Indy Eleven Falls to FC Edmonton 0-2 at Home

Second Half Tallies by Daryl Fordyce and Sainey Nyassi Sees FCE Snap Indy’s Recent Run of Success at “The Mike”

INDIANAPOLIS (Saturday, September 19, 2015) – After collecting shutout wins the last two times out at IUPUI’s Michael A. Carroll Stadium, Indy Eleven couldn’t duplicate that success tonight against FC Edmonton, falling to an 0-2 defeat in front of 9,840 fans.  Edmonton tallies by Daryl Fordyce and Sainey Nyassi after the break would give the Albertan side enough cushion on the scoreboard thanks to Matt Van Oekel’s three-save clean sheet.

Indy Eleven forward Dane Richards would shoot out of the gate with the game’s first good look just 35 seconds after the opening whistle after getting put into the area on a counter by running mate Wojciech Wojcik, but the Jamaican would push his chance wide of the far left post.

It would be nothing but half chances for either side for the next half hour until the 32^nd minute, when Edmonton midfielder Pablo Cruz got past Indy’s high backline. After drawing Indy Eleven ‘keeper Kristian Nicht off his line Cruz squared for a wide open Dustin Corea, who had trouble adjusting to the bouncing ball and sent a weak attempt goal-bound, allowing Nicht to recover and paw it away for a corner kick.

Cruz created the only other truly dangerous chance for the rest of the half when he crossed into the heart of the area off a short corner in the 44^th minute, but captain Albert Watson would push his header from 10 yards out just wide left.

Wojcik would almost put Indy Eleven up in the 54^th minute when his header off a corner kick missed just high, but it would be Edmonton moving the scoreboard first just a minute later through Fordyce. The FC Edmonton striker accepted midfielder Lance Laing’s cross from the left flank with one touch at the top of the six before going five-hole on Nicht to give the Eddies the 1-0 advantage.  The goal marked the first tally conceded by the “Boys in Blue” at Carroll Stadium in 259 minutes of action dating back to Aug. 8 versus Ottawa Fury FC.

Indy would be the aggressors from there on out as FC Edmonton looked content to absorb its slim advantage. The visitors were able do just that, and do it effectively, limiting Indy’s scoring opportunities to latching onto loose balls on corner kicks. Midfielder Dragan Stojkov’s low chance from 10 yards out in the 58^th minute was grabbed by Van Oekel first, and it would be another 20 minutes until defender Cory Miller’s crashing redirect from near the six yard box in the 77^th flashed wide of the far right post.

FC Edmonton would double its advantage through a pair of substitutes in the 85^th minute, when Ritchie Jones nudged a square ball to the top of the arc for Sainey Nyassi, who finished hard and low past a stranded Nicht to put the score at its final 2-0 margin.  Nyassi could have very well had a second in the final minutes of regulation with Frank Jonke put him behind the Indy backline with a splendid diagonal through ball, but the Gambian forward pushed his attempt wide past an advancing Nicht.

Indy Eleven will enjoy its final bye week of 2015 next weekend before embarking on a two-stop road trip to Florida to take on the Tampa Bay Rowdies on Wednesday, Sept. 30 (televised on ONE World Sports, online in Central Indiana on ONEWorldSports.com), and Jacksonville Armada FC (online on ESPN3.com) three days later on Saturday, Oct. 3.

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.

INDY ELEVEN QUOTE SHEET – HEAD COACH TIM REGAN

On not being able to break through offensively:

“Between their back four and their holding midfielder they were really tight, and that made them very hard to break down. We took some decent service – especially in the first half – where I thought we should have gotten on the end of a couple of them, but to their credit they kept us from being too dangerous.  We hit the post and had a couple of half-chances, but we also created a couple of clear looks on goal that we just didn’t connect on. There was enough there to get a goal.”

On any adjustments made at halftime:

“I think everyone was comfortable at halftime. The defending wasn’t great at the start but it improved throughout the first half. We were organized and kept them from creating anything too dangerous outside of our own giveaways. The idea in attack was simple – to keep pushing, to keep getting service and chances at goals.”

On the debut of midfielder Daniel Cuevas:

“I thought he’d get at their right back and create chances, and I thought he made a couple of good runs in the first half.  He did a good job at finding some open spaces, but he didn’t always get the ball. That’s something to maybe where he hasn’t played with us a lot and the guys weren’t used to where he would find those spaces. He was always going to be limited in the number of minutes he’d be available, but he kept fighting and trying to be dynamic throughout his 60 minutes.”

NASL Fall Season
Indy Eleven  0 : 2  FC Edmonton
Saturday, September 19, 2015
Michael A. Carroll Stadium – Indianapolis, IN
Attendance: 9,840

Indy Eleven:
Fall Season: 3W-3D-8L (12 pts.)
Combined: 6W-7D-11L (25 pts.)

FC Edmonton
Fall Season: 6W-4D-4L (22 pts.)
Combined: 8W-7D-9L (31 pts.)

Scoring Summary:
FCE – Daryl Fordyce (Lance Laing) 55’
FCE – Sainey Nyassi (Ritchie Jones) 85’

Discipline Summary:
FCE – Mallan Roberts (caution) 45’
FCE – Dustin Corea (caution) 47’
IND – Brad Ring (caution) 72’

Indy Eleven line-up (4-4-2):  Kristian Nicht; Kyle Hyland, Erick Norales (capt), Cory Miller, Marco Franco; Daniel Cuevas (Duke Lacroix 56’), Brad Ring, Daniel Keller, Dragan Stojkov (Don Smart 77’); Wojciech Wojcik (Marvin Ceballos 66’), Dane Richards

Indy Bench: Keith Cardona (GK), Greg Janicki, Sergio Peña, Zach Steinberger

FC Edmonton (4-1-4-1): Matt VanOekel; Allan Zebie, Mallan Roberts, Albert Watson (capt), Eddie Edwards (Ritchie Jones 71’); Christian Raudales; Lance Laing, Pablo Cruz (Sainey Nyassi 77’), Dustin Corea, Johann Smith; Daryl Fordyce (Frank Jonke 82’)

Edmonton Bench: Tyson Farago (GK), Marko Aleksic