Boys in Blue head to Charleston for Eastern Conference Quarterfinals
“The lads are really looking forward to a challenge away in a hostile environment,” Indy Eleven midfielder Jack Blake said. “The home team is expected to win, so we will go in there and disrupt the party.”
As a member of Real Monarchs SLC, Blake lifted the USL Championship silverware in 2019 defeating Louisville City FC in the final 3-1.
“It was obviously a special year for me and the team I was on; we had a really good group. We worked incredibly hard for each other,” Blake said. “We had talented players, but there’s a lot of talented players in this league. I do see similarities in this group. We have good team camaraderie. We’re starting to build that on-field, never-give-up attitude. We’ve come back from goals and mistakes. [The playoffs] is a lot of the mental state, everyone’s talented at this level. So, what separates the good ones and the championship-winning teams? It Is that sort of team togetherness and mentality of the group.”
The Eleven cemented their place in the 2023 USL Championship Playoffs with a 3-0 victory against Detroit City FC on Sept. 30, making it their third playoff appearance since 2018.
Blake added, “Coming into the season, there were high expectations for us, so, in January, it was an expectation for us to make the playoffs. It’s something that we were more than capable of achieving, we’ve achieved that. We still have lots to do, but we’re on the right track.”
Indy Eleven’s last playoff appearance, in 2019, saw the Boys in Blue hold a 19-9-6 record as the third seed. That postseason began by defeating New York Red Bulls II 1-0 with Karl Ouimette scoring the game winner for Indy. Indy next knocked off Nashville SC 1-0, with current Assistant Coach Ayoze Garcia playing a massive role in both clean sheets. The run ended at the hands of Louisville City in the Eastern Conference Finals.
During the 2019 playoffs, Ayoze played all 300 minutes for the Boys in Blue. The Spaniard carries the memories of the 2018 and 2019 postseasons into his current position on the technical staff.
“Those, game-wise, are special, all the games we went through,” Ayoze said. “They were difficult games, but I always have memories of the games especially when we played at home. We invited all the families there. Right now, coaching is a new experience for me. [This will be] my first playoff coaching, but I still have the same feeling. I’m very excited about it, and I hope the players play well because they deserve it. I hope we can do something important for this club and for all the fans.”
Ayoze’s message for the team is cultivated from the many playoff battles he fought as a player.
“Maintain calmness in the situation, and then control the situation,” Ayoze said. “Enjoy the moment, enjoy the game, continue doing [what they are doing] because they are doing great during the season. Nothing has to change so continue fighting and competing.”
Indy Eleven defender Macaulay King was a teammate of Ayoze on that remarkable 2019 playoff run to the Eastern Conference Finals. King played in all three matches totaling 278 minutes while recording an assist.
“As players we want to win, this club means a lot to me,” King said. “This was my first professional contract. So, I love being back here. I want to do well for the club, but I want to stay here, so it’d be nice to bring the trophy back.”
Like Ayoze and King, Blake acknowledges that the playoffs are tight scenarios, and any mistake could be costly.
“Playoff football is fine margins. A lot of games can be won on set pieces or individual errors,” Blake said. “It’s important to stay in the game, on the championship-winning team… I think out of the four USL Championship playoff games, we went down a goal, in almost every single game. It’s just to never give up. In the moment, there’s going to be tough times throughout the playoffs, no matter how far we go.”
Indy Eleven is the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference with the battle vs the third seed Charleston Battery taking place on Sunday at 4 p.m. ET. This season the Boys in Blue are 1-0-1 against Charleston with Indy defeating the Battery on the road 4-0 on June 2. The win featured a brace from Aodhan Quinn coming from penalties.
The last meeting between the two sides was a 1-1 draw at home with Quinn scoring, again from the spot, resulting in three of the five goals scored against the Battery this season coming from penalties. Additionally, each game has featured a red card for either side in the 2023 season. King welcomes the idea of the hostile environment that could occur.
“I actually love getting shouted up by away fans it makes us play better,” King said. “And being on the road has been very good to us this year.”
Indy Eleven on the road in the regular season was 8-5-4, the most wins on the road in a USL Championship regular season for Indy. Against the top three sides in the Eastern Conference, the Eleven went unbeaten with a 2-0-4 record this season, so not being favored to win is something the players relish.
