Indy Eleven Look to Build Momentum as They Host Hartford Athletic Saturday Night
Last week was fun. How could it not be when we whalloped first place in their own stadium? Granted we had one more player on the field than Charleston did for practically the entire match, but that’s neither here nor there. Bottom line is that it was a big win for the club and opens a sliver of opportunity for us to build some momentum as we host last place, Hartford Athletic, this weekend.
Hartford’s Struggles
Hartford has only notched two wins in the first twelve games of their season. They also have the league’s worst defense giving up a whopping 24 goals already this season. But the Eleven can’t afford to let their guard down. Just ask our rivals Louisville City FC, who were held to a 0-0 draw just this past weekend.
Opportunity For Struggling Eleven Offense
So far this season, goals have been hard to come by for the Boys in Blue. Tejada and Asante have been, for the most part, underwhelming since joining the club. Well enter Sebastian Guenzatti. He has slowly become a menace for opposing back lines over the past month with three goal involvements (2 goals and 1 assist). He was the man that drew the first penalty in Charlotte that saw a Charlotte defender head to the locker room early and was constantly charging into the box throughout the match sending defenders into various anxious fits. Can he do the same against Hartford? My money is on yes. The last thing a struggling defense did was to see is a guy like Guenzatti, an attacker rounding into form, line up across the midfield line. For me, Sebastian Guenzatti will be one to watch on Saturday.
Current Standings and How They Can Change
The only possibility I’m going to entertain here is a win on Saturday. Currently, the Eleven sit in seventh place, one point back with a game in hand against the Birmingham Legion FC. The Legion’s next game isn’t until they play us in another week and half So that makes it pretty simple for the Eleven. Win on Saturday and we take 6th from the Legion and work our way more comfortably into the playoff picture. Lose…well I don’t even want to think about that. I fancy the Eleven’s chances to make it back to back wins and start to get on a roll. Maybe, when we look back on the Eleven season at the end of this year, we will be looking at these three games (Charleston, Hartford, and Birmingham) as our turning point. But first we have to take to Hartford at Michael A. Carroll Stadium on Saturday night. This should be a fun one.
