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Indy Eleven at Detroit City FC
Saturday, October 12, 2024 – 4:00 p.m. ET
Keyworth Stadium – Hamtramck, Mich.

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Stream:  ESPN+.

In-game updates: IndyElevenLive
Stats: #DETvIND MatchCenter at USLChampionship.com

2024 USL Championships Records
Indy Eleven: 13-10-8 (+1), 47 pts; 4th in Eastern Conference
Detroit City FC: 13-8-10 (+8), 49 pts; 3rd in Eastern Conference

IND		DET
31	Games	31
46	Goals	39
45	Goals Conceded	31
32	Assists	24
140	SOT	116
134	Shots Faced	106
8	Clean Sheets	10

SETTING THE SCENE

Third place in the USL Championship Eastern Conference standings is on the line when Indy Eleven travels to Detroit City on Saturday afternoon.  The top eight teams in the East qualify for the playoffs that begin the first weekend in November, with the top four teams hosting.

SERIES VS. DETROIT CITY

Saturday will be the sixth all-time meeting between the two sides and the third of 2024, as the teams met in the USLC on March 30 and the U.S. Open Cup on May 22, both at Carroll Stadium.

Indy Leads 3-2-1 (GF, 8 | GA, 3)

Series Meetings

LAST TIME VS. DCFC (U.S. OPEN CUP)

INDIANAPOLIS (Wednesday, May 22, 2024) – Indy Eleven advanced to the Quarterfinals of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup for the first time in club history with a 3-0 defeat of USLC rival Detroit City FC.

Indy Eleven opened the scoring by way of a Detroit City own goal off a Ben Ofeimu cross from the right side. The home team would tack on two more in the first half with Douglas Martinez finding Augi Williams (33’) and Aedan Stanley connecting on a corner to Ofeimu (36’).

Scoring Summary

IND – Own Goal 14’

IND – Augi Williams (Douglas Martinez) 33’

IND – Ben Ofeimu (Aedan Stanley) 36’

Discipline Summary

IND – Ben Ofeimu (caution) 7’

DET – Devon Amoo-Mensah (caution) 61’

IND – Jack Blake (caution) 65’

IND – Max Schneider (caution) 90+1’

LAST TIME VS. DETROIT CITY (USLC)

The teams have already faced each other in league play on March 30, 2024, a 2-1 win for Detroit.  Forward Sebastián Guenzatti opened the scoring with his first goal of the season in the 24th minute on an assist from Younes Boudadi.

Scoring Summary

IND – Sebastián Guenzatti (Younes Boudadi) 24’

DET – Ali Coote (Maxi Rodriguez) 55’

DET – Maxi Rodriguez (Yazeed Matthews) 88’

Discipline Summary

IND – Younes Boudadi (caution) 15’

DET – Abdoulaye Diop (caution) 42’

IND – Adrián Diz Pe (caution) 87’

DET – Stephen Carroll (caution) 90’

OFEIMU HOMECOMING

Indy Eleven defender Ben Ofeimu hails from West Bloomfield, Michigan, approximately 20 minutes from Foxworth Stadium in Hamtramck.  The 6’3 Ofeimu has started 21 of the past 23 games for the Boys in Blue after being acquired from Miami FC on April 11.  The four-time USL Championship Team of the Week honoree just missed his season-high with 11 clearances at Loudoun United on Tuesday.  He moved up four spots to sixth in the USLC in that category.

MUSA MAGIC MAKES ROAD VICTORY

Indy Eleven moved up two positions to fourth place in the USL Championship Eastern Conference standings with a crucial 1-0 road victory at Loudoun United in a rare mid-week contest on Tuesday.

Boys in Blue defender James Musa made his 200th appearance in the USLC memorable with his first goal of the season in the 83rd minute for the only score of the night.  Defender Aedan Stanley took a corner kick from the left side and drove it to the goal.  Loudoun keeper Hugo Fauroux punched the ball high into the air, where defender Ben Ofeimu headed it down from the corner of the six to Musa, who, with his back to the goal, volleyed it with his left foot high over Fauroux for the game winner.  It was Ofeimu’s first assist for the Boys in Blue.

In the 93rd minute, Stanley preserved the win with a sliding save with his left foot to block a close-in shot from Florian Valot.

Goalie Hunter Sulte made three saves to earn his eighth clean sheet this season, including an arm save on a shot by Robby Dambrot from inside the six in the 23rd minute.

Indy got the first scoring chance in the 11th minute when Ben Mines played a long ball to Maalique Foster running down the right side and he fired a shot that Fauroux dove to his right to stop.

A little later, the Boys in Blue had two scoring chances in a three-minute span.  Captain Cam Lindley took a free kick in the 17th minute from well outside the area and bent the ball around the wall towards the bottom right corner of the goal, where Fauroux stopped it.

Then in the 19th, Lindley took a corner on the left side and delivered a perfect pass to Ofeimu running diagonally to the far post, but Ofeimu’s header struck the right post.

NEIDLINGER THIRD ACADEMY PLAYER TO SIGN A PROFESSIONAL CONTRACT

Indy Eleven signed defender Logan Neidlinger to a professional contract on Wednesday.  The 19-year-old Indiana native had been on a USL Academy contract with the club that started on January 30, 2024.  Neidlinger is the third Indy Eleven Academy player to sign a professional contract, joining Diego Sanchez (2023) and Alann Torres (2021).  Neidlinger arrived in Indy in 2021 and previously played for Columbus Express.

“It is a great feeling to sign a professional contract with my hometown team,” said Neidlinger.  “I’ve worked my entire life to become a professional soccer player, and all of the hard work and sacrifices have paid off.”

Neidlinger was on the Indy Eleven professional team’s 18-man roster for three matches this season prior to making his debut on July 13 vs. Loudoun United.  He increased his minutes the next two games, earning his first start at Charleston on August 2.  Neidlinger started all four USL Championship matches in August, playing the full 90 in the first three.

On August 11, Neidlinger became the youngest player in Boys in Blue history and the first Indy Eleven Academy player ever to score a goal with a strike from inside the box to the far top corner vs. New Mexico United in the 27th minute to give his team a 1-0 lead.

Against Miami on September 28, Neidlinger recorded his first USLC assist, delivering a beautiful cross from just inside the area on the right side that forward Augi Williams finished for the second of his three goals in the match.

Neidlinger made his U.S. Open Cup debut in the semifinal at MLS-side Sporting Kansas City on August 27, starting and playing 77 minutes.

Neidlinger has played 524 minutes in 11 games this season for the Boys in Blue with five starts, one goal, one assist, seven shots (four on target), 22 duels won, 13 clearances, six chances created, five blocks, five interceptions, four tackles won, and four fouls won.

“Indy Eleven has been one of the most competitive teams in the USL Academy system year-in and year-out, and we’re delighted to see Logan Neidlinger turn pro with the club after an impressive campaign with the First Team this year,” said USL Head of Global Football Development & Sporting Director Oliver Wyss. “Indy Academy Director Kiki Wallace and his staff have consistently set players up for success on the field.”

Since 2019, Indy Eleven has signed 22 players to USL Academy contracts, making the club one of the premier player development destinations in the USL Championship. Last November, the Boys in Blue signed Academy-product Diego Sanchez to his first professional contract after spending three seasons (2021-23) on a USL Academy Contract.

This season, the Indy Eleven Pro Academy team has a 7-0-2 regular season record in first place in the USL Academy Great Forest Division, poised to earn a trip to the 2024 Academy League Finals December 5-8 at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida.  Indy Eleven has won the USL Academy Cup U-20 Division Championship for three consecutive years (2022, 2023, and 2024), and is looking to defend its prestigious national championship again in 2025 to try to turn this accomplishment into a four-peat.

“One of the things we’re trying to produce is more trailblazers,” said Indy Eleven Academy Director Kiki Wallace. “We want all the kids in the Academy dreaming big, and as they get older those dreams might settle down and become a little bit more realistic with where they are and what the next step is, but… we want them dreaming of being professional footballers and breaking through here at Indy Eleven.”

“It’s fantastic to have Logan continuing down that path because just like guys before him fueled the dream he’s now pursuing; he’s now fueling the dream for the next generation coming up behind him.”

GOALS

The Boys in Blue have scored 24 first half goals this season, good for fifth in the USLC. They have 46 goals (6th USL), with at least one tally in 25 of their 31 matches.

Defensively, Indy has held opponents scoreless in the first half in 20 of 31 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.