RECAP | Rowdies 1, Indy 1

Countering a deficit and commandeering the tempo late, Indy Eleven opened a two-game stretch in the Sunshine State with a 1-1 draw against the Tampa Bay Rowdies at Al Lang Stadium in St. Petersburg, Florida.  
 
Attacking after facing their first and only deficit of the night, Indy midfielder Duke Lacroix approached the Rowdies box and drew a foul just outside the 18-yard box to set up a critical free kick. Capturing a bouncing ball that hit the defensive wall, Eleven defender Jaime Frias capitalized on the traffic in front of the net to tally his first strike of the season in the 67th minute.
 
With the equalizer, Frias became the 14th man wearing checkers to score during the 2015 NASL campaign, the most in the league.
 
Rowdies forward Long Tan opened the scoring in the 63rd minute from Freddy Adu's corner, capitalizing on set-piece miscommunication to best Eleven goalkeeper Keith Cardona and volley home from six yards out to put Indy in a 1-0 hole.
 
Indy Eleven withstood Tampa’s early attack and countered in the 13th mnute when midfielder Dylan Mares saw a low strike beat Rowdies 'keeper Matt Pickens, but it ricocheted off the left post and back into traffic.
 
With the score still nodded at zeroes, Rowdies mid Richard Menjivar grabbed Steinberger as he cleared the center circle, drawing the Rowdies second yellow card of the half. While Indy was kept on their heels and drew 44% possession through 45 minutes, the Eleven made the most of their possession attacking eight times and posting four shots on target in the first half.
 
Despite the Boys in Blue being forced to dig in their heels to start the second half, Indy once again countered with a quality chance. Streaking down the left side of the pitch, Lacroix fed a first-time cross towards the net and trapped Pickens in no-mans-land, but forward Brian Brown couldn't reach the rolling feed to deliver Indy a lead.
 
Following the trading of goals by Tan and Frias four minutes apart in the middle of the half, the best look for either side down the stretch came in the 90th minute when Indy Eleven right winger Don Smart had space in the right side of the area, but Pickens cut off the angle and went low to block the shot out for a corner.