Indy Eleven vs Eddies - 02.10

- Opponent: FC Edmonton
- Location: Indianapolis, Indiana
- Attendance: 10,202
- Final Score: 3-0
- Starting XI: Nicht, Franco, Norales, Miller, Hyland, Ring, Stojkov, Pineda, Mares, Brown, Rugg
- Substitutions: Smart 64' (Stojkov), Lacroix 77' (Pineda), Wojcik 90' (Rugg)
- Unused: Cardona, Frias, Janicki, Melgares
- Goals: Brown 39' (assist Mares); Mares 44' (PK), Lacroix 82' (assist Rugg)
- Bookings: Miller 83' (Yellow)
- Adage goals: None

I went into my rewatch of the game wanting to see if this game was as glorious as it seemed in person. A 3 - 0 win in Carroll Stadium causes a fan base starved for home wins to exit the stadium euphoric. I watched to see if I missed something. I didn't.

Was it perfection? No, but that's not really possible.

Writing it down now, I feel like I'm just nit-picking with anything that I thought the team did poorly.  The worst thing they did was that I thought they came out of halftime a little flat and with a little less energy than they finished the first half. I'll chalk it up to a rare multiple goal lead that had the team feeling comfortable.

55% - 45% possession in the first half.
8 shots to 2 in first half.
Nicht didn't touch the ball until the 10 minute mark and that was a pass back from his defense.
Two goals.

Given that kind of first half, I can understand a slight let down until they realized that Edmonton wasn't going to go down with at least some kind of fight. That's not desirable, but understandable.

This was an all-around good game by the entire team.  I counted only a few long balls and only a couple of those were what I would consider to be "bad" decisions.  The others were clearances or were good, well-timed penetrating attempts over Edmonton's back line.  By my count, Nicht only had about a dozen touches of the ball the entire game and 75% of those were passes back to him from his defense.  Nothing from Edmonton was concerning.  Edmonton came in missing a few players and didn't help themselves with the red card shown to Raudales in the 67th minute, but they just didn't have much to offer against a team that played as well as the Eleven even when they were full strength. Even Rugg, who I've been down on recently because of his heavy touches, played a really good game.  His assist to Lacroix was a beauty. I wasn't a fan of the team's corner kicks, but again, I'm nit-picking.

I'm still cautiously optimistic, but this looks like a completely different team with the exact same players playing.  I don't know if it's because the guys like playing for Coach Regan more or if a mid-season firing has everybody realizing that they needed to step up, but they are certainly playing with more effort from top to bottom. It's great to see and I can't wait to see them continue this momentum in the Fall Season.

This week, I was able to find a photographer who has much better skills with a camera than I.  I narrowed it down from the couple hundred he provided to me and hope to have more photos for future posts.  Photos courtesy of staff photographer Don Thompson.

Just one of many examples of players looking loose during pregame.

This might have been the hardest he worked all night.

Assistant Coach Kleberson all smiles before the game.

Working hard!

Strike! But he looked good doing it.

Working hard too, but a little undersized in this battle.

"From distance again..."

Smokin'!

YOU-CAN'T-DO-THAT!

Rugg headed to goal.

Having fun or telling us the score?  You decide.

Everything looks cool when you're winning.

This could hurt...

Lacroix leaving Eddies in his wake.

Is Norales giving Lacroix a bear hug or a wedgie? Who cares when you're winning 3 - 0.

Rebecca Townsend interviewing the 2-0 Coach Regan.

UPDATE:
Congratulations Dylan Mares and Erick Norales for being selected to the Team of the Week!

Highlights: