Zach Osterman

zach.osterman@indystar.com

Minutes after his last-minute equalizing goal that sent another capacity crowd at Carroll Stadium into momentary delirium Saturday night, Indy Eleven forward Jermaine Johnson described the moment as "bittersweet."

Eleven (2-2-5), still without a home league win in its inaugural season, faced a 2-0 halftime deficit against the visiting New York Cosmos. The home side spent the second half chasing that deficit, with Johnson's skillfully chipped goal over the head of the New York keeper in the 93rd minute giving Indy its first home point since Aug. 6.

Nonetheless, Johnson was left to rue poor defending that cost his team that coveted first home win. It was a sentiment shared by Indy's other goalscorer Saturday, Mike Ambersley.

"Everybody needs to step up," Ambersley said, speaking directly to Indy's defensive problems. "When we lose the ball, it's not just the back four that need to win the ball back. It's the midfielders, the forwards who need to just click on right away."

Individual mistakes let the Eleven down for both of New York's goals.

The first came just six minutes in, through a well-worked move down the right. Cosmos midfielder Andres Flores swung in a cross that David Diosa rose to head home without a single defender challenging him.

Indy proceeded to create a handful of chances, before another letdown allowed Danny Mwanga and Mads Stokkelien to build a counterattack than ended with Stokkelien's tidy finish just before halftime.

"Just a couple moments defensively where we just switch off and we let one ball get behind us, or a cross, and we put ourselves really in harm's way," Eleven coach Juergen Sommer said. "We shouldn't have to score three goals at home to win a game."

The home side collected itself at halftime, enjoying a better second 45 minutes. When Ambersley's far-post run paid off with a tap-in goal from a Victor Pineda cross in the 61st minute, Indy looked likely to equalize eventually.

But it took another 30 minutes — and some luck — for that second goal to come.

In the third minute of second-half stoppage time, midfielder Blake Smith floated a ball over the top of New York's defense toward Johnson. The striker admitted he was fooled at first by the ball, which took an awkward bounce.

So too, it turned out, was the Cosmos defender marking him. New York keeper Kyle Zobeck began to come for the ball, but it sat down neatly at Johnson's feet. Two Cosmos players had been fooled by the same surprise bounce, and Johnson made them pay with a cool finish.

"That's a striker's life. They really live and die by one or two opportunities a half to make a mark," Sommer said of Johnson. "To look up and play over the keeper was good positional awareness."

Both sides settled for a draw in the end. Ambersley and Johnson both said their young team can learn from the mental strength Saturday's fight-back required.

Translating that theory into a result — an NASL win at home — still eludes the Eleven.

"The second half, you see, we score two goals and keep them off the board. It's something you can build on," Ambersley said. "But at the same time, you score two goals at home, you should win.

"We've got to sort out the goals we're giving up. It's tough to swallow."

Follow Star reporter Zach Osterman on Twitter: @ZachOsterman.