Wednesday, November 9
Winston-Salem, NC
7:00 PM
University of Louisville
at
Wake Forest (Semifinals)
Louisville Visits Wake Forest in Top 10, ACC Semifinal Clash
November 08, 2016 | Men's Soccer
Kickoff for No. 9 Cardinals and No. 2 Demon Deacons set for Wednesday at 7 p.m., ET in Winston-Salem, N.C.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -Â The No. 9 Louisville men's soccer team continues its ACC Championship pursuit with a semifinal match against No. 2 Wake Forest on Wednesday at 7 p.m., ET at Spry Stadium. The match will be televised on ACC Network Extra, while live scoring will be provided through GoCards.com.Â
ABOUT THE CARDINALS
The third-seeded Cardinals improved to 12-4-2 on the season with a 1-0 ACC quarterfinal win over No. 17 Virginia on Sunday. Louisville finished second in the ACC Atlantic Division with a 5-2-1 conference record. Junior Mohamed Thiaw ranks ninth in the nation with 11 goals, including an NCAA best seven game-winners. Junior Tim Kubel leads the ACC and ranks sixth in the NCAA with nine assists, while graduate goalkeeper Stefan Cleveland has registered 10 shutouts this season.
ABOUT THE DEMON DEACONS
Wake Forest, which advanced to Wednesday's match with a 1-0 quarterfinal win over Notre Dame on Sunday, has a 13-2-3 record overall and won its second straight ACC Atlantic Division title with a 5-1-2 record. The second-seeded Demon Deacons, guided by head coach Bobby Muuss, were 17-3-2 last season and advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2015 NCAA Championship before falling to eventual champion Stanford, 2-1, in overtime.Â
SERIES SNAPSHOT
Wake Forest holds a 5-2-0 advantage all-time against Louisville in a series dating back to 2007. The Demon Deacons have won four straight in the series, including a 2-1 victory over the Cardinals in a regular season meeting less than a month ago at Spry Stadium.Â
LOUISVILLE IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
After earning its fifth win of the season over a ranked foe, the Cardinals gained one spot in this week's NSCAA Top 25 landing at No. 9 overall. Along with this week's ranking in the coaches poll, Louisville was also ranked No. 4 by Hero College Sports, No. 7 by Soccer America and No. 12 by Top Drawer Soccer.
CARDINALS AT NO. 7 IN LATEST NCAA RPI
The NCAA released its seventh men's soccer RPI on Monday and Louisville landed at No. 7 overall. The Cardinals were among seven ACC schools in the top 14 and nine teams in the top 33. Clemson sits in the No. 1 spot in this week's RPI and is followed by No. 4 Wake Forest, No. 7 Louisville, No. 8 Syracuse, No. 9 North Carolina, No. 13 Notre Dame, No. 14 Boston College, No. 21 Virginia and No. 33 Virginia Tech.
LOUISVILLE NOTES AND TRENDS...
• Louisville has finished with more shots than its opponent in 15 of 18 matches this season.
• Tim Kubel leads the Cardinals with 14 career goals, while Mohamed Thiaw (11), Tate Schmitt (10) and Daniel Johnson (seven) are next.
• The Cardinals, who were 6-3-2 at home in 2015, are 8-2-1 at home in 2016 and 21-8-6 all-time at Lynn Stadium, now in its third season as Louisville's home.
• UofL is 9-5-1 all-time at Lynn Stadium versus ranked foes highlighted by wins over No. 1 Notre Dame and No. 3 Syracuse this season and No. 2 Maryland and No. 2 Syracuse in 2014.
• Louisville is 4-2-1 on the road in 2016 after finishing just 1-6-1 in road matches last season.
• The Cardinals made their season debut in the NSCAA rankings on Sept. 20 landing at No. 13 overall.
KUBEL, THIAW EARN ALL-ACC FIRST TEAM HONORS; DEE, JOHNSON ON THIRD TEAM
Louisville junior defender Tim Kubel and junior forward Mohammed Thiaw were named All-ACC First Team honorees on November 8, while junior midfielder Geoffrey Dee and senior midfielder Daniel Johnson were honored as Third Team selections by the league's head coaches. The 2016 accolades mark the second time in three seasons four Louisville players have received All-ACC recognition matching the total in 2014 and it is the third straight season multiple Cardinals have earned All-ACC honors. The four All-ACC selections for Louisville rank as the fourth most of any school this season as North Carolina (six), Virginia (five) and Wake Forest (five) paced the way.
Kubel, tabbed as an All-ACC First Team honoree for the second straight season while becoming a three-time All-ACC selection overall, leads the ACC with nine assists to go along with two goals while starting all 18 matches this season for the top-10 ranked Cardinals. Earlier this season, the Stuttgart, Germany native set a school record with four assists in a 6-1 win over Virginia, while his second goal of the season served as the game-winner in Sunday's 1-0 ACC quarterfinal win over the Cavaliers. In his three seasons at Louisville, Kubel has 14 career goals and 17 total assists in 59 matches.Â
In his first season with the Cardinals, Thiaw has emerged as one of the nation's elite scorers ranking ninth in the NCAA with 11 goals and leading the country with seven game-winners. A transfer from Cincinnati State Technical and Community College, Thiaw has started all 18 matches at forward while scoring six of his 11 matches in Louisville's eight ACC regular season matches.Â
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Dee, who is in his first season with the Cardinals after transferring from Tulsa, connected for two goals and contributed four assists while starting all 18 matches in 2016. Each of the four assists for the Germantown, Tennessee native were delivered against ACC foes, while his lone game-winning goal came on Sept. 13 in the victory against Xavier.
Johnson earned All-ACC recognition for the second consecutive season after receiving Second Team honors in 2015. Hailing from Duluth, Georgia, Johnson scored a pair of goals and added three assists in 18 starts for the Cardinals. In his two seasons with the Louisville after transferring from Maryland, Johnson has accumulated seven goals in 37 starts.Â
CARDINALS MAKING THEIR THIRD APPEARANCE IN ACC CHAMPIONSHIP
Competing in its third ACC Championship, Louisville has accumulated a 4-2-0 record in the annual tournament. The Cardinals, who are 1-0 in this year's championship, were 1-1-0 last season earning a first round win (2-1) at Duke and dropping a quarterfinal match at Wake Forest (2-1 OT). In 2014, Louisville earned a quarterfinal win at North Carolina (1-0) and a semifinal victory over Syracuse (2-1) before falling 2-1 in double overtime to Clemson in the title match. Overall, the Cardinals are 8-8-4 in conference tournament matches under the direction of head coach Ken Lolla, including the 2010 Big East Championship.Â
LOUISVILLE AMONG THE NATION'S BEST IN TEAM, INDIVIDUAL NCAA STAT RANKINGS
Entering the second week of the postseason, Louisville was ranked in the top 35 in eight different team statistical categories. The Cardinals were No. 6 in goals against average (0.54), eighth in shutout percentage (0.56), 20th in save percentage (0.815), 24th in total goals (32), 31st in scoring offense (1.78 goals per game), 31st in shots on goal per game (6.17), 33rd in total points (90) and and 35th in points per game (5.00).
Individually, three Cardinals have emerged to rank among the best in the nation and the ACC -- junior forward Mohamed Thiaw, junior defender Tim Kubel and graduate goalkeeper Stefan Cleveland. Thiaw was ranked No. 1 in the nation with seven game-winning goals, No. 9 in the NCAA and second in the ACC in goals (11), 24th in the nation and second in the ACC in goals per game (0.61) and 32nd nationally and second in the ACC in points (23).Â
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 nine assists while ranking 13th nationally and first in the ACC in assists per game (0.50). Cleveland is No. 8 in the nation and No. 3 in the ACC in goals against average (0.541) and ranked 28th in the NCAA in save percentage (.811).
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. Â
LOUISVILLE 5-4-0 AGAINST RANKED OPPONENTS IN 2016
Wednesday's match against No. 2 Wake Forest will mark the 10th contest in 19 total games this season the Cardinals have faced a nationally ranked opponent. Louisville is 5-4-0 in the previous nine matches this season ranked foes with home wins over No. 1 Notre Dame, No. 3 Syracuse and twice against Virginia (No. 16 and No. 17), a road win at No. 14 UConn and losses to No. 5 Clemson, at No. 7 Wake Forest, No. 9 Indiana and at No. 16 Kentucky. Â
ACC MEN'S SOCCER BY THE NUMBERS...
.716 - The ACC's .716 (68-24-10) winning percentage against other conferences is the best of any league.Â
1 - The ACC is the top-ranked conference in the NCAA RPI.
3 - Three different ACC teams have been ranked No. 1 in the country this year: North Carolina, Notre Dame, and Syracuse.Â
5 - Five ACC players were named candidates for the Senior CLASS Award: Louisville's Daniel Johnson, Syracuse's Oyvind Alseth, Virginia's Paddy Foss, and Wake Forest's Ian Harkes and Jacori Hayes.
7 - Seven of the top 14 teams in the NCAA RPI are from the ACC: #1 Clemson, #4 Wake Forest, #7 Louisvile, #8 Syracuse, #9 North Carolina, #13 Notre Dame and #14 Boston College. Additionally, #21 Virginia and #33 Virginia Tech give the ACC nine of the top 33 teams this week.
8 - Eight ACC teams -- including five of the top 10 -- are ranked in this week's NSCAA Poll, the most from any conference.
8 - Eight ACC teams are ranked in the top 16 spots in Soccer America's Top 25 this week.Â
11 - ACC teams have 11 wins over ranked nonconference opponents this season.Â
15 - At least one ACC squad has reached the College Cup in 15 straight years.
ABOUT THE CARDINALS
The third-seeded Cardinals improved to 12-4-2 on the season with a 1-0 ACC quarterfinal win over No. 17 Virginia on Sunday. Louisville finished second in the ACC Atlantic Division with a 5-2-1 conference record. Junior Mohamed Thiaw ranks ninth in the nation with 11 goals, including an NCAA best seven game-winners. Junior Tim Kubel leads the ACC and ranks sixth in the NCAA with nine assists, while graduate goalkeeper Stefan Cleveland has registered 10 shutouts this season.
ABOUT THE DEMON DEACONS
Wake Forest, which advanced to Wednesday's match with a 1-0 quarterfinal win over Notre Dame on Sunday, has a 13-2-3 record overall and won its second straight ACC Atlantic Division title with a 5-1-2 record. The second-seeded Demon Deacons, guided by head coach Bobby Muuss, were 17-3-2 last season and advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2015 NCAA Championship before falling to eventual champion Stanford, 2-1, in overtime.Â
SERIES SNAPSHOT
Wake Forest holds a 5-2-0 advantage all-time against Louisville in a series dating back to 2007. The Demon Deacons have won four straight in the series, including a 2-1 victory over the Cardinals in a regular season meeting less than a month ago at Spry Stadium.Â
LOUISVILLE IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
After earning its fifth win of the season over a ranked foe, the Cardinals gained one spot in this week's NSCAA Top 25 landing at No. 9 overall. Along with this week's ranking in the coaches poll, Louisville was also ranked No. 4 by Hero College Sports, No. 7 by Soccer America and No. 12 by Top Drawer Soccer.
CARDINALS AT NO. 7 IN LATEST NCAA RPI
The NCAA released its seventh men's soccer RPI on Monday and Louisville landed at No. 7 overall. The Cardinals were among seven ACC schools in the top 14 and nine teams in the top 33. Clemson sits in the No. 1 spot in this week's RPI and is followed by No. 4 Wake Forest, No. 7 Louisville, No. 8 Syracuse, No. 9 North Carolina, No. 13 Notre Dame, No. 14 Boston College, No. 21 Virginia and No. 33 Virginia Tech.
LOUISVILLE NOTES AND TRENDS...
• Louisville has finished with more shots than its opponent in 15 of 18 matches this season.
• Tim Kubel leads the Cardinals with 14 career goals, while Mohamed Thiaw (11), Tate Schmitt (10) and Daniel Johnson (seven) are next.
• The Cardinals, who were 6-3-2 at home in 2015, are 8-2-1 at home in 2016 and 21-8-6 all-time at Lynn Stadium, now in its third season as Louisville's home.
• UofL is 9-5-1 all-time at Lynn Stadium versus ranked foes highlighted by wins over No. 1 Notre Dame and No. 3 Syracuse this season and No. 2 Maryland and No. 2 Syracuse in 2014.
• Louisville is 4-2-1 on the road in 2016 after finishing just 1-6-1 in road matches last season.
• The Cardinals made their season debut in the NSCAA rankings on Sept. 20 landing at No. 13 overall.
KUBEL, THIAW EARN ALL-ACC FIRST TEAM HONORS; DEE, JOHNSON ON THIRD TEAM
Louisville junior defender Tim Kubel and junior forward Mohammed Thiaw were named All-ACC First Team honorees on November 8, while junior midfielder Geoffrey Dee and senior midfielder Daniel Johnson were honored as Third Team selections by the league's head coaches. The 2016 accolades mark the second time in three seasons four Louisville players have received All-ACC recognition matching the total in 2014 and it is the third straight season multiple Cardinals have earned All-ACC honors. The four All-ACC selections for Louisville rank as the fourth most of any school this season as North Carolina (six), Virginia (five) and Wake Forest (five) paced the way.
Kubel, tabbed as an All-ACC First Team honoree for the second straight season while becoming a three-time All-ACC selection overall, leads the ACC with nine assists to go along with two goals while starting all 18 matches this season for the top-10 ranked Cardinals. Earlier this season, the Stuttgart, Germany native set a school record with four assists in a 6-1 win over Virginia, while his second goal of the season served as the game-winner in Sunday's 1-0 ACC quarterfinal win over the Cavaliers. In his three seasons at Louisville, Kubel has 14 career goals and 17 total assists in 59 matches.Â
In his first season with the Cardinals, Thiaw has emerged as one of the nation's elite scorers ranking ninth in the NCAA with 11 goals and leading the country with seven game-winners. A transfer from Cincinnati State Technical and Community College, Thiaw has started all 18 matches at forward while scoring six of his 11 matches in Louisville's eight ACC regular season matches.Â
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Dee, who is in his first season with the Cardinals after transferring from Tulsa, connected for two goals and contributed four assists while starting all 18 matches in 2016. Each of the four assists for the Germantown, Tennessee native were delivered against ACC foes, while his lone game-winning goal came on Sept. 13 in the victory against Xavier.
Johnson earned All-ACC recognition for the second consecutive season after receiving Second Team honors in 2015. Hailing from Duluth, Georgia, Johnson scored a pair of goals and added three assists in 18 starts for the Cardinals. In his two seasons with the Louisville after transferring from Maryland, Johnson has accumulated seven goals in 37 starts.Â
CARDINALS MAKING THEIR THIRD APPEARANCE IN ACC CHAMPIONSHIP
Competing in its third ACC Championship, Louisville has accumulated a 4-2-0 record in the annual tournament. The Cardinals, who are 1-0 in this year's championship, were 1-1-0 last season earning a first round win (2-1) at Duke and dropping a quarterfinal match at Wake Forest (2-1 OT). In 2014, Louisville earned a quarterfinal win at North Carolina (1-0) and a semifinal victory over Syracuse (2-1) before falling 2-1 in double overtime to Clemson in the title match. Overall, the Cardinals are 8-8-4 in conference tournament matches under the direction of head coach Ken Lolla, including the 2010 Big East Championship.Â
LOUISVILLE AMONG THE NATION'S BEST IN TEAM, INDIVIDUAL NCAA STAT RANKINGS
Entering the second week of the postseason, Louisville was ranked in the top 35 in eight different team statistical categories. The Cardinals were No. 6 in goals against average (0.54), eighth in shutout percentage (0.56), 20th in save percentage (0.815), 24th in total goals (32), 31st in scoring offense (1.78 goals per game), 31st in shots on goal per game (6.17), 33rd in total points (90) and and 35th in points per game (5.00).
Individually, three Cardinals have emerged to rank among the best in the nation and the ACC -- junior forward Mohamed Thiaw, junior defender Tim Kubel and graduate goalkeeper Stefan Cleveland. Thiaw was ranked No. 1 in the nation with seven game-winning goals, No. 9 in the NCAA and second in the ACC in goals (11), 24th in the nation and second in the ACC in goals per game (0.61) and 32nd nationally and second in the ACC in points (23).Â
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 nine assists while ranking 13th nationally and first in the ACC in assists per game (0.50). Cleveland is No. 8 in the nation and No. 3 in the ACC in goals against average (0.541) and ranked 28th in the NCAA in save percentage (.811).
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. Â
LOUISVILLE 5-4-0 AGAINST RANKED OPPONENTS IN 2016
Wednesday's match against No. 2 Wake Forest will mark the 10th contest in 19 total games this season the Cardinals have faced a nationally ranked opponent. Louisville is 5-4-0 in the previous nine matches this season ranked foes with home wins over No. 1 Notre Dame, No. 3 Syracuse and twice against Virginia (No. 16 and No. 17), a road win at No. 14 UConn and losses to No. 5 Clemson, at No. 7 Wake Forest, No. 9 Indiana and at No. 16 Kentucky. Â
ACC MEN'S SOCCER BY THE NUMBERS...
.716 - The ACC's .716 (68-24-10) winning percentage against other conferences is the best of any league.Â
1 - The ACC is the top-ranked conference in the NCAA RPI.
3 - Three different ACC teams have been ranked No. 1 in the country this year: North Carolina, Notre Dame, and Syracuse.Â
5 - Five ACC players were named candidates for the Senior CLASS Award: Louisville's Daniel Johnson, Syracuse's Oyvind Alseth, Virginia's Paddy Foss, and Wake Forest's Ian Harkes and Jacori Hayes.
7 - Seven of the top 14 teams in the NCAA RPI are from the ACC: #1 Clemson, #4 Wake Forest, #7 Louisvile, #8 Syracuse, #9 North Carolina, #13 Notre Dame and #14 Boston College. Additionally, #21 Virginia and #33 Virginia Tech give the ACC nine of the top 33 teams this week.
8 - Eight ACC teams -- including five of the top 10 -- are ranked in this week's NSCAA Poll, the most from any conference.
8 - Eight ACC teams are ranked in the top 16 spots in Soccer America's Top 25 this week.Â
11 - ACC teams have 11 wins over ranked nonconference opponents this season.Â
15 - At least one ACC squad has reached the College Cup in 15 straight years.
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.
2016 ACC MEN'S SOCCER CHAMPIONSHIP
Wednesday, November 2 (Campus Sites)
Match 1 – #8 Boston College draws #9 Virginia Tech, 2-2 (2OT) - Eagles advance in shootout, 4-3
Match 2 – #5 Syracuse def. #12 Pitt, 4-0
Match 3 – #6 Virginia def. #11 NC State, 1-0
Match 4 – #7 Notre Dame def. #10 Duke, 3-2 (OT)
Sunday, November 6 (Campus Sites)
Match 5 – #8 Boston College def. #1 North Carolina, 1-0
Match 6 – #4 Clemson draws #5 Syracuse, 1-1 - Tigers advance in shootout, 4-2
Match 7 – #3 Louisville def. #6 Virginia, 1-0
Match 8 – #2 Wake Forest def. #7 Notre Dame, 1-0
Wednesday, November 9 (Campus Sites)
Match 9 – #8 Boston College at #4 Clemson
Match 10 – #3 Louisville at #2 Wake Forest
Sunday, November 13 (MUSC Health Stadium, Charleston, S.C.)
ACC Championship Game, 2 p.m.
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Players Mentioned
GK
/ Men's Soccer
MF
/ Men's Soccer
MF
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