Women's Soccer Plays Two on the Road This Week

LOUISVILLE, KY. -- The University of Louisville women's soccer team will continue ACC play as they embark on a three-game road trip to wrap up the regular season starting with No. 2 Virginia on Thursday evening at 5:30 p.m. the game will be broadcast on FoxSports. The Cards will then travel to North Carolina State on Sunday for a 1 p.m. first kick.

Louisville enters the match with an overall record of 7-6-2 and a 3-3-1 record in ACC play after falling to No. 1 Florida State 3-1 on Senior Day last Saturday at Dr. Mark and Cindy Lynn Stadium. Freshman forward Jill Vetere scored her first career goal in the 78th minute but the Cardinals could not overcome the early scoring by the Seminoles as the loss snapped a four-game unbeaten streak.

For the season, 11 Cardinals have scored this season with four players leading the balanced attack by recording two goals. Redshirt-senior Casey Whitfield leads the team with six points scoring two goals and adding two assists. Sophomore Alison Price adds two goals and assist for five points while senior Rachel Avant adds a goal and three assists for five points. Sophomore Isabella Habuda and freshman Gabrielle Vincent add two goals for the team. Junior goalkeepers Taylor Bucklin (58 saves) and Paige Brown (14 saves) have both seen time in goal this season with the two combining for a 0.96 goals against average.

Head coach Karen Ferguson-Dayes is in her 16th season with the Cardinals. She has guided Louisville to four NCAA Tournament appearances, including a Sweet 16 appearance in 2011.

SCOUTING VIRGINIA
Virginia enters the match as the No. 2 team in the nation and boasts an 11-1-1 record. The Cavaliers currently stand second in the conference with 15 points after defeating Boston College 4-2 last week. The Cavaliers rank second in the nation with 3.08 goals per match. Junior midfielder Alexis Shaffer and junior forward Morgan Reuther lead the team with seven goals apiece. Shaffer adds five assists to her seven goals for a team-high 19 points. Senior forward Makenzy Doniak has a team-high seven assists along with her three goals. Junior goalkeepers Jessie Ferrari and Morgan Stearns split time in goal with the two of them combining for 24 saves and a 0.60 goals against average.

For the past 16 seasons, Steve Swanson has been the head women's soccer coach at Virginia. Last season he led the Cavaliers to their second-consecutive College Cup apperance and first-ever College Cup Final.

SERIES HISTORY
The Cardinals and Cavaliers will meet for the second time in series history with the Cavs leading the series 1-0. The two teams met last season with Virginia winning 2-1 at Lynn Stadium. Alison Price gave the Cardinals an early lead when she scored in the 19th minute. The Cavs responded with a goal six minutes later and right before halftime to take a 2-1 lead at the half. Neither team scored in the second half.

SCOUTING NORTH CAROLINA STATE
North Carolina State enters the weekend on a seven-game losing streak. The Wolfpack are currently 4-11 and 0-6 in conference play before playing Clemson on Thursday night. Last week the Wolfpack fell to Syracuse 3-0. For the season, the Wolfpack are led by redshirt sophomore Jackie Stengel who has scored a team-high 5 goals and adds an assist for 11 points. Redshirt junior Alexa Allen is second on the team with three goals. Redshirt junior Mackenzie Stelljes and freshman goalkeeper Sydney Wootten both see time in goal with the two combining for 83 saves and a 1.74 goals against average.

Tim Santoro is currently in his third season as head coach for the Wolfpack after serving as the Associate Head Coach for Wake Forest.

SERIES HISTORY
The Cardinals and Wolfpack meet for the thrid time in history with the series tied 1-1 between the teams. The last time the two teams met were in 2014 with Louisville taking a 1-0 victory at Lynn Stadium with Chinyelu Asher scoring in the 69th minute for the lone goal of the game.

Following the Cardinals on Social Media
Fans can follow Louisville men's soccer on Twitter (@ULwomenssoccer) at http://twitter.com/ulwomenssoccer and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/ulwomenssoccer.

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Players Mentioned

Chinyelu Asher

Rachel Avant

Paige Brown

Taylor Bucklin

Isabella Habuda

Alison Price

Jill Vetere

Gabrielle Vincent

Casey Whitfield

University of Louisville Athletics