Kevin Johnston

Special for IndyStar

INDIANAPOLIS – For just the second time in club history — and first as a member of the USL Championship — the Indy Eleven recorded a postseason victory.

A first-half volley by defender Karl Ouimette powered the Eleven to a 1-0 win over New York Red Bulls II and a spot in the Eastern Conference semifinals. The hosts dealt better with the elements on a wet and gusty Saturday night at Carroll Stadium.

“It’s nice to see all of our fans celebrating and seeing what it means to them,” said Eleven coach Martin Rennie. “I think that’s really fun whenever you win big games, then you notice how much it means for the whole organization, for everybody involved.”

A road date next Saturday at second-seeded Nashville SC now awaits Indy, the No. 3 seed, after Nashville topped the Charleston Battery 3-1 on Saturday. Kickoff is set for 8 p.m.

For his team’s biggest match of the season, Rennie deployed the 3-5-2 formation he used heavily in the latter part of the season.

Neveal Hackshaw, Paddy Barrett and Ouimette started in the back, with Jordan Farr in net. Tyler Gibson, Kenney Walker and Drew Conner roamed the middle of the pitch, while Ayoze and Macauley King played out wide in the midfield. Tyler Pasher and Dane Kelly paired up top.

Ouimette’s strike came in the 27th minute. Barrett served a long ball over the top of the New York defense to King on the right side, who found Ouimette for an acrobatic side volley from close range that sizzled past Red Bulls II goalkeeper Evan Louro.

With the lead, Indy kept its shape until relatively late when Rennie decided to substitute defense for offense to seal the win. He brought on midfielder Matt Watson for a forward, replacing Kelly. Rennie also replaced Pasher with the fresh legs of Cristian Novoa to provide energy as the lone striker.

Indy overcame some tense moments late as the visitors threatened multiple times in the waning minutes, but to no avail. After New York played Indy extremely tough earlier this season at Lucas Oil, Rennie noticed his defense was too stretched, which afforded Red Bulls II attackers too much space.

“We just wanted to try and make sure that we weren’t open in the backline,” he said. “Because in the first game, they had quite a lot of chances where they slipped balls behind backline. We were just little bit too wide apart.”

Ouimette agreed with his coach.

“It was just about being compact — being compact, net letting them play,” Ouimette added. “They’re very good pressing, so the goal was not to get caught on the ball. Because when they recover the ball from the defenders and the midfielders, they go really quickly. And they’re very good at combining in the attack, so it was just about being focused and everybody going in to reduce the space for them.”

Former Indiana Hoosiers fullback Rece Buckmaster drew the start and played the full 90 at right back for Red Bulls II. He’s already become a regular on the first team and even recently started in the Red Bulls’ loss to the Philadelphia Union in the MLS playoffs.

Although the Eleven won’t host in the next round, the possibility still exists of returning to Carroll Stadium later in the playoffs if Indy were to get by Nashville and then encounter a worse-seeded team in either the conference final or championship match.