Brad Ring

A time-honored tradition: Indy/NY draw

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(The Pitch Bitch, episode 5 … the beginning of the great multimedia experiment)

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Smoke hovers over the field following Indy’s second goal (a Don Smart assist finished by Eamon Zayed) against the New York Cosmos on Oct. 7, 2017. (Photo by Rebecca Townsend)

INDIANAPOLIS (Oct. 8, 20717) — Among the most dramatic storylines in the history of Indy Eleven: Which team would first earn a win — Indy or the New York Cosmos — after the first six meetings (all 2014 and 2015 games) resulted in draws.

And though the sting will always remain for Indy of losing the 2016 championship to the Cosmos (in penalty kicks), Indy will forever have the glory of being the first to claim a victory in the match up (Eamon Zayed bagged two goals in a thrill-packed 2:1 home win April 16, 2016). And some of the best goals in the North American Soccer League have come as Indy and New York players have scrambled to protect team honor — or earn bragging rights.

Last night’s match was no exception. Beautiful goals all around for a 2:2 finish.

Thanks to Indy Eleven and the North American Soccer League for this highlight video:

In the East End Goal stands, the Pitch Bitch launched a new multimedia experiment. GoPro video will enable some cool new features, but the Pitch Bitch is issuing a formal apology to Don Smart, who scored the first goal of the evening last night — and delivered it at the perfect angle for us to see. His perfect goal came so quickly that our audio/visual skills could not engage the equipment in time to capture the beauty of his triumph (streaking up the right flank he released a shot that hooked just under crossbar and into the far side of the net). Here, however, here is the aftermath: (Warning: The Pitch Bitch is a screamer)

There are risks involved in being creative — sometimes they don’t pay off. This Indy freekick, for example, failed to flummox the Cosmos:

Brad Ring, here’s our gut reaction to your most egregious foul of the evening:

Eamon Zayed was breathing down Cosmos keeper Jimmy Maurer’s throat — and came close — twice in short succession — to stuffing the ball in the back of the net:

And just for fun, some pre-game bonding:

The Pitch Bitch, episode two

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Jacksonville Armada FC at Indy Eleven Photo: Trevor Ruszkowski

The Jacksonville Armada’s Jack Blake (shown here pressuring Indy Eleven defender Marco Franco) deserves congratulations for his relentless attack in Indy Aug. 26. (Photo courtesy of Trevor Ruszkowski/Indy Eleven)

Jacksonville finds Indy’s soft spots

Hungry for revenge after Indy Eleven’s 2-0 win during their previous meeting on July 15, the Jacksonville Armada took to the field on Aug. 26 in Indianapolis with a weapon — in the form of Jack Blake — locked and loaded to unleash a hat trick before the hosts could respond with two goals of their own.

A beautiful Justin Braun through pass from the Indy midfield split Jacksonville’s defense as Ben Speas sprinted onto the ball, closed in on the goal from left side and eluded Jacksonville’s waiting keeper Caleb Patterson-Sewell by slotting a smooth shot out the keeper’s reach into the far side of the net.

 

Indy’s second goal came in extra time when David Goldsmith, breathing down the weak side of his opponent’s goal, received a cross from Ben Speas streaming up the right flank about 40 yards away and, with one flawless flick of the head, brought the hosts within one goal of a draw.

Those goals marked uplifting moments in a performance that was otherwise defined by a handful of hopeful offensive sparks that failed to materialize in goals and a series of defensive lapses that ultimately left the hosts defeated 3-2.

Goal-fest

All constructive criticism aside, the Armada, in general, deserve credit for showing up ready to play. And both Patterson-Sewell and Blake, specifically, deserve congratulations for their individual performances. Patterson-Sewell absorbed several point-blank scorchers from Indy attackers throughout the match, while Blake began his bonanza at the 28th minute. He who broke to the center of the 18 and received a pass from Bryam Rebellón (who had shaken Daniel Keller in the upper right flank). Blake’s one-touch re-direct bounced off the inside of the left post and ricocheted off the right post into the net.

Jacksonville, 1. Indy, 0.

The crowd’s collective heart skips a beat. There’s still time to equalize, but we weren’t first on the board. Near the end of the first half, Blake’s free kick from about 30 yards out bends into the upper right corner of the net.

Jacksonville, 2. Indy, 0.

Tanner Thompson attacks Aramada by Matt Schlotzhauer

Tanner Thompson kept the Armada’s defense on its heels several times throughout the match. Promising chemistry seems to be building among Thompson, Speas, Goldsmith and Zayed, as well. (Photo courtesy of Matt Schlotzhauer/Indy Eleven)

In an effort to maintain mental toughness, Indy’s players were probably trying not to let thoughts cloud their minds of a game earlier this year in which the Armada beat them  4-1. Indeed, heads held high, the Eleven kept coming at Jacksonville. Throughout the first half, Tanner Thompson charged with impressive and explosive changes in speed and JAX had repeated troubles keeping him marked. In the first half’s stoppage time, Thompson again broke down the flank and launched a cross across the face of the goal about five yards out as Goldsmith again controls it and delivers a shot into Patterson-Sewell’s arms.

Still, at halftime, the visitors maintained a 2-0 lead. And at 62 minutes, Blake earned his hat trick off a free kick.

Though video cannot prove or disprove his observation, the Pitch Bitch’s husband and East Goal correspondent/season ticket holder Clyde Townsend reported that Bush had the kick’s trajectory within his sights, but that an unexpected deflection off a defender’s shoulder shifted it out of the keeper’s reach.

After entering the match as a second-half sub and contributing an assist on his team’s first goal, Braun fell to the ground requesting an immediate sub after what looked to be a fairly innocuous encounter with Blake, but proved to be more serious trouble with his ankle. The resulting medical response took several minutes and Braun was eventually removed on a stretcher. A bummer in the (hopefully temporary) loss of a great forward, but it provided several more minutes of stoppage time in which the Eleven’s offense swarmed the Armada’s goal. But no equalizers emerged.

Justin Braun down

The game was a painful affair in a very literal sense for Justin Braun. (Photo courtesy of Matt Schlotzhauer/Indy Eleven)

Despite the final score, the team’s attacking efforts offered the silver lining of this game. Especially considering proven assets such as Nemanja Vukovic (with his lethal freekicks) and lightning fast wingman Don Smart were both on the bench for the evening (Smart with an injury/Vuko listed as an uncalled substitute), the number of credible threats the team managed to generate engendered the Pitch Bitch’s continued faith in the squad they are building.

Get Miller back in the action

Many of Indy’s players have significant depth and ability to play on both ends of the field. But on the subject of positions, the Bitch is mystified by Coach Hankinson’s use of Daniel Keller on the back line. She likes Keller’s toughness and solid technical ability — but as a midfielder. He is not shining on the backline the way he does further up the field. An honest critique of his defense last night must include a note that his marking was at crucial times too lax and that possession was too often squandered to the opponents — in one case to three attackers who were poised to counter with a 3-1 advantage at the top of the 18.

In terms of ability to mark man-to-man, clear the ball from areas of immediate threat and deny ambitious attackers desirable position, Cory Miller has a proven edge. Last night marked his formal return to the roster after 10 months of nursing an ankle reconstruction. But he remained on the bench — even as Hankinson subbed defender Kwame Watson-Siriboe.

After the game, the Bitch found Miller on the field and remarked the team could have used him. She asked if he’d been given any indication on when he could expect playing time.

Cory Miller exits the field after pre-game warm-ups

Cory Miller returned to the roster, but the experienced defender remained on the bench during Jacksonville’s onslaught. Moving forward, perhaps Coach Hankinson will test Miller’s ability to stop the defensive leaks. (Photo by Rebecca Townsend)

Though he’s known as the Big Bald Assassin, Miller exhibits a stoic calm off the field. He smiled and says he aims not to obsess too much over playing time, that he just focuses on doing the best he can do.

Years ago, in a Q&A that followed Miller offering his personal testimony during an Indy Eleven Christian faith night, the Bitch asked him to cite one of his favorite passages of scripture.

Miller recalled the metaphor Jesus offered his disciples: “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit…”

As she prepared to leave the field Aug 26, the Bitch reminded Miller that the quality of his fruit was apparent — and that she hoped others would soon see his proven back-line anchoring abilities.

Parting shots

In addition to tighter tracking, the team can work to improve squandered possessions on the defensive half and sloppy clearances. The Pitch Bitch’s game notes include lines such as: “Who are you passing to?” and “Lapses on D leave incoming balls unchecked as they fall to an attacker’s feet just a few feet from the mouth of the goal.”

Coach Hankinson’s subs for the evening seemed to indicate his search for more offensive juice with Justin Braun, Sinisa Ubiparipovic and Adrian Ables replacing Gerardo Torrado, Kwame Watson-Siriboe and Éamon Zayed, respectively.

Hopefully, hindsight will prove that if he wants a winning scoreline, the place to start subbing is with the back line.

With the evening’s loss, Indy Eleven dropped to the bottom of the North American Soccer League’s eight-place table. The team has accumulated just four points in the fall season. By comparison, league leader, Miami FC, has 12 points (and three former Indy players: University of New Mexico product Blake Smith, attacking great and Indiana native Dylan Mares and the solid Jamaican defender Lovell Palmer).

Indy’s next home game kicks off at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 2 when the San Francisco Deltas visit.

Indy Eleven vs. IU, the tradition continues

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IU warms up ahead of Indy Eleven match Feb 26 2016

The Hustlin’ Hoosiers of the Indiana University Men’s Soccer Team warm up ahead of a Feb. 26, 2016 exhibition match against the  North American Soccer League’s Indy Eleven at the John Mellencamp Sport Pavilion in Bloomington, Indiana.

The annual tradition that pits Indy Eleven against Indiana University Men’s Soccer, now in its third year, is an excellent opportunity for a group of pros just beginning to coalesce and find their chemistry at the beginning of their preseason to test their collective skills against the products of one of the nation’s strongest collegiate programs.

But it’s more than just a pro versus the varsity starters exhibition, it’s an opportunity for players new to the state of Indiana to learn what it means to be a Hoosier.

When the pros stepped onto the turf at the John Mellencamp Sports Pavilion last night, they saw the words writ large on the walls behind the goals: “Play Hard … Play Smart … Play Physical…” When the whistle blew to start the game, they learned how it felt to see that philosophy in action. The Hoosiers came out hard.

Indy managed to score the first goal, thanks to the hustle of Brad Ring, an Eleven player who played college ball at IU from 2005-2008. As the team’s Tweeted recap explained:

“33′ GOAL INDY! Ring’s stinger from 30 blocked right into path of Smart, whose far post cross is nodded home by Zayed.”

IU continued its aggressive press, however, and managed to score and equalizer within 5 minutes. The first period concluded without any additional goals. The second period ended scoreless, as well. So the series no stands at 1-1-1, with Indy taking the first win in 2014, IU winning last year and the two settling for a tie on Friday.

What can be learned from the experience and put to use for Indy as the team continues in 2016, working though its preseason toward its home opener against the Ottawa Fury on April 9 at Michael Carroll Stadium in Downtown Indianapolis?

Here’s a word they can meditate upon moving forward: Finesse.

The word came to mind Friday as a solid Indy scoring opportunity sailed high and wide of the Hoosier net, the result of a ball blasted that could have used instead finesse.

The word applied to other instances, namely on a couple occasions where players employed showier techniques when simplicity would have work just as well. For instance, why opt for an outside-of-the-foot pass, flicked over a defender’s head with the hope it would be controlled by a rushing attacker when an simple inside-of-the-foot pass delivered with finesse to feet would have been more effective — and included the benefit of maintaining possession? The hopeful flicking (as well as hopeful blasting from deeper) often resulted in the ball stuffed right back down on Indy’s defense.

In a brief exchange after the game, when asked his thoughts about the frantic pace which Indy exhibited in the opening minutes of the match, the Hoosiers’ head coach, Todd Yeagley, said he thought the long ball blasts spoke well of his team’s aggressive efforts to step up.

Paraphrasing Yeagley here: “Most college teams would hold a compact back, trying to absorb what the [more experienced team] brings. But the Hoosiers are fit, we’ve been working out together for two months, while Indy has been back in training for just a few days. Rather than hold back, we decided to press. I don’t think they were anticipating that much pressure.”

In an interview with Greg Rakestraw’s Soccer Saturday, Indy midfielder Dylan Mares offered his post-game analysis. He noted that the 9v9 indoor format was challenging for his squad, the field smaller dimensions presented a different dynamic with two fewer players on the field.

“It’s definitely fun playing those guys (Indiana) because they work hard, they’re athletic — and it makes it challenging for us,” Mares said. “It’s not necessarily a walk in the park just because they’re a college team. And you can’t go in there thinking that. I don’t think we did.. I don’t think we came off on the right foot. But, again, it’s preseason. We’ve only been at it a week and half, two weeks now. It helps us learn a little more about ourselves going forward.”

First half notes from the sideline:

Opening minutes, Indy pacing seems rushed. They crashed many long balls.

The first scoring opportunity worth noting: an Indy forward stumbled in front of goal, leaving Brad Ring with what seemed like a good scoring opportunity. Alas, it wasn’t to be.

Then came an Indiana onslaught, a couple Hoosiers succeed in working to the far right corner of the field, bringing a mess of Indy defenders with them, they quickly dropped to a teammate rushing the right corner of the 18. As Indy Coach Tim Hankinson is screaming “Step to the ball!” a Hoosier shot forces keeper Jon Busch into action.

Indy counters, but IU is right back on the attack, forcing another Busch save. Then comes another excellent attack in which a player whose name we should know (Help Me Out Here IU Soccer Media), weaves through what seems like three Indy guys and should have scored. Alas.

Then, yet another potent fast attack from IU.

At least one Indy dude begins grumbling and Hankinson encourages him to “stay in the game (and) not loose cool.”

Don Smart enters, Siniša takes a break.

Brad Ring springs an attack from the right and Don Smart and Eamon Zayed finish the kill  from the left. Goal!!!

Ring and Smart have been leaders from the team’s inaugural season in 2014. Zayed, the League of Ireland’s 2011 Player of the Year, is new to Indy this year. (Among his attacking accolades are many noted hat tricks.)

IU responds with a immediate counter from the left flank, but the shot flies wide.

Then Indiana’s Phil Fives finds a pocket — sensed by Yeagley, who screams, “There it is!” — as the kid presses from the center, then pulls wide and rips a shot from around the right corner of the 18. Scored equalized within five minutes!

Maybe three minutes later, IU shoots again, only denied the inner net because Busch threw himself in harm’s way. The resulting corner results in IU forcing Busch into action yet again. At the 1-minute-mark, IU unleashed another decent shot that sailed wide of the goal.

The second half brought a whole new starting lineup for Indy. [How many changes did the Hoosiers make? We’ll have to wait for IU to fill in the blank on that one.] The Eleven fielded many familiar Indy faces in the second half, just one new team member, Neil Shaffer.

“Possession!” Hankinson instructs.

“Why let him have it?” the coach asks a player he wished stepped up to shut down an IU possession more quickly in the midfield. “Walk forward and keep him to one side!”

To the team he advised, “Hold the ball up, building deeper and moving forward!” Also on several occasions, “Shape! On your block!”

Assistant Indy Coach Tim Regan informed the frontline, “Don’t always be looking to turn by yourself. Trap it and pass it … if it takes you more than two touches, it’s not good enough!”

Aside from IU forcing one last Busch save, Indy pressed hard enough to cause Coach Yeagley to yell at his defenders not to attempt anything fancy when the Eleven’s frontline were swarming the goal like sharks smelling blood in the water. When the pressure gets dangerous on D, Yeagley said, “it’s up and out, there’s no touch!”

His father, also the father of the IU Soccer program, former head coach Jerry Yeagley watched quietly from the sidelines, a subtle grin of what appeared to be satisfaction often spread across this lips.

Scoring Summary and lineups courtesy of the great John Koluder, Indy Eleven’s communications captain:
INDY – Eamon Zayed (Don Smart) 33’
IU – 38’

Indy Eleven 1st Half IX (3-1-3-1): Jon Busch; Lovel Palmer, Colin Falvey, Nemanja Vukovic; Nicki Paterson; Brad Ring, Sinisa Ubiparipovic (Don Smart 30’), Justin Braun; Eamon Zayed

Indy Eleven 2nd Half IX (3-1-3-1): Keith Cardona; Marco Franco (Don Smart 77’), Cory Miller, Neil Shaffer; Daniel Keller; Dragan Stojkov, Dylan Mares, Duke Lacroix; Wojciech Wojcik (Greg Janicki 67’)