RECAP | Silverbacks 1, Indy 1

An early goal by Indy Eleven forward Dane Richards stood tall for more than an hour against the Atlanta Silverbacks, but an own goal in the 76th minute when the Boys in Blue were down a man evened the proceedings in an eventual 1-1 draw at Silverbacks Park.

Indy Eleven reversed its troubling trend of going down a goal on Wednesday night against Tampa Bay, but had to wait almost an hour to do so – but that wasn’t the case tonight, as a Silverbacks handball inside the area in the fifth minute resulted in an early opportunity for the visitors.  It was Richards stepping up to take the penalty kick a minute later, and the Jamaican would see his shot go off both hands of diving Atlanta ‘keeper Steward Ceus but still hit the back of the net to give Indy a 1-0 advantage.

Atlanta would test Indy Eleven goalkeeper Kristian Nicht several times in the first half, but the German ‘keeper would answer every time. Nicht’s best stops came via a kick save of former teammate Pedro Mendes’ close-range effort in the 21st minute and his diving effort to tip Junior Burgos’ long-range blast around his right post in the 25th minute. Atlanta’s best chance of the half was one Nicht couldn’t get to in stoppage time, but Jaime Chavez’s free header from 12 yards out bounced wide left, allowing Indy to enter the halftime break with a one-goal advantage.

The second half storyline would be written in a hurry, as Indy Eleven defender Erick Norales saw a straight red card in the 50th minute for pulling down Chavez as he tried to reach a through ball just outside the Eleven penalty area, putting the Eleven down to ten. Five minutes later it appeared the home side had evened up through Chavez, but his header was nullified after the linesman’s flag was raised after Kosuke Kimura couldn’t keep the ball from going over the end line just before he delivered his cross deep into the area.

Indy Eleven managed to keep Atlanta’s attack to mostly long-range efforts until the 76th minute, when it was again Chavez creating havoc with a difficult flick attempt inside the six with Nicht off his line. Indy defenders Marco Franco and Greg Janicki both converged on the loose ball on the goal line, but Franco’s clearance attempt would deflect back off of Janicki and into goal to even things at 1-1.

The teams would be evened up as well one minute after the equalizer, as Atlanta saw its own center back and captain, Simon Mensing, pick up his second yellow card within seven minutes, bringing both teams to 10 men down the stretch. The squads would trade half chances for the duration and settle for their second 1-1 draw at Silverbacks Park this year, following up on their 2015 season opening contest back on April 4.