcoming game against Ottawa as a way to exercise the loss demons and the apparent home field jinx due to the Fury's recent Fall Season struggles, but I'm torn.  If this was a 5-1 loss with a team full of veterans who were better prepared to shake off a rough outing, it would be one thing.  This, however, is still a young team learning to play and the beating they took in Minnesota might linger a bit longer, especially with the added pressure that we, the fans, continue to place on them to win at home. 

Was the Minnesota game an anomaly or a prediction of things to come?  I guess we'll have to see how a team that has added Pena, Pineda, and Johnson and won't have Ramirez, Mendes, Ring, and Spencer since the last time Indy and Ottawa played, pulls together after last week's loss.