NASL Indy Eleven

Indy Eleven Stretches Undefeated Streak to Five Games with 2-1 Win over Carolina RailHawks

Published on July 11, 2015 under North American Soccer League (NASL)
Indy Eleven News Release


INDIANAPOLIS (Saturday, July 11, 2015) - In a game full of attacking threats from both sides, Indy Eleven would collect a dramatic 2-1 win over the Carolina RailHawks on the strength of second half goals from Wojciech Wojcik (52') and Erick Norales (54') in front of 9,629 fans at Michael A. Carroll Stadium in Indianapolis. The comeback result pushed Indy Eleven's undefeated streak in NASL play to five games, while snapping the six-game streak of the RailHawks, who went up in the match on a 42nd minute tally by Austin Da Luz.

The "Boys in Blue" - led by assistant coach Kleberson on the night in place of suspended interim head coach Tim Regan - came out with great intensity from the opening kickoff, with a dangerous attack to open up the pressure in the 4th minute. Following a Marco Franco cross that was punched out by Carolina netminder Akira Fitzgerald, forward Charlie Rugg was left in front of an open net. Rugg's resulting shot lacked threatening power, however, and was cleared out of the box by Carolina's Daniel Scott.

Indy Eleven's most promising first half attack would come in the 10th minute when Rugg fired a dipping shot from 20 yards out to Fitzgerald's right. The RailHawks 'keeper would make a phenomenal diving attempt on the ball, parrying it wide to keep the game at level pegging.

Carolina would take their first attempt of the game in the 26th minute - and would very nearly give the game its first goal. Forward Bradlee Baladez corralled an errant Indy Eleven clearance and worked his way back into Indy's penalty area and past goalkeeper Kristian Nicht, but his shot was fired into the outside of the net for a goal kick.

The teams would split possession across the middle of the half, but Indy Eleven's bounty of attacks and lack of goals would come back to haunt it in the 42nd minute when Carolina converted off of a dead ball. Cory Miller was whistled for a jersey tug infraction just outside of the penalty area and Nazmi Albadawi would set up for the RailHawks free kick from 25 yards out. The ball from Albadawi curled over the Indy Eleven defense and found the head of a diving Da Luz, who flicked the ball past Nicht and inside the left post to give Carolina the 1-0 lead at the break.

Indy Eleven was on a mission to get the game back on its side out of the break, and it was evident through the first few minutes of the second half. The home side would level the score in the 52nd minute when a Kyle Hyland cross lofted across the box was headed in by Wojcik at the far right post for his second goal in as many games.

The "Boys in Blue" did not wait long to go back on the attack, scoring again two minutes later through five-time NASL Team of the Week honoree Erick Norales. Victor Pineda's free kick into the box would slip past multiple Carolina defenders to the feet of Norales, who slid behind the backline to tap in from five yards out for his team-high third tally of 2015.

The score was nearly stretched to 3-1 in favor of Indy Eleven in the 70th minute when Wojcik was one-on-one with Fitzgerald. Wojcik played a cross through the legs of Fitzgerald and into the path of midfielder Dylan Mares, but he overran the ball and Carolina would clear the danger. Indy Eleven had an opportunity once again to strengthen their hold of the game in the 75th minute, but Victor Pineda slid his shot off a Duke Lacroix cross past an open right side of goal and the far post.

Carolina would almost draw even in the 80th minute through the same asset that scored their first goal, as Da Luz fired a laser of a shot from 25 yards out, only to see it smack the crossbar and bounce out of the area. Carolina continuously pressured the Indy defense late in the game, but the backline for the "Boys in Blue" held strong to help the team to its first win of the NASL Fall Season over the RailHawks.

Indy Eleven now sits in a four-way log-jam atop the Fall Season standings on four points, but technically sit in fourth place in the early going due to tiebreakers. More importantly, Indy Eleven gained crucial ground in the combined season standings, the fourth-place "Boys in Blue" (4W-5D-3L, 17 pts.) now sitting just one point behind third-place Carolina (18 pts.) and within striking distance of the front-running Tampa Bay Rowdies (22 pts.) and New York Cosmos (21 pts.) - the latter of which will serve as Indy Eleven's next home opponent on Saturday, July 25 at 7:30 p.m. ET during "Christmas in July" Night at "The Mike" (live on WISH-TV8 and ESPN3.com, tickets available at www.IndyEleven.com).

But before that match comes, Indy Eleven will look to extend its undefeated streak to six games when it travels north of the border to the Canadian capital to face Ottawa Fury FC next Sunday, July 19. The 3:00 p.m. ET matinee can be viewed live online via ESPN3.com.

INDY ELEVEN QUOTE SHEET - INDY ELEVEN INTERIM HEAD COACH TIM REGAN

On watching the game from the press box:

"The bird's eye view tonight was great because I didn't have to think as much. I could see everything quite easily, but I couldn't feel out all of the moments on the field. Down on the field it's real and up top it's somewhat fake in a sense that it's like moving chess pieces, but they don't move like that. A different view was good though going into halftime because I had a calmer and clearer view as opposed to the emotion down on the field."

On gaining results versus teams above them in the standings during their five-game unbeaten run:

"It's important [that we get results], but I think this league has shown that when you play every team that they are good. You can go from ninth to fifth or from first to seventh with a couple of results that go the wrong way. It's important to put together the good results, but also knowing that every team in this league is tough to play against."

INDY ELEVEN QUOTE SHEET - INDY ELEVEN ASSISTANT COACH KLEBERSON

On the team's effort tonight:

"The boys did a great job, especially in the first 15 minutes. After that, to start the second half, we took more opportunities and created more chances. We talk so much about them, but they did a great job this week so congratulations to them."

On Indy continuing to create chances in the attacking third:

"Today we created a lot of opportunities. A couple of games ago we didn't have those chances, but now we are creating them. We're continuing to progress with scoring and next time we will score more with patience and opportunities. This team has great quality and I hope they score more goals next game."

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North American Soccer League Stories from July 11, 2015


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