University of Louisville
SAINT LOUIS (2nd Round)
Late Goal Lifts No. 13 Louisville Past Saint Louis
November 23, 2014 | Men's Soccer
Tim Kubel (right) and Ben Strong celebrate Sunday's game-winning goal against Saint Louis.
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2014 NCAA Men's Soccer Championship Brackets: Printable (PDF) | Interactive
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Freshman Tim Kubel scored in the 87th minute to lead the No. 13 Louisville men's soccer team to a dramatic 2-1 victory over 19th-ranked Saint Louis in the second round of the 2014 NCAA Championship on Sunday night at Dr. Mark and Cindy Lynn Stadium.
With Sunday's victory, the Cardinals (11-7-3) will next host the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) in a third round match on Sunday, Nov. 30 at 6 p.m., at Lynn Stadium. The Retrievers (13-5-4) upset No. 4 Maryland 1-0 on Sunday night in College Park to advance to the round of 16 for the first time in school history.
Tickets for Sunday's NCAA third round match in Louisville will be available for purchase starting Monday morning through the U of L ticket office in person at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium or by phone at (502) 852-5151 or (502) 852-0120.
With Sunday's second round match tied inside the final four minutes of regulation, Kubel (Stuttgart, Germany) delivered for the Cardinals working inside the box from the right side and scoring past Saint Louis (14-5-2) goalkeeper Sascha Otte, who had charged up from his end line position. Kubel's shot deflected off of Otte and bounced out of the reach of a Billikens' backline player and into the goal at the 86:17 mark. It was the team-leading seventh goal of the season for Kubel, including his third game-winner.
"Our fans were tremendous. They willed us on tonight and you could feel it," said Louisville head coach Ken Lolla. "I'm so proud of our guys because it was a tough, physical, hard-fought game. I thought we kept our composure and found a way to win the game."
All three goals in Sunday's match, played in a consistent and sometimes heavy rainstorm, were scored in the final 33 minutes of action. After the two teams played a scoreless first half, Saint Louis struck first in the second half when Francisco Vizcaino scored on a header off a rebound from an earlier shot for a 1-0 advantage in the 68th minute. The chance started with a header from Filip Pavisic that was knocked down by Louisville goalkeeper Joachim Ball (Villingen-Schwenningen, Germany), but the ball stayed inside the six-yard box where Vizcaino finished inside the left post for his first goal of the season.
The lead for the Billikens was short-lived however as sophomore Andrew Brody (Orlando, Fla.) pulled Louisville even at 1-less than three minutes later after finishing a cross from inside the six-yard box in the 71st minute. Kubel setup the chance by crossing the ball in from the right side where Brody worked past a Saint Louis defender and sent the ball to the back of the net from inside of five yards for his third goal of the season.
The Cardinals finished the match with a 10-6 advantage in shots, including a 7-4 edge on goal. The Billikens had a 5-2 advantage in corner kicks and were also whistled for 13 fouls to Louisville's six. Ball finished with three saves in goal for the Cardinals, while Otte had five saves for Saint Louis.
With Sunday's victory, Louisville avenged its 1-0 road to Saint Louis in early September. The match was also the third meeting between the two programs in the last 13 months with each of those three being impacted by rain. The match on Sept. 9 in St. Louis was delayed a half hour due to thunderstorms and was played in intermittent rain showers. Last October, the Cardinals earned a 3-2 overtime win against Saint Louis in a match played in heavy rain throughout at Cardinal Park.
Fans can follow Louisville men's soccer on Twitter (@UofLmenssoccer) at http://twitter.com/uoflmenssoccer and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/UofLmenssoccer.
2015 Season Tickets
Season tickets for Louisville's second season at Dr. Mark and Cindy Lynn Stadium are now available. To obtain tickets for the 2015 soccer season, call Dan Cerwinski in the Louisville ticket office at (502) 852-0120 and place your $70 deposit. Ticket prices for the 2015 season will remain the same as the inaugural season and will start as low $45.
Season tickets for 2015 include every home match for both the men's and women's soccer programs. Men's home matches at Dr. Mark and Cindy Lynn Stadium will feature former Big East and American Conference rival Connecticut as well as in-state foe Kentucky. The women's side will again feature the top programs in the ACC highlighted by 21-time national champion North Carolina, 2013 College Cup runner-up Florida State and Duke.
