Photo credit: Robbie Mehling/Soc Takes

INDIANAPOLIS — It had been three years since the Indy Eleven exited the U.S. Open Cup with a tournament win in tow. After embarrassing road losses to amateur teams the past two years — the Michigan Bucks in 2017 and Mississippi Brilla in 2018 — Indy finally got off the USOC schneid Wednesday night at the Sellick Bowl on the campus of Butler University.

It took playing three-fourths of the match down a man against the Lansing Ignite of USL League One to do it, but Indy overcame adversity to sneak away with a 1-0 result and advance to the next round of the 2019 Open Cup.

The Eleven didn’t roll out their best XI for the occasion, but surprisingly did start quite a few regulars, including No. 1 goalkeeper Evan Newton. Indy head coach Martin Rennie shed some light on his thought process in selecting the lineup with a league match looming Saturday.

“Really I think it was just a mark of respect for Lansing because I’ve watched a lot of their games and I saw them play in preseason and I know their coach well,” Rennie said. “And I think they’re a really good team. I think that they pass the ball very well, they’ve got a lot of energy and they’re dangerous. So, we didn’t want to come unstuck and we felt like if we didn’t have a strong team that it would be difficult.”

Newton had been on fire recently, racking up clean sheets and league accolades like clockwork; however, ’twas not Newton’s grandest night in between the posts Wednesday evening.

Less than 20 minutes into the match, Lansing forward Elma Nfor got in on goal alone with only Newton to beat. The Indy backstop came recklessly flying out of his box in desperation and viciously collided with Nfor about 20 yards out. Unfortunately, it resulted in a nasty head, neck or spine injury to Nfor, who received treatment for several minutes before finally being stabilized and carted off.

Photo credit: Robbie Mehling/Soc Takes

That’s about when things got weird.

The incident appeared to warrant a red card, but center referee Adam Behrens initially issued Newton a yellow. As play waited to restart while Nfor was medically tended to on the pitch, Behrens conferred with his linesmen and evidently had a change of heart.

Five minutes after flashing a yellow at Newton, Behrens waltzed back over to Newton, this time reaching into his back pocket. A second yellow wasn’t issued; rather, the amarilla was switched to a roja and Newton was sent off.

Indy backup ‘keeper Jordan Farr was called upon, and thus received the first minutes of his professional career in a meaningful match.

“When it happened, I was like, ‘OK, I’m just going to start putting shin guards on, who knows? I feel ready to go, let’s see what happens,'” Farr explained. “I put my shin guards on and gloves, and then the fourth official came over to our coach and said it’s going to be a red card. And so it gave me like plenty of time to actually prepare and get ready, which is not common I think when this happens, but it’s just wild that it happens six games into the season.”

Up a man, the Ignite didn’t immediately dominate the run of play. In fact, for the remainder of the half, the two sides played on about level terms. It continued that way until the 57th minute, when a lightning-quick sequence put Indy on the board first.

A gorgeous long ball from deep-lying Tyler Gibson found the head of Paddy Barrett near the edge of the 18, who wisely directed a header toward the six-yard box. Thomas Enevoldsen elevated and hammered the ball home off his noggin for the match’s first goal past Ignite goalkeeper Kyle Ihn. Smoke was cued.

Photo credit: Robbie Mehling/Soc Takes

Perhaps a 3-nil preseason result in favor of Indy when the clubs met earlier this year dissuaded the visitors from pushing numbers forward, but whatever the case, the Ignite simply didn’t threaten enough in the final third given their man advantage. An organized Indy midfield and back line, anchored by Farr behind them, held firmly until the final whistle to secure Indy’s advancement.

As for Nfor’s health, the Lansing Ignite issued a statement Thursday confirming that he’d undergone all the necessary tests and been released from the hospital — most excellent news.

Newton, of course, will be unavailable for Indy’s next Open Cup fixture unless his red card somehow gets rescinded, opening the door for Farr to draw his first start.

“At the moment, in that Open Cup game I plan to play Jordan and that’s about all I really know,” Rennie said. “Because I would imagine Evan will be suspended for that.”

The Eleven will host the Charleston Battery at 7 p.m. Saturday back at Lucas Oil Stadium in the USL Championship regular season. Details on their next Open Cup contest are to be determined.

Follow Kevin on Twitter: @KJboxing.

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