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USL Indy Eleven

Preview | Indy Eleven Heads South to Take on Louisville City FC

August 29, 2019 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Indy Eleven News Release


Indy Eleven at Louisville City FC

Friday, August 30, 2019 - 7:00 P.M. ET

Louisville Slugger Field | Louisville, Ken.

Follow Live:

Local/National TV: WISH-TV, ESPN3

Streaming Video: N/A

Radio (Spanish): N/A

In-game updates: @IndyElevenLive Twitter feed, presented by Honda

Setting the Table:

Indy Eleven: 14W-4L-4D, 46 pts., 4th in Eastern Conference

Louisville City FC: 12W-7L-6D, 42 pts., 7th in Eastern Conference

First 2019 Meeting:

Indy Eleven 1 : 1 Louisville City FC | Saturday, June 29

The first edition of the 2019 Louisville-Indianapolis Proximity Association Football Contest ended in a 1-1 stalemate at Lucas Oil Stadium. Indy opened the scoring in the ninth with a goal from midfielder Tyler Pasher, but an impressive, equalizing direct free kick from Louisville midfielder Paolo DelPiccolo 10 minutes into the second half left Indy goalkeeper Jordan Farr flat footed.

Last Time Out:

Indy Eleven 3 : 1 Charlotte Independence | Sunday, August 25

Indy Eleven claimed three points in a 3-1 victory over Charlotte Independence on Sunday night after a second-half brace from midfielder Drew Conner sent fans home happy. Charlotte struck first in the 15th minute after an unlucky deflection off Niki Jackson from a free kick found the back of Indy's net. However, Indy defender Karl Ouimette leveled the scores just before the half. Come the second half, Conner netted his first professional goal in the 53rd minute and a cheeky second 30 minutes later to secure the win.

Louisville City FC 1 : 0 North Carolina FC | Saturday, August 24

Louisville City topped North Carolina FC by a score of 1-0 last Saturday after midfielder Magnus Rasmussen tallied his 10th goal of the season in the 55th minute. Louisville also recorded its sixth clean sheet of the season, the first since August 3.

#INDvLOU Storylines

A victory on Friday night would see the Boys in Blue climb as high as second place in the Eastern Conference. Indy Eleven currently sits within a win of both the second-place Tampa Bay Rowdies (49 pts.) and third-place Nashville SC (48 pts.) - and holds three and four games in hand on those clubs, respectively.

Friday marks the second of two scheduled 2019 editions of the Louisville-Indianapolis Proximity Association Football Contest (or LIPAFC, for short).

After their June 29 draw at Lucas Oil Stadium, the all-time regular season series is deadlocked at 1W-1L-2D each. Last year's regular season series was split 1W-1L-1D, Indy Eleven taking the opener at home 1-0 on May 5 before crossing the Ohio River for a 2-2 draw on August 5 and a 0-1 defeat in the regular season finale on October 13.

It was LCFC capturing the most important LIPAFC fixture of 2018, a 4-1 win at Louisville Slugger Field in the USL Championship Eastern Conference Quarterfinals that began their march to a second consecutive USL Cup title.

In addition to last year's meetings, the border rivals also met twice in Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup action in back-to-back years at IUPUI's Michael A. Carroll Stadium. Fittingly, the games were split, Louisville City upsetting the Boys in Blue 2-0 in the 2015 USOC Third Round and Indy Eleven capturing a 2-1 win in the same round the following year.

Indy Eleven leads the USL Championship with only 17 goals allowed. The Boys in Blue are also third in the Eastern Conference in clean sheets recorded with 10 and tied for fourth in the entirety of the league, trailing by only one in each category.

First-year Indy Eleven forward Ilija Ilic spent 2015-2018 with Louisville City FC, making 75 appearances and scoring 17 goals for the Kentucky-based team. Ili?, one of Louisville City FC's inaugural signings, tallied 13 of his 17 goals and 10 assists in a record 32 games in his breakout season last year.

Ilic and teammate Macauley King, as well as LCFC's Niall McCabe, played collegiately for Young Harris College, a Division II school based in Young Harris, Ga.

Louisville Defender Shaun Francis made two appearances for former USL Premiere Development League side Indiana Invaders in 2008. Since joining Louisville, the defender has made 12 starts in 13 appearances for the club.

Indy Eleven Player to Watch | MF Drew Conner

Midfielder Drew Conner had himself a game last Sunday night in his first start since signing for the Boys in Blue on August 13. The former Chicago Fire homegrown product scored his first professional goal and added another for good measure against Charlotte Independence in a 3-1 win at Lucas Oil Stadium.

The midfielder also completed an outstanding 96% of the passes he played against Charlotte, showing the 25-year-old not only knows how to put the ball in the back of the net, but can swiftly move up the pitch, as well. If that wasn't enough, Conner created two more scoring opportunities for his teammates during his 87 minutes on the pitch, making him all the more dangerous in Indy's attacking third. What other possible attribute could the versatile Conner bring to the table, you ask? He's not shy to get stuck in either, which could help the visitors set the tone in an important rivalry game.

Louisville City FC Players to Watch | Luke Spencer ... or George Davis IV

Back on July 28, both midfielder Luke Spencer and striker George Davis IV got the start in attacking roles in a 3-0 loss at Loudoun United FC - one that apparently didn't sit too well with Head Coach John Hackworth. In the four games since, both players have entered every game as second half subs - and both have contributed a pair of goals, including a game-winner.

So if it ain't broke, don't fix it, right? Well, with red-hot team leading scorer Magnus Rasmussen suspended for Friday's fracas due to yellow card accumulation, Hackworth's hand will be forced, meaning one of the two recent "super subs" will likely be back in the starting XI. Whichever one it is will have plenty of motivation to keep his spot, and therefore might be an extra handful for Indy's stingy defense.

Match-up to Mark | Indy DF Lucas Farias vs Louisville MF Oscar Jimenez

Coach Martin Rennie is starting to rely on Lucas Farias to man his right flank more and more as we march into the latter half of the 2019 USL Championship season. In the first outing against Louisville, the man tasked with keeping tabs on Farias was midfielder Oscar Jimenez.

The two squared off as attacking outside backs in each team's system. In the first match against Indy, Louisville played a 3-5-2 formation that saw each player act as an attacking wing back. Since the end of June, Farias has been a prominent figure in Indy's starting XI, appearing seven times on the right side of the midfield, with the last four consecutive appearances in the starting lineup. The Brazilian has racked up three assists when Indy has had homefield advantage, but playing on the road doesn't appear to bother him too much. In his most recent away fixtures against North Carolina FC and Nashville SC, the 25-year-old completed 90% of his passes and created one chance.

Jimenez has been an iron man in the Louisville backline, starting all of his 25 appearances and only being subbed off three times. He lined up on the same wing as Farias on June 29 and created five chances compared to that of Farias' lack of key passes. Neither attacking back was able to complete a hefty number of passes, as the aggressiveness of the last match disrupted the flow of the game, seeing six yellow cards even distributed to both teams. In his last three matches, Jimenez has continued to flex his ability to distribute, recording one assist on 10 chances created. The 29-year-old leads his team by leaps and bounds in that category, having created 80 chances this season.

Friday's away installment of the Louisville-Indianapolis Proximity Association Football Contest will mark the beginning of Indy Eleven's busiest stretch of games in club history, a 10-game, 36-day gauntlet that will see Indiana's Team make up the several games in hand it has on its fellow Eastern Conference elite.

Indy Eleven will then return to Lucas Oil Stadium next Wednesday, September 4, when it will look to even its club-record 21-game home unbeaten streak in a pivotal contest against East-leading New York Red Bulls II. Kickoff for that contest is set for 7:00 p.m. ET, and tickets remain available for as little as $15 at indyeleven.com/tickets or by calling 317-685-1100.

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