Indy Eleven vs El Paso Locomotive - 11.27

Summary

- Opponent: El Paso Locomotive
- Location: Carroll Stadium
- Attendance: 10,132
- Final Score: 3-1 W

- Starting XI: Sulte, Stanley, Diz Pe, Ofeimu, White, Quinn (C), Soumaoro, Blake, Foster, Williams, R., Williams, A.

- Substitution: Wootton 61' (Soumaoro); Collier 74' (Blake); Martinez 74' (Foster); Lindley 79' (Quinn); Guenzatti 79' (Williams, R.)

- Unused: Oettl, O'Brien, J.

- Scoring Summary:
IND - Williams, R. 12' (assist Williams, A.)
IND - Foster 49' (assist Blake)
IND - Collier 77' (assist Martinez)
ELP - Zacarias 83' (unassisted)

- Bookings:

IND - White 58' (Yellow)
ELP - Alfaro 63' (Yellow)
ELP - Bench 76' (Yellow)
ELP - Lyons 86', 90'+4' (Yellow, Yellow, RED)
ELP - Coronado 86', 90'+3' (Yellow, Yellow, RED)

ELP - Dollenmayer 88' (Yellow)
IND - Lindley 90'+6' (Yellow) - Has Cam ever had a yellow card that he didn't deserve? He's the king of the "professional foul" for Indy and is creeping up the club's leaderboard for yellow cards.

- Referee: Sergii Demianchuk

- Adage goals: None

Thoughts and Opinions

El Paso came into Carroll Stadium as the last place team in the Western Conference, as well as the last West Conference team to come to Indy for the season. From here on out, Indy face their Eastern Conference foes. Coming into the game, Indy absolutely needed a win tonight with just 8 points separating the teams in the playoff positions in the Eastern Conference not named Louisville City and Charleston Battery, who have already clinched playoff spots. The playoff teams from the Eastern Conference are going to come down to the wire and three points was vital to keep Indy in the hunt for one of the four opening home playoff games, but to also keep themselves from sliding backwards in the table. While not officially eliminated from contention in the Western Conference, El Paso was looking to maintain their recent run-of-form, having five positive results in the last six games that followed a string of 5 losses in a row, including three clean sheets in a row. 

It was Indy that got the game going quickly, getting their first shot on target in the first 30 seconds. The game settled down after Indy got out of the blocks quickly, but it was still Indy that put the first goal on the board in the 12th minute when Augi Williams slotted a ball across the middle of the box that Romario Williams one-timed passed Waite. The goal gave Williams his 60th goal in league history and prevented ELP from a fourth clean sheet in a row. ELP has also struggled this year when they concede first, with a 0W-12L-0D record under that scenario. On the season, Indy had an overall record of 10W-7D-9L coming into the game with a record of 5W-5D-8L against Playoff teams, a record of 5W-2D-1L against non-Playoff teams, and a record of 0W-2D-7L (-15 GD) against Top 4 teams. 

That poor trend from ELP and Indy's success against non-playoff teams continued with a 3-1 victory for the home side behind goals from Romario, Foster, and Collier. The win keeps Indy in the hunt for the fourth opening home playoff game as Detroit defeated New Mexico to stay just ahead of Indy, but Indy has games-in-hand over DCFC.

Somehow that free kick from Cavillo was saved by Sulte

The visitors nearly equalized in the 15th minute thanks to a free kick from just outside the box. With Hunter Sulte looking into the setting sunset, Calvillo perfectly put the ball around the Indy wall. From the west camera angle (see photo on the right), it was clear that the ball was destined for the upper 90. However, the 6'-7" frame of the Anchorage, Alaska native extended all of that frame and managed to parry the ball wide of the goal, keeping Indy's one-goal advantage intact. 

The game became a bit more tilted to Indy's offensive half of the field in the next 15 minutes as Indy continued to pepper Waite with shots on target. Augi put one just wide of the right post after a feed from Romario, while Blake continued to show that he has no fear of shooting from any distance, and mostly on target. The two teams tried to turn the game into a bit of a track meet for the next 15 minutes as ELP worked to claw their way back into the game and Indy looked to try to put the game out of reach before halftime. Neither team found another goal, and so the teams went into halftime locker room with Indy leading one goal to nil thanks to the 12th minute goal from Romario.

Indy came out of the halftime break just like they started the game with a Foster opportunity in the 48th minute that Waite managed to stop. The Indy fans began to wonder if this was going to be another one of those games where Indy couldn't make good on their chances, thereby letting a team hang around, and then things go badly for Indy late in the game. A minute later, however, Indy had another chance when Blake put a ball through the lines to an on-rushing Foster. Maalique put on the brakes sending his defender sliding well past him, brought the ball to his left foot, and pushed a composed shot around Waite to give Indy a two-goal lead.

With the goal, a collective sigh of relief spread around the Indy fanbase now that the team had a little breathing room with the two-goal lead. A late-game slip-up might not completely derail the victory. ELP, to their credit, refused to back down and continued to make their own in-roads into Indy's defensive half of the field. As they would get closer to the goal though, Indy's defense would come up big and prevent the most dangerous attacks from reaching Sulte, who finished with 4 saves. Waite, on the flipside, finished with 6 saves, but it seemed like he was the more active of the two keepers. If it had not been for his effort and a little bit more clinical finishing, this game might have been an embarrassing result for the Locomotive.

Some late game cards forced the game to finish with Indy up by 2 goals and 2 players as not one, but two different ELP players received their second yellow of the game late in stoppage time. Amazingly, both players didn't receive their first yellow card until the 86th minute, but still managed to find an early exit from the game due to multiple yellow cards. Indy defended well at the end, and finished with a 3-1 win.

Indy have three games remaining vs non-Playoff teams & three games against Top 4 teams. The next two weeks are games against some of those non-playoff teams in North Carolina and home against Miami (who are already eliminated from the playoffs). It's vital to get wins the next two weeks before Louisville City come to town.

The Game Beckons Game Ball

The attacking triumvirate of Williams, Williams, and Foster was the best we've seen all season. Augi and Maalique both had opportunities that should have been goals, but all three players found their way onto the scorecard tonight accounting for two goals and one assist. The law firm of Williams & Williams looked more connected tonight and are starting to figure out how to play with each other. Foster's pace gives teams one more thing to think about and his interplay between the Williams boys and his desire to help out defensively nearly forced me to give him the GBGB outright. The three together, though, were what really put ELP on their heels during Indy's 37% possession. Diz Pe gets one of my honorable mentions as he has learned to put a long diagonal ball over the top that bypasses the midfield, and that is an effective weapon when the defense pinches in while Foster maintains his width nearly to the touchline. A ball over the top to Foster who has the pace to outrun many defenders puts him in a position to make a play. Sometimes that play is taking it himself like he did for his goal, but it also allows him to pick out either Williams who were constantly making the runs into the box to receive potential crosses. Going with my eye test, I still have to give tonight's GBGB to all three players. 

Photos - Don Thompson Photography