- Opponent: Miami FC
- Location: South Dade Kia Field at Pitbull Stadium
- Attendance: 1,027
- Final Score: 3-1 W
- Starting XI: Sulte, White, Stanley, Hogan, Musa, Rendon, Quinn (C), Murphy, Blake, Kizza, Foster
- Substitution: Neidlinger 45' (White); Bryneus 58' (Rendon); Amoh 71' (Blake); Lindley 71' (Quinn); O'Brien, J. 82' (Kizza)
- Unused: Charles-Cook, Ofeimu
Scoring Summary:
IND - Blake 3' (Penalty Kick)
IND - Quinn 18' (assist Kizza)
IND - Hogan 35' (assist Blake)
MIA - Hoyos 65' (unassisted)
- Bookings:
MIA - Celeste 67' (Yellow)
MIA - Romero 90'+1' (Yellow)
MIA - Romero 90'+1' (Yellow)
- Referee: Elvis Osmanovic
- Adage goals: None
Thoughts and Opinions
After watching the league's start to action at home during a first week bye week, Indy Eleven finally took the field against Miami FC in front of dozens of fans, including a small contingent of Indy Eleven fans, in a stadium that seats 23,500 on the campus of Florida International University. Indy Eleven rewarded those traveling fans with a 3-1 victory.
It may be a new season, with some new players, but Indy Eleven wasted no time taking the game to Miami FC who two games into the 2024 season are looking to be the same old Miami, despite a massive change in their roster from last season. After Musa was taken down in the Miami box on a corner kick recycle, Jack Blake calmly put a third minute penalty kick to his left while former MLS Goalkeeper of the Year and USMNT player Bill Hamid went in the opposite direction. Looking sharp in the new red and blue kits (red jersey, blue shorts, blue socks), Indy had an early 1-nil lead. Quinn scored 7 penalty kick goals in 2023 so it says a lot that Blake stood over the ball to take the kick. Quinn is the captain and can clearly convert a penalty kick, but there must have been something in training to give him confidence that Blake was the right one to be taking the shot.
So it was fitting that Indy doubled their lead from another corner kick just 15-minutes later when Kizza found an on-rushing Quinn, who blasted the ball low and, again, to the left side of the goal. Quinn still got his goal, he just got it in the run-of-play.
Indy's early and 3-goal halftime lead may have caused a bit of complacency in the second half, and they took their foot off the gas. Miami's possession advantage eventually led to a 65th minute goal from second-half substitute Hoyos who came off the bench with a ton of energy. When he received the ball near the 18-yard line, a handful of Indy defenders were nearby, but nobody stepped close or fast enough, and Hoyos blasted the ball out of the reach of an outstretched Sulte. For a team that struggled to a negative goal differential last year like Indy, keeping a clean sheet in the first game after dominating the first half would have been the perfect way to start the season. One win from one game is a good start though to what Coach McCauley hopes is an improvement to last year's team.
Announced attendance was as just over 1,000. However, from the television feed, and the mortuary-like silence that permeated much of the game, particularly after Indy went into the halftime locker room with a 3-nil lead, my "dozens of fans" joke was a slight exaggeration. In a stadium that seats more than 23,000 people, 1,000 fans can barely feel like it pays the cost of turning on the lights. Lower division soccer in the United States is rarely a money-making endeavor. However, Miami FC's perpetual low attendance really makes you wonder how they stay in the league. There seems to be little possibility that they are ever making any money. Miami FC owner Riccardo Silva must be using his profits from his ownership share in AC Milan to fund this passion project in the U.S. As the USL moves towards a First Division league in the upcoming years, without a potential for promotion/relegation being discussed at some point, Miami is going to need to figure out how to get fans in the stands and positive results on the field, or Silva's money will no longer be enough to keep his team in the Championship (though his team is also one of the few teams capable of immediately playing in the First Division league) and he will find no choice but to be relegated. That's likely many years away, but Indy's victory tonight in Miami gives the team a 10-game losing streak and brings their loss total to 31 over the last two seasons, despite a change in the roster.
Indy seems to be on a slightly better path as an organization, despite some issues with the Mayor of Indianapolis taking over Eleven's direct path to a stadium in an attempt to be awarded an MLS franchise. With so much out of their hands at the moment, the thing they can do is play good winning soccer. One game down. One game of good winning soccer.
It warms my heart to see the Boys in a kit that isn't solid color from head to toe. This year's away kit with the red jersey that uses blue checkers at the bottom to transition to the blue shorts and socks is so nice to see. I have been clamoring for awhile to bring back the mixed kits that have been used in the past and I'm glad to see this iteration of the kit.
Good first game. Next week, the team heads off to Lexington who have started their Championship campaign undefeated, having scored 4 goals in two games.
The Game Beckons Game Ball
I think there's a few players that deserve the GBGB, but I'll give Quinn the edge tonight. He stepped back and let a teammate take the first penalty kick of the season, and was rewarded by still getting a goal of his own that turned out to be the game-winner.
