RECAP | Silverbacks 1, Eleven 0
Former Indy Eleven forward Pedro Mendes exacted revenge against his former squad on Saturday night, as the Brazilian’s 15th minute goal would be enough to give the Atlanta Silverbacks a 1-0 win in front of 9,632 fans at IUPUI’S Carroll Stadium.
After holding the majority of the possession over the course of the opening quarter of an hour, the home side fell behind in the 15th minute when former Indy man Pedro Mendes reaped the benefits of a slotted pass from fellow forward Jaime Chavez by placing a shot into the back of the net past Indy goalkeeper Kristian Nicht to give the visitors an early 1-0 lead.
Indy Eleven dialed up multiple attacking numbers in the ensuing minutes, with a four-shot possession in the 17th minute through Dane Richards, Victor Pineda—who had two attempts on goal—and Kyle Hyland going for naut followed by a 19th minute set-piece opportunity which striker Brian Brown headed on frame. The Atlanta defense, anchored by goalkeeper Stewart Ceus - who acrobatically made a diving stop of Brown’s effort - would hold their own, keeping a stronghold on the game and its score line as they took a 1-0 lead into halftime.
The Boys in Blue came out of the break desperately searching for the equalizer and would nearly find it in the 53rd minute when Dane Richards used his pace and footwork to drive the ball from the midfield stripe past three defenders and into the Atlanta penalty area before his final touch took him too far. Haitian international Ceus cut off Richards’ low shot and ended the attack well.
Another golden opportunity came in the 67th minute when a shot by midfielder Dragan Stojkov from just outside the area was fired just past the left post. The play was started some quick passing from Hyland and second-half substitute Wojciech Wojcik.
Another opportunity for Stojkov would arrive in the 75th minute when a lengthy attacking possession opened up another chance for the Macedonian youth international, but his 20-yard attempt jumped up on him early and sailed over the crossbar.
Defender Kyle Hyland would be the next to tally a dangerous look at goal, as he broke through Atlanta’s defense in the 76th minute and put a quick low shot in the direction of the goal, but Ceus’ fingertips pushed the ball outside of the post and out of bounds for a corner.
As the game hit the final five minutes, Indy continued their push to draw level with a Richards chance in the 85th minute. Richards made a quick turn and tried to bend in a shot to the far post, but the attempt was just inches wide of both the post and the outstretched legs of Wojcik.
Atlanta would effectively kill off the remainder of Indy’s attack to earn their third win of the fall campaign while Indy suffered just their second home loss of 2015. It was the first time Indy had been held scoreless at home since September 27th of last season vs. Carolina.
