Kevin Johnston

IndyStar correspondent

The Indy Eleven and North Carolina FC met Sunday at IUPUI’s Carroll Stadium under vastly different circumstances.

Win or draw, North Carolina would avoid having to play at Miami FC in the first round of the North American Soccer League playoffs. A loss would entail a trip to Ricardo Silva Stadium to face perhaps the best team in all lower-division soccer.

The Eleven, contrastingly, had nothing to play for, having been eliminated from playoff contention a couple of weeks ago.

The teams played to a 2-2 draw.

The highly motivated visitors struck early when Billy Schuler buried a pass from Daniel Barrow in the fourth minute. Barrow played a short ball straight up the seam into space, connecting with Schuler’s diagonal run. The 27-year-old striker took one touch past Indy defender Cory Miller before finding the side netting inside the far post.

But despite playing for pride, Indy responded with a vengeance.

“I’m very happy to see the team play the way they did,” said Eleven head coach Tim Hankinson. “If we had played this way consistently through the season we’d probably be looking at playoffs next week.”

A goal in the 20th minute by forward Eamon Zayed and another in the 65th by Miller propelled the home side to a 2-1 edge. Midfielder Ben Speas provided the helper on the first one, left back Nemanja Vukovic on the second.

Daniel Keller was originally announced as a starter among the back four, but injured his hamstring during warmups. Miller replaced him in the starting lineup.

“I ended up kind of tweaking my hamstring,” Keller explained. “(The coaches) got together and didn’t think it was worth it in case I further injured it in the first 10 minutes, so we would’ve had to use a sub early in the game.”

Feeling a sense of urgency, the visitors cranked up the intensity in search of an equalizer. They eventually found it in the 89th minute, again through Schuler, this time on a pass from Marcel Kandziora.

The teams settled for a draw, but it probably felt like a win for North Carolina FC. They’ll still face a stern road challenge next Sunday against the San Francisco Deltas, but will avoid a semifinal matchup against Miami FC. Miami won both the NASL spring and fall titles, and proved a dominant force in doing so.

For two veteran Eleven midfielders, it was the last time they'll play: Gerardo Torrado and Sinisa Ubiparipovic. Both players announced they’d retire at season’s end.

Hankinson, who confirmed his contract expires at the end of November, faces an uncertain future — much like both the NASL and club. The league claimed it won’t be able to survive a demotion from Division II during a September conference call. Its divisional fate for 2018 likely will be determined at an Oct. 31 hearing regarding its federal antitrust lawsuit against the U.S. Soccer Federation.

“I’m at the end of a contract, so we have to see (what direction) ownership and our team president (go),” Hankinson said. “Obviously, they’re waiting for the court ruling Tuesday to decide the direction of the league. So those things have to happen first before they start making clubs decisions.”