Ben Speas To Provide Link For Indy Eleven's Attack

Indy Eleven will look very familiar to the side that reached The Championship Final in 2016. The club’s coach, Tim Hankinson, believes the missing pieces from last season are now in place to spark a similar run in 2017.

One of those key additions is midfielder Ben Speas, who scored four times with three assists last year with Minnesota United. Speas, 26, who can play underneath the forwards or out wide, will look to form a quick connection with Eamon Zayed and Justin Braun. Zayed and Braun led the forward line, scoring 15 and eight goals, respectively.

“I saw last year from a far how dangerous they both are, especially together and inside the box,” Speas told NASL.com. “As long as there is good service, those guys are most likely going to get on the end of things. That could lead to success and I’m looking forward to playing with them.”

Speas, of course, is able to find the goal himself. He scored one of the more memorable goals of the season in 2016. But, for Speas, it’s all about contributing to help the team win in any way he can.

“Anyone would want to score goals, but it depends how my role shakes out,” he said. “As long as we’re winning it doesn’t matter who is scoring. If I’m assisting, I’m just as good with that.”

The opportunity to play with Tim Hankinson also played an important role in Speas joining up with the Boys in Blue as well as the team’s style of play.

“Even more so than just the games I played [against Indy last year], I watched all their games and they were very organized,” he said. “I think the one thing Coach Hankinson instills is a way to win and getting results, which they did. It took them all the way to the Final. I think we have a lot of great players and a lot of the core is back. I’m just looking to build off last year and try to win.”

Speas added about Hankinson: “He gets the best out of players and I like the way he goes about it. I’m all ears and I’m excited to work with him.”

Heading into the upcoming campaign, while Speas may add a key ingredient, the new addition believes replicating last year’s formula for the club could be the recipe for success.

“Just exactly what they did – the way they grinded out wins and continued to get results at home,” Speas said. “I don’t know if they can change anything because it ended in a penalty shootout. When that happens, you can’t say necessary one team was better.”