Come-From-Behind Victory Thrills Crowd, Avenges Ayoze - Indy Eleven V Charlotte Independence REVIEW

Ben Speas an early sub opened the scoring for Indy (Photo: James Cormack)

Two subs — Speas and Starikov — combine for a goal, then defenders Mitchell and Ayoze do same

By REBECCA TOWNSEND (aka The Pitch Bitch)


(INDIANAPOLIS, Lucas Oil Stadium) —— The injuries and the subs began within the first 17 minutes. First, Ben Speas entered for rogue hamstring victim Justin Braun. Then Kevin Venegas, also clutching a hammie, opted off the field and in came former New York Cosmos forward Eugene Starikov.

The silver lining was evident in the final score: 2-1 defeat of visitors Charlotte Independence. Speas and Starikov were crucial contributors to that scoreline in that they combined for Indy's first goal of the night, which came after the team trailed for 12 minutes in the second half.

Luck would have it that just when the team needed a goal — like really, really, really needed a goal worse than the Pitch Bitch has needed a goal all season (except for the Open Cup!) — Starikov makes a one-touch headed redirection from one of Ayoze's lovely passes and the ball lands perfectly in the path of Speas, rushing down the center of the 18 and nailing a left-footed shot on the fly! 

And, to add a juicy cherry, an Ayoze corner kick — for the second time this season — finds Carlyle Mitchell's head for a clean kill shot on goal. Defenders working together to score = happiness!

The win lifts Indy to fourth place in the USL's Eastern Conference standings.

Own goal victim to match-winning hero in three days, Carlyle Mitchell (Photo: James Cormack)

Early on in the match, players displayed evidence of sportsmanship, extending hands after bumping someone down and such. Looking to be charitable, maybe, overall, more players were cooperative and respectful of general sportsmanship than not. 

Still, the physicality picked up and this observer's attention was so distracted by the antics of Charlotte midfielder Alex Martinez of Uruguay that she was seeing red. He lit and accelerated the fire of the Pitch Bitch's indignant fury in 34th minute with what appeared to be a brazen from-behind, full-armed elbow in the back of an unwitting Ayoze, who was laid flat for minutes with the air knocked out of him. 

On top of that, one could see from 50 yards away his aura, which suggested a cocky, bleached-blond hot airbag, the kind who tries to make up for his deficiencies (including, one wagers, erectile dysfunction) with his dirty play and his flapping jaw.

The first half was scoreless. Then the unthinkable happened: The hosts allowed the Jackasses to take a 1-0 lead 5 minutes into the second half! 

Charlotte defender Sam Vines connected with Jorge Herrera, the team's leading scorer (33 goals for his club coming into the match), who, from the center of the box top, split defenders Mitchell and Ouimette and sent the ball beyond Owain Fôn Williams to find a home inside the net at the right post.

The goal places Herrera, who is the USL's second-highest career goal scorer, only six goals away from Dane Kelly's lead of 67 goals. Herrera is the second USL player to cross the 50-goal career scoring mark.

So, bully for Charlotte! 

Jorge Herrera of Charlotte lines up to shoot past Indy's defense (Photo: James Cormack)

DePauw University head men's soccer coach, Brad Hauter, made a good point in his broadcast observation that soft pressure on plays through the midfield and along the sidelines preceded the ultimate lapse on Herrera ... And as for losing Herrera, "there's a couple of players you just can't lose sight of," Hauter said. (True that, sir!)

The prospect of losing to any team with that punk Martinez had the Pitch Bitch running crazy daydreams about the USL going co-ed, enabling her to extract some impactful field revenge on that jerk. Not only for Ayoze but for every other player that had to put up with Martinez's mouth and his fouls. What is it about soccer that sometimes makes a generally calm and centered peace lover want to absolutely lose her shit? 

For some reason, it was one of those nights. So, imagine the ecstatic thrill when the Boys in Blue take care of business in a smooth and professional manner. (The visitors had five yellow cards — with accumulation nailing the team's captain with a red card ejection in the 70th minute — while the hosts were perfect gentlemen, at least in that the refs did not see it fit to issue them any cards.) 

Not often that reality is better than Pitch Bitch fantasies. But Saturday was her night!

Congratulations to Speas for nailing that shot! Since arriving in Indy, he's been consistent in play in practices and games and patient in sharing playing time. Coach Rennie commented after the game that he was happy to see the Ohio native score, as his long-demonstrated work ethic deserved to be rewarded.

Post-game comments from Coach Martin Rennie following @IndyEleven's 2-1 defeat of @CLTIndependence #downtownindy https://t.co/a6DiOqHv1p

— The Pitch Bitch (@IndyPitchBitch) July 8, 2018

In the previous two games (in which the team tied and lost), the goals conceded were "unfortunate" twists of fate, "a little bit cruel," Rennie said he told the players before the game. He added, "It's not always like that. We have to fight for each other and when we were down, we did, that we fought for each other."

Speas and Starikov "had to come off the bench to do that ... it showed good concentration," Rennie said. The match marks the second time the team earned a victory with a two-day recovery time while its opponent had a week off, which Rennie said, "shows the determination and fitness of the players."

Speas and Starikov (a native of Odessa, Ukraine) both did stellar jobs at holding space, bodying their opponents off the ball during duels and enduring hard fouls (both called and uncalled) to keep the crucial advantage.  

Eugene Starikov an early sub in for Venegas gave assist for Speas goal. (Photo: James Cormack)

Though coaches appeared to scream at refs and talk back to lip-giving opposing players — and Fôn Williams had animated words for either the sideline ref or members of the opposition on the sidelines or both, post-game Rennie was as calm as Buddha. 

He had no comment on any particular player's sins of aggression.

The match, Rennie said, was "a little chippy at times — everyone is fighting to get up the table. Everyone wants to win." He had nothing to say about Martinez.

Parting shots from the Pitch Bitch game notes:

Ayoze is like a master surgeon, the way he can slice a ball and clinically place it just where he wants it.

Ouimette almost had another goal as he headed an Ayoze freekick just outside the right goal post. Watson, Starikov and Soony Saad almost connected for an excellent opportunity at the top of the 18. Speas had a nice leave for Saad at the top of the 18: Saad almost had a goal but Dykstra ran out from his line for the last-ditch interception. Saad also almost had a goal with a 79th-minute free kick.

Indy Captain Matt Watson's work rate was top notch — and he picked up some hits for his efforts. At one point he was literally dragged down by Charlotte's captain, Bilal Duckett, earning Duckett his first of two yellows of the evening. The second followed in the 77th minute, giving Indy extra advantage.

Nico Mattern (the Germany native and Indiana Wesleyan grad) provided solid, reliable presence through the midfield, as well. Bringing down an aerial pass with his chest and passing it on in a smooth, controlled manner that began an on-target shot sequence.

Seth Moses dropped to the back line when Venegas subbed off with hamstring tightness. Just as he typically does in the midfield, Moses offered solid defensive presence and good penetration. Likewise, Brad Ring, exhibited his trademark steadfast presence and, perhaps, penetrated into the attacking third a little more than usual on Saturday, as he put in a full 90 before succumbing to what appeared to be cramping.

Brad Ring put in a solid shift before leaving the field late in the game. (Photo: James Cormack)

Tight passing sequences in the defensive third, under pressure from hungry Charlotte attackers, succeeded in building through midfield and then springing a timely switch into attacking third. 

Reiner Ferreira, the Brazilian defender who had been sidelined since an injury in Indy's first home game of the season, is looking fit enough to return to the field soon. And the plucky and speedy Ty Pasher is also back for duty after a weeks-long absence, so Indy continues to build its ability to keep create attacks from the defensive third in an endless series of threatening combinations.

Credit to the visitors for 1.) Cordell Cato's impressive speed, which totally sliced the Indy defense at one point, enabling him to launch a solid shot. (Thanks for being on point Fôn Williams!) 2.) Andrew Dykstra blocking a solid Starikov shot from the top right corner of the 18 hooking straight for the upper left corner of the goal. 3.) Eamon Zayed, for not giving us a reason to miss him. (Though we know he has plenty of gorgeous goals in his future, glad to see he couldn't muster one at Lucas Oil.) And, respect, he almost nailed us 15 minutes into the game, but Owain Fôn Williams saw the shot and protected his goal.

The team's next four games will be on the road at Charleston, Tampa Bay, Bethlehem (revenge match to make up for the May loss to them at home; time to return the favor) and Louisville on July 11, 21, 26 and Aug. 5, respectively.

No goals and no win for EZ but good to see him back in Indy. (Photo: James Cormack)

The win was important for the team, though its home record (4-3-2, W-L-D) must improve in the second half of the season, Coach Rennie said in the post-game media scrum.

So far, the team holds an 8-4-4 record overall with 17 games left total, of which seven will be at home.

"It was important to win today and important to do in exciting fashion for the fans who won't see us in weeks," Rennie said. 

Fans must wait more than a month until the next home game. North Carolina FC visits Indy Aug. 15, kicking off at 7 p.m. 

Fee-free tickets are available for purchase through the Brickyard Battalion supporters club at BYBtix.com. The team has plenty of good deals, as well, at IndyEleven.com. 

Pass, Pass, Impasse - Charlotte Independence V Indy Eleven REVIEW

Plenty of opportunities created but no way through for Indy Eleven in Charlotte

It was a frustrating night for both Indy Eleven and Independence in Charlotte where the crossbar probably could have claimed man of the match for both sides in a 0-0 draw. Charlotte Independence blanked on shots on target, Jorge Herrera with the closest chance coming off the woodwork in the 72nd minute.

In Indy's fifth game of the season, Martin Rennie gave yet another player his debut, Kevin Venegas coming into the right back spot vacated by midfielder Brad Ring. Karl Ouimette also returned to the back line after suspension. Ouimette was also awarded man of the match by USL.

In a match where Charlotte was probably the most guilty for giveaways, particularly in the first half, Indy Eleven could not find a way to capitalize on their possession advantage and were thwarted at every attempt by a determined Charlotte defense and the frame.

Indy used two subs, Braun and Steinberger. Farr, Guerra, Rusin, Ring, Speas completed the bench.

Indy Eleven remains undefeated on the road with two wins and a draw and has achieved 10pts from their first five USL games. The Boys in Blue will now head into difficult back to back home matches against FC Cincinnati on Wednesday and Louisville City on the following Saturday.

Match Reactions from the Bloody Shambles peanut gallery...

James Cormack

I will admit at the end of this match I was very frustrated, probably more so than I was after the defeat against Cincinnati. Sometimes it's good to sleep on a result and think about it again later, its still frustrating but there are positives and negatives to take from this game. When I say negatives, I really just mean things that need time to work themselves out.

Indy showed great ability in compact situations, playing a short and quick passing game, playing themselves out of tight spaces with confidence and composure in most areas of the park. I was particularly impressed with their confidence playing out of the back, in many instances where you just expect someone to put laces through the ball and launch it up the park, they passed their way out calmly and used those opportunities to build from.

It's encouraging to see more evidence of our depth with a solid player like Kevin Venegas making his debut, he very much looked the part at right back and seemed like he had no issues settling into a competitive match. He had a good first game and looked confident at both ends of the field. With Brad Ring now available for defensive midfield, competition for places increases which is a positive note.

We have great coaches and players, nothing is broken but we can still look for improvement.

The biggest frustration obviously was our lack of production in the final third. I think Indy Eleven have not really found a real identity in attack yet, and this is one of those things that may take time to work itself out. We have great technical attacking players and each works very hard but there seems to be a disconnect when we get to that part of the field where we can punish teams. In 2016 we took some time to really find our attacking stride and even winning Spring we relied a lot on results of other matches, great to come through like that but also good not to get into those kinds of situations.

The way the team was set up for this game, we are not going to win aerial battles in the final third and too many times we were playing in pop up balls and dinks over the defense that were never going to work. We have that 'tiki taki' ability where we can keep the ball on the ground and pass our way into the net, we used it in other areas of the field but not often enough around and inside the box. Charlotte won 61% or aerial duels in the game.

We have only scored four times and conceded twice, while this shows us to be a difficult team to break down and defeat, it may not necessarily guarantee you a playoff position in a conference of 16 teams. I am sure our coaches will be looking at this, and hopefully, soon we find the right combination of players who can start punishing teams who like to give us the ball.

The Pitch Bitch (Rebecca Townsend)

Charlotte’s #8, Kay Voser, made the Bitch’s dirty player list. He is officially on notice.

Carlyle Mitchell had a nice sliding clearance of a Charlotte attack. [The Bloody Shambles crew lavished much appreciation on the beauty of Charlotte’s lovely grass field. Maybe one day Indianapolis will care enough about its top soccer players to let them “lay down in green pastures.”]

A Pasher fake enables his sweet setup of Saad, who fires a cannonball-weighted shot straight into the arms of Carolina keeper Brandon Miller. Pasher also streaming down hard from the right with a low, hard shot that flew just a little wide.

Steinberger an effective sub for Lewis.

Soony Saad again came close to the spectacular but was blocked (Photo: USLSOCCER.COM)

In the 72nd minute defenses break down as Spain’s Joel Johnson feeds Colombia’s Jorge Herrera, who makes a beautiful play for Indy’s far upper 90. Beating Fon Williams, but not the fate of crossbar rejection, the goal was not to be. Johnson also took a McInerney monster shot in the face in the stoppage time, saving his team from what otherwise looked to be a game-winning goal for Indy. Indy managed to feed McInerney one more stoppage-time shot opportunity, as well, but the tie was destined to hold.

“Poor Jack” says Captain Cormack from this armchair as the Pitch Bitch shakes her head at the blustery bravado and stealth jostling techniques displayed during the churning testosterone of any given match. She did not concur in the casting of McInerney as the victim.

Eamon Zayed watchers know he is, at times, capable of anything. And other times, as demonstrated last night, nothing. As a member of Indy Eleven in the 2016/2017 seasons, he amassed the team’s top goal-scoring record, but in his second match with his new squad, Charlotte head coach Mike Jefferies leashed the Irish-Libyan striker to the bench until the final 15 minutes. During those minutes, Zayed made zero effect. The game remained generally listless, ending in the most boring of all scores: 0-0.

Boring is not necessarily bad. As Captain Cormack commented as the game’s final seconds ticked off, “You can’t expect to win them all.”

“Silly me,” the Pitch Bitch thought. “I really do expect to win them all.”

Expect to win, accept reality as it comes. In this case, a solid point and team looking tough and full of promise as it paces itself toward this week of critical challenge: facing a grudge match Wednesday against FC Cincy and welcoming for the first time to Indy USL eastern conference leader Louisville City FC on Saturday.

Brandon Cockrum

There were a few approaches that Indy Eleven could have taken in their match away to Charlotte Independence on Saturday evening. On many days, getting a draw on the road against a possible playoff team is not a bad result. Yesterday, however, was not one of those days as the Eleven - who play three matches in seven days - and head coach Martin Rennie chose to push for three points in the match against the lesser of their three opponents this week. 

Juan Guerra at Richmond, Indy has many options with players who can unlock defenses.

Had the Eleven turned to their vaunted depth chart and rested a few starters (or even used all three substitutions) on Saturday and then posted a clean sheet and draw, it would have been a successful road trip. Now, however, the Eleven will be forced to test their depth against Cincinnati and league leaders Louisville.

With that out of the way, let’s talk about the actual gameplay in Charlotte.

With both clubs coming off a bye week, this match was an extended performance of teams switching to “On", of players transitioning from practice mode to game mode. Finally, after 70 minutes both teams started playing with urgency and pushing for a goal. But, after a few near misses at each goal, it proved to be too little too late.

Evident by many impressive passing combinations the boys in blue have cohered into a team that can possess the ball for long periods of time. Across two-thirds of the field, the Eleven passed effectively around the Independence, even considering a few ill-advised efforts at passing out of the defensive end - a better team than the Independence might eventually punish them for this. 

The final third of the field is where the Eleven failed to connect on few if any of the clever passing combos that they worked in other places of the pitch. This difficulty in the final third can be attributed to a Charlotte squad that used their bye week to plan for Indy’s attack. Hopefully, as we’ve seen Indy’s passing and possession game improve, we will eventually see the team’s ability to break down an organized defense improve as well.

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