US Open Cup: Indy Eleven lose in Penalties to Philadelphia Union in Round of 32
Philly started and ended the match attacking heavily, but Indy was able to bend and not break to keep themselves in the match. Ultimately bringing the match to PKs, where the MLS side would prevail.
Going into this match, there was some optimism from the Indy fans given last year’s run, Philly was starting their 15-year old sensation (Calvan Sullivan), and it was the Open Cup - which means anything can happen.
The Philadelphia Union used it’s own field advantage very early on. Alejandro Bedoya scoring a close range header in the 6th minute to give the MLS side an early lead. Indy’s defense looked a little shell shocked to start the match, but as the Eleven settled in, their possession started to increase. Philly would still get their chances in the first half but was never able to get a great look on target. Indy got themselves a decent chance at the end of the first half when Jack Blake put a solid effort on target.
Then in the second half, Indy came out fast and aggressive. When eventually, Maalique Foster was able to find space (thanks to a Aedan Stanley pass), and find Elvis Amoh in the box for Indy’s equalizer. From there, Indy’s defense would continue to bend and not break while increased the offensive pressure.
After 90 minutes, the score was 1-1 and Indy was still looking for the cupset. In the 30 minutes of Extra-Time, Philly was on the attack nearly the entire time. Putting shot after shot towards a imperviable Reece Charles-Cook. Indy got a few counter attacking chances towards the end of the Extra-Time period, but it was all Philly.
The score remained 1-1 after Extra-Time and we were heading to penalty kicks where Philly would ultimately win 5-4 after Aodhan Quinn’s penalty was saved. Philly is now set to host the Pittsburgh Riverhounds of the USL-Championship in the Round of 16, and Indy heads home after a valiant fight. It wasn’t a good night for the USL/Lower Division teams as the MLS sides was 15/16 matches in the round of 32. Indy will now look to rebound from their earlier than desired exit, and shift focus back onto the USL Cup and USL-Championship play.
Here were some of my takeaway from last nights match:
Indy’s Defense can keep them in matches if they put in the continued effort (look at the Lexington match earlier in the year)
Evlis Amoh, Cam Lindley, and Charles Reece-Cook deserve more starting matches
If they play like they did last night, Indy can turn their season around and get to a Top-4 spot as the Eastern Conference is wide open
Next Match: USL-Championship at Sacramento Republic on May 10th at 10:00pm EST from Heart Health Park in Sacramento, California.
Very unfortunate
Perhaps it's easy to say, but the Indy11 Keeper just looked slow to react and fully commit on the PKs. For most of the Union kicks, he went to the correct direction but was slow & thus not able to intercept the shots. In It would have been better for him to just randomly guess and fully commit, and thus block 1 or 2 of the shots! In contrast, Andrew Rick, the Union GK, was shorter and with less arm length, but with decisiveness able to block one Indy11 shot --and that was all it took!