Opening Day Near: Indy Eleven Preseason Results, Roster, Notes

Indy Eleven kick off their inaugural season next Saturday, April 12 against the Carolina Railhawks. Which is soon! So, here's a quick update on how there preseason matches have gone as well as some notes about the roster.

PRESEASON MATCHES

Indy was able to schedule a lot of MLS teams in their first year and (being their first year) it didn't go all that hot. Over the course of seven preseason matches Indy only won one and tied one. The one win was against Tourbeau Soccer Academy (high school) and the draw was against the University of Louisville.

All five losses came against MLS sides Vancouver (3-2), Sporting KC (twice 3-1 and 4-2), Portland (1-0) and the Chicago Fire (3-1). What that works out to be is 14 GA, 6 GF, -8 GD with zero points earned and three of the six goals coming from Pedro Mendes (all in all, Pedro had 5 of the 10 preseason goals).

Preseason results can be misleading and since I have seen almost nothing of the play it's hard to talk to style. What I do know is that it was ambitious of Indy to take on this many MLS teams without a fully formed roster. The first few games were filled with unnamed trialists and a small roster. It's part of being a new team, of course, but doesn't make winning games during the regular season any easier. Especially early.

PROJECTED ROSTER

While the team is still working on coming together one thing Indy has going for it is a talented and really interesting roster.

Goalkeepers:
Kristian Nicht (veteran German player)
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Jon Dawson
Nathan Sprenkel

Defenders:
Chris Estridge (Indiana boy, former 2012 MLS draft pick)
Jaime Frias* (on trial, Guadalajara / Chivas)
Erick Norales (former Honduran International)
Kyle Hyland (2013 Crew draft pick)
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Baba Omosegbon
Andrew Stone
Chris Wey

Midfielders:
Brad Ring (former San Jose standout)
Corby Moore (FC Southampton U21, keep eye on this one)
Pedro Mendes (one of Wynalda's Cal FC guys, Silverbacks)
Kléberson (former Brazilian International)
Walter Ramírez (former San Antonio Scorpion)
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Mike Ambersley
Don Smart

Forwards
Ben Spencer (U18 US International, on loan from Molde)
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Mike Ambersley (has been everywhere, American soccer hero)