Boys in Blue Look to Close Home Slate Out Strong Against Battery
#INDvCHS Preview
Indy Eleven vs. Charleston Battery
Saturday, October 8, 2022 – 7:00 p.m. ET
IUPUI Michael A. Carroll Stadium – Indianapolis, Ind.
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2022 USL CHAMPIONSHIP REGULAR SEASON RECORDS
Indy Eleven: 11W-16L-5D (-15 GD), 38 pts.; 9th in Eastern Conference
Charleston Battery: 6W-20L-6D (-33 GD), 24 pts.; 12th in Eastern Conference
COMMUNITY HEALTH NETWORK SPORTS MEDICINE INDY ELEVEN INJURY REPORT
OUT: FW Aris Briggs (shin), MF Sam Brown (concussion), MF Justin Ingram (hamstring), GK Bryan Meredith (R finger)
QUESTIONABLE: none
SUSPENDED:
IND: none
CHS: DF Preston Kilwein (caution accumulation)
** ** Jesus Vazquez and Manuel Arteaga will receive a one-game suspension from the USL Championship due to caution accumulation (8th caution of season) should either see a yellow card in Saturday’s match
NATIONAL TEAM DUTY:
none
Indy Eleven will end its 2022 campaign with two games in a five-day span through midweek next week, starting with Saturday’s home finale against the Charleston Battery.
While the stretch drive of the season has been largely successful for the Boys in Blue – especially at home – last Saturday’s 2-4 defeat to FC Tulsa at Carroll Stadium temporarily tore down the defenses of what had again become a fortress for Mark Lowry’s team after four straight wins at the venue. An 8W-6L-2D overall record at home this season has put off mostly good vibes, and the impetus this weekend for the squad falls on leaving the Eleven faithful with a good impression of what could come at Carroll Stadium in 2023.
Lowry will have some limitations in his squad in midfield, as both Justin Ingram and Sam Brown have been ruled out due injury. While the veteran trio of Ayoze, Neveal Hackshaw, and Bryam Rebellon will of course be ready and more than able to cover things in their absence, seeing some different options would not be surprising as now’s the time to see what you have leading into next season.
Defensively it’s been “feast or famine” for Indy Eleven in its last six games, as Indiana’s Team has collected three shutouts while allowing an average of four goals in its other three contests. With goalkeeper Sean Lewis returning from an injury spell of his own to start full training in the last week, don’t be surprised if Lowry decides to get one more look in the next week at the veteran netminder, who has been limited to four games since joining midseason from Tulsa.
For Charleston, the season has been a learning curve exercise under new head coach Conor Casey, who took over the reins from longtime skipper Mike Anhaeuser last December. The Battery’s 2W-14L-3D start to the season created a hole it couldn’t climb out of, and while a 4W-3L-3D stretch through the summer provided a glimpse of a turnaround, things have gotten rough down the final stretch. A 3-6 loss at Hartford last Saturday followed convincing shutout defeats to Rio Grande Valley (0-3) and at Memphis 901 FC (0-5) in the weeks prior, showing there’s more work to be done – especially on the road, where the squad has gone just 1W-10L-5D.
That’s not to say there hasn’t been some bright spots, and that starts with the impressive output of Sierra Leone international Augustine Williams, whose 15 goals place him tied for sixth in the Championship’s Golden Boot race and account for nearly 40% of the Battery’s 39 goals on the season (ranked 22nd, just ahead of Indy’s 36 tallies). In addition, three players have tallied at least four helpers on the season – Robbie Crawford (5), Andrew Booth (4), and Romario Piggott (4) – providing some playmaking depth from spots around the midfield.
In defense, Charleston will have to do without the services of the suspended Preston Kilwein, whose 27 starts are second behind only Williams’ 29 on the season. That will do damage to the consistency of a unit whose 72 goals allowed ranks as the third-highest in the USLC, and possibly extend an already leaky stretch of play in recent weeks. Like Indy, Charleston’s had to take a “goalkeeper by committee approach, with Hugo Fauroux (21 appearances, 45 GA, 63.1 save %, 77 saves ranks 6th in USLC) getting the bulk of the action between the posts.
LAST TIME OUT
Indy Eleven 2 : 4 FC Tulsa
Saturday, Oct. 1 | Recap & Highlights | Stats
Indy Eleven saw its four-game home winning streak end last weekend at Carroll Stadium, where an Ayoze brace wasn’t enough to thwart FC Tulsa in a 4-2 defeat. The goals by the Eleven captain weren’t enough to stop a Tulsa barrage led by Luca Sowinski’s hat trick.
The match started quickly, and Sowinski’s opener in the 17th minute was quickly countered by Ayoze’s low, swerving free kick around the Tulsa wall just four minutes later. Tulsa would regain the lead late in first half stoppage time when Dario Suarez drew a penalty kick opportunity to took himself, and while Eleven goalkeeper Tim Trilk got a foot to the chance he couldn’t keep it out, allowing the visitors to take the 2-1 lead into halftime.
Sowinski was at it again just three minutes after the interval, running onto Rodrigo da Costa’s through ball into the area to finish 1-v-1 on Trilk, pushing the lead to 3-1. The Eleven countered quickly once again, this time through a penalty kick of its own that Solomon Asante drew, with Ayoze again doing the honors to bring the deficit back to one at 3-2. However, the 18-year-old Sowinski capped his banner night – and his hat trick – with Tulsa’s insurance goal in the 62nd minute, another near post finish putting the proceedings out of reach for the Boys in Blue.
Scoring Summary:
TUL— Luca Sowinski (Sean McFarlane) 17′
IND— Ayoze (unassisted) 24′
TUL— Dario Suarez (penalty kick) 50+’
TUL— Luca Sowinski (Rodrigo da Costa) 48’
IND— Ayoze (penalty kick) 54’
TUL— Luca Sowinski (Dario Suarez) 62’
Indy Eleven lineup (4-4-2): Tim Trilk; Robby Dambrot, Mechack Jerome (A.J. Cochan 70’), Jesus Vazquez, Jared Timmer (Wilfredo Rivera 58’); Ayoze (captain) (Raul Aguilera 70’), Neveal Hackshaw (Sam Brown 70’), Juan Tejada (Manuel Arteaga 58’), Bryam Rebellon; Stefano Pinho, Solomon Asante
IND substitutes: Hayden Vostal (GK), Alexander McQueen
Hartford Athletic 6 : 3 Charleston Battery
Saturday, Oct. 1 | Stats & Highlights
The nine-goal scoring fest in Connecticut last weekend was closer than the scoreline appeared, as Charleston roared back after going down 3-0 at the half following goals by Ariel Martinez (10’), Andre Lewis (13’), and Juan Carlos Obregon Jr. (46+’).
Andrew Booth and Aidan Apodaca got the Battery back in it with back-to-back tallies in the 51st and 53rd minutes, only to see Hartford punch back through Lewis’ second in the 57th minute to make it 4-2 Hartford. Charleston again got the deficit to one strike via Augustine Williams’ 15th goal of the campaign in the 79th minute, but Lewis finished his hat trick from the spot in the 87th minute and Martinez tacked on one more in the 90th to cap off an active affair at Trinity Health Stadium.
Battery lineup (3-4-3): Daniel Kuzemka; A.J. Patterson, Leland Archer, Mathew Sheldon (Preston Kilwein 45’); Charlie Asensio (Avionne Flanagan 71’), Romario Piggott (Fidel Barajas 71’), Enock Kwakwa, Dionysius Harmon; Andrew Booth, Mauro Cichero (Augustine Williams 45’), Aidan Apodaca
IXI SERIES vs. CHARLESTON
USLC regular season record: 2W-2L-1D (9 GF/9 GA)
USLC reg. season home: 1W-0L-1D (4 GF/3 GA)
USLC reg. season away: 1W-2L-0D (5 GF/6 GA)
Indy Eleven enters the weekend looking to take the lead in the dead even series against Charleston Battery, as each side has collected a 2W-2L-1D record and scored nine times in their five meetings since 2018. After a two-and-a-half-year hiatus due to COVID scheduling kinks, the squads rekindled their series in South Carolina back on June 4, when Manuel Arteaga’s historic first-half hat trick along with a Stefano Pinho finish staked the Boys in Blue out to an insurmountable lead, although the Battery fought back to make a nervy finish out of the 4-3 victory for Indy.
Indiana’s Team is undefeated in two meetings in the Circle City against Charleston. The series began with one of Indy’s more memorable games during its Lucas Oil Stadium era on May 30, 2018, in a match that saw Ayoze equalize and give the Eleven the lead with two goals after the 85th minute, only to see the Battery bite back in stoppage time in a 3-3 draw. The 2019 season saw the Boys in Blue capture the full the three points courtesy of Tyler Pasher’s 84th minute goal in a 1-0 win at LOS on May 18.
#INDvCHS FAMILIAR FACES: A pair of Boys in Blue have ties to the Battery, most notably midfielder Neveal Hackshaw, who collected a goal and four assists across 82 appearances with the Palmetto State side from 2016-18 during his first three seasons in the USL Championship. Meanwhile, defender A.J. Cochran donned the black-and-yellow of Charleston twice during a brief loan stint from the Houston Dynamo back in 2015. No current member of the Battery has suited up for Indiana’s Team in the past.
There are a few sets of international teammates between the two squads both past & present:
- Grenada: Alex McQueen (IND), A.J. Patterson (CHS) & Benjamin Ettienne (CHS)
- Trinidad & Tobago: Neveal Hackshaw (IND) & Leland Archer (CHS)
- Sierra Leone: Rodney Michael (IND) & Augustine Williams (CHS)
- Ghana: Solomon Asante (IND) & Dominic Oduro (CHS) we’re both capped for the Black Stars back in 2012
ELEVEN PLAYER TO WATCH: FW STEFANO PINHO
With the struggles of the Charleston defense in recent weeks, we’ll play the obvious angle for a striker to stand out on Saturday night – and for most of the season, the go-to man in that department has been Pinho.
Similar to Dane Kelly’s 10 goals scored in 2019, Pinho’s 10-goal haul has seemingly been quiet, despite it being one of only eight double-digit single-season scoring performances in club history. The Brazilian’s renaissance season has not gone unnoticed, however, and another tally would make him just the fourth player to score at least 11 goals in a campaign, putting him alongside Eamon Zayed (2016 & ’17) and Tyler Pasher (2019) in such rarified air.
Just as important as the goal-scoring has been Pinho’s tone-setting, as Mark Lowry speaks as often as possible about how important the forward’s work-rate has been on both sides of the ball. With that, concentrate on Pinho just a little bit more on Saturday to appreciate the little things that may go unnoticed … and if you can’t see him through the smoke once or twice, well, enjoy those moments too.
