Indy Eleven vs North Carolina FC - 11.28

Summary

- Opponent: North Carolina FC 
- Location: WakeMed Soccer Park
- Attendance: 2,478
- Final Score: 2-0 L

- Starting XI: Sulte, White, Ofeimu, Diz Pe, Blake, Stanley, Quinn (C), Soumaoro, Foster, Williams, R., Williams, A.

- Substitution: Collier 70' (Williams, R.); Martinez 70' (Blake); Wootton 89' (Quinn)

- Unused: Oettl, Lindley, Neidlinger, O'Brien, J.

- Scoring Summary:
NC - Mentzingen 19' (assist Martin)
NC - Anderson 77' (assist Armstrong)

- Bookings:

NC - Maldonado 22' (Yellow)
IND - Williams, R. 33' (Yellow)
IND - White 45' (Yellow)
NC - Batista 45'+7' (Yellow)
NC - Mentzingen 55' (Yellow)
NC - Martin 73' (Yellow)
NC - Anderson 79' (Yellow)

- Referee: Jeremy Scheer

- Adage goals: None

Thoughts and Opinions

There's a point in every USL Championship season when it stops being a marathon and goes to being a full-on sprint toward the finish line. If you've looked at the standings in the Eastern Conference table, that moment may have already passed, but is definitely in full effect now. Coming into the weekend, every team had 7 games or less and spots 4 through 11 were separated by 9 points. Spots 4 through 8 (the playoff spots) were separated by 5 points. With the non-playoff teams lurking just outside the cutoff line, every game takes on even more magnitude. Losing to a team behind you could drop you below the playoff line. Taking points from a team ahead of you could drop them. Even the teams that have officially clinched playoff spots (Louisville, Charleston, and New Mexico) still want to get points to be able to win the regular season. The teams that have been eliminated (Miami) want to stop sucking and play spoiler. 

After Indy's win over the Western Conference basement dweller El Paso, Indy continued their run of playing teams at the bottom of the conferences by playing 11th place North Carolina (Miami comes to Indy next week). Getting points off the teams behind you is vital in this sprint to the finish. Indy failed miserably at that by conceding once in each half to lose 2-nil on the road.

The last time the North Carolina franchise had beaten Indy Eleven was in 2017. That game was a 5-nil drubbing by the, then Railhawks in the NASL, but Indy held a commanding 11W-4D-4L record before tonight against the long-term foes, who have been a part of some of Indy's most important results. Indy played the Carolina Railhawks in Indy's inaugural game, they were the opponent in the Miracle at the Mike, and the Carolina franchise were also the opponents in the 2023 USL W League Final where the Indy women defeated NC.

It might have taken 7 years, but North Carolina got it done tonight. NC started the scoring in the 19th minute after working the ball around quickly away from the Indy defenders. Martin pushed the ball wide to Mentzingen who one-timed it over Sulte and into the far side of the goal. Moving the ball around the defense, and forcing last-ditch defending from Indy was a trend tonight.

Indy nearly equalized in the 26th minute from a shot from outside the box by Blake that McQuire was able to parry away at full stretch. The ball fell nicely to Foster who pushed his shot wide. Shots high and wide was also an ongoing trend for Indy tonight.

NC nearly doubled their advantages minutes into the second half with a shot that found the post, but managed to bounce back into the field of play instead of into the goal. Minutes after that, NC had a two-on-one break that should have been an easy goal if Anderson had just centered the ball instead of going for goal himself. As the second half began to wind down, they did finally find the second insurance goal, and Indy returned home with zero points and no additional separation from the teams behind them. In fact, with the results tonight (which could be made worse tomorrow), Indy allowed the playoff race to get even closer.

At no point in tonight's game did Indy look like a team that will be hosting a first round playoff game. At many points in tonight's game, Indy looked like a team that could very well watch the entirety of the playoffs from their couches. Outside of an unprecedented run in May and June, and an obvious run in the U.S. Open Cup, Indy has not looked like an elite team in this league. They've looked exactly like where they are in the table; an average team surrounded by other average teams. Teams that on a given night have a chance at winning against "better" teams, but also have an equally similar chance to losing to "lower" teams.

Indy return to The Mike next weekend to face Miami. If that game ends in anything other than a win with multiple goals, it will tell you everything you need to know about this teams chances of being and winning in the playoffs. The marathon has turned into a sprint and Indy doesn't look like they have what it takes to make it across the finish line.

The Game Beckons Game Ball

Diz Pe? Blake? Quinn? I'm sorry, but it definitely wasn't the forward line. As well as they played last week, they looked like different players tonight. If I have to pick somebody, and we all know that I don't because I've regularly not selected a GBGB winner, I would go with Blake.