Kevin Johnston

Special for IndyStar

INDIANAPOLIS – In their first season in the United Soccer League, the Indy Eleven are on the brink of heading to the playoffs. They’re just not there yet.

A win Saturday night against Bethlehem Steel FC at Lucas Oil Stadium would’ve done the trick, but the Eleven had to settle for a point from a 1-1 draw.

“People seem so deflated, but that was a really important point tonight,” said Eleven coach Martin Rennie. “That could easily be the point that takes us into the playoffs. Obviously, we wanted to win and that was our intention.”

A loss in front of the announced crowd of 14,894 would’ve put Indy in an even more precarious position, and for a while it looked like that might’ve been the outcome. Indy goalkeeper Owain Fon Williams was a huge reason it didn’t.

Fon Williams wasn’t tested too often but stood on his head a few times when called upon. In the first half, he denied consecutive Bethlehem efforts, first when Steel FC forward Faris got in on goal alone, then on the subsequent rebound while still on the ground from the first save. The Welsh backstop later produced another fine save, finishing with four.

“Being a goalkeeper in that situation, you’ve got to put yourself as much in the attacker’s mind as possible,” Fon Williams explained. “You’ve got to fill that goal as much as you can.”

But Faris made his presence felt again soon after. Indy defender Carlyle Mitchell fell to the turf with a hamstring injury while trying to tackle Faris in the 39th minute, which allowed the latter a clean look at goal with just Fon Williams to beat. Faris finished at the near post to put the visitors up 1-0.

Indy strung together more possession early on, but only generated a single shot in the first half compared to Bethlehem’s five. Several Indy buildups ended due to a lack of sharpness in the final third of the pitch, however, things improved for Indy after the break.

“We had to get higher up the field,” Rennie said of his halftime adjustments. “We had to play balls a little bit more quickly forward because they were pressing really well around the 30-, 40-yard mark from goal. And we were losing a lot of balls there, so we had to miss that pressure.”

Some magic off the boot of Eleven striker Eugene Starikov leveled matters in the 61st. He took a long ball from Ayoze on the bounce and softly volleyed it over leaping Steel FC goalkeeper Tomas Romero, who had snuck off his line. It was perhaps Indy’s most important goal of the season given its magnitude.

Indy will finish out its inaugural USL regular-season campaign at Louisville City FC next Saturday, then it’s — very likely — onto the playoffs. It will take a lot for Indy to miss the postseason, but long-shot scenarios exist preventing Indy from having mathematically clinched already.