Match Info:
INDIANAPOLIS (April 26, 2024) — North Carolina FC are back on the road for Week 8 of the 2024 USL Championship season, traveling to Indianapolis to take on Indy Eleven on Saturday, April 27, at 7 p.m. at Michael A. Carroll Stadium. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+.
Saturday’s matchup will be the 17th meeting between the two teams, but the first since 2019. North Carolina’s record in the series, which dates to the 2014 NASL season, is 4-8-4. In USL play, NCFC are 0-1-3 against Indy.
Heading into Week 8, NCFC are ninth in the Eastern Conference with a 1-3-3 record (6 points), while Indy sit 11th with a 1-4-2 record (5 points).
NCFC are coming off the back of a busy week, hosting three matches including two USL Championship contests and a midweek intrastate battle in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Third Round.
NCFC drew Birmingham Legion, 1-1, to start the week before taking down Carolina Core FC, 1-0, in the midweek game. The homestand ended with a high-scoring thriller against New Mexico United, with the visitors claiming a late win behind a stoppage-time goal.
Young players shined for NCFC throughout the week. Julian Placias started each match and bagged his first two goals in an NCFC jersey. Adrian Pelayo made two strong starts at center back and Kyrome Lumsden made his professional debut in the midweek Cup tilt. Ezra Armstrong also had a milestone moment, scoring his first goal in an NCFC jersey against New Mexico.
Pelayo flew to Europe at the end of the week for a series of NCFC-supported trials with Dutch club Feyenoord and clubs in Belgium. He was also closely observed by Liga MX’s Rayados de Monterrey in January.
Armstrong and Rafa Mentzingen, who had the assist on Armstrong’s goal, have built a strong 1-2 punch as the team’s wide threats in Head Coach John Bradford’s system and have done well on both sides of the ball.
The duo ranks first and second on NCFC’s roster in tackles won, first and third in duels won, and Mentzingen’s eight chances created are tied for the second most on the roster.
Louis Perez has been the main creative engine for NCFC so far, with 19 chances created. Only two players have created more chances in the USL Championship than Perez.
Scouting Indy Eleven
Indy Eleven currently sit 11th in the USL Championship Eastern Conference and have gotten off to a rocky start in 2024.
While the Eleven haven’t had trouble finding the back of the net, with the team’s 11 goals tied for fourth most in the league, they've conceded a league-worst 16 goals so far this season.
Nine of those 16 goals came in back-to-back games against the early Eastern Conference front-runners Louisville City FC and Charleston Battery, but the Eleven have yet to keep a clean sheet this season and have given up multiple goals in four of their seven games.
Jack Blake is the do-it-all engine in the Eleven’s midfield, leading the team in goals (4), shots (25), tackles won (15) and duels won (53), while tied for fourth in chances created (7). Blake is an experienced player with stints at then-NASL Minnesota United, Jacksonville Armada, Tampa Bay Rowdies, Real Monarchs and San Diego Loyal prior to joining Indy ahead of the 2023 season.
Since coming to the U.S. in 2016, Blake has 36 goals in 187 NASL and USL appearances.
Aedan Stanley leads the Eleven in assists with three and chances created with 12, with the bulk of the left back’s goal-creating threat coming from his team-leading 50 crosses. Only three players have attempted more crosses in the USL Championship than Stanley and of those players, only San Antonio’s Jorge Hernández equals Stanley’s assist haul.
Forward Augustine Williams and midfielder Sebastián Guenzatti join Blake and Stanley as the only Indy players to see the field in every game this season. Williams and Guenzatti have a combined four goals and one assist.
Yannik Oettle, who played collegiate soccer alongside Perez at UCF, started the first six games of the season in net, but Portland Timbers loanee Hunter Sulte earned the start in Week 7, making three saves to help Indy earn a road point against Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC.
Next up: May the 4th be with you
NCFC return to WakeMed Soccer Park to take on USL Championship newcomers Rhode Island FC and reigning league MVP Albert Dikwa on Saturday, May 4, at 7 p.m. ET.
Bring your Jedi robes and prepare your best movie references from a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, as NCFC celebrates Star Wars Night, presented by the Governor’s Institute. Tickets are available here.
