Indy Eleven vs Miami FC - 11.29

Summary

- Opponent: Miami FC 
- Location: Carroll Stadium 
- Attendance: 10,145
- Final Score: 4-0 W

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

- Substitution: Martinez 54' (White - injury); Collier 72' (Williams, R.); Neidlinger 72' (Foster); Wootton 72' (Quinn); Lindley 90' (Soumaoro)

- Unused: Oettl, O'Brien, J.

- Scoring Summary:
IND - Blake 62' (penalty kick)
IND - Williams, A. 73' (assist Collier)
IND - Williams, A. 84' (assist Neidlinger)
IND - Williams. A. 86' (assist Collier)

- Bookings:

MIA - Gavilanes 25' (Yellow)
MIA - Nocerino (manager) 26' (Yellow)
IND - Quinn 42' (Yellow)
MIA - Knutson 60' (Yellow)
MIA - Ndiaye 77' (RED)
IND - Diz Pe 77' (RED)
IND - Williams, A. 87' (Yellow)
IND - Soumaora 87' (Yellow)
MIA - Palacios 90'+1'

- Referee: Matthew Thompson

- Adage goals: None

Thoughts and Opinions

Look, let's be honest. This was a game that Indy had to win. Miami is bottom of the table and the only team in the league to be eliminated from playoff contention. The compact nature of the middle part of the Eastern Conference table means that every single game the rest of the way is important to get as many points as possible. Against a team like Miami who has struggled to a -42 goal differential, that meant three points. Yet, wet weather conditions allows for anything to happen. Balls can skip strangely. Players can slip unexpectedly. Easy passes become difficult to handle. Indy needed to be disciplined defensively, and try for an early goal to make Miami feel like they were out of the game.

Halftime Heat Map

Indy couldn't do that in the first half. While Indy spent the majority of the first half with the ball (60% to 40%) and the majority of that time in Miami's half of the field, Indy couldn't find a breakthrough to make the game easier on themselves. Miami did almost nothing with their limited possession, Indy also couldn't break down the deep block that Miami was creating. As has been seen multiple times over the years, if you let a team hang around, anything can happen at the end of the game, particularly when the weather and field conditions were as wet as was seen tonight.

Indy didn't care how they scored a goal, they just needed to find a way to make all of their efforts in Miami's half count. Eventually, Foster found himself just inside the Miami box ready to take a shot when Knutson clattered into him to send Foster to the ground and Jack Blake to the penalty spot. Blake made good on his 6th penalty kick of the season, and just after the 60th minute mark, Indy had the goal that they needed to reward themselves for their effort. Blake's goal also gave Indy their 9th season in a row with a double digit scorer (across all competitions). 

Less than 10-minutes later, the game went to the ticket booth and bought a one-way ticket to Crazy Town. In the 72nd minute, Coach McAuley made his first non-injury substitutions, bringing in Collier, Neidlinger, and Wootton. A minute later, Collier found an on-rushing Augi Williams, who took a touch towards the endline and from a tight angle, pushed the ball past Ndiaye. The goal gave Indy a bit of breathing room, knowing that a weird bounce on a Miami attack might not lose the point for Indy. A couple minutes after that, Indy was awarded a corner kick. During the ensuing corner, Ndiaye and Diz Pe became tangled in the air and to the ground. Upon standing, Ndiaye put a boot into Diz Pe's thigh. Instead of writhing in pain on the ground knowing the assistant referee was watching, Diz Pe got up and retaliated with a forceful shove to Ndiaye's chest/neck area. When the mud settled, both players were shown red cards. Amazingly, Diz Pe's red was Indy's first red card of the season, but it came at a poor time; not so much in this game, but it means that he won't be available for next week's game against league-leading Louisville City. Combined with the other injuries (Chapman-Page, Guenzatti, King, and potentially White depending on the severity of his injury tonight), Diz Pe's absence next week could be a big deal.

As the game began to wind down, a two-minute stretch solidified the win as Indy scored two more goals, both from Augi Williams. Goals number 3 and 4 on the night gave Indy their first hat trick since 2022 and just their fifth hat trick in the men's team's history. Club legend Eamon Zayed still holds the men's club record with 2 hat tricks, but not even he was able to acquire his hat trick within a 13-minute timeframe. 

What was a scoreless draw 60-minutes into the game somehow turned into a 4-nil laugher. Indy needed a win. Indy deserved a win. Indy achieved a win. The +4 goal differential also managed to bring Indy back to even on goal differential for the year. Indy return to The Mike next week to face Louisville City and will want to see a better result than the previous meeting between the two teams earlier this season and to keep themselves in the discussion for an opening playoff weekend home game. At the time of this writing, places 3 through 7 in the Eastern Conference table is separated by just 4 points. Every game and every point is going to matter coming down the stretch. 

The Game Beckons Game Ball

This game's GBGB is easy. When you score a hat trick in a 13-minute timeframe for just the club's 5th hat trick in club history, it's an easily decision to give Augi Williams the GBGB. Augi joins Zayed and Arteaga to score league hat tricks for the club (Zayed in the NASL, Arteaga in the USL Championship), and Blake Smith who scored Indy's first hat trick in a 2014 U.S. Open Cup game against the Dayton Dutch Lions. Combined with his goals in this year's Open Cup, Augi's hat trick also gives him the team lead in goals, surpassing the other goal score in the game, Blake.