No. 10 Cardinals Challenge No. 1 Wake Forest in ACC Semifinal

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Making its third appearance in five years in the semifinal round of the ACC Championship, the No. 10 Louisville men's soccer team will challenge No. 1 Wake Forest on Wednesday at 7 p.m., ET at Spry Stadium in Winston-Salem, N.C. The match will be will be televised on ACC Network Extra, while live stats will be available at GoCards.com.

ABOUT THE CARDINALS
Ranked 10th in this week's United Soccer Coaches Top 25, fourth-seeded Louisville advanced to the semifinal round of the ACC Championship with a 1-0 triumph over No. 18 Notre Dame in Sunday's quarterfinal tilt. The Cardinals have a 9-4-3 record overall while finishing second in the ACC Atlantic and fourth overall in the league with 14 points and a 4-2-2 mark.

Tate Schmitt, who had the game-winning goal in Sunday's win over the Irish, leads the Cardinals with five goals and six assists this season. Cherif Dieye and Adam Wilson have four goals each, while Geoffrey Dee has scored three goals overall. Sophomore goalkeeper Jake Gelnovatch has started 12 of 16 matches this season registering five shutouts overall and a 0.93 goals against average.

The Cardinals produced another successful season in 2017 reaching the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Championship for the fifth time in the last eight seasons, including the second straight year, and earning a No. 7 ranking in the final United Soccer Coaches Top 25 with a 13-2-5 record.

ABOUT THE DEMON DEACONS
Ranked No. 1 in the United Soccer Coaches poll, top-seeded Wake Forest advanced to the semifinals with a 2-0 win over NC State on Sunday. The Demon Deacons (17-1-0) clinched their fourth straight ACC Atlantic Division title with a 7-1-0 league mark. Last season, Wake Forest was 19-2-2 and 7-0-1 in the ACC before ending its season with a loss to Stanford in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championship.

SERIES SNAPSHOT
Louisville trails 2-8-0 in the all-time series with Wake Forest, which dates to 2007. The Cardinals have lost seven straight to the Demon Deacons, including four in overtime. UofL dropped a 2-1 overtime decision on Oct. 26 in the regular season finale. The Cardinals are 1-7-0 all-time in Winston-Salem with six straight losses. Louisville has two previous ACC Championship road matches with Wake Forest dropping a semifinal road match in 2016 (2-1/OT) and a quarterfinal road match in 2015 (2-1/OT).

LOUISVILLE NOTES AND TRENDS...
• Louisville is 2-2-2 against ranked opponents this season after finishing 4-1-4 last season.
• Louisville has advanced to the NCAA Championship in 10 of 12 seasons under head coach Ken Lolla.
• The 2018 roster features 27 total players with 11 international student-athletes (including Haji Abdikadir from Kenya). Those 11 players from outside the US account for nine different nations.
• A total of 11 different states are represented in Louisville's 16 players from the United States.
• Tate Schmitt ranks 6th in school history with his 26 career goals and 5th in career points with 67.
• Schmitt has 11 career game-winning goals, including the clincher in all four NCAA wins the last two years.
• The Cardinals are 37-12-13 all-time at Lynn Stadium, including 12-7-5 against ranked foes.

LOUISVILLE MAKING ITS FIFTH ACC CHAMPIONSHIP APPEARANCE
Including Sunday's quarterfinal victory, Louisville has accumulated a 5-3-1 record in its five appearances in the ACC Championship. The Cardinals were 0-0-1 last season falling in penalty kicks to Virginia after playing to a scoreless draw in the quarterfinal final match at Dr. Mark and Cindy Lynn Stadium. In 2016, Louisville was 1-1-0 registering a quarterfinal win against Virginia (1-0) before falling 2-1 in overtime at Wake Forest in the semifinals.

In 2015, Louisville was 1-1-0 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 9-9-5 in conference tournament matches under the direction of head coach Ken Lolla, including winning the 2010 Big East Championship.

CARDINALS AT NO. 9 IN NCAA SELECTION COMMITTEE'S TOP 10 ON OCT. 28
Just 15 days ahead of selection Monday, the NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Committee announced its top 10 ranking on Oct. 28 with Louisville landing at No. 9 overall. Using the selection criteria and results through games of Oct. 21, Wake Forest was the top-ranked team with a record of 15-1-0. Louisville and Wake Forest were among seven ACC teams in the top 10.

The ranking is based on the criteria used to select and seed the 48 teams for the Division I Men's Soccer Championship and includes strength of schedule, Rating Percentage Index, head-to-head competition, results versus common opponents, significant wins and losses and locations of contests. Additionally, input is provided by the regional advisory committees for consideration by the Division I Men's Soccer Committee.

The 2018 championship field will consist of 24 automatic qualifiers and 24 at-large selections, which will be revealed on Monday, Nov. 12 at 1 p.m. on NCAA.com. The top 16 teams will be seeded and receive first round byes before hosting second round games.

LOUISVILLE RANKED 8TH IN THIS WEEK'S NCAA RPI
The NCAA released the seventh RPI of the 2018 season on Nov. 5 and Louisville gained four spots to No. 8 overall. Louisville was ranked as highly as No. 6 in weeks three and four earlier this season. The Cardinals are among nine ACC teams in the top 28 positions in the latest RPI, including seven of the top 10.

CARDINALS RISE TO NO. 10 IN THIS WEEK'S UNITED SOCCER COACHES POLL
Louisville moved up five spots to No. 10 in this week's United Soccer Coach Top 25 after landing 15th last week. Louisville has been ranked throughout the season, including a No. 6 ranking in the preseason poll. The Cardinals were 17th two weeks ago, their lowest ranking of the season.

This week, the ACC has seven teams in the United Soccer Coaches Top 25: No. 1 Wake Forest, No. 4 North Carolina, No. No. 8 Duke, No. 10 Louisville, No. 11 Virginia, No. 16 Notre Dame and No. 24 Virginia Tech. Earning a preseason top 10 ranking for the second straight year, Louisville was among seven ACC teams in this year's preseason top 25, including five programs in the top 11.

SCHMITT NAMED FINALIST FOR 2018 SENIOR CLASS AWARD
Tate Schmitt was among 10 men's soccer student-athletes who excel both on and off the field named as finalists for the 2018 Senior CLASS Award. To be eligible for the award, 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. Click here to vote for Schmitt.

A native of Phoenix, Arizona, Schmitt has 25 career goals, including 10 game-winners, and 14 total assists in 74 collegiate matches. This season, the two-time All-ACC Academic Team member leads the team with his four goals and five assists while starting all 13 matches for the 10th-ranked Cardinals. Last season, he was an All-ACC Second Team honoree and was a United Soccer Coaches All-South Region Third Team selection after tallying a team-leading nine goals to go with three assists.

The finalists were chosen by a selection committee from the list of 30 men's candidates and 30 women's candidates announced in September. Nationwide fan voting begins immediately to help select the winner, and fans are encouraged to vote on the Senior CLASS Award website through November 18, 2018. Fan votes will be combined with media and Division I head coaches' votes to determine the winner. The Senior CLASS Award winners will be announced during the 2018 NCAA Men's and Women's College Cup® championships later this fall.

FOLLOWING THE CARDINALS ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Fans can follow Louisville men's soccer on Twitter at @UofLmenssoccer and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/UofLmenssoccer.

No. 10 Cardinals Challenge No. 1 Wake Forest in ACC Semifinal

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Players Mentioned

Haji Abdikadir

Geoffrey Dee

Cherif Dieye

Jake Gelnovatch

Tate Schmitt

Adam Wilson

University of Louisville Athletics