The unbeaten run has ended, as RIFC fell at Indy Eleven 1-0 on Wednesday night. It was a disappointing result and an even more disappointing performance. The loss keeps us in the 8th and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. A win would have pushed us closer to 4th and a coveted home playoff game. This is the first loss of the blog era here at Tide Talk and it just feels strange. While I’m eager to air my grievances on this performance, let’s first look at what actually happened.

Indy Eleven started out on the front foot in this one with a lot of the early action taking place in our half of the field. If I can find any positives for us early on, Jackson Lee did make a good reaction save in the 10th minute off of a deflected shot but there wasn’t really anything else to be happy about. Indy Eleven midfielder Cam Lindley would then come off in the 15th minute after a collision with Marc Ybarra. Lindley was one of the players I pointed out in the Prematch Lookout as someone to watch out for. When I saw him coming off, I thought it would have a negative impact for Indy Eleven but unfortunately it really didn’t. We did have our best chance of the half just a couple minutes later though. Joe Brito played a ball in from the right that Mark Doyle got a touch to but Indy Eleven goalkeeper Hunter Sulte was able to dive to his right and keep it out after the ball touched off the post.

The first half would continue with Indy Eleven on top and they had a good chance in the 22nd minute. Midfielder Laurence Wootton, who had come on for Lindley, had a shot go just over the bar and onto the top of the net after the ball fell to him right on the edge of the 18. Wootton had scored against us previously, getting the first goal for Indy Eleven in our last meeting. The breakthrough for our opponents would come in the 34th minute via Sebastian Guenzatti. It started with a throw in into the box from the right that Wootton would get to first. He then played a pass towards the middle of the box and Guenzatti would smash it in on a volley from just right of the penalty spot. It was a great strike but we were also too late to react defensively off of the throw in.

The game would go into the half 1-0 and we would start the 2nd half even worse than the 1st. We had so many misplaced passes and really failed to create any decent chances for a while. There was a good chance in the 76th minute when Frank Nordarse was first to a ball swung in from a corner. His header went low and to goalkeeper’s right, but Sulte was able to dive and keep it out. As the 2nd half went on, we brought on more of our normal starters. It ended up being too little, too late though. Clay Holstad in particular looked good but wasn’t able to have the impact he would have wanted. This was a game that was screaming out for an Isaac Angking late appearance but he didn’t travel with the team after suffering an injury against Detroit City last time out. As for Indy Eleven, they would threaten our goal a few times throughout the 2nd half but weren’t able to convert any of their chances. It wouldn’t matter though, as we were so poor that the one goal was all Indy Eleven needed to get the 3 points.

Now we’ve come to the time where I can air my grievances about this game. The biggest issue I had is how we set up. We kept the 3-5-2 shape but rotated the squad to look something like this:

As you can see, we made 6 changes from our usual starting 11. Lee, Alves, Smith, McGlynn, Brito and Doyle were all handed starts. If you read the Prematch Lookout, you would know that I was completely wrong on how we would set up in this one. I thought we would maybe see only one change because our tendency this season has been to stick with our usual starters and manage minutes by subbing them off early when need be.

Although the whole team didn’t play well, I think it’s worth going over those 6 players and their performances on the night. Jackson Lee had an ok game in goal and made a couple decent saves. His distribution was lacking however, and any time we played out from the back it really didn’t work. The backline didn’t always help him there either though. As for Gabi Alves and Collin Smith, they can be grouped together. Both wingbacks failed to make an impact and were very rarely able to get forward. This may have been due to Indy Eleven’s set up, as their wide players were able to pin us back often. It felt like Alves barely ever touched the ball and whenever Smith got the ball in the attacking half, it seemed to always result in turning the ball over. I don’t have anything to say about Conor McGlynn other than that he was ok in midfield but didn’t make much of an impact. Joe Brito had a poor game and wasn’t able to create much going forward other than the chance for Doyle in the first half. He struggled to keep the ball, which was a problem for the squad as a whole. Lastly, Mark Doyle probably had the best performance out of the 6, but that isn’t saying much. Doyle was there in the box to try to get on the end of things and get his patented scrappy goal. But his overall performance highlighted what we miss when Albert Dikwa is not on the field in regards to his play off the ball.

I’m going to borrow a phrase that we’ve heard several times on the Quahog Corner: we didn’t play to win the game. I understand that the players are human and need to be given a break, especially with the Hartford game coming up on Saturday (more on that in the upcoming Prematch Lookout). But I don’t think making 6 changes was worth it. As I said at the start of this blog, a win would have gotten us closer to the top 4. Looking at the standings, Louisville, Charleston and Tampa Bay are too far away from us in the top 3. But Indy, Birmingham, Detroit and Loudoun are all teams that we should have a chance of competing with for that 4th spot. There’s still a long way to go this season but a win here would have really cemented us as real competition for 4th. This loss just feels like a step back.

It’ll be interesting to see how the team responds on Saturday. You have to expect that we will go back the the 11 that has been working so well for us. And we have to hope that this loss doesn’t kill the momentum that we’ve had going for the last 2 months. That will be up to the leaders on the team.

Before I go, I have to mention that despite the poor performance and result, the watch party at Providence Brewing was a great time. Most of us at Tide Talk were able to make it and Amos Shapiro-Thompson also made an appearance, as it was the location of the team watch party as well. Matt and Ryan once again did great with the live show and I look forward to many of these to come. Also, be sure to check out my friend Timmy’s Player Ratings for this one. We’ve all been working hard here at Tide Talk with these 3 Saturday, Wednesday, Saturday games and appreciate your support. All I have left to say now is UP THE TIDE!