Columbus Crew SC Edges Indy Eleven

April 26, 2023 – United Soccer League Championship (USL) – Indy Eleven News Release

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A late goal from Columbus proved to be the deciding factor as Indy Eleven fell 1-0 to the Crew in the third round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Wednesday night at Lower.com Field in Columbus.

The Crew broke the scoreless tie in the 83rd minute as Mohamed Farsi found himself behind the Indy backline after a ball in from Steven Moreira. Farsi took a touch and beat Eleven goalkeeper Yannik Oettl to his right to give Columbus the late lead and what would eventually become the match winner.

The goal was one of only two major threats from the Crew in the second half after a busy first frame for Oettl, the first coming in the 60th minute off an Indy clearance miscue. Yaw Yeboah found himself one-on-one with Oettl, but the Indy ‘keeper came out to cut off the angle and make the save.

Indy had a final chance in stoppage time from Sebastian Guenzatti, who entered in the 80th minute, but the shot caught an outstretched Evan Bush and was deflected out for a corner.

A scoreless first 45 kept Oettl busy, with the Crew putting five shots on frame to test the Eleven goalkeeper early. In the 34th minute, Crew midfielder Darlington Nagbe fired a shot from the outside of the 18, forcing Oettl to make a diving stop to deflect it from continuing into the bottom right corner. Nagbe again found himself with an open look in stoppage, but Oettl recovered from a first shot attempt and thwarted the point-blank chance.

Indy successfully defended 11 corners in the first half, while garnering a pair. Douglas Martinez had the lone shot on frame in the first half in the 26th minute to force one of the two after a ball in from Mechack Jerome left the forward one-on-one in the right corner. Martinez navigated the lone defender and made his way inside the six but was denied by Bush.

The Eleven also produced a promising chance in the 14th minute, taking advantage of a clearance error from Bush that Aodhan Quinn intercepted and played to Harrison Robledo, who struck from outside the 18 but missed over the top right corner of the frame.

Columbus had a 21-7 advantage in shots in the match, with eight on frame to the Eleven’s three, and earned 17 corners to Indy’s four. Oettl racked up seven saves, while Jack Blake had a pair of shots for Indy.

The Eleven, which was seeking its first away win in six tries in U.S. Open Cup play (0-5-1), is now 4-7-1 all-time in U.S. Soccer’s national club…