Indy Eleven 2025 Season Recap & 2026 Off-Season Outlook

I concluded the 2024 season recap with the following statement:

With a year under his belt, and a Top 4 finish in the conference, McAuley’s expectations for next season are going to go up. If other fans are like me, you would like to match those expectations, but history of the club has made that a difficult proposition. We have grown to accept that the setbacks happen just as frequently as the breakthroughs. However, the team improved from year 1 to year 2 under Rennie, and then did the same thing under Lowry (after the requisite setbacks in year 3 and 4 under Rennie…). 

Then wouldn't you know it, toward the end of August, as it started becoming clear that reality was deviating from expectations, I wrote an article about expectations, spelling out why it might be unreasonable for Indy to be burdened with the constant expectation that they be towards the top of the table. History has consistently shown that being at the top of the table is the exception not the norm for the team. Indy is more frequently a middle to bottom resident on the table, with only sporadic forays at the top, and even more infrequent and consistent participants in the league's postseason. 

This year proved to be no different. A Top 4 finish in league play and a run to a semifinal game in the U.S. Open Cup last year with a bulk of the key components of the roster returning this year gave rise to the expectation that Indy should once again be challenging for a league championship this year. As I indicated in my Expectation vs Reality article from when it was said to me, "Conflict arises when expectations exceed reality." 

As the injury bug began to rear its head, the club made no signings to help take the burden off the healthy players until September 3rd, when the team had not choice but to pick up a few loaned players from MLS NextPro teams. The club's expectations of being a top club had been met with "just making due" and budget issues until it could no longer do anything but try and find a few players to round out game day rosters. When the new players were immediately thrown into the starting lineup, it was made visible that Coach McAuley hadn't had enough players to help make game-to-game and in-game adjustments. Yet the loanees weren't enough to settle things and the team finished the final third of the season consistently inconsistent with a 4W-0D-6L record in the final 10 games, including a loss in the final game of the season against Orange County after the door had been opened for them to sneak into the playoffs with a win. Instead, Indy's defeat allowed Detroit to take the final spot in the Eastern Conference, who then took that opening and defeated Louisville in Louisville to bounce the Players' Shield winners in their earliest exit in the history of that club. Proving just how important it is to get into the playoffs in this league. In a one-off game, almost anything can happen.

Speaking about how anything can happen in a one-off game, that was how Indy found themselves out of the Jagermeister Cup as Indy lost to League One side Greenville Triumph after conceding a late goal in the 90th minute. After Greenville forced the Penalty Shootout, Sulte went the wrong way on every Greenville kick and Bryneus missed the team's 6th attempt, and Greenville moved on while Indy's season struggles continued. To that point, Indy had never trailed in the tournament and technically finished the tournament without an official loss, since the Greenville game is officially listed as a draw.

The theme of the 2025 season was missed opportunities. As I indicated in the Orange County recap, not counting the two games in the Jagermeister Cup where Indy conceded late goals that forced the team into penalty kicks, Indy lost 18 points from winning positions, most notably four games when Indy dropped points with just minutes (seconds?) remaining in the game:

• April 5 draw North Carolina (90'+3') - 2 points lost
• May 10 draw vs Sacramento (90'+6') - 2 points lost
• June 21 loss vs Las Vegas (90') - 3 points lost
• Aug 16 loss vs Loudoun (86') - 3 points lost

Indy also made life difficult for themselves in the Jagermeister Cup when they conceded late, the second of which meant that they were eliminated from the competition at home by a League One team.

• June 28 "draw" vs Birmingham (90'+4') - win in PK Jagermeister
• Aug 20 "draw" vs Greenville (90') - loss in PK Jagermeister

Indy's season could have been a lot different.

Coach McAuley has indicated a few times to me, "In football, if you stay the same, you're probably getting worse. So we need to improve next year and improve again and just keep improving."

2025 feels like a step backward from 2024 in many aspects. What happens this offseason could dictate whether 2026 is an improvement year or another backsliding year.

To that end, here are my thoughts when looking towards next season.

Looking to 2026

Stadium

Whatever I said last year about the stadium applies this year. What I said last year was that the stadium was in limbo, and fans didn't know what's going on. Nothing from that perspective has changed. Seemingly, outside of a couple of people, and I'm guessing even that number could be a stretch, nobody seems to know anything about the status of an Indy Eleven stadium. Or nobody is willing to tell me anything about the status of an Indy Eleven stadium. 

The lack of the stadium has meant the continued delay of a women's team, which lead to the departure of the club's most successful coach, persistent comments that the Carroll Stadium surface continues to be a difficult one to play on, and a more vocal frustration from fans who have been required to sit in "American Soccer's Greatest Dive Bar" that is losing its charm. Once a term of affection from fans, the idiosyncrasies of the stadium are starting to wear on fans.  

I have thoughts on the stadium. Coming soon.

Coach

A second season under Coach McAuley was still one of the more successful for an Indy Eleven coach, but reality didn't meet expectations. I don't think it matters. I fully expect McAuley to be back next year, trying to overcome the limitations that are set on Indy Eleven coaches with players. I don't think McAuley did enough to warrant being fired, I would guess a less-than-stellar second head coaching season doesn't have a lot of other teams trying to poach him, and I think he wants to be here. I hope he's back. I've enjoyed my experiences with him. 

I do think he will want to fix an issue that persisted into his second season. Last year, the 59 goals that the team scored were a club record setting total, but unfortunately, they conceded 56 goals. This year, the totals were nearly identical, with the team scoring 55 goals, but they conceded 56 across all competitions. In league play, the team was a -8 in goal differential. Coach is going to want to fix that, which I think he'll have the chance to do when he stays in Indy next season.

Players

I've had relatively decent success guessing which players will be returning in recent years, but when the players that I think could and should return struggled to ninth place in the table, this is one of those years where I could be completely wrong. I think Coach McAuley intends to bring back a core group of this year's team and then bring in new, younger and hungrier, players. Younger players looking to make a name for themselves or older players desperate to show they still have what it takes. McAuley's said some version of that to me and he's also said it on Soccer Saturday. The unknown for me is who he considers to be the most necessary of the "core."

The following is based entirely on my own opinions, but here are the players from this year's roster that I can envision being somewhere else or returning next year.

Gone:

1. Bryneus - Oliver played just 448 minutes all season. Normally players that have that limited amount of time don't make the next year's roster.
2. McRobb - the bulk of Finn's 519 minutes happened in a five-game stretch a third of the way into the season as he took his turn at trying to fill the left back role made available due to Stanley's season-ending injury. Once McAuley began to tweak the lineup and settled in on Quinn in that left winger role, McRobb's minutes dwindled to almost nothing. I would be surprised if he returns.
3. Pruter - Late season loan; back to the Columbus Crew 2 mothership.
4. Schaefer - Late season loan; back to Cincinnati 2
5. Zalinsky - Late season loan; back to St. Louis CITY 2

Possibly Gone:

1. Collier - The leader in the team's substitute appearances (by a wide margin) averaged just over 16 minutes per game in league play and didn't manage to score a goal all season. This was likely year two of a two-year contract and the limited minutes and lack of goals makes it difficult to imagine he returns for another year. At 30 years old, he may be looking for a team where he can find more minutes in what remains of a player's short career.
2. Hogan - Pat averaged 65 minutes in league play and played in 19 games with 12 starts, but nearly all of those were early in the season. Hogan didn't make an appearance in the final 10 games of the season.
3. Neidlinger - I guessed correctly that he would be part of the 2025 roster. However, the promise that he showed last year didn't translate to minutes this year, getting just 133 minutes in league play in 7 appearances off the bench. For a kid who accepted a contract to play professional soccer and gave up his college eligibility, he's going to want more minutes. Don't be surprised if you see his name on a League One roster next year trying to get those minutes.
4. O'Brien, Josh - Was a versatile player that had a reasonable amount of minutes and games played. He wasn't a very expensive contract, so depending on how much that gets negotiated, my gut still tells me that O'Brien won't be around for 2026.
5. Soumaoro - The arrival of Soumaoro last year pushed Lindley from the starting lineup. Soumaoro's injury this year, and the subsequent reshuffling of the lineup by McAuley, pushed Quinn into a winger role giving him more time to do what he does best which also allowed Lindley back onto the field showing his value. I can see Brem slide into the Returning camp, but for now, I think he doesn't return next year because I think Lindley does return and Lindley demonstrated his value.
6. Sulte - This will, once again, depend highly on what Portland does with their goalkeeper situation. If they keep all the other guys, they might loan Sulte back to Indy yet again. If they saw enough out of him during his second year here, he might make his way to the Portland first team roster and he will have finished his time here in 2nd place in the team's shutout and saves lists behind Jon Busch.
7. White - I know McAuley valued White in 2024, but his use this year was sporadic, even without taking into account his injury. He's another player that I could see slide into the Returning list, but for now I'm placing him in the Possibly Gone list.

Probably Returning:

1. Blake - Unless other teams come calling with more money, which could be possible and likely, Blake is a "core" player to build around. 
2. Charles-Cook - An outlier to the minimal minutes rule, I think Reice returns next season. He came here with a specific role in mind, that of a backup, but experienced, goalkeeper and he served that role well. He played reasonably well when called upon, including his 10 save game against the Philadelphia Union in the U.S. Open Cup, and he seemed to like his time here in Indiana. I think McAuley and the team keep him around.
3. Lindley - All of what I said the past two year's applies: "A local guy who was a cornerstone of the roster this year. Cam wants to be in Indy closer to family. There aren't guarantees in the business of soccer, but Lindley returning next season might be close." In an episode of the Indy Eleven Coaches Show, McAuley said, "Two quick things I said to the players at the start of the season. Performance and attitude will keep you at the club. If one of them is not there, the one I'm choosing is attitude. If your performance is not there, but you've got a good attitude, you've got a good chance of staying. If your performance is there, and your attitude is not there, you're not staying. And if you've got both, then we've got a decent squad. Simple enough?" From my perspective, Lindley's attitude and talent are both there. I don't see how the team doesn't keep him around.
4. Murphy - This season, the starting lineup became very predictable as injuries and performances dictated who would be on the field. For two years, you could basically put Murphy's name on the starting lineup in Sharpie. He finished the season having played in all 30 league games, all 5 Jagermeister Cup games, and 1 of 2 of the U.S. Open Cup games. His minutes did drop off a little at the end of the year, so I have to wonder if his fitness began to take a hit as the season drew to a close due to the minutes and miles he has put in over the past two years. Regardless, he'll be back. 
5. Musa - Began to find a starter role in the tail end of the 2024 season and grabbed it with both hands in 2025. He played in one less game that Murphy, but played more minutes. The defense had a habit of leaking bad goals, but I still think he returns.
6. Ofeimu - Indy conceded a lot of goals and at inopportune times, but I don't know how many I would consider to have been Ofeimu's fault. Just a guess, but I think he returns next season..
7. Quinn - In the past two Soccer Saturday's with Rakestraw, Quinn was mentioned by McAuley or interviewed outright. In both instances it was said, while not "official" yet, Quinn will be back next year. It could be his last year here depending on how well his body holds up, but it might not be his last in Indy if there's a way to keep him around as he transitions to a coaching role.
8. Rendon - The jump from League One to the Championship wasn't seamless and he had some moments where you could tell he was still adjusting. His pace and his ability to defend and go forward, make him a player that I think McAuley keeps around.
9. Stanley - Other than Murphy, until his season-ending injury, Stanley was another you could put into the staring lineup with a Sharpie. Despite no data on which to evaluate him after the 8th game, I think Stanley will return.

I hear you. Where are the forwards? What do I think is going to happen with Amoh, Foster, Kizza, and Williams? I don't know which ones will be staying or leaving, but I would bet that only one or two of them return. I can make arguments for each of them, but I'm really not sure which one(s) McAuley values more than the others. My gut says it might be Foster and Williams even though Amoh was the second leading scorer in all competitions behind Blake. Foster's speed and desire to take on defenders sets him apart. Williams' hold-up play sets him apart. Who stays and who goes may have a lot to do with what players the team recruits to come to Indy.

1. Amoh
2. Foster
3. Kizza
4. Williams