Indy Eleven vs Silverbacks - 02.12

- Opponent: Carolina RailHawks
- Location: Indianapolis, Indiana
- Attendance: 9,629
- Final Score: 2-1
- Starting XI: Nicht, Franco, Norales, Miller, Hyland, Ring, Stojkov, Pineda, Mares, Wojcik, Rugg
- Substitutions: Keller 23' (Ring - injury), Lacroix 65' (Stojkov - injury), Brown 85' (Wojcik
- Unused: Cardona, McKinney, Smart, Janicki
- Goals: Wojcik 54' (assist Hyland); Norales 56' (assist Pineda)
- Bookings: Wojcik 54' (Yellow), Lacroix 67' (Yellow), Miller 85' (Yellow)
- Adage goals: One - 42nd minute

First thing, this is one of my favorite game day posters so far and I put it up there with the Inaugural match poster against Carolina, the Ocean's 11 inspired poster against Tampa Bay, and the Popeye/Bluto poster against Minnesota. I decided to add a permanent page to my site that includes the game day posters and who designed them if I was able to determine it. I'll update as I'm able and as more posters are added.

I've also decided to add two new features to the site, both of which I'll highlight here before getting into my impressions of the game.  The first is a NASL Results Map.  Why?  I think they look good and are a good visual way to see how teams are trending. I'll update it weekly, but here's how it looks after Week 2:

The next new feature is a summary of the attendance throughout the league in a graphical form as well. The thing that I like about the graph is that it highlights both the home and away attendances and provides a summary of the "Total Team Draw" and how that relates to the total attendance of the league.  For example, in the Spring Season, the Eleven were the highest drawing home team by a decent margin, but were only the 8th highest drawing away team.  Due to the home fans, the Eleven finished the Spring Season as the highest drawing team. NY was the fourth highest home draw, but people tend to show up at their away games by a good margin, giving them a bump in Total Draw.

Not much data yet to figure out "what does it all mean?" for the Fall Season.  Though there is a disappointing trend if you're an Eleven fan and didn't like hearing the naysayers about the stadium and its attendance. The Eleven sold out every single game of the inaugural season; similarly for the first three games of the 2015 season. However, starting with the Tampa Bay game, not only have the Eleven not sold out the games, but they have trended downward. 10,226, 10202, and lastly dipping below the 10,000 mark for the first time in this week's game against Carolina. Whether it's a lasting trend or a just a blip will be determined in the upcoming weeks.  I would suspect, based on previous data, a game against the Cosmos will push that number back up for at least a week.

Kleberson tallied his first win as a coach on Saturday thanks to a couple of stellar second half goals by the team. Despite giving up a dreaded "adage" goal to Carolina's first half sub da Luz in the 42nd minute, Nicht made a great reaction save to close out the first half and give the team some much needed momentum going into the halftime break. Oh, and if there is a way to upset a supporter's section and team, taunt them after you score a goal.  As long as da Luz is in the NASL, that guy's not going to receive a warm reception when he plays against the Eleven.

Before the BYB smoke had cleared after Wojcik's 54th minute header tied the game at 1-1, Norales deftly finished a set piece service from Pineda in the 56th minute. This team has had some issues finishing throughout the Spring Season, but those were clinical. Though there were at least three more chances within the 6-yard box that could have easily made this game finish 5-2. Carolina had a shot rattle the crossbar towards the end of the game that could have tied it and was close enough that I wish Nicht had conceded the corner kick and pushed it over. I think he could have reached it, but thought it was going to clear the bar. As an Eleven fan, there's the constant thought of when the team is going to give up a costly goal and that looked to be that moment. Luckily, the ball forcefully bounced back into play and the Eleven survived for a well deserved, and hard-fought, victory and those missed opportunities didn't end up hurting them.

I think we've grown accustomed to the defensive stability that Brad Ring brings to the midfield so I hope his injury that forced him out in the 23rd minute isn't serious. I'm sure that whatever substitution game plan Regan and staff talked about during the week, a 23rd minute substitution was likely not in it. It was good to see Keller step in and settle into the game quickly. I don't recall any major mistakes by him in his substitution role.  Likewise, Stojkov's departure in the 65th minute looked to be a result of the high kick he received to his head so hopefully his injury isn't serious either. I thought he substitute Lacroix did a great job attacking the spaces with his speed. Actually, there were a lot of moments where the team found space around them and attacked forward forcing Carolina to retreat. Those moments created some very good chances.

While it was announced in the days before the game that Dane Richards will be joining the team on loan from New York Red Bulls, I wonder where and when he will fit into the team. They've shown a cohesion of late that makes the idea of drastic changes in the lineup unwelcome. Regardless of when he sees the field, and I would assume he will play sooner rather than later, the losses of Kleberson, Pena, McKinney, and the most recent injuries to Ring and Stojkov highlight the need for depth at all positions.

The team fell behind and worked hard to secure a win. That's something that doesn't seem like it has happened much with this team so maybe it's one more step in the maturation process of this team moving forward.  While early in the Fall Season, they still sit in that coveted 4th place to be able to give them a chance to be in the Championship. As I've written before, every point matters and three points are even better.

A dapper Interim Interim Head Coach Kleberson
(C) Don Thompson

(C) Don Thompson

(C) Don Thompson

If you look closely, you can see Miller's hair tie being released from his man-bun.
(C) Don Thompson

(C) Don Thompson

(C) Don Thompson

(C) Don Thompson

(C) Don Thompson

(C) Don Thompson

(C) Don Thompson

(C) Don Thompson

(C) Don Thompson

(C) Don Thompson

(C) Don Thompson

(C) Don Thompson

(C) Don Thompson

(C) Don Thompson

(C) Don Thompson

(C) Don Thompson

Highlights:


UPDATE:
Congratulations Norales and Wojcik for making this week's Team of the Week!