RECAP | Fury FC 4, Indy 2
Ottawa Fury FC took advantage of several opportunities afforded to them by Indy Eleven, capitalizing on three set piece chances en route to a 4-2 victory at TD Place.
Ottawa captain Richie Ryan tallied directly off two of those dead ball opportunities, while defender Rafael Alves opened the scoring on another and Tom Heinemann added a counter-attack strike in the second half, countering goals from Indy Eleven’s Don Smart and Judson McKinney. The result ended Indy Eleven’s undefeated streak at five games, while Ottawa improved its own unbeaten run to eight contests.
Indy Eleven fouls in its own defensive third would be a much more common theme than the visitors had hoped for in the early going, and Ottawa was more than happy to take advantage of the decisions. Fury FC would go on top 12 minutes in when midfielder Sinisa Ubiparipovic looped in a free kick cross towards the far right post, which Alves rose to meet and headed downward past Indy Eleven ‘keeper Kristian Nicht to go ahead early.
Indy Eleven would gain more of a foothold on the match after 20 minutes, and deservedly found an equalizer through Smart in the 33rd minute. The Jamaican midfielder received a ball near the midfield stripe, turned and took 20 yards of space up the middle of the pitch before firing a low shot that skipped inside the left post and past Ottawa’s Romuald Peiser to even things up at 1-1. But Ottawa had an answer through Ryan just two minutes later, as the captain of the Canadian side poked a 22-yard free kick over the Indy Eleven wall and into the right side netting to give Ottawa the lead back at 2-1 almost immediately.
More close chances from Ottawa would be dodged before the two sides headed into the locker rooms for halftime. It was Heinemann stretching the lead to 3-1 for Fury FC in the 56th minute after he raced onto a long clearance at the top of the Ottawa area by Alves, split the Indy Eleven center backs and finished low and left of Nicht. In the 65th minute it was Ryan with a near carbon copy of his first goal, this time stroking a 25-yard free kick into the far upper left corner of goal to put the home side up 4-1.
Ottawa all but effectively killed the game off until the four minutes of stoppage time, when Indy Eleven had two golden chances to tally. The first – a penalty kick set up when Brian Brown was fouled inside the area – was thwarted after Peiser stopped Victor Pineda’s penalty kick attempt up the middle. However, the visitors would press on and get one back in the 92nd minute, when defender Judson McKinney, in his NASL debut, nodded home from five yards out off a corner kick opportunity, set up by Erick Norales’ squared header, to end the scoring. McKinney wasn’t the only member of Indy Eleven to make his debut on the day, as New York Red Bulls loanee Dane Richards got the start in midfield during his first game for the Boys in Blue.
