Indy Eleven vs Tampa Bay Rowdies - 11.34

Summary

- Opponent: Tampa Bay Rowdies
- Location: IMG Academy Soccer Stadium
- Attendance: 496
- Final Score: 3-0 L

- Starting XI: Sulte, Neidlinger, Chapman-Page, Diz Pe, Mines, White, Lindley (C), Guenzatti, Wootton, Williams, R., Collier

- Substitution: O'Brien, J. 62' (White); Martinez 68' (Collier); Williams, A. 68' (Williams, R.); Martinez 68' (Neidlinger)

- Unused: Oettl, Ofeimu, Soumaoro

Scoring Summary:
TBR - Arteaga 9' (Penalty Kick)
TBR - Crisostomo 25' (assist Bodily)
TBR - Jennings 63' (assist Fernandes)

- Bookings:

TBR - Hilton 50' (Yellow)
IND - Chapman-Page 52' (Yellow)
TBR - Munjoma 73' (Yellow)
TBR - Worth 90'+2' (Yellow)

- Referee: Calin Radosav

- Adage goals: None

Thoughts and Opinions

Another week and another starting lineup. Only two players remained in the starting lineup from the last game against Birmingham (Sulte & Neidlinger), while the remaining 9 spots were filled by some players who either came in as substitutes or weren't even on the game roster (Lindley & Guezatti). The depth of Indy's squad this year allows for McAuley to make game-by-game decisions to put out the team that he thinks is best for the game, but also to manage legs and minutes. 

It was two former Indy Eleven players though that got the scoring started. Nick Moon took on Mines, then took on Diz Pe, and the two combined to bring Moon to the ground inside the box. Manuel Arteaga stepped up, sent Sulte to the goalkeeper's right, but calmly put the ball to Sulte's left. Indy came into the game with a chance to get to the 3rd position in the table with a win and a Detroit loss, but they put themselves down early to make that an uphill battle. Conceding the 2nd goal in the 25th minute was also well deserved as Bodily and Crisostomo worked their way around and through the Indy defenders. 

Indy, in the early minutes, were chasing shadows as the Rowdies moved the ball around nicely. Probably more impressive than their effort going forward was their defensive effort as they consistently pressed the ball whenever they lost it, giving Indy very little time to make any decisions or plays. The Rowdies were collectively in sync with each other defensively, and Indy had very little answer to get around, or even over, the TBR defensive line. As the game crept towards the halftime whistle, Indy began to have moments of possession, but as we've seen this year, possession in dangerous areas is more important than just possession and Indy weren't in dangerous areas with their possession. 

The two-goal deficit also sent McAuley into tinkering mode, with the midfielders constantly interchanging positions. Neidlinger, who started on the right side of the field, was seen moving into the middle of the field and even onto the left side. McAuley has indicated before that he wanted to get minutes for Neidlinger in the middle of the field to see how he would handle the pressure with guys coming at him from all angles. It looked like with very little to play for, McAuley was giving the young player another chance at learning that part of the game. As a result, White also started pushing more forward, leaving Lindley as the lone holding midfielder. Indy needed to figure out what was working, or could work, because the majority of the first 45 minutes was not a good display for Indy. 

With this Indy team, paying attention to most of the major statistical categories can mean almost nothing as to how a game is actually progressing. Tonight, though, TBR dominated the stats AND were the better team. Once Tampa Bay scored their third, all that was left was for the clock to run out. Oh, McAuley and Indy brought on attacking subs, but the game was never in doubt and Indy finished the regular season with a loss on the road.

The good news for Indy was that the home playoff game was never in doubt, no matter the result. If you were like me and were keeping one eye on the live standings, the spots below Indy bounced around quite a bit as scores moved the #5 - #10 teams around. Indy stayed firmly planted at the #4 spot. While the potential to get to the #3 spot was possible, it was also never in just their hands as they were going to need a losing performance from Detroit. Many times throughout this season, the statement was made that every point mattered. That was most prominently stated with the late late goal against Pittsburgh, when a 10-man Riverhounds team held on until the 90'+7' goal from Romario Williams. Looking at just that single result, without the goal and the subsequent draw, Indy, Tampa Bay, and Pittsburgh would have all finished on 50 points. As a result, Rhode Island would have moved to 4th place, Tampa Bay would have moved to 5th place, and thanks to the 3rd tiebreaker, Pittsburgh would have finished in 6th place if I did my math correctly. If it had not been for that late equalizer by Romario, Indy would be headed back to Charleston in their opening game of the playoffs. Obviously, that might have adjusted how Indy played this game, but that late stoppage time goal proved to be important.

What was a bit disheartening (from a table perspective) from this game was that the 3-goal deficit took Indy's season goal differential to -1. Indy are the only Eastern Conference playoff team with a negative goal differential. Indy's season can be directly traced to their ability to score goals. Obviously, that seems intuitive, but to be able to go 34 games and cumulatively draw all your opponents and still finish in the 4th spot on the table says a lot about the weirdness of this game. The fact that Western Conference winners New Mexico United basically did the same thing may be even crazier. 

It's difficult to call tonight's starting lineup as a "B" roster because all of tonight's starters have starter minutes. However, due to injuries, Guenzatti hadn't played for 6 games, Chapman-Page hadn't played for 10 games, White hadn't played for 4 games, and Diz Pe hadn't played for 2 games. To say these guys weren't at peak condition might be an understatement. More than a third of the starting lineup would normally not have gone more than 60-65 minutes as they worked their way back to full-game health. Three of those four guys played all ninety minutes, with only White coming out due to yet another injury. McAuley knew coming into this game that a result was nice but not vital, and he played a lineup that could get minutes on guy's legs in a non-playoff situation.

With the rest of the night's results, Indy now know they will be playing Rhode Island next Sunday at Carroll Stadium. Indy drew Rhode Island 3-3 at Beirne Stadium in July thanks to a late stoppage goal from RI, while Indy came out ahead 1-nil at Carroll Stadium in August. The next game though will have more on the line as Indy will be looking for their first home & playoff win since 2019, and Rhode Island will be looking for their first playoff win ever in their first season in the USL.

The Game Beckons Game Ball

I don't like not giving a GBGB, but I can't think of a single player's performance that stands out for me as being overly worthy.