No. 13 Louisville Travels to NC State for Sunday Match

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The No. 13 Louisville men's soccer team continues its pursuit of an ACC Atlantic Division title with a road match against NC State on Sunday at 1 p.m., at Dail Soccer Field. The match will be televised on ACC Network Extra, while live scoring will be provided at GoCards.com.

ABOUT THE CARDINALS
Louisville enters the match at 10-3-2 and tied for the top spot in the ACC Atlantic Division with a 4-1-1 conference mark. The Cardinals have been paced by junior Mohamed Thiaw's 10 goals, including an NCAA best six game-winners. The 10 goals are the most for a UofL player since Colin Rolfe's 10 goals in 2009.

Graduate student Stefan Cleveland has eight shutouts in his 15 starts this season to anchor the Louisville defense, which has surrendered only nine goals overall. Senior defender Tim Kubel leads the team with eight assists.

ABOUT THE WOLFPACK
NC State enters the weekend at 5-9-0 overall following Wednesday's win over UNCW and 1-5-0 in the ACC after a 3-0 win over Pittsburgh last Saturday. Directed by head coach Kelly Findley, the Wolfpack was 8-6-3 overall and tied for fifth in the ACC Atlantic with a 1-4-3 conference record.

SERIES SNAPSHOT
NC State holds a 2-1-1 lead in the all-time series against Louisville, which dates back to 1997. The Cardinals are 0-2-0 in games played in Raleigh, including a 2-1 loss against the Wolfpack in 2014. Last season, Louisville played to a 1-1 draw against NC State at Lynn Stadium.

LOUISVILLE IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
After moving into the top 10 of the NSCAA poll for the first time this season at No. 9 on Sept. 27, the Cardinals lost ground this week dropping to 13th overall. Along with this week's ranking in the coaches poll, Louisville was also ranked No. 5 by Hero College Sports, No. 7 by Soccer America and No. 12 by Top Drawer Soccer.

CARDINALS AT NO. 3 IN LATEST NCAA RPI
The NCAA released its fourth men's soccer RPI on Monday and Louisville landed at No. 3. The Cardinals were among six ACC schools in the top eight and nine teams in the top 28. Clemson sits in the No. 1 spot in this week's RPI and is followed by No. 2 Notre Dame, No. 3 Louisville, No. 6 North Carolina, No. 7 Syracuse, No. 8 Virginia, No. 13 Wake Forest, No. 20 Boston College and No. 28 Virginia Tech.

LOUISVILLE NOTES AND TRENDS...
• The Cardinals made their season debut in the NSCAA rankings on Sept. 20 landing at No. 13 overall.
• Louisville has finished with more shots than its opponent in 12 of 15 matches this season.
• Tim Kubel leads the Cardinals with 12 career goals, while Tate Schmitt (10), Mohamed Thiaw (10) and Daniel Johnson (seven) are next.
• The Cardinals, who were 6-3-2 at home in 2015, are 7-1-1 at home in 2016 and 20-7-6 all-time at Lynn Stadium, now in its third season as Louisville's home.
• UofL is 8-4-1 all-time at Lynn Stadium versus ranked foes with wins over No. 1 Notre Dame and No. 3 Syracuse this season and No. 2 Maryland and No. 2 Syracuse in 2014.
• Louisville is 3-2-1 on the road in 2016 after finishing just 1-6-1 in road matches last season.

LOUISVILLE AMONG THE NATION'S BEST IN TEAM, INDIVIDUAL NCAA STAT RANKINGS
Entering this weekend's matches, Louisville was ranked in the top 25 in seven different team statistical categories. The Cardinals were No. 10 in goals against average (0.58), 12th in total goals (28), 16th in total points (80), 17th in shutout percentage (0.53), 22nd in scoring offense (1.87 goals per game), 24th in shots on goal per game (6.47) and 25th in total assists (24).

Individually, three Cardinals have emerged to rank among the best in the nation and the ACC -- junior forward Mohamed Thiaw, graduate goalkeeper Stefan Cleveland and junior defender Tim Kubel. Thiaw was ranked No. 1 in the nation with six game-winning goals, ninth in the nation and second in the ACC in goals (10), 17th nationally and second in the ACC in points (21), 20th in the nation and second in the ACC in goals per game (0.67) and 33rd in the nation and second in the ACC in points per game (1.40).

Kubel, who set a school record with four assists in the 6-1 win over Virginia on Sept. 24, is sixth in the NCAA and first in the ACC with eight assists while ranking 12th nationally and first in the ACC in assists per game (0.53). Cleveland is No. 11 in the nation and No. 3 in the ACC in goals against average (0.581).

CARDINALS PLAY THREE STRAIGHT TOP 10 FOES FOR JUST THE SECOND TIME EVER
Louisville's stretch of matches against No. 3 Syracuse (Oct. 7), No. 9 Indiana (Oct. 11) and at No. 7 Wake Forest (Oct. 15) marked just the second time in school history and the first time in the regular season the Cardinals played three straight matches against top 10 ranked foes. The only previous stretch came in 2010 when the Cardinals played No. 8 UCLA, No. 4 UNC and No. 2 Akron en route to the runner-up finish in the College Cup. Louisville defeated the Bruins 5-4 in an Elite Eight match at Cardinal Park and knocked off the Tar Heels 2-1 in the national semifinals before falling to the Zips in the NCAA title match.

LOUISVILLE 4-3-0 AGAINST RANKED OPPONENTS IN 2016
Louisville is 4-3-0 against ranked foes this season with home wins over No. 1 Notre Dame, No. 3 Syracuse and No. 16 Virginia, a road win at No. 14 UConn and losses to No. 7 Wake Forest, No. 9 Indiana and No. 16 Kentucky. The Cardinals have one team remaining on their schedule ranked in this week's NSCAA poll -- No. 8 Clemson. Additionally, Butler has moved to No. 19 overall since drawing with the Cardinals on August 26.

CLEVELAND, THIAW TWICE EARN ACC PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONORS
Graduate goalkeeper Stefan Cleveland and junior forward Mohamed Thiaw have twice earned ACC weekly honors this season with each of those honors coming in the same weeks. Cleveland was named ACC Men's Soccer Defensive Player of the Week on September 20 and was Co-Defensive Player of the Week on October 11, while Thiaw was chosen as the Co-Offensive Player of the Week on both September 20 and October 11.

JOHNSON NAMED CANDIDATE FOR SENIOR CLASS AWARD
Midfielder Daniel Johnson was named Oct. 7 among 30 candidates for the 2016 Senior CLASS Award in collegiate men's soccer. To be eligible for the award, which represents excellence both on and off the field, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition. An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities. The candidates will be narrowed to 10 finalists midway through the regular season, and those 10 names will be placed on the official ballot. Ballots will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, coaches and fans, who will select one male candidate and one female candidate who best exemplifies excellence in the four Cs of community, classroom, character and competition. The Senior CLASS Award winners will be announced during the 2016 NCAA Men's and Women's College Cup® championships in December. For more information on all the candidates, visit seniorCLASSaward.com.

FOLLOWING LOUISVILLE MEN'S SOCCER ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Fans can follow Louisville men's soccer on Twitter (@UofLmenssoccer) at http://twitter.com/uoflmenssoccer and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/UofLmenssoccer.

No. 13 Louisville Travels to NC State for Sunday Match

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Players Mentioned

Stefan Cleveland

Daniel Johnson

Tim Kubel

Tate Schmitt

Mohamed Thiaw

University of Louisville Athletics