Cardinals Travel to No. 10 Duke and NC State This Week

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- The University of Louisville women's soccer team travels to the state of North Carolina this week to square off against No. 10 Duke on Thursday night and NC State on Sunday afternoon.

The Cardinals (11-3, 5-2 ACC) are coming off a 2-0 shutout victory at Wake Forest, where they put together a dominant performance on the offensive end and held the Demon Deacons to just four shots throughout the entire match.

Junior forward Brooklynn Rivers leads the Cardinals on offense with eight goals and six assists for 22 points. Freshman Maisie Whitsett matches Rivers in goals with eight, while also adding two assists for 18 points. Rounding out the top scorers is sophomore Emina Ekic with four goals and four assists for 12 points.

In goal, Gabby Kouzelos has started all 13 matches and has registered 22 saves on the season with a goals against average of 0.86. Senior Gabrielle Vincent anchors the Cardinals' defense at centerback.

Head coach Karen Ferguson-Dayes is in her 19th season with the Cardinals. She has led Louisville to four NCAA tournament appearances, including a Sweet 16 appearance in 2011.

SCOUTING DUKE
The No. 10 Blue Devils enter the match at 11-2-2 as they are coming off a 1-0 week in the ACC defeating Clemson 3-2 on Saturday, Oct. 13. Taylor Racioppi scored the game-winner with 14 minutes remaining in the match.

Leading the offense for Duke is senior forward Kayla McCoy, with nine goals and five assists, for 23 points. McCoy is just one of six who have netted two or more goals this season for the Blue Devils.

Redshirt sophomore Brooke Heinsohn is 11-2-2 with seven shutouts in her 15 starts in net for Duke, allowing nine goals while picking up 43 saves. She has a save percentage of .796 and a goals against average of 0.72.

Robbie Church is in his 18th season as the head coach of the Duke Blue Devils. He has guided Duke to two College Cup appearances in the last three seasons. Overall, he has led the Blue Devils to three College Cup appearances.

SERIES HISTORY
Duke leads the series with Louisville 1-0-4. Last season Duke won the first match of the series 3-2 in overtime. It was also the first time either team had scored in four meetings. The previous four meeting resulted in scoreless ties.

SCOUTING NC STATE
NC State enters the weekend with an overall record of 9-4-3 and an ACC record of 2-3-2. The Wolfpack are coming off a four game road stretch with a 1-2-1 record, facing two ranked teams in the final matches.

Leading the offense for NC State is junior Tziarra King with eight goals and five assists for 21 points. Junior Kia Rankin is second on the team in scoring with four goals and four assists for 12 points.

Senior Sydney Wootten is 9-4-3 with five shutouts in her 16 starts in net for NC State, allowing 17 goals while picking up 68 saves. She has a save percentage of .800 and a goals against average of 1.01.

Tim Santoro is in his sixth season with the Wolfpack. He guided NC State to the the first back-to-back NCAA Tournament berths since the 1995-96 seasons last year after finishing with a 15-5-2 record to tab the most overall wins since 1995.

SERIES HISTORY
The series is tied 2-2-1 between the Cardinals and Wolfpack. The Cardinals fell 2-1 last season to NC State in Raleigh. Since joining the ACC, Louisville leads the series 2-1-1. The Cardinals won the first two meeting and then tied in the third meeting.

Cardinals Travel to No. 10 Duke and NC State This Week

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Players Mentioned

Emina Ekic

Gabby Kouzelos

Brooklynn Rivers

Gabrielle Vincent

Maisie Whitsett

University of Louisville Athletics