Indy Eleven vs Charleston Battery - 11.21

Summary

- Opponent: Charleston Battery
- Location: Patriots Point
- Attendance: -
- Final Score: 5-0 L

- Starting XI: Sulte, Ofeimu, O'Brien, J., Diz Pe, Mines, Stanley, Neidlinger, Lindley (C), Martinez, Williams, A., Williams, R.

- Substitution: Quinn 45' (Mines); Guenzatti 75' (Diz Pe); Wootton 75' (Lindley); Gibson 79' (Williams, R.)

- Unused: Oettl, Chapman-Page, Henderlong

- Scoring Summary:
CHS - Myers 52' (assist Markanich)
CHS - Ycaza 70' (unassisted)
CHS - Markanich 78' (assist Torres)
CHS - Conway 85' (unassisted)
CHS - Crawford 90'+5' (unassisted)

- Bookings:

IND - Williams, R. 51' (Yellow)
IND - Diz Pe 67' (Yellow)
IND - Neidlinger 77' (Yellow)

- Referee: Joshua Encarnación

- Adage goals: Two

Thoughts and Opinions

Indy Eleven didn't lose a game across all competitions through the entire month of May and throughout most of June, not losing until the game on the 22nd against Orange County SC. If not for the US Open Cup game against Atlanta United, Indy would have gone through the entire month of July without a victory. As the calendar switched yet another month, now into August, Indy looked to remedy that trend on the road in Charleston. Indy's past two games against Charleston have finished 5-nil in last season's playoffs and 4-2 at Carroll Stadium in April. Charleston had a rough outing last week in Tampa Bay when they scored twice in the first 13 minutes in Al Lang Stadium, only to lose 4-2, lose Molloy to injury by halftime, and lose starting GK Grinwis to red card late in the game (& his replacement keeper was not even on the roster until this week), not counting the fact that head coach Ben Pirman was also unavailable for this game due to a red card. To say both teams came into this game wanting a win is an understatement.

Charleston was the team that was the team that was able to turn their poor result around. Emphatically. 5-nil emphatically. The two teams made a game of it in the first half, but Indy had no answers for Charleston in the second half. Indy's rough July is now creeping into August.

In the first half, Charleston looked like the team that was higher in the table while Indy looked inconsistent and a bit out of sync with each other. One of the Charleston commentators stated in the pregame and reiterated in this part of the game that the thought Indy's recent run of form was because they had been "found out," but also conceded that Indy's USOC run and additional games could have been a factor too due to the additional minutes on a short roster. I've agreed with the "minutes on legs" assessment, but I'm not sure Indy has been "found out" in this stretch. If anything, I think Indy has started to get away at times from the things that made them successful in May and June. Indy has struggled in recent games, and definitely in this game, with their decisions about when they are going to go fast and when to slow it down. Several times in the half, the "going too fast" bug got the best of the Indy forwards and promising attacks came to a screeching halt. The Williams boys were regularly seen with their hands in the air in exasperation with their running mate. When hands weren't in the air, they were being placed firmly on their own heads as shots were blasted solidly into the stands but nowhere close to the goal.

That being said, despite a 65/35 possession advantage for Charleston, Indy's team defense in the first half continued to keep them in the game as they kept CHS in relatively innocuous situations. After those early season hiccups against Louisville and Charleston where they conceded 5 and 4 goals, respectively, Indy have only conceded more than two goals once. The team defensive effort continues to keep Indy in games. Both teams finished the first half with two tame shots on target, and found themselves going into the locker room with a nil-nil scoreline. A little dust-up right before halftime made things a bit more interesting to what an independent viewer might call a ho-hum half of action.

It didn't take long for things to change coming out of the halftime locker room. Coach McAuley made an immediate substitution by taking off Mines and bringing on Aodhan Quinn for his first minutes this season after his long-term injury sustained last season. That's good news for Indy fans moving forward the rest of the season. In the near-term though, Charleston found the game's opening goal through Myers and Markanich forcing Indy to play from behind. Shortly after that, newly inserted Quinn put a cross directly into Segbers face from close range, stopping the game while the athletic trainers tried to stop the bleeding from Segbers' nose.

Then the wheels fell off for Indy and that 3 goal barrier was breached soundly and emphatically by Charleston who found the goal 4 more times in the second half to beat Indy 4-nil. Charleston have now scored at least 4 goals against Indy in the last three games the two teams have played. Indy have conceded 14 goals to Charleston in that timeframe and have scored just twice. For all the things Indy did reasonably okay with defensively in the first half, they did none of those things in the second half. 

There was only one team that deserved to win the second half and that was Charleston. As was mentioned in the closing minutes of the telecast, Charleston was close to a 3.0 expected goal value while Indy was a paltry 0.18 xG. Charleston put 8 shots ON TARGET in the SECOND HALF! Indy put just one, and have now been held without a goal in three consecutive games. Indy made no dent going forward with their possession while having absolutely zero answer for Charleston's effort in the final third. 

Indy return to action on Wednesday against Rhode Island who are, at the time of this writing, on a 7-game undefeated streak. RI play Detroit tomorrow night and the two teams sit next to each other in the table. If Indy has anything going for it, it will be one more days rest/training. After tonight's debacle of a second half (5 goals in a half conceded...!), that's not saying much. Indy also get to scoreboard watch as a Birmingham win tomorrow night against Hartford would push Indy out of the top 4 playoff spot.

The Game Beckons Game Ball

Nope. Not tonight. I hate to do it, but nobody had a good night. At any position on the field. This was a night where Indy was outclassed from GK to forward. Nobody gets a GBGB for tonight's effort.