INDIANAPOLIS (June 10, 2017) – On a difficult night at “The Mike,” Indy Eleven fell 4-1 to Jacksonville Armada FC despite a goal from forward Eamon Zayed.

Firing from the opening minute, Indy came close on two occasions through Zayed. Through a couple of excellent deliveries from Don Smart, Zayed was able to win a pair of corner kicks but could not find an opening goal. However, the tide turned on “Indiana’s Team” in the fourth minute when Jacksonville was awarded a penalty. With Jack Blake stepping up, Indy goalkeeper Jon Busch was able to get a palm on the first effort but couldn’t prevent Blake from slamming home the rebound to open the scoring.

As Indy fought their way back in, an equalizer would come in the form of an Eamon Zayed header in the 10^th minute. Winning a corner, defender Nemanja Vukovic swing in a curling ball with his left foot that the Irishman got a solid head on and directed off the underside of the crossbar and in. The two sides traded opportunities as the first half wore on, but Jacksonville would find their second of the match in the 41^st minute, this time from J.C. Banks. Then, as the halftime whistle was approaching, an altercation between Jacksonville’s Blake and Indy’s Lovel Palmer led to a yellow being shown to the visiting player and a straight red card to the Jamaican defender, dropping Indy to ten men.

After the break, Jacksonville struck just five minutes into the half, again at the feet of J.C. Banks to separate the pair and extend Armada FC’s lead to two goals. Indy would continue their press on the Jacksonville defense and created a number of chances but just couldn’t beat Patterson-Sewell to pull one back. In the 60^th minute, Jacksonville would add a fourth through Derek Gebhard off a Jemal Johnson cross to complete their final move.

Indy would receive a boost in the 67^th minute when Jacksonville ‘keeper Patterson-Sewell was judged to have intentionally handled the ball outside the box and was shown a straight red card as a result, bringing the match to 10v10. From that point on, the “Boys in Blue” would pelt shots at the substitute netminder Kyle Nasta, forcing four saves in just over twenty minutes of play only for the replacement to equal every effort until the fulltime whistle blew.

Speaking on the match, Indy Eleven captain Colin Falvey touched on the necessity of three points next weekend.

“We’ve never been in a position like this and it’s been a long time in my own career since a team I’ve been on has been in a rut like this. The only way you can put things right like this is to get back to training early in the week and do everything you can,” said Falvey. “You can’t get out unless you put the work in. It won’t change for us until we find a way to win.”

In a similar fashion, forward and goalscorer Eamon Zayed shared his sentiments on moving forward as a group.

“Times are tough at the moment and we’ve never faced something like this since I’ve been there. Things definitely aren’t going our way right now with the sending off and the penalty, but we can’t blame the officials and feel sorry for ourselves,” he said. “The only people who can change this is ourselves and the coach. It’s up to us to roll up our sleeves. We’re better than this – we know we are and the fans know we are. I still believe and I hope our fans still believe as well.”

Indy Eleven returns home to IUPUI’s Michael A. Carroll Stadium to host North Carolina FC on Saturday, June 17 at 7:30 P.M. ET. Tickets for the game – and all remaining 11+ NASL matches at “The Mike” in 2017 – can be purchased for as little as $11 online at www.IndyEleven.com or by phone at 317-685-1100. 

NASL Spring Season
Indy Eleven 1 : 4 Jacksonville Armada FC
Saturday, June 10, 2017
Carroll Stadium – Indianapolis, IN
 
Scoring Summary:
JAX – Jack Blake (p) 4’
IND – Eamon Zayed (Nemanja Vukovic) 10’
JAX – J.C. Banks 41’
JAX – J.C. Banks 50’
JAX – Derek Gebhard 60’
 
Discipline Summary:
IND – Marco Franco 29’
IND – Brad Ring 48’
JAX – J.C. Banks 45+2’
IND – Lovel Palmer 45+2’ (RED)
JAX – Zack Steinberger 57’
JAX – Caleb Patterson-Sewell 67’ (RED)
JAX – Aaron Pitchkolan 80’

 
Indy Eleven line-up (4-4-2, L-->R):  Jon Busch (GK); Nemanja Vukovic, Colin Falvey ©, Lovel Palmer, Marco Franco; Daniel Keller, Brad Ring, Tanner Thompson (Sinisa Ubiparipovic 45+2’), Don Smart (Jason Plumhoff 63’); Eamon Zayed (David Goldsmith 75’), Ben Speas

IND bench: Keith Cardona (GK); Christian Lomeli, Anthony Manning, Adrian Ables

Jacksonville Armada FC line-up (4-3-3, L->R): Caleb Patterson-Sewell (GK) (Kyle Nasta 69’); Kalen Ryden, Aaron Pitchkolan, Mechack Jerome, Drew Beckie; Nicklas Maripuu, Zack Steinberger, Jack Blake; Jemal Johnson, Derek Gebhard (Jonathan Glenn 82’), J.C. Banks (Charles Eloundou 65’)

JAX bench: Peabo Doue, Jonathan Glenn, Devon Fisher, Bryam Rebellon