Indy Adds Versatile Signings

Indy Eleven announced today the signing of midfielder Jason Plumhoff and defender Brandon Poltronieri, with both players eligible to face FC Edmonton this weekend. Per club policy, details of the contract will not be released.

A German youth product, Plumhoff earned his stripes playing in the Bayern Munich youth system before swapping shirts to the SpVgg Unterhaching youth system. Relocating to Maryland, Plumhoff was a four-year player at La Salle University, where he was named Atlantic 10 Conference Offensive Player of the Year, Philadelphia Soccer 6 Player of the year, and was named to the NSCAA All-Region First Team in 2013.

Plumhoff signed his first professional contract with Harrisburg City Islanders (USL) in 2015 and led the team in scoring with 10 goals in 22 appearances. Jumping to NASL side FC Edmonton the following year, Plumhoff scored one goal in six appearances for the Eddies before being traded to Jacksonville Armada FC. In the Sunshine State, Plumhoff made five appearances before being sent out to Saint Louis FC (USL) on a four-week loan.

“When Ben and Don suffered their injuries, we had to use our available healthy players and it changed the way we played," Indy coach Tim Hankinson said. "We don’t have players that can replicate how those two perform. What we saw in Jason [Plumhoff] was a player that can play on both the right and the left side of midfield. He’s very good at running at players and getting behind the defense, and he has good quality in his crosses. We think that will bring back a dimension that we’ve been missing with the style that we play.

Meanwhile, Poltronieri got his rise through Costa Rican FPD side Brujas FC, where he spent two years on and off of loan deals with Leixoes SC (Portugal/1) and CD Barrio Mexico (Mexico/2) before re-joining Brujas until 2011. Bouncing around Costa Rican sides, Poltronieri first landed in the United States on a short stint for the Atlanta Silverbacks, where he earned his first stripes in the NASL making six appearances. The versatile defender then made the switch to Ottawa Fury FC (NASL) and Phoenix Rising FC (USL) before landing in the Circle City to sign with “Indiana’s Team.”

“Brandon [Poltronieri] is a versatile player," Hankinson said. "His first position is that of a left-sided midfielder. He hits an outstanding cross with his left foot and helps create a lot of width, and he also has the ability to get past defenders. But, he also has plenty of experience at left back and that gives us cover for someone like [Nemanja] Vukovic, who is still out. This helps cover some of our absences and brings a fresh quality to the left side of the field.”