The goals came fast for Indy and San Antonio was furious. In the birthplace of the Brickyard, Indy Eleven raced out to a 2-0 lead defeating San Antonio FC in Wednesday night’s Round of 32 of the 2024 US Open Cup at the Sellick Bowl.
The win moves the club to 6-7-1 all time in the century-old tournament. With the victory, the home side advanced to the Round of 16 for the first time in club history.
The Boys in Blue started off at a blistering pace, scoring two goals within the first two minutes of the match. In the second minute, a cross was sent in by Eleven forward Douglas Martinez that caromed off a San Antonio defender to the feet of teammate Augi Williams. Williams wasted no time finishing the chance, sending a shot ricocheting off the body of San Antonio keeper Kendall McIntosh to put the home side ahead 1-0.
Not long after, Indy’s Aedan Stanley corralled a pass at the edge of the six-yard box and cut the ball back for colleague Jack Blake who buried it in the upper left corner of the net in the tenth minute. Indy would never look back.
There were several strong chances for San Antonio in the second half but Indianapolis netminder Hunter Sulte was up to the task, earning his second straight Open Cup clean sheet.
A slightly hoarse Sulte said that the defensive effort was the fruit of staying focused, despite a comfortable early lead.
“It is important to not get complacent, stay locked in the whole time, and just continue to protect the goal,” Sulte said. “What helps me is to keep talking, you can hear from my voice that I keep talking to my defenders. It helps me stay engaged when I’m not on the ball. “
The Indianapolis club remains unbeaten against San Antonio FC, moving its record to 2-0-1 all-time.
Indy Eleven will continue Olstad Division play in the Round of 16 hosting Detroit City FC on either May 21 or May 22 after Detroit ousted defending champions Houston Dynamo on penalties Tuesday.
First-year Indy manager Sean McAuley commended his future opponent Detroit for their success in Texas while noting the advantages of hosting the next round.
“We know that it’s going to be a tough game,” he said. “But now we get to face someone in our own league who we are probably more familiar with. We’re at home, we’ve got our supporters, and I think that we’re going to try and go for it again. (We’ll) put out a team to try to get us into the quarterfinals.”
Indy Eleven soldier forward in the tournament while off the pitch other realities threaten the club’s operations. Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett announced April 25th that the city had been in conversations with Major League Soccer (MLS) about bringing an expansion franchise to the market.
Plans for “Eleven Park”, including a brand new 20,000 seat stadium for the USL side, have been halted while the city discusses details of a different plan, tailored to a potential new MLS club, with an unnamed group of investors.
McAuley said that he is confident in Indy Eleven’s ownership and his players and staff are focused on the job at hand. “We’ve got full belief in everything that the club wants to do. We obviously got that news a couple of weeks ago. We were assured by everyone here that this club has a good history to it, good people in it across all departments of the club, and a really strong owner and front office staff that are fighting to get to where we want to get” he said.
“We have no problem turning up every week and doing our jobs. Which obviously it’s something for the supporters and we want to give them something to cheer about. Sometimes with uncertainty, the one thing you can be sure of is that in a win everyone walks away happy.”