A maturing Indy Eleven split points with the Carolina Railhawks on what was easily one of the worst weather environments Indy Eleven has played in since joining the league in 2014. Indy went into the night with aspirations of jumping to the top of the table if Atlanta could pull out the win against the Cosmos but now the Eleven march into their bye week with three streaks still intact in their series against the Carolina Railhawks.
Both goals came off the Railhawks as an own goal on a set up by Wojciech Wojick to Charlie Rugg and the eventual tying goal, a 85th minute punch from defender Eric Wagner, but for Indy Eleven, this match was about the coming of Wojciech Wojick as he gains more confidence on and off the ball. With the draw, Indy Eleven keeps two streaks alive. Another sellout as they hit 10,524 in attendance, and continuing their undefeated run carrying over from last season.
Two years have seen Indy Eleven transition from an expansion squad to a side able to pose a threat against any team in the North American Soccer League. While the obvious change in players can be seen: the biggest change from last season?
The general attitude of the squad:
After allowing 88th minute equalizer, @IndyEleven coach Juergen Sommer said players were “pissed off.” Big change from last year.
— Matt Glenesk (@MattGlenesk) April 26, 2015
While there are some glimpses of the Eleven of old, Indy Eleven has grown as a squad and as a team. While only playing in their second season, Indy Eleven has grown considerably from last year to this year and with the additions of players like Wojciech Wojcik as well as the emergence of Jaime Frias as a defender. Indy Eleven is looking more and more built like a club able to play competitively in NASL.
Same result (1-1) has already evoked many moods at Carroll. Celebratory (inaugural). Content (Cosmos). Frustrated (tonight). #INDvCAR
— Ben Simmons (@Ben_R_Simm) April 26, 2015
The result wasn’t pleasing to most, but understanding what the results mean can help ease the pain. With every draw comes the understanding of what it means. If you come from behind, a draw is usually a good thing. You managed to salvage a possibly poor result and gain a point. For Indy, the general feeling is one of having lost two points rather than gaining one.
Good teams can draw, great teams can get the win.
Positive and Negative:
Negative: With a bye this week, Indy has plenty of time to really study the video footage of the first part of the Spring Season. One of the major points that was abundantly clear with the Carolina game was the need to work on positioning and decision making when defending counters. While there wasn’t much in terms of fouls compared to the Cosmos game, Indy still lost key matchups on that side of the ball including the eventual equalizer. Learning how to properly choke down on a play and get a good ending will be vital as they go through the rest of the 2015 campaign.
Positive: Indy Eleven are still a club with a lot of work to do, but they have a positive in their style of play. They aren’t playing a new club style. They aren’t having to spend games playing catch up. The manner in which the club conducts itself is growing even more professionally. The amount of maturity from Indy Eleven will help to elevate the level of play the team has and will help them become even more successful in the fall season.
Looking ahead:
The general feeling as the night ended was that Indy Eleven, while maturing in their own style of play, still have a lot of growing up to do. The work of Woj as well as Brad Ring in the middle helped hold onto the lead for as long as they did but by the end of the night the action left in players minds was that of the equalizing goal scored by Carolina.
Indy has a bye week, followed by a matchup against the new expansion squad Jacksonville Armada in Jacksonville, Florida.
All NASL action can be seen on ESPN 3 each week.
