INDIANAPOLIS — Strikes from Nick Moon, Tyler Pasher, Drew Conner and Matt Watson carried the Indy Eleven to a convincing 4-1 victory over Hartford Athletic on Wednesday at Lucas Oil Stadium. Other notable performers included Alex Dixon, who scored the lone goal for the visitors, and Karl Ouimette, who dished out two assists for the hosts.

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Follow Robbie on Twitter: @RobbieMeh.

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Episode 10 of Lower League America focuses on a club dripping with success in the Midwest, Louisville City FC. After first taking the pitch in 2015, the team has already reached the USL Championship summit — and remained there — by hoisting back-to-back titles in 2017 and 2018.

Co-hosts Nipun Chopra and Jason Davis of Compass Football take a look back at LouCity’s journey to the top and contemplate what the future might hold for the club in the unabridged story of Louisville City FC.

You can watch Episodes 1-9 below:

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Co-hosts Nipun Chopra and Jason Davis of Compass Football focus on the rapid ascent of FC Cincinnati in Episode 7 of Lower League America. After first taking the pitch in the USL in 2016, the club defied lower-division attendance expectations on its way to getting awarded a spot in MLS for 2019. Wrong Side of the Pond‘s D.J. Switzer also guests to help make sense of the anomaly that is FCC.

You can watch Episodes 1-6 below:

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Credit: Robbie Mehling/Soc Takes

Soc Takes understands Indy Eleven has furloughed a number of front office staff in recent days as a result of the COVID-19 crisis.

A statement from Indy Eleven to Soc Takes confirmed our report:

“While we maintained full staffing levels for as long as possible, the economic impact of the pandemic and subsequent delay to our season resulted in the recent furloughing of some of our staff members,” said Greg Stremlaw, Indy Eleven president and CEO. “We expect to welcome these employees back soon to prepare for our eventual return to 2020 USL Championship action. In the meantime, we have and will continue to provide all of our staff members guidance on how to access the financial benefits and health and wellness resources made available by local, state and federal sources so that we can navigate this crisis to the best of our abilities both as individuals and as a work family.”

Louisville City FC president Brad Estes also informed Soc Takes that none of their front office staff have been furloughed.

As initially reported by Bob Williams of Sports Business, “some” USL League Two and Super Y staff were furloughed earlier last month. Since then, additional USL HQ staff have been furloughed, including some working primarily for USL League One and USL Championship. Soc Takes understands between 20-25% of USL HQ employees have been furloughed.

A USL spokesperson was unable to comment on the number or percentage of furloughed employees. The spokesperson confirmed that the league will continue to pay the “employer and employee portions of health care for those employees.”

Soc Takes was unable to determine how many staff were furloughed by Indy Eleven.

Follow Nipun on Twitter: @NipunChopra7.

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Irving, Texas-based Irving FC has become the NPSL‘s newest expansion team, the league revealed Thursday.

“The league is excited to announce that Irving FC will be joining the NPSL,” said Dina Case, NPSL director of membership development. “Irving FC has already established strong ties to their community and their model aligns well with the NPSL’s grassroots model. They already have experience playing NPSL teams and have done well both on and off the field in that regard. They have a good understanding of what it takes to run a team at this level and we look forward to them being a very successful team from the start.”

Originally founded as “Irving City FC” in 2018, the club later rebranded, shortening its name in the process. The team is headed up by CEO Eduardo Rodriguez, COO David Alvarez, and CFO and sporting director Gilberto Mendoza.

“We chose the NPSL because of its professionalism and their goals to grow the game the right way,” Rodriguez said.

Irving will debut in the league’s South Region in 2021. Los Gallos — aka the Roosters, as the team is affectionately known — host their home matches at AirHogs Stadium in Grand Prairie, Texas.

Follow Kevin on Twitter: @KJboxing.

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