On July 16, 1988, Florence Griffith-Joyner set the women's 100 meters world record of 10.49 at Michael A. Carroll Track and Soccer Stadium in Indianapolis. Saturday evening, the Carolina RailHawks visited Carroll Stadium and tried to turn their pivotal match against the Indy Eleven into a track meet, running out a rare 3-5-2 formation designed to push as many attackers forward, knowing three points were essential to preserve Carolina’s tenuous playoff hopes.

But it was Indy Eleven that ended up running all over the RailHawks, as a first-half goal from Justin Braun and a duo of second-half scores paced Indy’s 3-0 victory. It is Carolina’s second straight loss this week after faltering last Wednesday at home against Rayo OKC.

An active, aggressive RailHawks squad held their own throughout the bulk of the first half. Fullbacks Kareem Moses and Steven Miller pushed higher along with edges, and midfielder Tiyi Shipalane teamed with forward Matt Fondy up top.

In the 32nd minute, Matt Watson sent a cross that Moses nodded back to Fondy, who headed it into the net an apparent goal. But the linesman said the trajectory of Watson’s ball crossed the byline on its way into the box and disallowed the score.

It appeared the teams were headed into halftime scoreless until Indy struck in the 45th minute. A Sinisa Ubiparipovic cross found a streaking Braun, who cut across defender Simon Mensing’s left shoulder and deposited his running header for the 1-0 lead.

In the 76th minute, Braun found himself clear on goal before the referee whistled Mensing for tripping him up just outside the area. Mensing earned a booking, and a minute later second-half sub Nicki Paterson punched his free kick through a hole in the RailHawks’ dike and past goalkeeper Brian Sylvestre to double Indy’s advantage.

Adding insult to ignominy, a 90th minute counter attack saw an unmarked Don Smart center to a charging Souleymane Youla, who converted the easy putaway to account for the final 3-0 scoreline.

Omar Bravo traveled with the RailHawks to Indianapolis, but didn’t see action due to a nagging quad injury.

Carolina’s starting lineup tonight included Tiyi Shipalane and Austin da Luz, who didn’t make the XI for Wednesday’s home loss to Rayo OKC. Brian Shriver, who also saw the bench Wednesday, didn’t see action tonight until the second stanza. The RailHawks’ foray into analytics this week netted them zero of the three points they desperately needed from their last two games to stay within striking distance of the league’s final postseason berth.

The RailHawks (10-7-13, 37 pnts.) aren’t mathematically eliminated from the NASL playoff race, but the practicalities are all but insurmountable. Minnesota United’s victory over FC Edmonton tonight puts it four points and an unreachable goal differential ahead of Carolina, and that doesn’t even account for the other four teams now ahead of the RailHawks in the NASL’s overall table. Carolina closes out its 2016 home campaign next Saturday, October 22 against Minnesota United, then completes their regular season the next weekend at Puerto Rico FC.

BOX SCORE

LINEUPS

CAR: Sylvestre, Moses (Shriver, 65’), Tobin, Mensing (Schuler 80’), Daly, Miller, Shipalane, Watson, da Luz, Albadawi, Fondy

INDY: Busch, Falvey, Franco, Palmer, Vukovic, Ring, Mares, Ubiparipovic (Paterson, 65’), Smart, Braun (Youla, 85’), Zayed (Lacroix, 76’)

GOALS

CAR: ---

INDY: Braun, 45’ (Ubiparipovic); Paterson, 77’; Youla, 90’ (Smart)

CAUTIONS

CAR: Albadawi, 40’

INDY: Lacroix, 79’; Busch, 90’

EJECTIONS

CAR: ---

INDY: Youla, 90 + 4’

ATTENDANCE: 8,649