#NCvIND Preview
Indy Eleven at North Carolina FC
Saturday, September 21, 2024 – 7:30 p.m. ET
WakeMed Soccer Park – Cary, NC
Follow Live
Stream: ESPN+ (click to subscribe)
In-game updates: IndyElevenLive
Stats: #NCvIND MatchCenter at USLChampionship.com
2024 Records
Indy Eleven: 11-9-7 (-2), 40 pts; 5th in Eastern Conference
North Carolina FC: 8-10-9 (+5), 33 pts; 11th in Eastern Conference
| IND | NC | |
| 27 | Games | 27 |
| 39 | Goals | 40 |
| 41 | Goals Conceded | 35 |
| 26 | Assists | 29 |
| 120 | SOT | 107 |
| 117 | Shots Faced | 91 |
| 6 | Clean Sheets | 10 |
SETTING THE SCENE
Indy Eleven begins a stretch of seven straight matches vs. USL Championship Eastern Conference opponents to close the regular season with a road match at North Carolina FC on Saturday.
The Boys in Blue are coming off a 3-1 home victory over El Paso Locomotive FC last Saturday. The Eleven are fifth in the East with an 11-9-7 record and 40 points.
North Carolina FC is currently four points out of playoff position in a group of seven teams within seven points in the standings.
SERIES VS. NORTH CAROLINA FC
Saturday marks the 20th meeting all-time between the clubs with Indy holding an 11-4-4 advantage. The Boys in Blue won the most recent match up 2-1 at Carroll Stadium on April 27. That victory began a 10-match winning streak for the Eleven, including eight in USL Championship play.
A 75th-minute strike from Douglas Martinez was the game-winner vs. North Carolina FC in the April 27 meeting.
After a scoreless first half, the Boys in Blue scored first on a North Carolina own goal off a Jack Blake free kick in the 48th minute. The visitors evened the score just three minutes later as Louis Perez finished a Rafa Mentzingen cross.
Indy Eleven saw deja vu in the 75th minute as Blake and Cam Lindley stepped up to take a free kick in the same spot where the opening goal started. This time, Blake found Callum Chapman-Page on the back post, who played a one-time ball into the head of Martinez, who then beat the North Carolina keeper.
Blake led the Boys in Blue with four of the team’s seven shots, while Hunter Sulte registered three saves.
Indy Leads 11-4-4 | GF 31, GA 24
Recent Meetings
Apr. 27, 2024 | W, 2-1 | Home
Aug. 3, 2019 | W, 2-1 | Away
May 4, 2019 | D, 0-0 | Home
Aug. 15, 2018 | W, 3-2 | Home
April 7, 2018 | W, 1-0 | Away
Oct. 29, 2017 | D, 2-2 | Home
ROMARIO REACHES 60-GOAL PLATEAU
Forward Romario Williams became the 19th player in USL Championship history to score 60 goals with his tally in the 12th minute vs. El Paso Locomotive FC last Saturday. The 30-year-old reached #60 in his 146th regular season contest and he is tied for fifth all-time with a strike rate of a goal every 156.2 minutes.
Defender Ben Ofeimu started the sequence leading up to Romario’s goal with a long through ball to forward Augi Williams. After one touch, Augi delivered a perfect pass to the middle of the box to Romario who chipped it over El Paso keeper Jahmali Waite.
Romario has scored his two goals as one of the Boys in Blue in his last two home matches, with his first a dramatic free kick in the final minute of second-half stoppage time to give the hosts a 1-1 draw against Pittsburgh at Carroll Stadium on August 31. That goal was a USLC Goal of the Week nominee for Week 26.
USLC 60+ Regular Season Goals Best Strike Rate
1. Cameron Lancaster – 80 goals, 113.9 mins/goal
2. Cal Jennings – 63 goals, 136.1 mins/goal
3. Dane Kelly – 106 goals, 150.3 mins/goal
4. Wilson Harris – 65 goals, 150.6 mins/goal
T-5. Romario Williams – 60 goals, 156.2 mins/goal
T-5. Chandler Hoffman – 66 goals, 156.2 mins/goal
The former UCF collegiate player was selected to the USL Championship Team of the Week – Bench for Week 28. Acquired from Hartford on June 14, Williams has four goals overall in 23 matches in 2024.
#7 FOR #8
Midfielder Jack Blake earned USLC Team of the Week honors for the seventh time this season after Saturday’s win over El Paso. The 29-year-old Blake had an assist, five chances created and two shots, making nine recoveries and one interception in 74 minutes (his most since June 15).
The Nottingham, England, native opened the 2024 campaign with five Team of the Week awards in the first 12 weeks, adding ones in Week 25 and Week 28.
The seven-year USLC veteran leads Indy with eight goals this season, matching his career best in 2019 when he helped the Real Monarchs SLC win the league championship.
In his two seasons with the Indy Eleven, Blake has 11 goals and four assists in 51 matches played.
INSTANT OFFENSE
Forwards Elliot Collier and Douglas Martinez entered Saturday’s match vs. El Paso in the 74th minute. Three minutes later the two combined for a goal to increase the Boys in Blue’s lead to 3-0. Martinez played a beautiful ball into the area that Collier headed in for his fifth goal of the season.
The 6’4 Collier is tied for second on the team with five goals this season in 544 minutes. The New Zealand native is in his second stint with the Indy Eleven in 2024 after helping the 2018 Boys in Blue earn a USL playoff berth while on loan from the MLS Chicago Fire. The 29-year-old Collier played 54 matches for the Fire in 2018 and 2020-21. He competed collegiately for Loyola Chicago.
USL Championship Goals per 90 Minutes
# Player G/90 Goals
1. Nick Markanich (CHS) 0.94 25
2. Elliot Collier (IND) 0.79 5
3. Wilson Harris (LOU) 0.78 16
4. Kieran Phillips (SAC) 0.71 8
5. Khori Bennett (LV) 0.69 11
6. Manuel Arteaga (TBR) 0.63 15
(min. 5 goals)
MAALIQUE MAGNIFIQUE
Forward Maalique Foster scored his first goal in an Indy Eleven uniform in the 49th minute of Saturday’s win over El Paso. Midfielder Jack Blake delivered a diagonal pass to Foster just inside the box. He hesitated to let the defender go by, then took a second dribble and struck a left-footed shot into the lower left corner to give his team a 2-0 lead.
Foster was named to the USL Championship Team of the Week-Bench for Week 28. Both Foster and Romario Williams are natives of Portmore, Jamaica. The speedy Foster, acquired from Colorado Springs on August 23, has five goals and four assists this season. The 27-year-old is in his fifth season in the USL Championship.
AUGI ENERGY
Forward Augi Williams brought the attack from kickoff Saturday, getting a scoring chance with a shot on target just 28 seconds into the match. In the 12th minute, Williams received a long through ball from Ben Ofeimu on the right side. Augi took one dribble then slid a pass between the defender’s legs to Romario Williams who finished it to give the Boys in Blue a 1-0 lead. It was the second assist this season for Augi.
The 27-year-old Williams had three shots, two chances created, and one shot on target while playing the full 90 for the 12th time this season. The Freetown, Sierra Leone, native (15,254) is the third player on the current Indy Eleven roster to play 15,000 career minutes in the USL regular season, joining Aodhan Quinn (21,357)and James Musa (16,358).
The 6’2 Williams leads Indy in shots (47) and he is tied for second on the team with five goals. Williams led the Boys in Blue in scoring in their U.S. Open Cup run to the semifinals with three goals.
FAST & FURIOUS
The Indy Eleven offense started quickly with two chances in the first three minutes and kept going, finishing with 19 shots and nine shots on target vs. El Paso. The 19-shot output is one shy of the Boys in Blue’s season high of 20 vs. Charleston and at Birmingham.
DOUGIE DELIVERS
Forward Douglas Martinez had a busy eight-day stretch with two matches for Honduras in the Concacaf Nations League on September 6 and 10, followed by Saturday’s USLC match vs. El Paso.
The 27-year-old showed impressive resolve in his third minute of action in his return to USLC play on Saturday by hitting a perfect pass into the area that Elliot Collier finished for his second assist this season.
STELLAR SULTE SAVE
Goalie Hunter Sulte had four saves vs. El Paso, including an outstanding diving stop on Eric Calvillo’s free kick in the 16th minute. That save preserved a 1-0 lead just four minutes after Romario Williams scored for the Boys in Blue.
The 22-year-old Sulte is tied for 13th in the USLC in clean sheets (6) and he is tied for 16th in saves (53).
The Anchorage, Alaska, native on loan from MLS-side Portland Timbers has started 19 of the last 21 matches for the Boys in Blue. The 6’7 Sulte started in his MLS debut on May 1, 2021, vs. FC Dallas. He is the second youngest goalkeeper in MLS history to play in a league match at 19 years and six days and the tallest ever.
QUINN FOR THE WIN
Captain Aodhan Quinn had 31 completed passes, including 10 in the final third, in the Indy Eleven victory on Saturday. The San Diego native has started five of the last six matches for the Boys in Blue since making his season debut on August 2 at Charleston.
GOALS
The Boys in Blue have scored 23 first half goals this season, tied for the third-most of any USLC team behind Eastern Conference leaders Louisville City (27) and Charleston (24).
They have 39 goals this season (T8th USL), with at least one tally in 22 of their 27 matches.
Defensively, Indy has held opponents scoreless in the first half in 18 of 27 matches in 2024.
The Boys in Blue scored in 15 straight USLC matches to open the 2024 campaign. The streak, which ended on June 22 against Orange County, is the longest to open a USLC campaign and is the longest run overall within the same season for the club. In total, Indy scored in 18 straight regular season matches dating back to Sept. 30, 2023.
ROAD RED
Indy is 5-4-4 (7-5-4 overall) away from Carroll Stadium in 2024, becoming the first USL Championship team to earn five road wins this season with their June 9 victory at Birmingham.
LAST TIME OUT
Indianapolis – The Indy Eleven offense started quickly with two chances in the first three minutes to set the tone for a 3-1 victory over El Paso Locomotive in front of 10,132 fans at Carroll Stadium.
Forward Romario Williams picked up where he left off the last home match with his stoppage-time free kick goal with his second in the last two matches in the 12th minute off an assist from Augi Williams. Romario’s goal is his 60th in USL Championship regular season action.
The Boys in Blue outshot El Paso in the first half, 9-4, with four shots on target.
Indy came out strong after halftime with midfielder Jack Blake setting up Maalique Foster for his first goal since joining the Indy Eleven on August 23 and his fifth overall this season. Blake now has three assists in addition to his team-leading eight goals this season.
Forwards Elliot Collier and Douglas Martinez entered in the 74th minute and three minutes later Collier recorded his fifth goal in 2024 off an assist from Martinez, his second of the campaign.
Goalie Hunter Sulte’s quest for consecutive clean sheets ended in the 83rd minute, but he had four saves in the match. In the 20th minute, he dove to his left to stop a shot from Lucas Stauffer to preserve the 1-0 lead.
The Boys in Blue moved up one spot to fifth in the Eastern Conference with the victory.
Indy Eleven travels to North Carolina for a key Eastern Conference match-up next Saturday at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN+.
Indy Eleven 3:1 El Paso Locomotive FC
Saturday, September 14, 2024 – 7:00 p.m. ET
Carroll Stadium | Indianapolis, Ind.
2024 USL Championship Records
Indy Eleven: 11-9-7 (-2), 40 pts, 5th in Eastern Conference
El Paso Locomotive FC: 5-16-6 (-18), 21 pts; 12th in Western Conference
Weather: Mostly sunny, 86 degrees
| Score | 1 | 2 | F |
| Indy Eleven | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| El Paso Locomotive FC | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Scoring Summary
IND – Romario Williams (Augi Williams) 12’
IND – Maalique Foster (Jack Blake) 49’
IND – Elliot Collier (Douglas Martinez) 77’
ELP – Ricardo Zacarias 83’
Discipline Summary
IND – Hayden White (caution) 58’
ELP – Tony Alfaro (caution) 63’
ELP – Bench (caution) 75’
ELP – Miles Lyons (caution) 86’
ELP – Robert Coronado (caution) 86’
ELP – Noah Dollenmayer (caution) 88’
ELP – Robert Coronado (caution) 90+3’ (second of the match)
ELP – Miles Lyons (caution) 90+4’ (second of the match)
ELP – Francisco Nevárez (caution) 90+5′
IND – Cam Lindley (caution) 90+6’
Indy Eleven line-up: Hunter Sulte, Aedan Stanley, Adrian Diz Pe, Ben Ofeimu, Hayden White, Aodhan Quinn (captain) (Cam Lindley 79’), Brem Soumaoro (Laurence Wootton 61’), Jack Blake (Elliot Collier 74’), Maalique Foster (Douglas Martinez 74’), Augi Williams, Romario Williams (Sebastian Guenzatti 79’).
Indy Eleven Subs Not Used: Yannik Oettl, Josh O’Brien.
Match Statistics
| Stat | IND | ELP |
| Shots | 19 | 12 |
| Shots on Target | 9 | 5 |
| Saves | 4 | 6 |
| Fouls | 19 | 11 |
| Offsides | 1 | 1 |
| Corner Kicks | 2 | 2 |
