Indy Eleven Reaped The Rewards Of Sergio Peña's Accuracy From Range In Saturday's Win

Sergio Peña is said to be a man of few words in any language. What the powerful Indy Eleven midfielder from Honduras is not is a man of is few shots from nearly anywhere on the soccer field.

There is no finer, eye-popping example than the strike Peña launched in the waning minutes of Indy’s eventual victory over host San Antonio last Saturday night at Toyota Field.

“At that point, with 3 or 4 minutes left in the game, the honest reaction from the entire coaching staff on the sideline was ‘Noooooo Sergio,’” Indy Eleven coach Juergen Sommer said. “He had a few attempts from distance last week. I’ll say this: He’s a strong player, athletic, with some really long limbs, and when he gets his timing right he can put a lot of energy into that. When it came off his foot it was irresistible. It was the cherry on top of the ice cream.”

On the pivotal play, a long ball out of the back was headed down by Indy substitute Wojciech Wojcik and into the path of Peña. The stout and powerful midfielder took the bouncing ball off his chest, let it bounce once off the grass and then struck a pacey half volley from about 45 yards out.

It was not a long, hopeful pass into the penalty area. It was not merely a speculative effort. It was an act that Sommer and Peña’s teammates have seen all too often during the player’s short tenure with the club.

It was a goal, the one that gave the Eleven a 2-1 victory over the Scorpions, last season’s NASL Champions, to put the visitors into second place with five points - on the fifth tiebreaker, away goals scored, over Atlanta - after the club’s first three matches in the 2015 Spring Season. At the same time, Indy, which appeared headed for its third consecutive 1-1 draw of the season, stretched its unbeaten streak to eight matches over two seasons.

“In flight, I was thinking ‘this thing has a chance’ because he hit it with so much pace and it was dipping,” said Sommer, who looked like a genius when Peña scored only 8 minutes after entering the match. “Obviously, it’s not something we practice a lot, but we know Sergio likes to strike from distance. He really got a hold of the ball. It won us the game. Sometimes you need that from guys to step up and take things upon themselves. We’ve watched the video over and over, and you can see the force he hit it with, and he kept it on frame.”

It is not that San Antonio’s goalkeeper Jon Kempin, 22, who is on loan from Sporting Kansas City of MLS, was out of position. But Peña thought otherwise.

"I did intend to shoot for the goal because the whole game the goalkeeper was out of his frame,” he said. “ I intended to shoot on goal.”

Kempin - called up on Monday to the U.S. Under-23 National Team -  who appeared to be in a good position, might have been wrong-footed as he leaped for the ball, only to see it sail over his head and into the net for the game-winner.

“The ‘keeper was in a good position, but the ball came at him fast,” Sommer said. “We talked about it beforehand, that they had a young ‘keeper on loan from Kansas City who probably had not seen a lot of starts. We probably didn’t make him as nervous as we might have wanted to in the first half.”

San Antonio grabbed the lead early in the second half when Jamaican veteran Omar Cummings beat Indy goalkeeper Kristian Nicht low to the far post for the match’s opening goal. Peña’s teammate and Honduran compatriot, Erick Norales, headed home the equalizer from a free kick in the 64th minute, setting the stage for Peña’s goal – which has an excellent chance of being voted the NASL Play of the Week.

Sommer, who became familiar with various CONCACAF countries, including Honduras, during his years as a goalkeeper for the U.S. Men’s National Team and the 1994 and 1998 World Cup squads as a backup to Tony Meola, Kasey Keller, and Brad Friedel, worked hard to retain the services of Peña, 27. He only joined Indy Eleven on loan last July, playing in 13 of the team’s final 17 matches, from Real Sociedad de Tocoa, near his rural hometown of Zamora, and Sommer worked just as hard to have him for the 2015 season. His loan deal will carry through the NASL season, and Indy Eleven has an option on two additional seasons. Sommer, who has built a relationship with Sociedad, also nabbed Peña’s former teammate Osman Melgares for this season.

 “I think all the fans know I've liked to take long distance shots in my career,” Peña said. “I’ve actually hit longer ones in Honduras.”

Strangely, unknown to Sommer and the club, one of Peña’s sisters has lived in Indianapolis for 14 years.

“It usually takes a while for international players to come in and get comfortable,” Sommer said. “Sergio had never left the country or been on a plane. And the strange thing is that his sister lives here in downtown Indianapolis. She’s a look-alike. It’s an added level of comfort for him. The Sociedad owner told me that he had family in the U.S., maybe even in Indiana. I thought he was crazy or just winding me up to get a deal done.”

Sommer knows that Peña has a habit of trying more than a few shots from distance. When it comes to his defensive midfielder, the Indy coach knows he has got to take the good with the less appealing.

“As long as you can be productive for team’s sake I don’t mind,” Sommer said. “If you get a clean look and can shoot from 45 yards and hit the target it’s a tool I wouldn’t want to take away. There can be a reward from, time to time.”

In this case, it was just in time for Indy Eleven.

The Boys in Blue will play host to the Carolina RailHawks on Saturday, April 25, at Carroll Stadium with kickoff slated for 7:30 p.m. ET.