No. 9 Louisville Men’s Soccer Rises in National Rankings
September 27, 2016 | Men's Soccer
Cardinals at No. 2 in first NCAA RPI; Cleveland, Kubel and Thiaw rank among nation’s best
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Following five weeks of grueling action, the University of Louisville men's soccer team reached midway point in the regular season in strong fashion moving up the national team and statistical rankings, highlighted by rising to No. 9 in this week's National Soccer Coaches Association of America Top 25.
The Cardinals, winners of five straight matches to move to 7-1-1 overall and atop the ACC Atlantic with a 3-0-0 league mark, opened the season unranked before returning to the NSCAA poll at No. 13 on Sept. 20. Along with this week's No. 9 ranking in the coaches poll, Louisville is ranked second nationally by Soccer America, No. 3 by Hero College Sports and No. 7 by Top Drawer Soccer. The Cardinals, who do not have a midweek non-conference tilt this week, return to the pitch on Friday at 7 p.m., ET with an ACC road match at Boston College.
CARDINALS DEBUT AT NO. 2 IN FIRST NCAA RPI RELEASE
The NCAA released its first men's soccer RPI on Monday and Louisville landed at No. 2 overall. The Cardinals are among five ACC schools in the top six positions and nine teams in the top 37 overall. Notre Dame, which lost at Louisville on Sept. 16, sits in the No. 1 spot in this week's RPI and is followed by the No. 2 Cardinals, No. 3 Clemson, No. 5 Syracuse, No. 6 North Carolina, No. 11 Boston College, No. 14 Virginia Tech, No. 23 Wake Forest and No. 37 Virginia.
LOUISVILLE AMONG THE TOP 10 IN MULTIPLE TEAM, INDIVIDUAL NCAA STAT RANKINGS
Entering the sixth week of the regular season, Louisville is ranked in the top 10 in three different team statistical categories – No. 5 in shutout percentage (0.67), No. 5 in goals against average (0.32) and No. 10 in save percentage (0.864). Individually, three Cardinals have emerged to rank among the best in the nation and the ACC midway through the season. Graduate goalkeeper Stefan Cleveland is first in the ACC and fifth in the NCAA in goals against average (0.324) and 13th in the nation and second in the ACC in save percentage (0.857).
Junior Tim Kubel, who set a school record with four assists in Saturday's 6-1 win over Virginia, is ranked second in the NCAA and first in the ACC with seven assists on the season. Junior Mohamed Thiaw, who has scored a goal in three straight matches, is ranked No. 1 in the nation with four game-winning goals, first in the ACC and 11th in the NCAA with seven goals and 14th nationally and first in the ACC with 15 points.
2016 LOUISVILLE SOCCER SEASON TICKET AND FAN EXPERIENCE INFORMATION
Season tickets and Fan Experience packages for Louisville's third season at Dr. Mark and Cindy Lynn Stadium are now available. To purchase your tickets for the 2016 soccer season, please call the Louisville Cardinals Ticket Office at (502) GoCARDS or visit gocards.com/soccer-fep for more information. Ticket prices for the 2016 season will remain the same as the inaugural season and start as low as $2 per person per game. Season tickets for 2016 include every regular season home match for both the men's and women's soccer programs.
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.
