Indy Eleven vs New Mexico United - 11.23

Summary

- Opponent: New Mexico United
- Location: Carroll Stadium
- Attendance: 10,013
- Final Score: 3-1 L

- Starting XI: Sulte, Ofeimu, Chapman-Page, Diz Pe, Neidlinger, Stanley, Wootton, Quinn (C), Guenzatti, Williams, R., Williams, A.

- Substitution: Collier 60' (Guenzatti); Blake 60' (Williams, A.); Henderlong 79' (Williams, R.); O'Brien, J. 80' (Chapman-Page); Gibson 80' (Quinn)

- Unused: Oettl, Mines, Musa

- Scoring Summary:
IND - Neidlinger 28' (assist Wootton)
NM - Swartz 53'
NM - Rivas 64' (assist Bruce)
NM - Hurst 75' (assist Hurst)

- Bookings:

IND - Quinn 27' (Yellow)
NM - Rivas 27' (Yellow)
NM - Houssou 27' (Yellow)
NM - Ryden 45'+2' (Yellow)
IND - Diz Pe 61' (Yellow)
IND - Chapman-Page 78' (Yellow)
NM - Hurst 90'+4'(Yellow)

- Referee: Adam Kilpatrick

- Adage goals: None

Thoughts and Opinions

Ugh. Quinn and Blake get back to healthy and the team loses Lindley and Martinez to injuries sustained last week. The team definitely needs a "next man up" attitude right now, and Indy has talent on the bench, but it would be nice to see an injury report that didn't have at least three starter-level players on it. 

The teams weren't want for offense early in this game as both had opportunities within the first five minutes. Indy put a shot on target within the first two minutes and a long-range shot from Romario Williams that found the field suites on the east side of the field after a deflection from a New Mexico player. Indy would have liked nothing more than a quick goal to give the visitors something to think about after their flight from the Land of Enchantment. 

However loose you thought Ricardo Fierro's whistle was last game against Rhode Island, Adam Kilpatrick's while was 180-degrees. Both teams had legitimate complaints for calls, many of them not called. To be fair, he did seem consistent with his lack of calls, but it has to be nearly impossible as a player to know game-to-game how it's going to be called. Those lack of calls boiled over to a rash of yellow cards in the 27th minute when emotions boiled over and a bunch of pushing and shoving finally forced Kilpatrick's hand to do something to bring the tenor back in check.

Indy may be struggling to get the full roster fully healthy, but the injuries have led to the emergence of Academy product Neidlinger, who is looking calmer and calmer as the minutes continue to increase for him. The calmness and continued faith in him from McAuley was rewarded today with a goal in the 28th minute to get the scoring started. With the goal, Neidlinger became the youngest goal scorer in club history. Conversely in the experience category, Romario Williams missed a couple of sitters from within a yard of the goal line. Despite a few chances that should have been scored, the youngster's goal still took the home team into the locker room with a 1-nil lead against the Western Conference leaders. 

Eighteen crosses in the first half, 8 shots (3 on target), 22% long passes, and it looks like Indy is getting back to the way they played during the undefeated streak. Press the other team's offense, and when possession is pulled back, go forward as quickly as possible and put chances into the box to give the team a chance to score. 

I wouldn't call either guy a heavyweight, but Bruce vs Chapman-Page is the kind of matchup that tests a referee's conviction on how they are going to call a game. Neither player are going to back down and both are extremely physical with their play. Nearly every time the ball went in their direction, the referee likely had an opportunity to call a foul on one of them. To get New Mexico on the board, Bruce finally found some space away from Chapman-Page, and was able to get the ball to Swartz who sent a rocket past Sulte. Eleven minutes later, the United doubled their score, and eleven minutes after that, New Mexico found a third. Just like that, Indy's missed chances in the first half had come back to haunt them to hand them a loss. 

Indy's up-and-down run-of-form has been buoyed by the 8-game undefeated streak that preceded it, but a quick look at the table shows that the teams below Indy aren't going away. Indy remained at 4th in the table, the key spot to have a home playoff game, but Birmingham, Rhode Island, and others are nipping at their heels. Unless Indy can find some wins in the coming games, their precarious perch at the top of the table is going to come tumbling down. While Indy now have nearly two weeks off before their next game to potentially get a few bodies healthy, unfortunately, their next game is in Las Vegas, who are currently on an 11-game undefeated streak, getting 5 wins in the run. So it's not like Indy has a cupcake game coming up to get them back to winning ways. Indy also are looking at a 5-game stretch of home and away before finally getting a couple matches in a row at home. 

In and of itself, there's nothing terrible about losing to the best team in the Western Conference. However, when you had chances in the first half to put the opponent away but couldn't do it, and then continue to concede multiple goals in a game, the confidence that the undefeated streak created may be starting to wane. 

The Game Beckons Game Ball

The Academy product, Neidlinger, picked up his first professional goal and is looking better and better with each game. It looks like he is now one of McAuley's favored players and given McAuley's history with Academy teams around the world, it's probably no surprise that he has been given those kinds of players minutes. His professional goal is much cooler, but I'm going to give him his second GBGB award of the season. 

Photos - Don Thompson Photography

Cancer survivor, honorary captain, and goal scorer Bagner!