Sports stats



USL Indy Eleven

Preview | Indy Eleven to Finish Three-Game Homestand in Rivalry Match vs. Louisville City FC

June 28, 2019 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Indy Eleven News Release


LAST TIME OUT:

Indy Eleven 1 : 0 Atlanta United 2 | Saturday, June 22

The Boys in Blue left it late last Saturday as an 84th minute goal from forward Alioune Diakhate handed the Boys in Blue their fourth victory at home in the 2019 USL Championship season. An assist from midfielder Tyler Pasher created an easy tap-in for the Senegal native at the back post. In his second start for Indiana's Team, goalkeeper Jordan Farr ended his night with his first professional clean sheet. The victory extends Indy's undefeated streak at home 15 games, dating back to July 7, 2018.

#INDvATL: Highlights | Recap | Stats | Post- game Quotes

Indy Eleven 3 : 0 Birmingham Legion FC | Wednesday, June 26

Indy Eleven claimed first in the Eastern Conference on Wednesday night after defeating Birmingham Legion FC 3-0. Goals early and late from Tyler Pasher (7') and Thomas Enevoldsen (90+1') and an own goal by the Alabama side (41') helped push the Boys in Blue to the top of the table, along with the squad's seventh clean sheet in eight home games this season. Indiana's Team also upped its club-record winning streak to five games, which makes up the majority of its nine-game unbeaten streak.

#INDvBHM: Highlights | Recap | Stats | Post-game Conference (VIDEO)

Louisville City FC 1 : 1 Charlotte Independence | Saturday, June 22

Louisville City had to work to earn a point in their last outing, a disappointing draw at home against the Independence. Substitute forward Luke Spencer scored the equalizer in the 77th minute, nullifying an early Charlotte lead. The goal brought Spencer's goal tally on the season to five, trailing only Magnus Rasmussen who leads Louisville with six goals.

#LOUvCLT: Highlights | Recap | Stats

#INDVLOU STORYLINES

Saturday marks the first of two scheduled 2019 editions of The Louisville-Indianapolis Proximity Association Football Contest. The return match at Louisville Slugger Field is set for Friday, August 30, a showdown that will be featured as the USL Championship Game of the Week on ESPN3 and also televised locally on MyINDY-TV 23.

Last year's regular season series was split 1-1-1, 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 one week later on October 20, a 4-1 win at Louisville Slugger Field in the USL Eastern Conference Quarterfinals that began their march to a second consecutive league 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 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 a year later.

The most obvious connection between the two clubs is current Indy Eleven forward Ilija Ilic. The Serbian striker spent 2015-18 as a member of Louisville City FC, making 75 appearances and scoring 17 goals for the Kentucky team in its first four seasons of existence.

Louisville midfielder Richard Ballard spent four years playing for the Indiana Hoosiers down in Bloomington, where he made 64 appearances and scored five goals.

For a true deep dive into Hoosier connections, Louisville defender Shaun Francis made two appearances for the South Bend-based Indiana Invaders during the 2008 USL Premier Development League campaign.

INDY ELEVEN PLAYER TO WATCH | FW ILIJA ILIC

We're biased, but the LCFC original Ilic now finds himself on the right side of the river - and the LIPAFC rivalry. Head Coach Martin Rennie will be pleased to have Ilic on his side as opposed to lining up for Louisville, as the forward scored two goals and assisted on another in the four matches against Indy last season.

Now Ilic finds himself playing for the Boys in Blue, as opposed to scoring on them. The Serbian has spent a chunk of time recovering from injury so far this season but looks set to receive minutes against his former club. The 28-year-old has only been able to make one start and record 73 minutes in 2019, but has made the 18-man gameday roster as an option off the bench in the first two games of Indy's three-game, week-long homestand.

LOUISVILLE CITY FC PLAYER TO WATCH | MF MAGNUS RASMUSSEN

One of the Louisville players to set up an Ilic score last season against Indy Eleven was midfielder Magnus Rasmussen. Nearly halfway through the 2019 season, Rasmussen leads Louisville in scoring, netting six goals in his fifteen appearances.

The midfielder had a bit of an off game against Charlotte Independence in the last outing. Rasmussen was able to place only one shot on target, as three of his other four attempts were blocked and the last failed to test the keeper. The 26-year-old failed to move the ball as well as he usually does during the course of the 90 minutes, as he completed 73 percent of his passes, five percent below his season average.

MATCH-UP TO MARK | INDY MF KENNEY WALKER VS LOUISVILLE MF OSCAR JIMENEZ

A pair of midfield maestros will face off in the LIPAFC on Saturday evening at Lucas Oil Stadium, as Walker will see plenty of Jimenez during the most historic rivalry the game of football has come to known.

Both midfielders have thrived as facilitators during the first half of the season, leading their respective squads in assists . Jimenez also leads LCFC in chances created with 50 key passes. Two of which have turned into assists. The 29-year-old has completed 82 percent of his passes, but what makes that number even more impressive is the prolific 869 passes played, the sixth most in the Eastern Conference (for the record, 708 of those passes have been completed).

Jimenez is 32 passes shy of doubling the number of passes Walker has played in 2019 (451). Despite that staggering statistic, it hasn't been about the quantity of passes played for Walker, but rather the quality. The 30-year-old has recorded four assists, doubling Jimenez's output, on 17 key passes played, and is tied for fourth in the Eastern Conference with his four assists. If Saturday's matchup features goals, there's a strong chance one of these two will have created the goal or the buildup play leading to a goal.

Indy Eleven's busy week concludes this Saturday, June 29, with the club's first "Blue Out" at Lucas Oil Stadium, presented by Blue Indy, against two-time defending USL Championship title holder Louisville City FC. Fans are encouraged to support the "Boys in Blue" by donning blue for the latest edition of the Louisville-Indianapolis Proximity Association Football Contest, which is slated for a 7:00 p.m. kickoff. Tickets remain available for as little as $15 and can be purchased at indyeleven.com/tickets or by calling 317-685-1100.

Indy Eleven vs. Louisville City FC

Saturday, June 29, 2019 - 7:00 P.M. ET

Lucas Oil Stadium | Indianapolis, IN

FOLLOW LIVE:

Local/National TV: WISH-TV

Streaming Video: ESPN+

Radio (Spanish): Exitos Radio 1590 AM

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

SETTING THE TABLE:

Indy Eleven: 10W-2L-3D, 33 pts., 1st in Eastern Conference

Louisville City FC: 7W-5L-4D, 25 pts., 7th in Eastern Conference

Check out the Indy Eleven Statistics

• Discuss this story on the United Soccer League Championship message board...

United Soccer League Championship Stories from June 28, 2019


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

Other Recent Indy Eleven Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central