Indy Eleven Ends Slide with 2-0 Win over Tampa Bay
Second Half Tallies by Dane Richards, Erick Norales Lift "Boys in Blue" to Much-needed Victory
INDIANAPOLIS (Wednesday, August 19, 2015) – Indy Eleven captured a much-needed three points over the Tampa Bay Rowdies, using second half goals by Erick Norales and Dane Richards to post a 2-0 win and snap a five-game winless streak in front of 8,500 fans at IUPUI’s Carroll Stadium.
After letting in the first goal in each of its last six games, Indy Eleven almost did it again in the 16th minute when Rowdies midfielder Maicon Santos opened fire from 25 yards out, but Eleven ‘keeper Kristian Nicht stood tall and parried the shot wide for a Rowdies corner.
As the half progressed Indy gained more of the chances, with the best of those coming in the 33rd and 34th minutes through midfielders Zach Steinberger and Duke Lacroix. The first attempt by way of a Steinberger header forced a routine save out of Pickens, while Lacroix’s chance was pushed just wide of the goal, leaving the teams to go into the halftime break level at nil.
The Rowdies would be the first to knock on the door in the second half when Brian Shriver was left unmarked in the box and rifled a shot in the direction of Indy’s net in the 56th minute. Once again, Nicht held his own and kept the ball out of the net. “Indiana’s Team” would take the ensuing goal-kick the length of the field in what looked to be their most promising attack of the opening hour of the match, but Richards’ far post cross was sent inches past the oncoming Lacroix.
But right on the hour mark Richards would atone for the previous close call with the opener right on the stroke of the hour mark. After an interception from midfielder Daniel Keller at the center circle, the rookie finished his 30-yard run by sending the Jamaican winger into the area, where he moved past Ben Sweat and fired a low shot past Pickens and inside the far left post to earn his first goal in an Indy kit and give the “Boys in Blue” the lead.
The home side wouldn’t quit there. As the rains begin to fall at Carroll Stadium, Richards went forward on yet another run in the 69th minute before being hauled down just outside the Tampa Bay penalty area. Norales and Kyle Hyland stood over the ensuing free kick, but it was the Indy captain who looked calm, cool and collected as he stepped to and fired the ball over the wall and into the upper right corner past a leaping Pickens to double the Indy advantage in the 70th minute. The goal was Norales’ third on the season, pushing him into a tie with injured midfielder Dylan Mares for the team lead in the category.
Tampa Bay created an opportunity in the 75th minute to get one back when Darwin Espinal got open in the box, but his shot with space from 10 yards out sailed on him.
Another “Boy in Blue” would nearly grab his first goal in an Indy Eleven jersey in the 81st minute when Zach Steinberger collected a loose ball outside in the attacking third. The rookie out of local Butler University turned and hit a shot curling towards the upper right-hand corner, but Pickens made a sprawling save to knock it wide.
Indy Eleven would go on to successfully close off any promising chances from Tampa Bay’s desperate pushes forward over the final 10 minutes, highlighted by Nicht’s save on Georgi Hristov’s near-angle blast a minute deep into stoppage. Indy’s win marked just its second clean sheet on the season, meanwhile, the loss continued the Rowdies’ Fall Season slump, the Spring Season runner-up falling for the fifth time in its last seven contests with tonight’s result.
INDY ELEVEN QUOTE SHEET – INTERIM HEAD COACH TIM REGAN
On tonight’s performance:
“You look at this point in the season and you realize that you need wins because three losses in a row is bad for any team. It was a good response from the group [tonight] and I’m really pleased.”
On the clean sheet:
“The clean sheet is important because if you look at our recent results, the early goal has killed us. With that, teams have been able to sit back and we had to break them down which is not easy to do. It this sense, we got [Tampa Bay] on the counter a couple of times and it paid off quite well.”
On the performance of Dane Richards and Zach Steinberger:
“I’ve said it all along that the questions come from the beginning in terms of these new guys coming in. It just takes time. You can’t put an exact number of days on it, and both of them showed tonight that they’re getting more comfortable in their role and with their teammates.”
INDY ELEVEN QUOTE SHEET – FORWARD DANE RICHARDS
On the play setting up his goal:
“I saw [Daniel] Keller with the ball and I just got myself some space from the defender. Once I got the ball, I took a good first touch and put the ball on target.”
On being a veteran presence on a young team:
“When I got here, the team was on a good run so I just told them to be confident. A lot of goals are scored in this league so the important thing is to defend well. In the past games when we have been scored on so early it’s been hard to get back, so tonight I said just to be positive going forward and defensively we just needed to be sharp and that happened.”
INDY ELEVEN QUOTE SHEET – MIDFIELDER DANIEL KELLER
On the importance of the team’s 11-day break from action:
“It was good. It gave us a chance to look at what we were doing wrong as well as to realize what we were doing right. We didn’t need to fix everything, just a few minor details, but those minor details can be the difference between a win and a loss. I think tonight we were much more organized with those details.”
On the performance of the midfield in tonight’s match:
“I like to think that I’m more of a defensive player, but Zach Steinberger put in a great shift tonight both offensively and defensively along with Dragan [Stojkov] and Duke [Lacroix]. Those guys are pretty offensive minded, but I don’t think they get enough credit for the defensive work that they put in. We knew tonight would be a battle and as you can see there were just a lot of tough nose plays, and I think we were first to a lot of balls which is a key to winning the game.”
NASL Fall Season
Indy Eleven 2 : 0 Tampa Bay Rowdies
Wednesday, August 19, 2015
Michael A. Carroll Stadium – Indianapolis, IN
Attendance: 8,500
Indy Eleven:
Fall Season: 2W-2D-4L (8 pts.), 9th place
Combined: 5W-6D-7L (21 pts.), 10th place
Tampa Bay Rowdies:
Fall Season: 2W-1D-5L (8 pts.), 10th place
Combined: 7W-5D-6L (26 pts.), 4th place
Scoring Summary:
IND – Dane Richards (Daniel Keller) 60’
IND – Erick Norales (unassisted) 70’
Discipline Summary:
TBR – Justin Chavez (caution) 31’
IND – Zach Steinberger (caution) 42’
TBR – Tamika Mkandawire (caution) 69’
Indy Eleven line-up (4-4-2): Kristian Nicht; Marco Franco, Cory Miller, Erick Norales (capt) (Greg Janicki 85’), Kyle Hyland; Dragan Stojkov (Don Smart 72’), Zach Steinberger, Daniel Keller, Duke Lacroix; Dane Richards (Marvin Ceballos 81’), Charlie Rugg
Indy Bench: Keith Cardona, Victor Pineda, Brian Brown, Wojciech Wojcik
Tampa Bay Rowdies line-up (4-4-2): Matt Pickens; Rich Balchan, Gale Agbossoumonde, Tamika Mkandawire (capt), Ben Sweat; Brian Shriver (Robert Hernandez 71’), Justin Chavez (Juan Guerra 45’), Richard Menjivar, Corey Hertzog; Darwin Espinal, Maicon Santos (Georgi Hristov 74’)
Tampa Bay Bench: Kamil Contofalksy (GK), Darnell King, Stefan Antonijevic, Marcelo Saragosa
Indy Eleven Ends Slide with 2-0 Win over Tampa Bay
Second Half Tallies by Dane Richards, Erick Norales Lift “Boys in Blue” to Much-needed Victory
INDIANAPOLIS (Wednesday, August 19, 2015) – Indy Eleven captured a much-needed three points over the Tampa Bay Rowdies, using second half goals by Erick Norales and Dane Richards to post a 2-0 win and snap a five-game winless streak in front of 8,500 fans at IUPUI’s Carroll Stadium.
After letting in the first goal in each of its last six games, Indy Eleven almost did it again in the 16th minute when Rowdies midfielder Maicon Santos opened fire from 25 yards out, but Eleven ‘keeper Kristian Nicht stood tall and parried the shot wide for a Rowdies corner.
As the half progressed Indy gained more of the chances, with the best of those coming in the 33rd and 34th minutes through midfielders Zach Steinberger and Duke Lacroix. The first attempt by way of a Steinberger header forced a routine save out of Pickens, while Lacroix’s chance was pushed just wide of the goal, leaving the teams to go into the halftime break level at nil.
The Rowdies would be the first to knock on the door in the second half when Brian Shriver was left unmarked in the box and rifled a shot in the direction of Indy’s net in the 56th minute. Once again, Nicht held his own and kept the ball out of the net. “Indiana’s Team” would take the ensuing goal-kick the length of the field in what looked to be their most promising attack of the opening hour of the match, but Richards’ far post cross was sent inches past the oncoming Lacroix.
But right on the hour mark Richards would atone for the previous close call with the opener right on the stroke of the hour mark. After an interception from midfielder Daniel Keller at the center circle, the rookie finished his 30-yard run by sending the Jamaican winger into the area, where he moved past Ben Sweat and fired a low shot past Pickens and inside the far left post to earn his first goal in an Indy kit and give the “Boys in Blue” the lead.
The home side wouldn’t quit there. As the rains begin to fall at Carroll Stadium, Richards went forward on yet another run in the 69th minute before being hauled down just outside the Tampa Bay penalty area. Norales and Kyle Hyland stood over the ensuing free kick, but it was the Indy captain who looked calm, cool and collected as he stepped to and fired the ball over the wall and into the upper right corner past a leaping Pickens to double the Indy advantage in the 70th minute. The goal was Norales’ third on the season, pushing him into a tie with injured midfielder Dylan Mares for the team lead in the category.
Tampa Bay created an opportunity in the 75th minute to get one back when Darwin Espinal got open in the box, but his shot with space from 10 yards out sailed on him.
Another “Boy in Blue” would nearly grab his first goal in an Indy Eleven jersey in the 81st minute when Zach Steinberger collected a loose ball outside in the attacking third. The rookie out of local Butler University turned and hit a shot curling towards the upper right-hand corner, but Pickens made a sprawling save to knock it wide.
Indy Eleven would go on to successfully close off any promising chances from Tampa Bay’s desperate pushes forward over the final 10 minutes, highlighted by Nicht’s save on Georgi Hristov’s near-angle blast a minute deep into stoppage. Indy’s win marked just its second clean sheet on the season, meanwhile, the loss continued the Rowdies’ Fall Season slump, the Spring Season runner-up falling for the fifth time in its last seven contests with tonight’s result.
INDY ELEVEN QUOTE SHEET – INTERIM HEAD COACH TIM REGAN
On tonight’s performance:
“You look at this point in the season and you realize that you need wins because three losses in a row is bad for any team. It was a good response from the group [tonight] and I’m really pleased.”
On the clean sheet:
“The clean sheet is important because if you look at our recent results, the early goal has killed us. With that, teams have been able to sit back and we had to break them down which is not easy to do. It this sense, we got [Tampa Bay] on the counter a couple of times and it paid off quite well.”
On the performance of Dane Richards and Zach Steinberger:
“I’ve said it all along that the questions come from the beginning in terms of these new guys coming in. It just takes time. You can’t put an exact number of days on it, and both of them showed tonight that they’re getting more comfortable in their role and with their teammates.”
INDY ELEVEN QUOTE SHEET – FORWARD DANE RICHARDS
On the play setting up his goal:
“I saw [Daniel] Keller with the ball and I just got myself some space from the defender. Once I got the ball, I took a good first touch and put the ball on target.”
On being a veteran presence on a young team:
“When I got here, the team was on a good run so I just told them to be confident. A lot of goals are scored in this league so the important thing is to defend well. In the past games when we have been scored on so early it’s been hard to get back, so tonight I said just to be positive going forward and defensively we just needed to be sharp and that happened.”
INDY ELEVEN QUOTE SHEET – MIDFIELDER DANIEL KELLER
On the importance of the team’s 11-day break from action:
“It was good. It gave us a chance to look at what we were doing wrong as well as to realize what we were doing right. We didn’t need to fix everything, just a few minor details, but those minor details can be the difference between a win and a loss. I think tonight we were much more organized with those details.”
On the performance of the midfield in tonight’s match:
“I like to think that I’m more of a defensive player, but Zach Steinberger put in a great shift tonight both offensively and defensively along with Dragan [Stojkov] and Duke [Lacroix]. Those guys are pretty offensive minded, but I don’t think they get enough credit for the defensive work that they put in. We knew tonight would be a battle and as you can see there were just a lot of tough nose plays, and I think we were first to a lot of balls which is a key to winning the game.”
NASL Fall Season
Indy Eleven 2 : 0 Tampa Bay Rowdies
Wednesday, August 19, 2015
Michael A. Carroll Stadium – Indianapolis, IN
Attendance: 8,500
Indy Eleven:
Fall Season: 2W-2D-4L (8 pts.), 9th place
Combined: 5W-6D-7L (21 pts.), 10th place
Tampa Bay Rowdies:
Fall Season: 2W-1D-5L (8 pts.), 10th place
Combined: 7W-5D-6L (26 pts.), 4th place
Scoring Summary:
IND – Dane Richards (Daniel Keller) 60’
IND – Erick Norales (unassisted) 70’
Discipline Summary:
TBR – Justin Chavez (caution) 31’
IND – Zach Steinberger (caution) 42’
TBR – Tamika Mkandawire (caution) 69’
Indy Eleven line-up (4-4-2): Kristian Nicht; Marco Franco, Cory Miller, Erick Norales (capt) (Greg Janicki 85’), Kyle Hyland; Dragan Stojkov (Don Smart 72’), Zach Steinberger, Daniel Keller, Duke Lacroix; Dane Richards (Marvin Ceballos 81’), Charlie Rugg
Indy Bench: Keith Cardona, Victor Pineda, Brian Brown, Wojciech Wojcik
Tampa Bay Rowdies line-up (4-4-2): Matt Pickens; Rich Balchan, Gale Agbossoumonde, Tamika Mkandawire (capt), Ben Sweat; Brian Shriver (Robert Hernandez 71’), Justin Chavez (Juan Guerra 45’), Richard Menjivar, Corey Hertzog; Darwin Espinal, Maicon Santos (Georgi Hristov 74’)
Tampa Bay Bench: Kamil Contofalksy (GK), Darnell King, Stefan Antonijevic, Marcelo Saragosa
