Jaime Frias Goal Earns Indy Eleven Precious Road Point
October 2, 2015 - North American Soccer League (NASL)
Indy Eleven News Release
ST. PETERSBURG, FL (Wednesday, September 30, 2015) - Countering a deficit and commandeering the tempo late, Indy Eleven opened a two game stretch in the Sunshine State with a 1-1 draw against the Tampa Bay Rowdies at Al Lang Stadium in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Attacking after facing their first and only deficit of the night, Indy midfielder Duke Lacroix approached the Rowdies box and drew a foul just outside the 18-yard box to set up a critical free kick. Capturing a bouncing ball that hit the defensive wall, Eleven defender Jaime Frias capitalized on the traffic in front of the net to tally his first strike of the season in the 67th minute.
With the equalizer, Frias became the 14th man wearing checkers to score during the 2015 NASL campaign, the most in the league.
Rowdies forward Long Tan opened the scoring in the 63rd minute prior, capitalizing on set piece miscommunication to best Eleven goalkeeper Keith Cardona and volley home from six yards out to put Indy in a 1-0 hole.
Indy Eleven withstood Tampa's early attack and countered at the 13', when midfielder Dylan Mares saw a low strike beat Rowdies netminder Matt Pickens but ricochet off the left post and back into traffic.
Returning to the starting lineup after not seeing action last time out, Eleven midfielder and Butler University product Zach Steinberger found paydirt in the 38th minute after recovering his own deflected pass, but said pass was deemed offside, nullifying the apparent score.
With the score still nodded at zeroes, Rowdies mid Richard Menjivar grabbed Steinberger as he cleared the center circle, drawing the Rowdies second yellow card of the half. While Indy was kept on their heels and drew 44% possession through 45 minutes, the Eleven made the most of their possession attacking eight times and posting four shots on target in the first half.
Despite the "Boys in Blue" being forced to dig in their heels to start the second half, Indy once again countered with a quality chance. Streaking down the left side of the pitch, Lacroix fed a first-time cross towards the net and trapped Pickens in no-mans-land, but forward Brian Brown reach the rolling feed to deliver Indy a lead.
Following the trading of goals by Tan and Frias four minutes apart in the middle of the half, the best look for either side down the stretch came in the 90th minute when Indy Eleven right winger Don Smart had space in the right side of the area, but Pickens cut off the angle and went low to block the shot out for a corner.
Despite technically holding 11th place in the NASL's Combined Season standings, tonight's road point actually pulled Indy Eleven into a four-way tie for eighth place on the table with five games to go in the season.
The "Boys in Blue" will continue their Sunshine State swing this Saturday, Oct. 3, when they travel to Jacksonville to take on the expansion Armada FC. Kickoff from Community First Park in Jacksonville for the NASL's first game of the final month of regular season contests is set for 7:30 p.m. and can be seen online via ESPN3 and the Watch ESPN app.
Indy Eleven will begin its final homestand of the season - a three-game run on consecutive Saturdays - on Saturday, October 10, when it welcomes the San Antonio Scorpions to Carroll Stadium for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff.
Tickets for the match starting at just $10 are available at www.IndyEleven.com, while a special "Inside the Front Office" seminar package - including a Sideline or East Goal Bottom section ticket and access to a two-hour pre-game Q&A/networking session with nine Indianapolis sports executives - are available for $25 at http://frontoffice.indyeleven.com.
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North American Soccer League Stories from October 2, 2015
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- Match Notes: San Antonio Scorpions vs Fort Lauderdale Strikers: October 3, 2015 - San Antonio Scorpions
- Silverbacks Surge into Empire State to Face Cosmos - Atlanta Silverbacks
- Jaime Frias Goal Earns Indy Eleven Precious Road Point - Indy Eleven
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