Indy Eleven Ends Spring Season in Style with 3-0 Victory over FC Edmonton
Goals by Brown, Mares & Lacroix, First Shutout of 2015 Gives “Boys in Blue” First Win of Season at Carroll Stadium
INDIANAPOLIS (Saturday, June 13, 2015) – Indy Eleven closed out the Spring Season with the most dominating performance in its brief history on Saturday night in front of 10,202 fans at Carroll Stadium, as it captured a thorough 3-0 victory over FC Edmonton on goals from Brian Brown, Dylan Mares and Duke Lacroix.
From the get-go, the “Boys in Blue” looked the team more determined to ‘go out with a bang’ in the Spring Season, notching relentless attack after relentless attack into the Edmonton defensive third. Indy Eleven captain Erick Norales was the first to leave the crowd holding its breath in the 8th minute when his header off a well-swung Dylan Mares cross deflected off the crossbar and out of bounds to quell the chance.
The post continued to treat the home side unkindly when reigning NASL Player of the week Victor Pineda snuck in behind the Edmonton defense and had a shot on goal that hit the far left post and bounced out of play in the 18th minute.
Indy did not seem phased by the bad luck early on in the match, as it continued to attack before finally having a shot reach the back of the net in the 39th minute, when Brian Brown scored his first since the team’s home opener on April 11 against the New York Cosmos on a shot from distance. Brown gathered a pass from midfielder Dylan Mares and fired a low, driving ball from 25 yards out past Edmonton netminder Jon Smits to give Indy the 1-0 lead. The assist was the fourth for Mares, putting him one back of league leader Georgi Hristov (Tampa Bay) in the category.
Mares would finish an attempt of his own just moments later in the 44th minute as he stepped to the spot for a penalty conversion following Smits takedown of Kyle Hyland in front of goal. Mares looked poised and under control as he stepped to the spot and placed the ball into the lower left corner to put Indy up 2-0, the score that would hold until the halftime break.
Chances proved to be few-and-far-between in the second half, Indy seeming content to continue its dominance in possession and Edmonton still unable to attack with much effectiveness. As time went on, the Eddies’ frustration became evident, boiling over in the 67th minute when substitute Christian Raudales saw a straight red card for a high elbow to the face of Indy Eleven defender Marco Franco.
Using itsr one-man advantage, Indy Eleven would tack on to its lead in the 82nd minute. Striker Charlie Rugg got his first assist of the season when he placed a through ball beautifully onto the foot of rookie Duke Lacroix, who finished past Matt VanOekel – Edmonton’s second-string ‘keeper, who entered at the halftime break – to earn his first professional goal and bring the game to its eventual 3-0 finish. The result gave the “Boys in Blue” their first shutout and home win of the 2015 season, the back-to-back wins allowing Indy to end the Spring Season in 5thplace thanks to draws on the evening by San Antonio and Jacksonville.
Indy Eleven won’t have much of a midseason break, as the “Boys in Blue” get back to action on Sunday, June 28 at Carroll Stadium when it plays the first international friendly in club history against Mexican first division (Liga MX) side Monarcas Morelia. Kickoff for that matinee affair is set for 1:30 p.m., and tickets are available online at http://morelia.https://www.indyeleven.com and at 16 Indianapolis area businesses, a listing of which can be found at www.indyeleven.com.
QUOTE SHEET – INDY ELEVEN HEAD COACH TIM REGAN
On planning for tonight’s game:
“Knowing Edmonton is on a long stretch in terms of being on the road, we wanted to go in and try to control the game as best as possible. There were also long moments in the first half where they did have quite a bit of possession, but we didn’t feel like they threatened our goal that much outside of two or three instances. When we got on it, we were just able to push the envelope a little bit more.”
On Indy’s plentiful scoring chances:
“The goal is to get more chances. We’re not going to take all of them perfectly and they’re not all going to be the best chances. Whether we call them half chances or better ones, we just want to encourage everyone to keep taking them and stay confident.”
On whether or not there was frustration prior to the first goal:
“There’s always frustration from attacking guys when they don’t score. They just need to keep pushing for each other and know that in those moments there is going to be another play. That play might be five minutes away or it might be 20 or 40 minutes away, but don’t give up on it. I think that shows from Brian [Brown]’s strike late and just pushing and pushing to get the penalty right before the half, which clearly helped.”
On Charlie Rugg’s play tonight:
“I told [Charlie Rugg] after the game that, from an all-around standpoint, it was a really good game. He’s still making good movements and he’s going to find more chances. The team needs to find him. It’s a two-way street in that way, but he handled himself really well.”
On Dylan Mares’ play tonight:
“Young guys learn the game with time. We would all like it to happen April 4th on opening day, but it doesn’t. On a night like tonight when we do have a little more possession in the attacking half, he’s able to keep moving himself into the right spots and help the team.”
On the defensive effort:
“I think Kristian [Nicht] will call it a pretty easy day for himself. A couple of quality serves into the box were dangerous and there was maybe one bad moment in the middle of the first half, but it was a total group effort from the back four in tonight’s game.”
NASL Spring Season
Indy Eleven 3 : 0 FC Edmonton
Saturday, June 13, 2015
Michael A. Carroll Stadium – Indianapolis, IN
Attendance: 10,202
Indy Eleven: 3W-4D-3L, 13 pts, 5th in NASL
FC Edmonton: 2W-3D-5L, 10th in NASL
Scoring Summary:
IND: Brian Brown (Dylan Mares) 39’
IND: Dylan Mares (penalty kick) 44’
IND: Duke Lacroix (Charlie Rugg) 82’
Discipline Summary:
FCE: Cristian Raudales (ejection) 67’
IND: Cory Miller (caution) 83’
FCE: Frank Jonke (caution) 90’
Indy Eleven line-up (4-4-2): Kristian Nicht; Marco Franco, Cory Miller, Erick Norales (C), Kyle Hyland; Dragan Stojkov (Don Smart 64’), Brad Ring, Dylan Mares, Victor Pineda (Duke Lacroix 77’); Charlie Rugg (Wojciech Wojcik 90+’), Brian Brown
Indy Bench: Keith Cardona (GK), Jaime Frias, Greg Janicki, Osman Melgares
FC Edmonton line-up (4-2-3-1): John Smits (Matt VanOekel 45’); Allan Zebie, Albert Watson (C), Eddie Edward, Johann Smith; Tomas Granitto (Daryl Fordyce 78’), Ritchie Jones; Hanson Bokai (Christian Raudales 45’), Michael Nonni, Chad Burt; Frank Jonke
Edmonton Bench: Marko Aleksic, Kareem Moses, Sainey Nyassi
Indy Eleven Ends Spring Season in Style with 3-0 Victory over FC Edmonton
Goals by Brown, Mares & Lacroix, First Shutout of 2015 Gives “Boys in Blue” First Win of Season at Carroll Stadium
INDIANAPOLIS (Saturday, June 13, 2015) – Indy Eleven closed out the Spring Season with the most dominating performance in its brief history on Saturday night in front of 10,202 fans at Carroll Stadium, as it captured a thorough 3-0 victory over FC Edmonton on goals from Brian Brown, Dylan Mares and Duke Lacroix.
From the get-go, the “Boys in Blue” looked the team more determined to ‘go out with a bang’ in the Spring Season, notching relentless attack after relentless attack into the Edmonton defensive third. Indy Eleven captain Erick Norales was the first to leave the crowd holding its breath in the 8th minute when his header off a well-swung Dylan Mares cross deflected off the crossbar and out of bounds to quell the chance.
The post continued to treat the home side unkindly when reigning NASL Player of the week Victor Pineda snuck in behind the Edmonton defense and had a shot on goal that hit the far left post and bounced out of play in the 18th minute.
Indy did not seem phased by the bad luck early on in the match, as it continued to attack before finally having a shot reach the back of the net in the 39th minute, when Brian Brown scored his first since the team’s home opener on April 11 against the New York Cosmos on a shot from distance. Brown gathered a pass from midfielder Dylan Mares and fired a low, driving ball from 25 yards out past Edmonton netminder Jon Smits to give Indy the 1-0 lead. The assist was the fourth for Mares, putting him one back of league leader Georgi Hristov (Tampa Bay) in the category.
Mares would finish an attempt of his own just moments later in the 44th minute as he stepped to the spot for a penalty conversion following Smits takedown of Kyle Hyland in front of goal. Mares looked poised and under control as he stepped to the spot and placed the ball into the lower left corner to put Indy up 2-0, the score that would hold until the halftime break.
Chances proved to be few-and-far-between in the second half, Indy seeming content to continue its dominance in possession and Edmonton still unable to attack with much effectiveness. As time went on, the Eddies’ frustration became evident, boiling over in the 67th minute when substitute Christian Raudales saw a straight red card for a high elbow to the face of Indy Eleven defender Marco Franco.
Using itsr one-man advantage, Indy Eleven would tack on to its lead in the 82nd minute. Striker Charlie Rugg got his first assist of the season when he placed a through ball beautifully onto the foot of rookie Duke Lacroix, who finished past Matt VanOekel – Edmonton’s second-string ‘keeper, who entered at the halftime break – to earn his first professional goal and bring the game to its eventual 3-0 finish. The result gave the “Boys in Blue” their first shutout and home win of the 2015 season, the back-to-back wins allowing Indy to end the Spring Season in 5thplace thanks to draws on the evening by San Antonio and Jacksonville.
Indy Eleven won’t have much of a midseason break, as the “Boys in Blue” get back to action on Sunday, June 28 at Carroll Stadium when it plays the first international friendly in club history against Mexican first division (Liga MX) side Monarcas Morelia. Kickoff for that matinee affair is set for 1:30 p.m., and tickets are available online at http://morelia.https://www.indyeleven.com and at 16 Indianapolis area businesses, a listing of which can be found at www.indyeleven.com.
QUOTE SHEET – INDY ELEVEN HEAD COACH TIM REGAN
On planning for tonight’s game:
“Knowing Edmonton is on a long stretch in terms of being on the road, we wanted to go in and try to control the game as best as possible. There were also long moments in the first half where they did have quite a bit of possession, but we didn’t feel like they threatened our goal that much outside of two or three instances. When we got on it, we were just able to push the envelope a little bit more.”
On Indy’s plentiful scoring chances:
“The goal is to get more chances. We’re not going to take all of them perfectly and they’re not all going to be the best chances. Whether we call them half chances or better ones, we just want to encourage everyone to keep taking them and stay confident.”
On whether or not there was frustration prior to the first goal:
“There’s always frustration from attacking guys when they don’t score. They just need to keep pushing for each other and know that in those moments there is going to be another play. That play might be five minutes away or it might be 20 or 40 minutes away, but don’t give up on it. I think that shows from Brian [Brown]’s strike late and just pushing and pushing to get the penalty right before the half, which clearly helped.”
On Charlie Rugg’s play tonight:
“I told [Charlie Rugg] after the game that, from an all-around standpoint, it was a really good game. He’s still making good movements and he’s going to find more chances. The team needs to find him. It’s a two-way street in that way, but he handled himself really well.”
On Dylan Mares’ play tonight:
“Young guys learn the game with time. We would all like it to happen April 4th on opening day, but it doesn’t. On a night like tonight when we do have a little more possession in the attacking half, he’s able to keep moving himself into the right spots and help the team.”
On the defensive effort:
“I think Kristian [Nicht] will call it a pretty easy day for himself. A couple of quality serves into the box were dangerous and there was maybe one bad moment in the middle of the first half, but it was a total group effort from the back four in tonight’s game.”
NASL Spring Season
Indy Eleven 3 : 0 FC Edmonton
Saturday, June 13, 2015
Michael A. Carroll Stadium – Indianapolis, IN
Attendance: 10,202
Indy Eleven: 3W-4D-3L, 13 pts, 5th in NASL
FC Edmonton: 2W-3D-5L, 10th in NASL
Scoring Summary:
IND: Brian Brown (Dylan Mares) 39’
IND: Dylan Mares (penalty kick) 44’
IND: Duke Lacroix (Charlie Rugg) 82’
Discipline Summary:
FCE: Cristian Raudales (ejection) 67’
IND: Cory Miller (caution) 83’
FCE: Frank Jonke (caution) 90’
Indy Eleven line-up (4-4-2): Kristian Nicht; Marco Franco, Cory Miller, Erick Norales (C), Kyle Hyland; Dragan Stojkov (Don Smart 64’), Brad Ring, Dylan Mares, Victor Pineda (Duke Lacroix 77’); Charlie Rugg (Wojciech Wojcik 90+’), Brian Brown
Indy Bench: Keith Cardona (GK), Jaime Frias, Greg Janicki, Osman Melgares
FC Edmonton line-up (4-2-3-1): John Smits (Matt VanOekel 45’); Allan Zebie, Albert Watson (C), Eddie Edward, Johann Smith; Tomas Granitto (Daryl Fordyce 78’), Ritchie Jones; Hanson Bokai (Christian Raudales 45’), Michael Nonni, Chad Burt; Frank Jonke
Edmonton Bench: Marko Aleksic, Kareem Moses, Sainey Nyassi
