INDIANAPOLIS – Indy Eleven will welcome Rhode Island FC on Sunday afternoon in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals of the 2024 USL Championship Playoffs presented by Terminix with Rhode Island aiming to extend a successful inaugural season against an Indy side looking for its first postseason victory in five years. Kickoff at Michael A. Carroll Stadium is set for 1 p.m. ET and the game will air on ESPN+. Here’s what you need to know.

How They Got Here

Indy Eleven (14-11-9, 51pts) – Indy earned a second consecutive trip to the postseason thanks to a campaign that saw the club record the longest winning streak in the Championship this season and a positive late-season run that secured its first top-four position since 2019. The Boys in Blue made a slow start to the campaign overall, but moved into top gear in mid-April as their form in the league and U.S. Open Cup blossomed. The side posted a 10-game winning streak – including two Open Cup wins – to move into top-four contention and was the last team standing in the Open Cup as it upset Atlanta United FC to advance to the Semifinals before being eliminated. Summer brought a run of only one win in nine games in the league, however, before a late run of three wins and two draws in the last six games secured a top-four spot in the standings.

Rhode Island FC (12-7-15, 51pts) – Rhode Island took a while to completely find its feet in its inaugural season, with its first win arriving in its sixth game of the regular season as the side won only once in its first 14 games. The saving grace of that stretch was Rhode Island ability to draw games and continue to accumulate points. It earned a draw in nine of those first 14 games and then found its stride, reeling off five wins in its next six games to enter the playoff picture. Since a two-game slide early in September, Rhode Island has gone on a six-game undefeated run to close the season, winning four times in that span, and only missed out on the No. 4 seed due to Indy holding the head-to-head tiebreaker over the season series between the clubs. The attacking trio of Albert Dikwa (10 goals, 4 assists), JJ Williams (6 goals, 7 assists) and Golden Playmaker award-winner Noah Fuson (8 goals, 10 assists) will be aiming to lead the first-year club to postseason success.

All-Time Series

Indy claimed the inaugural season series between the sides, taking a 1-0 victory at home through a goal by Sebastian Guenzatti in August after Rhode Island had rallied for a thrilling 3-3 draw at Beirne Stadium in the first meeting between the sides just over a month earlier.

Opta Says

11 – Indy Eleven scored 11 goals between the 16th and 30th minutes of games during the regular season, tied for the most in that 15-minute span in the league alongside North Carolina FC.

53 – Rhode Island FC scored 53 goals inside the penalty area during the regular season, second only to Louisville City FC (65), which accounted for 95 percent of the club’s goals in the campaign.

Players to Watch

Indy Eleven – Augustine Williams: The Sierra Leone international tied for the club lead with 10 goals this season – his third consecutive season with double-digit goals, and fourth in the past five – and notched a pair of goals in the playoffs a season ago while helping the Charleston Battery earn the Eastern Conference title.

Rhode Island FC – Noah Fuson: Fuson became the first player on a first-year club to win the USL Championship’s Golden Playmaker award since Chris Wehan for Reno 1868 in 2017 with 10 assists in the regular season, and he also bagged eight goals to sit in the top five in the league in goal contributions.

Uniforms

Discipline Report

Indy Eleven – No suspensions

Rhode Island FC – No suspensions

Officials
REF: Joshua Encarnacion
AR1: Tom Felice
AR2: Matthew Schwartz
4TH: Drew Klemp