WHO: Indianapolis Eleven, #3 seed, Eastern Conference Playoffs

WHAT: the Eastern Conference Final of the 2019 USL Championship Playoffs. I’m not actually sure that’s what this match is called thanks to the league using “USL Cup” to describe the cup competition it’s starting next season, but I think you get the idea. It’s a big match.

WHEN: Saturday, November 9, 2019, 3:00 p.m.

WHERE: IU Michael A. Carroll Stadium, 1001 West New York Street, Indianapolis, IN 46202

WATCH: The club bought two busses with tickets included that at time of posting hadn’t all sold out yet, so if you can go see it live, you should. If you can’t because your family insisted on taking you on a distillery tour in central Kentucky for your birthday before the match kicks off, then you can watch it on WBKITV-58, listen to Kevin Kernen’s dulcet tones on either 1080 or 840 or on the iHeartRadio app, or stream it on ESPN+.

I’m not presently aware of a watch party, so go to your watering hole of preference and tell them to turn the game on. We recommend Against the Grain, Saints, Molly Malone’s, or Falls City Brewing, but feel free to invade other places with about eight of your friends and commandeer those TVs like the good purple pirates you are. If the Outback in Honolulu were open at 10 a.m. local time, I’m sure Brian Davis would be there hassling the poor bartender to put the match on.

WHO, AGAIN? This is setting up to be one of the more important renditions of the Louisville-Indianapolis Proximity Association Football Contest in that rivalry’s storied history, which, as you know, dates all the way back to that one day when Julius Caesar talked trash about the football lines on Indy’s home stadium pitch to Brutus and made Brutus and his Senate posse so mad they stabbed him to death over it. Luckily things have calmed down a bit since then, but not so much that Bill Shakespeare didn’t feel compelled to omit the real impetus behind Caesar’s death in the play he wrote about the incident 1300 or so years later.

This years’ LIPAFCs have both been draws. They’ve also been tales of two halves, with Indy’s Tyler Pasher netting first half goals following spells of Eleven dominance, and then LouCity getting one back in the second period with chances to win. The last LIPAFC featured some classic wrestling tropes, where Indy keeper Evan Newton distracted the hapless referee while Karl Ouimette executed a choke-slam on Antoine Hoppenot in front of a furious crowd.

Indy sort of limped into the playoffs thanks to a back-loaded schedule. They had a shot to finish first, even, going into the last month of the season, but were locked into the three spot before the last weekend of matches. That said, they’ve only allowed three goals in their net since October 1.

In the playoffs, they’ve only scored twice, but haven’t conceded a single goal. They’ve only taken nine shots in two matches, both of which they won. In contrast, LouCity’s taken 16 shots, scored four goals, and conceded two.

On the season, Indy scored just 50 goals, but only gave up 29. They had 15 clean sheets, behind only Pittsburgh. City had 62 goals and conceded 43. Tyler Gibson led the entire league in pass attempts, and Ayoze was top five in chances created with 83. Tyler Pasher has been a handful all season, and is the only guy to score on LouCity in the prior two meetings.

Indy is not particularly interested in offense. In their past three matches against good teams (Tampa Bay, New York Red Bulls, and Nashville), they’ve been out-shot and out possessed, in some cases by significant margins. They came away with a draw at Al Lang and won the other two matches. There’s a lesson to be taken there: Indy doesn’t care if you have the ball. They’re there to stay in their shape, make some crunching tackles, and block shots. Occasionally they’ll send Ayoze or Pasher forward on a long ball or long run and that’s where most of their chances come from.

I made a comment earlier in the week about assigning someone to man-mark Pasher out of the game, but someone who knows better DM’d me and said that was a terrible idea. City will simply have to bring the same intensity they brought to Pittsburgh last week and maintain it as long as necessary. Possess the ball. Do not give it away in the back. Stay tight on the wings. Convert the few chances you do get. RB2 took 24 shots on Indy’s defense two weeks ago and didn’t come away with a single goal. It’ll be important for Morados to be patient, a virtue they seem to have adopted in the last half of the season for the better.

I expect to see the normal XI in this match with Ownby starting as the striker or false nine. Napo Matsoso and Niall McCabe are going to have their hands full supporting whichever fullback they’re helping contain Indy’s wide attack, but they’re up for it.

We’re all up for it. The fans going on the busses are up for it. The fans driving up in their cars to sit outside in Indianapolis in November for two or three hours are up for it. The fans watching at the bars or at home are up for it.

LouCity has turned its playoff engines up full throttle once again. While this is an away match, it’s absolutely one Morados can win. Let’s go do it. VAMOS MORADOS.