TULSA, OKLAHOMA (Wednesday, August 4, 2021) – Indy Eleven returned to winning ways for the first time in six matches Wednesday evening after second half strikes from forwards Gordon Wild and Peter-Lee Vassell secured a 2-0 win on the road at FC Tulsa. The shutout is also the team’s first since May 22 (third overall) thanks to a stellar five-save performance from goalkeeper Eric Dick.
“The defensive effort, it was great, was really pleased with that. There's a whole team that gets a shutout, you know. It's not just on the backline on the goalkeeper, it starts from the forwards and includes everybody. For the most part everyone worked hard to help get that done tonight,” explained Indy Eleven Interim Head Coach Max Rogers. “To be fair, Tulsa I think was disappointed that they didn't score because they did get in some dangerous positions, but Eric made some good stops and did his job back there when he was called on.”
It was a relatively slow start in the opening moments of the match, both teams managing to work their way into each other’s boxes but failing to put substantial shots on frame. However, Tulsa was the first to ask questions in the 16th minute with a series of back-to-back-to-back strikes on target. Jorge Corrales delivered his cross from near the center circle to Joaquin Rivas for a one-time effort inside the box, but the low shot was batted away by Dick. Rivas tested the waters again just 10 seconds later, this time nodding down a cross from seven yards from Rodrigo da Costa, the ball palmed down by Dick once again and rolled back up the pitch. The danger wasn’t over though, as Tulsa midfielder Lebo Moloto regained possession almost immediately and fired from distance, forcing Dick into a diving save to the far post, his third in a minute span.
Tulsa’s attack pressed once again in the 28th minute. A bit of confusion ensued as Eleven defender Patrick Seagrist and Tulsa’s Marlon battled along the byline, the attacker falling and leaving both players questioning if the ball fell out of play. Processing the fact that the whistle hadn’t been blown, Marlon was first to tap the ball to Rivas for a shot that swung wide of the far post.
Indy found a chance to respond in the 43rd minute, Modou Jadama giving the ball away to Seagrist in the middle of the park. Seagrist fed the ball to Indy forward Jordan Hamilton for a shot 25 yards out to the far post, but Tulsa goalkeeper Sean Lewis side stepped and collected the effort off the bounce. Tulsa retaliated a final time when a cross from Bradley Bourgeois connected with da Costa inside Indy’s box for a header over the crossbar, the whistle sounding as soon as the ball left the field and both teams marched into the locker rooms locked in a stalemate.
The home side came out of the gate strong just 45 seconds into the second stanza. Bourgeios dropped a cross from right-center field to Dario Suarez at the far post, the forward juking an Eleven defender with a stepover before firing a shot from nearly point-blank range sent ricocheting off the woodwork and out of play. Moloto charged back into dangerous territory in the 52nd minute with another chance from inside the 18, but his toe-poke darted just wide of the left post. Tulsa’s most threatening chance of the evening came in the 66th minute when Marlon beat an Eleven defender one-on-one along the edge for the box, the forward dashing a few steps forward for a shot that rocked the near post, but ultimately rebounded to the feet Indy substitute Jeremiah Gutjahr.
Indy began knocking back in the 71st minute, Wild forcing Lewis into a diving save and Seagrist nearly capitalizing on the deflection, only to send the ball sailing over the frame. However, fortune favored the bold wild as Wild broke the deadlock in the eight minutes later, a long pass played from the back into Tulsa’s 18-yard box by substitute Neveal Hackshaw splitting the host’s defenders and finding the German forward to tap the ball off the bounce past Lewis for his second goal of the season.
Indiana’s Team put the final nail in the proverbial coffin in the 85th minute, midfielder Nicky Law’s aerial duel finding Gutjahr in the middle of the park and pulling several Tulsa players in the process. The Indiana University alum chipped the ball forward to Vassell, who tipped the ball through Lewis’ glove and just across the goal line for his first Indy Eleven goal.
Tulsa would force Dick into action one last time in 89th minute, but the goalkeeper’s falling save was enough to keep the net clean and the Boys in Blue victorious. The win pushed Indy Eleven back to fourth place in an extremely crowed Central Division table, now even on 19 points with FC Tulsa and Memphis 901 FC.
It’ll be a quick turnaround as the Boys in Blue travel to Atlanta United 2 this Sunday, August 8, for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff, streaming live via ESPN+. Indiana’s Team will return home on Saturday, August 14, when they’ll play host to OKC Energy FC at “The Mike”, tickets for which are available by visiting at https://sportsengine-staging.go-vip.net/indyeleven/tickets or by calling 371-685-1100 during regular business hours. Next Saturday’s home match will be streamed online via ESPN+ and will be available to local viewers on MyINDY-TV 23 and Exitos Radio 94.3 FM/exitos943.com.
2021 USL Championship Regular Season
FC Tulsa 0 : 2 Indy Eleven
Wednesday, August 4, 2021 – 8:00 p.m. ET
ONEOK Field – Tulsa, Oklahoma
Scoring Summary:
IND – Gordon Wild (Neveal Hackshaw) 79’
IND – Peter-Lee Vassell (Jeremiah Gutjahr) 85’
Disciplinary Summary:
IND – Nick Moon (yellow card) 37’
IND – Manuel Arteaga (yellow card) 54’
IND – Neveal Hackshaw (yellow card) 81’
Indy Eleven lineup (3-4-3, L–>R): Eric Dick; Karl Ouimette, Jared Timmer, Patrick Seagrist (Neveal Hackshaw 72’); Ayoze (captain), Nicky Law, Aboubacar Sissoko (Jeremiah Gutjahr 56’), Nick Moon (Rece Buckmaster 72’); Gordon Wild (A.J. Cochran 84’), Jordan Hamilton, Manuel Arteaga (Peter-Lee Vassell 73’)
IND substitutes: Bobby Edwards, Nedeljko Malic
FC Tulsa line-up: (4-3-3, L–>R): Sean Lewis; Jorge Corrales, Modou Jadama, Bradley Bourgeois, Kevin Garcia; Lebo Moloto, Rodrigo da Costa (Kembo Kibato 78’), Eric Bird (Lucas Coutinho 84’); Dario Suarez (Jason Johnson 59’), Joaquin Rivas, Marlon Santos
TUL subs: Austin Wormell, Leo Folla, Matthew Sheldon, Raphael Ayagwa
TULSA, OKLAHOMA (Wednesday, August 4, 2021) – Indy Eleven returned to winning ways for the first time in six matches Wednesday evening after second half strikes from forwards Gordon Wild and Peter-Lee Vassell secured a 2-0 win on the road at FC Tulsa. The shutout is also the team’s first since May 22 (third overall) thanks to a stellar five-save performance from goalkeeper Eric Dick.
“The defensive effort, it was great, was really pleased with that. There’s a whole team that gets a shutout, you know. It’s not just on the backline on the goalkeeper, it starts from the forwards and includes everybody. For the most part everyone worked hard to help get that done tonight,” explained Indy Eleven Interim Head Coach Max Rogers. “To be fair, Tulsa I think was disappointed that they didn’t score because they did get in some dangerous positions, but Eric made some good stops and did his job back there when he was called on.”
It was a relatively slow start in the opening moments of the match, both teams managing to work their way into each other’s boxes but failing to put substantial shots on frame. However, Tulsa was the first to ask questions in the 16th minute with a series of back-to-back-to-back strikes on target. Jorge Corrales delivered his cross from near the center circle to Joaquin Rivas for a one-time effort inside the box, but the low shot was batted away by Dick. Rivas tested the waters again just 10 seconds later, this time nodding down a cross from seven yards from Rodrigo da Costa, the ball palmed down by Dick once again and rolled back up the pitch. The danger wasn’t over though, as Tulsa midfielder Lebo Moloto regained possession almost immediately and fired from distance, forcing Dick into a diving save to the far post, his third in a minute span.
Tulsa’s attack pressed once again in the 28th minute. A bit of confusion ensued as Eleven defender Patrick Seagrist and Tulsa’s Marlon battled along the byline, the attacker falling and leaving both players questioning if the ball fell out of play. Processing the fact that the whistle hadn’t been blown, Marlon was first to tap the ball to Rivas for a shot that swung wide of the far post.
Indy found a chance to respond in the 43rd minute, Modou Jadama giving the ball away to Seagrist in the middle of the park. Seagrist fed the ball to Indy forward Jordan Hamilton for a shot 25 yards out to the far post, but Tulsa goalkeeper Sean Lewis side stepped and collected the effort off the bounce. Tulsa retaliated a final time when a cross from Bradley Bourgeois connected with da Costa inside Indy’s box for a header over the crossbar, the whistle sounding as soon as the ball left the field and both teams marched into the locker rooms locked in a stalemate.
The home side came out of the gate strong just 45 seconds into the second stanza. Bourgeios dropped a cross from right-center field to Dario Suarez at the far post, the forward juking an Eleven defender with a stepover before firing a shot from nearly point-blank range sent ricocheting off the woodwork and out of play. Moloto charged back into dangerous territory in the 52nd minute with another chance from inside the 18, but his toe-poke darted just wide of the left post. Tulsa’s most threatening chance of the evening came in the 66th minute when Marlon beat an Eleven defender one-on-one along the edge for the box, the forward dashing a few steps forward for a shot that rocked the near post, but ultimately rebounded to the feet Indy substitute Jeremiah Gutjahr.
Indy began knocking back in the 71st minute, Wild forcing Lewis into a diving save and Seagrist nearly capitalizing on the deflection, only to send the ball sailing over the frame. However, fortune favored the bold wild as Wild broke the deadlock in the eight minutes later, a long pass played from the back into Tulsa’s 18-yard box by substitute Neveal Hackshaw splitting the host’s defenders and finding the German forward to tap the ball off the bounce past Lewis for his second goal of the season.
Indiana’s Team put the final nail in the proverbial coffin in the 85th minute, midfielder Nicky Law’s aerial duel finding Gutjahr in the middle of the park and pulling several Tulsa players in the process. The Indiana University alum chipped the ball forward to Vassell, who tipped the ball through Lewis’ glove and just across the goal line for his first Indy Eleven goal.
Tulsa would force Dick into action one last time in 89th minute, but the goalkeeper’s falling save was enough to keep the net clean and the Boys in Blue victorious. The win pushed Indy Eleven back to fourth place in an extremely crowed Central Division table, now even on 19 points with FC Tulsa and Memphis 901 FC.
It’ll be a quick turnaround as the Boys in Blue travel to Atlanta United 2 this Sunday, August 8, for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff, streaming live via ESPN+. Indiana’s Team will return home on Saturday, August 14, when they’ll play host to OKC Energy FC at “The Mike”, tickets for which are available by visiting at https://sportsengine-staging.go-vip.net/indyeleven/tickets or by calling 371-685-1100 during regular business hours. Next Saturday’s home match will be streamed online via ESPN+ and will be available to local viewers on MyINDY-TV 23 and Exitos Radio 94.3 FM/exitos943.com.
2021 USL Championship Regular Season
FC Tulsa 0 : 2 Indy Eleven
Wednesday, August 4, 2021 – 8:00 p.m. ET
ONEOK Field – Tulsa, Oklahoma
Scoring Summary:
IND – Gordon Wild (Neveal Hackshaw) 79’
IND – Peter-Lee Vassell (Jeremiah Gutjahr) 85’
Disciplinary Summary:
IND – Nick Moon (yellow card) 37’
IND – Manuel Arteaga (yellow card) 54’
IND – Neveal Hackshaw (yellow card) 81’
Indy Eleven lineup (3-4-3, L–>R): Eric Dick; Karl Ouimette, Jared Timmer, Patrick Seagrist (Neveal Hackshaw 72’); Ayoze (captain), Nicky Law, Aboubacar Sissoko (Jeremiah Gutjahr 56’), Nick Moon (Rece Buckmaster 72’); Gordon Wild (A.J. Cochran 84’), Jordan Hamilton, Manuel Arteaga (Peter-Lee Vassell 73’)
IND substitutes: Bobby Edwards, Nedeljko Malic
FC Tulsa line-up: (4-3-3, L–>R): Sean Lewis; Jorge Corrales, Modou Jadama, Bradley Bourgeois, Kevin Garcia; Lebo Moloto, Rodrigo da Costa (Kembo Kibato 78’), Eric Bird (Lucas Coutinho 84’); Dario Suarez (Jason Johnson 59’), Joaquin Rivas, Marlon Santos
TUL subs: Austin Wormell, Leo Folla, Matthew Sheldon, Raphael Ayagwa
