Six players scored goals Saturday night, but that wasn’t enough to settle the difference between rivals Louisville City FC and Indy Eleven in front of 10,927 at Lynn Family Stadium.
Still, a 3-3 draw extended LouCity’s unbeaten streak to four games and continued a stay near the top of the USL Championship’s Central Division standings with a game in hand.
Midfielder Corben Bone equalized on a 78th-minute flick in off a cross from forward Brian Ownby, the final goal in a back-and-forth game — but also the only one scored in the second half.
“We needed to do better in the first half specifically defending in advance,” said head coach Danny Cruz. “That was the biggest thing. We adjusted at half, and I thought our center backs did a much better job in the second half. We scored three goals again — happy about that, so certainly a lot of positives.
“I’m still proud of the group. I’m certainly not mad, but I’m frustrated that we didn’t win on a night that I felt, especially in that second half, we deserved to.”
Indy Eleven twice matched LouCity in the opening 45 minutes. First, the visitors responded with a goal three minutes after Paolo DelPiccolo finished another Ownby assist in the sixth, then again six minutes after Jonathan Gomez rejiggered a long-distance goal in the 14th.
Though Manuel Arteaga moved Indy ahead just before the half, the tying strike seemed on its way over a final 45 when LouCity out-shot Indy 9-2 and tried 26 crosses to the Eleven’s 2. The assault continued after Bone tapped in his goal, then offered a signature point toward the assist man Ownby.
Then the final whistle blew, aptly, with Indy in its own half and LouCity continuing to press.
“It’s important to get the point,” Bone said. “You know you never want to lose at home. You never want to drop points…Thought it was a bit better in the second half. We defended much better and the attacking was a bit more fluid to get a goal there and tie it up.”
Indy returned to Lynn Family Stadium after the first meeting of Louisville Indianapolis Proximity Association Football Contest foes in which it escaped with a 2-1 victory, converting a pair of second half penalty kicks back on May 29. That was a defensive aberration as much as Saturday, with coach Danny Cruz saying LouCity wasn’t broken down so much as guilty of individual mistakes leading to goals.
“We’re causing our own problems right now, so we need to obviously look at that and continuously try to improve,” Cruz said. “It’d be easy for heads to go down eighty minutes into the game, but I was really proud of the group and the fight. Thought we were going to win the game. Told them at halftime that if we got the next goal, I felt we were going to win.
“I was proud that they took the messaging at half and they implemented, but ultimately feels like a loss for sure.”
Perhaps, too, the boys in purple were unlucky not to have received a penalty try of their own. In first half stoppage time, Ownby went down in the box as Indy goalkeeper Robert Edwards came off his line to lunge for the ball. Late in the second half, Gomez also hit the turf after a push on his run past a defender at the end line.
At those moments, 10,000-plus sounded like much more on an evening that served as a celebration beyond a game that could have kept a neutral fan’s attention with the best of them. LouCity hosted Pride Night in recognition that Lynn Family Stadium is a space for all to be their true selves.
With the boys in purple now 5-2-2 on the season, they next travel for a Friday meeting with Central Division side Sporting KC II.
Game Summary: Louisville City FC vs. Indy Eleven
Venue: Lynn Family Stadium
Kickoff: 7:30 p.m.
Weather: 85 degrees, mostly cloudy
Man of the Match:
Attendance: 10,927
Scoring
Louisville City FC (2, 1, 3)
Indy Eleven (3, 0, 3)
Goals
Louisville City FC:
6’ Paolo DelPiccolo (assisted by Brian Ownby)
14’ Jonathan Gomez
78’ Corben Bone (assisted by Brian Ownby)
Indy Eleven:
9’ Cammy Smith (assisted by Neveal Hackshaw)
20’ Neveal Hackshaw (assisted by Nick Moon)
41’ Manuel Arteaga (assisted by Cammy Smith)
Stats Summary: Louisville City FC / Indy Eleven
Shots: 15 / 8
Shots on Goal: 5 / 4
Fouls: 13 / 9
Offside: 4 / 3
Corner Kicks: 6 / 2
Saves: 0 / 2
Lineups
Louisville City FC: 1 – Chris Hubbard, 8 – Akil Watts (46’ 15 – Patrick McMahon), 4 – Sean Totsch, 6 – Wesley Charpie, 11 – Niall McCabe (69’ 29 – Antoine Hoppenot), 36 – Paolo DelPiccolo (68’ 7 – Napo Matsoso), 13 – Corben Bone, 12 – Tyler Gibson, 42 – Jonathan Gomez, 10 – Brian Ownby, 21 – Kyle Greig
Subs not used: 24 – Parker Siegfried, 3 – Alexis Souahy, 22 – George Davis IV, 20 – Jimmy McLaughlin
Indy Eleven: 26 – Bobby Edwards, 20 – Karl Quimette, 3 – AJ Cochran, 15 – Neveal Hackshaw, 17 – Nick Moon (86’ 19 – Rece Buckmaster), 5 – Jared Timmer, 7 – Ayoze (62’ 98 – Peter Vassell), 8 – Cammy Smith, 27 – Nicky Law (71’ 28 – Gershon Koffie), 10 – Gordon Wild (71’ 2 – Patrick Seagrist), 29 – Manuel Arteaga (62’ 22 – Jordan Hamilton)
Subs not used: 13 – Eric Dick, 6 – Jeremiah Gutjahr
Discipline Summary
Louisville City: Corben Bone (yellow) 32’
Indy Eleven: Cammy Smith (yellow) 33’
Louisville City: Antoine Hoppenot (yellow) 70’
Indy Eleven: Peter-Lee Vassell (yellow) 74’
Referee: Gabriele Giusti
Assistant Referees: Chris Shurfranz & Christopher Slane
Fourth Official: Michael Samour
