Karl Ouimette’s First Goal of Preseason Equalizes at Grand Park
WESTFIELD, Ind. (Friday, February 25, 2022) – In a preview of their Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Second Round clash in April, Indy Eleven renewed its preseason exhibition schedule today with a 1-1 draw against MLS expansion side St. Louis CITY at the Grand Park Events Center. Indy Eleven defender Karl Ouimette’s 68th minute header brought the meeting all square after STL opened the scoring five minutes prior.
CITY used high pressure from their three-man top line to open on the front foot, but had only a wide header off a corner kick in the 4th minute and a chance thwarted on a well-timed tackle by Eleven defender Noah Powder inside the area a minute later to show for their early aggression. STL’s attacking nature continued when a free kick from 22 yards out bounced wide in the 18th minute, while Indy goalkeeper Tim Trilk came off his line to cut off the angle on a CITY midfielder’s 1-v-1 chance in the 25th minute.
From there, the Boys in Blue evened out the chances, starting on the half-hour when forward Aris Briggs’ first-time redirect off a cross from Indy’s guest midfielder was deflected out for a corner. The guest midfielder took a chance of his own from the top of the area in the 40th minute, it too deflecting out for a corner, and a minute later he twice hit the turf under contact by defenders inside the area, but no whistle was blown, ending the final quality look of the half for either side.
St. Louis again threatened early to start the second half, a 47th minute shot from the edge of the area that bounced squarely off the right post and away from goal signaling their intent. The 52nd minute saw Indy nearly nick the opener off midfielder Nicky Law’s deft chip to the far right post, but forward Stefano Pinho’s header was impeded, forcing his chance wide.
After an hour of stalemate soccer, the flood gates opened with both teams trading goals off corner kicks, starting with a side-volley effort by STL that took a deflection past Trilk to give the visitors the lead in the 63rd minute. However, Indy found the equalizer just five minutes later when Ouimette notched his first goal of the preseason by nodding home Law’s corner to the top of the six, evening things at 1-1 and setting up a back-and-forth final 20 minutes.
A trading chances off the woodwork followed, a CITY free kick from 25 yards out bouncing off the right post in the 73rd minute before the Eleven’s guest midfielder five minutes later rang a near-angle chance off the left one. The 82nd minute saw the trialist midfielder at it again with a shot that just missed the top left corner, and two minutes later Eleven midfielder Bryam Rebellon nearly poked one in from the doorstep in traffic, only to see it roll just wide of frame. The last true chance for a game winner in the 85th minute never actually came to be, as Law looked to be slipped behind the STL backline off Powder’s inch-perfect through ball from the midfield stripe, but the Englishman’s 2-v-1 with teammate Raul Aguilera on the CITY netminder was nullified by a bang-bang offside call.
The result brought Indy’s preseason record to 3-1-2 with two more matches to go on its exhibition calendar, both set to take place next weekend against two more MLS-affiliated squads from Chicago Fire SC (closed door exhibition at home on Friday, March 4) and Columbus Crew SC (closed door away affair on Saturday, March 5).
Media outlets seeking to cover exhibition matches during preseason are asked to contact John Koluder in the Indy Eleven Communications Department at jkoluder@indyeleven.com or 317-919-0808 (mobile) for access details, including kickoff times and locations.
2022 Spring Preseason Exhibition
Indy Eleven 1 : 1 St. Louis CITY SC
Friday, February 25, 2022
Grand Park Events Center – Westfield, Ind.
Scoring Summary:
STL –goal 63’
IND – Karl Ouimette (Nicky Law) 68’
Disciplinary Summary:
IND – Mechack Jerome (yellow card) 17’
Indy Eleven lineup (4-4-2): Tim Trilk; Noah Powder, A.J. Cochran Karl Ouimette 63’), Mechack Jerome (Sam Brown 63’) , Alex McQueen (Jared Timmer 63’); Nicky Law, Neveal Hackshaw, Guest MF #1, Justin Ingram (Bryam Rebellon 63’); Aris Briggs (Guest FW #1, 63’), Stefano Pinho (Raul Aguilera 63’)
Indy Eleven 2022 Preseason Exhibition Schedule
Wednesday, Feb. 9 Indy Eleven 7 : 0 Marian University
Saturday, Feb. 12 Indy Eleven 4 : 2 University of Indianapolis
Wednesday, Feb. 16 Indy Eleven 1 : 1 Detroit City FC
Saturday, Feb. 19 Indy Eleven 3 : 0 Sporting Kansas City II
Tuesday, Feb. 22 Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC 2 : 0 Indy Eleven
Friday, Feb. 25 Indy Eleven 1 : 1 St. Louis City SC
Friday, March 4 vs. Chicago Fire FC – CLOSED DOOR
Saturday, March 5 at Columbus Crew – CLOSED DOOR
