Pena’s Late Shocker Lifts Indy Eleven to First Win

Sergio Pena’s 45-Yard Effort in 89^th Minute at San Antonio Completes 2^nd Half Comeback

What looked like a third straight 1-1 draw to start Indy Eleven’s season turned into the squad’s first win in dramatic fashion, as midfielder Sergio Pena’s 45-yard effort with a minute left in regulation gave Indiana’s Team a 2-1 road victory against the defending NASL champion San Antonio Scorpions.

The victory extended Indy Eleven’s (1W-2D-0L, 5 pts.) undefeated streak spanning the 2014-15 seasons to eight games (4W-4D-0L), gave the squad its first victory of the 2015 Spring Season and vaulted the “Boys in Blue” into second place on the North American Soccer League (NASL) table after three weeks, tied on five points with Atlanta and placing them two points behind the front-running New York Cosmos.

The match started with a rough and tumble first half that saw Indy Eleven come out brightly in the first 15 minutes before ceding more and more ground to the San Antonio Scorpions in midfield. However, Indy Eleven made it tough sledding once San Antonio (0W-0D-2L, 0 pts.) hit the attacking third, keeping its shape well and chances hard to come by for the defending champs.

The Scorpions would see the best opportunity for a goal in the first half go by the wayside in the 40^th minute, when Indy goalkeeper Kristian Nicht saved Billy Forbes’ initial shot the edge of the area, followed by captain Greg Janicki dashing the hopes of his former squad with a goal mouth clearance on the subsequent rebound.

San Antonio would go up via an Indy Eleven defensive error in the 52^nd minute, when Scorpions forward Cesar Elizondo stole a pass in midfield and stepped through multiple defenders before slotting to Omar Cummings.  The speedy Jamaican striker had plenty of space to finish low and to the right of Nicht to put the home side up 1-0 and notch his second goal in as many games to begin his NASL tenure.

However, Indy Eleven would not be down for long, as defender Erick Norales made his presence felt on the offensive end in the 64^th minute.  The Honduran showed his value offensively early last season on set pieces, and he did so again tonight by connecting on Dylan Mares’ corner kick, nodding home at the far post to even things at 1-1 and set up a thrilling finish in the Alamo City.

After sitting back much of the night, Indy seemed energized by the goal and pressed the action for much of the final 20 minutes of the game. However, it was an unexpected stab by Sergio Pena that would give the visitors the full three points in the 89^th minute, set up by substitute Wojciech Wojcik’s chested-down, laid-off ball well away from goal.

Pena– who has been known to take his chances from distance in the past – turned the mundane into the sublime, his audacious effort from ten yards inside midfield looping over Scorpions goalkeeper Jon Kempin, the Sporting Kansas City loanee helpless to swat at the shot that snuck under the crossbar and gave Indy the eventual 2-1 win, its first in 12 Spring Season games all-time.

Now in second place thanks to the away goals tiebreaker over the Atlanta Silverbacks, Indy Eleven continues its Spring Season slate next Saturday, April 25, when it welcomes the Carolina RailHawks (1W-1D-1L, 4 pts., 4^th place in NASL) on Family 4-Pack Night at Carroll Stadium.

Fans can take advantage of the special $79 ticket and food deal by visiting http://fourpack.indyeleven.com, while general single-game seating starts at just $10 – for full ticket information, visit www.IndyEleven.com/tickets or call 317-685-1100317-685-1100.

NASL Spring Season
San Antonio Scorpions  1 : 2  Indy Eleven
Saturday, April 18, 2015
Toyota Field  – San Antonio, TX
Attendance: 5,305

Scoring Summary:
SAS – Omar Cummings (Cesar Elizondo) 52’
IND – Erick Norales (Dylan Mares) 64’
IND – Sergio Pena (Wojciech Wojcik) 89’

Discipline Summary:
IND – Dylan Mares (caution) 24’
IND – Brad Ring (caution) 82’

Indy Eleven line-up (4-1-3-2): Kristian Nicht; Marco Franco, Erick Norales, Greg Janicki, Jaime Frias; Brad Ring; Dragan Stojkov (Sergio Pena 81’), Dylan Mares, Osman Melgares (Don Smart 62’); Brian Brown, Charlie Rugg (Wojciech Wojcik 66’)

Indy Bench: Keith Cardona (GK), Jon Dawson (GK), Cory Miller, Kyle Hyland

San Antonio line-up (4-3-3): Jon Kempin; Zourab Tsiskaridke, Saad Abdul-Salaam, Nana Attakora, Stephen DeRoux; Rafael Castillo, Marvin Chavez, Joseph Nane; Cesar Elizondo, Omar Cummings (Cristian Palomeque 79’), Billy Forbes (Pablo Cruz 87’)

Scorpions Bench: Daryl Sattler (GK), Tyler Gibson, Julio Garcia, Josue Soto, Eduard Zea