AFTER A FALSE start due to lost electricity during storms last Friday in the Grand Park Events Center, the Indy Eleven W finally got their season underway in a 2-0 win against Lexington Sporting Club at home the following morning.
There was more familiarity than usual in the match as they faced their former head coach Paul Dolinsky, who coached the Indy Eleven W to a combined record of 25-3 (including a championship in 2023) in the club’s first three seasons and took over the same role for Lexington last September.
“ I’ve known Pauly since I was 13 years old,” Indy Eleven W’s new head coach Brandon Kim says. “So, I grew up training with him as a player. I went to high school with his sister, his younger brother’s a really good friend of mine. … Our families have been very close for 20-plus years. … I‘ve been extremely fortunate to work with him for as long as I did and as closely as I did. I felt so much more prepared than I thought that I would because of just the experience that I had working with Paul. He’s a great mentor in that he let me do a lot of stuff, put a lot of trust in me, and gave me a lot of freedom to do things.”
The Indy Eleven W plays at a level in the United Soccer League that is considered “pre-professional,” but there seems to be some hope for a true professional women’s soccer team in Indianapolis’ future, and there are certainly players on this team who have that kind of experience.
A couple of those veterans quickly reminded their former coach with their play what he may be missing.
Grace Bahr opened the game by scoring on a free kick in the eighth minute before anchoring a defense that got more than its share of the work without breaking during the game’s first half.
Bahr has gone back and forth between playing and coaching during her soccer career. She played collegiate soccer at the University of Wisconsin and Xavier, had a professional stint with Racing Louisville FC, and has made appearances on the national team at the U15, U18, and U19 levels.
The team’s second goal from Maddy Williams Osswald didn’t come until the game’s 90th minute. Williams Osswald, who took time off to get married in 2024, came into the game as a substitute, and the goal came just moments after another dangerous chance of hers was wiped by a controversial offsides call. Williams Osswald played professionally in both Spain and the Netherlands after an illustrious collegiate career at Purdue.
“Obviously, Grace and Maddy getting the goals today is, there’s that immediate, ‘Damn it!’ right?” Dolinsky says. “But they’re great people. I’m happy for them.”
The local team also possesses plenty of youth, including Emily Edwards, the goalkeeper who wasted no time pitching her first clean sheet of the season.
“I know a lot of people on the other team,” she says of Dolinsky’s group, “but as soon as they step on the field, we’re still playing a game. It doesn’t really matter who you’re playing against. After the game, we can go give each other hugs, high-fives, whatever it is. But as soon as we step on the field, we know we have to do our job and perform.”
While Edwards will be going into her junior year at Purdue this fall, the team also boasts nine players who have only just committed to play college soccer.
“Honestly that’s what I’m most excited about,” Kim says. “There are a couple of kids on the team this year that I’ve coached since they were 11, 12 years old. They’re good enough, and they deserve to be in the environment. … It‘s a great opportunity for us to start to, I don’t like the word rebuild, but replenish our roster. Last weekend, with the friendly in Minnesota, I had [Indy Eleven Academy] kids featured in the game. I had like seven of them on the rosters tonight, one was in the starting 11. I just think from my own personal beliefs and views, and then just when I look at top managers at the highest level in the world. I really admire coaches and managers that give youth a chance.”
Geographically, most players on the team seem to have either a collegiate or high school connection to Central Indiana, but the roster does include a player from England and two from Japan. The out-of-towners either live together in an Airbnb or are hosted by local families.
