No. 6 Cardinals Visit No. 12 NC State in Top 15 Clash

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The No. 6 University of Louisville men's soccer team continues its stretch of three straight road matches with Friday night's road showdown against No. 12 NC State at Dail Soccer Field. The match, which kicks off at 7 p.m., ET will be televised on ACC Network Extra, while live stats will be available at GoCards.com.

ABOUT THE CARDINALS
Louisville, ranked 6th in this week's United Soccer Coaches Top 25, enters Friday's match with a 6-1-1 record following Tuesday's 2-1 road victory against Georgetown. With a five-match unbeaten streak, the Cardinals are atop the ACC Atlantic with nine points and a 3-0-0 mark equaling the pace for Wake Forest.

Adam Wilson leads the Cardinals with three goals this season, including a pair of game-winners. Geoffrey Dee and Cherif Dieye have two goals each, while Elijah Amo, Ziyad Fekri, Izaiah Jennings, Kino Ryosuke and Tate Schmitt each have one goal. Sophomore goalkeeper Jake Gelnovatch has started six of eight matches this season registering three shutouts overall and a 0.64 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. Louisville had a 13-2-5 record and was second in the ACC Atlantic with a 5-2-1 league mark.

ABOUT THE WOLFPACK
NC State enters the match at 6-2-0 overall and 1-2-0 in the ACC following Tuesday's 3-1 loss at Pittsburgh. The Wolfpack is ranked 12th in this week's United Soccer Coaches Top 25 and 17th in the NCAA RPI. Last season, NC State was 8-6-4 overall and 3-3-2 in the ACC. The Wolfpack advanced to the NCAA Championship for the first time since 2009 dropping a 2-0 decision to Old Dominion in the first round.

SERIES SNAPSHOT
Louisville trails 3-2-1 in the all-time series with NC State, which dates back to 1997. The Cardinals are 1-2-1 against the Wolfpack since joining the ACC, including a 3-2 home loss last season. Louisville is 1-2-0 all-time in Raleigh with the lone win (3-0) coming in the most recent visit in 2016 (Oct. 23).

LOUISVILLE NOTES AND TRENDS...
• Louisville was 4-1-4 against ranked opponents last season and is 1-0-0 this season.
• The Cardinals are 34-11-12 all-time at Lynn Stadium, including 11-7-4 against ranked foes.
• 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 leads the team with 22 career goals, including nine last season.
• Schmitt has 10 career game-winning goals, including the clincher in all four NCAA wins the last two years.

CARDINALS AT NO. 6 IN UNITED SOCCER COACHES POLL
Louisville remained at No. 6 in this week's United Soccer Coaches poll for the second straight week after landing at No. 7 in each of the previous two weeks. After debuting at No. 6 to open the season, the Cardinals lost three spots in week two before moving up to No. 7 in week three. The No. 6 ranking marked the second straight season UofL has received a preseason top 10 ranking after being slotted at No. 9 last season.

Louisville was among seven Atlantic Coast Conference teams in this year's preseason top 25, including five programs in the top 11. This week, the ACC has eight teams in the United Soccer Coaches Top 25: No. 1 Wake Forest, No. 3 North Carolina, No. 6 Louisville, No. 11 Virginia, No. 12 NC State, No. 15 Duke, No. 20 Notre Dame and No. 21 Virginia Tech.

LOUISVILLE LANDS AT NO. 3 IN INITIAL NCAA RPI
The NCAA released the first RPI of the 2018 season earlier this week and Louisville was slotted at No. 3 overall. The Cardinals are among nine ACC teams in the top 17 positions in the latest RPI, including five of the top seven teams.

SCHMITT NAMED CANDIDATE FOR 2018 SENIOR CLASS AWARD
Tate Schmitt was among 30 men's soccer student-athletes who excel both on and off the field named as candidates 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.

Each of the 60 candidates (30 men's candidates and 30 women's candidates) has displayed a strong work ethic in the classroom and on the pitch with 34 returning after earning first-team conference honors, 30 having grade-point averages of 3.5 or higher, nine being on the MAC Hermann Watch List for 2018 and seven returning All-Americans. Outside of academics and athletics, all candidates also have been consistently involved in community service on their campus or in their communities.

Each of the two candidate classes 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 2018 NCAA Men's and Women's College Cup® championships in December. For more information on all the candidates, visit seniorCLASSaward.com.

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.

2018 LOUISVILLE SOCCER TICKETS
Season tickets and single match tickets for the 2018 University of Louisville soccer season are on sale now through the Louisville Cardinals Ticket Office. The 2018 Louisville soccer tickets can be purchased online at GoCards.com/soccertickets.

Men's soccer single match tickets are priced at $12 per ticket for reserved chairback seats, $6 per ticket for general admission/berm seats and $4 per ticket for groups of 10 or more. Reserved chairback season tickets are priced at $100 for adults, $320 for the Family Four Pack and $80 for faculty/staff. General admission/berm seating for season tickets are priced at $50 for adults, $200 for the Family Four Pack and $50 for faculty/staff.

Season tickets packages include all UofL men's and women's soccer regular season matches at Dr. Mark and Cindy Lynn Stadium. For more information on Louisville soccer season tickets, visit GoCards.com/soccertickets, call 502-GO-CARDS or email tickets@gocards.com.

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Players Mentioned

Haji Abdikadir

Elijah Amo

Geoffrey Dee

Cherif Dieye

Ziyad Fekri

Jake Gelnovatch

Izaiah Jennings

Kino Ryosuke

Tate Schmitt

Adam Wilson

University of Louisville Athletics