Kevin Johnston

IndyStar correspondent

Toward the end of Indy Eleven’s Friday training session at Carroll Stadium, captain Colin Falvey put in some extra finishing work, specifically on set pieces. He’s a center back, who rarely finds himself with scoring opportunities in front of goal. It must have been intuition.

Falvey buried the game-winning goal in the 84th minute to give Indy a 2-1 comeback victory over Rayo OKC.

“I decided to do some (extra finishing work) yesterday,” Falvey said. “I haven’t scored in a long time, so as I said, I decided yesterday to do some extra and it just goes to show the old saying: practice makes perfect. I’m so very, very happy.”

With Justin Braun, Duke Lacroix and Marco Franco sidelined with injuries, Eleven coach Tim Hankinson turned to forward Souleymane Youla to play up front beside Eamon Zayed. Dylan Mares and Don Smart started on the left and right flanks, respectively. And the successful partnership of Gerardo Torrado and Brad Ring continued in the central midfield.

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Indy’s starting back four consisted of – from left to right – NASL Team of the Week mainstay Nemanja Vukovic, Greg Janicki, Falvey and Lovel Palmer. Rocksteady Jon Busch manned the Eleven net.

Rayo jumped out early when defender Futty Danso tucked a high shot just underneath the crossbar in the 12th minute to put the visitors up 1-0.

The OKC lead held up for most of the first half, until a Mares put back knotted things up 1-1 in the 41st minute. Zayed connected on a dangerous strike that Rayo goalkeeper Daniel Fernandes did well to save, but Mares was there to slot home the rebound.

Vukovic nearly bagged the go-ahead goal on a 66th minute free kick when he found the top right corner, but Danso again provided some heroics for OKC with a header clearance right at the goal line.

“(Vukovic) spends a lot of time working at it,” Hankinson said. “Vuko’s one that stays for 30-40 extra minutes just working on those kind of opportunities. So you trust him to take (the free kicks) because he’s put the work in.”

But Vukovic’s near-tally ended up not mattering, as Falvey’s dagger did the deed. Late wins seem to have become a theme with this Eleven side.

The loss kept OKC in fourth place in the North American Soccer League fall standings, while Indy retained its first-place perch in both the fall and combined standings.

Hankinson said he expects Braun, Lacroix and Franco back in a week or so, just in time for the club’s daunting three-game road stretch which starts next Saturday against the Carolina RailHawks.

The moral of tonight’s Eleven win: Always do extra work on set pieces after practice.