Louisville Travels to No. 2 Virginia on Thursday

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – University of Louisville women's soccer travels to play at No. 2 Virginia on Thursday night. The match will begin at 7 p.m. ET and broadcast on ACC Network Extra.

Louisville enters Sunday's match with a 7-5-1 overall record and they are 3-4 in Atlantic Coast Conference play.

Freshmen continue to impress for the Cardinals as Julia Simon recorded her third goal of the season in the 87^th minute against Boston College last week. It marked her first goal since she scored two in the season-opener and her collegiate debut against Western Michigan on Aug. 19. She is tied for the team-lead with fellow freshman Nina Nicosia with nine points, and is tied for second on the team with three goals and three assists.

Through 13 matches, freshmen have scored 10 of Louisville's 24 goals.

Louisville faces its fourth ranked opponent of the season on Thursday at Virginia. They are 0-2-1 against ranked teams and 7-3-0 against unranked teams. The 1-1 tie against No. 16 Michigan ended a seven-game losing streak to ranked teams.

Their last win over a ranked team was a 1-0 victory over No. 9 Clemson at Lynn Stadium on Oct. 10, 2019. Last year, the Cards went 0-4 against ranked teams and 5-3 against unranked teams.

The Cardinals will look to get on the board first as they are 6-0 when scoring first and 1-5-1 when their opponent scores first.

ABOUT THE CAVALIERS

Virginia enters Thursday's match ranked No. 2 in the country with a 13-1-1 record and they are 6-0-1 in ACC play. Their lone defeat was a 4-2 setback to No. 24 Penn State in Charlottesville on Sept. 9. Their only other non-win was a 0-0 tie to No. 3 North Carolina on Oct. 3 in Chapel Hill. Virginia ranks third in the ACC with 38 goals and 112 points, while its 36 assists rank fourth. Diana Ordonez is tied for the lead in the ACC with 10 goals and is tied for third with 22 points, while Lia Godfrey ranks second with 10 assists. Laurel Ivory's seven shutouts are tied for the lead in the ACC, while her .821 save percentage is tied for second and her 0.564 goals against average ranks second.

Series History: Louisville is 0-9 all-time against Virginia and 0-5 in Charlottesville. All nine matches have taken place since UofL joined the ACC. All-time the Cardinals have been outscored 18-4 by the Cavaliers.

Last Meeting (Nov. 10, 2020): Louisville wrapped up the fall portion of its schedule with a 4-1 loss to No. 9 Virginia in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament. Virginia scored in the 20th and 24th minutes to build a 2-0 lead. Emina Ekic scored a beautiful free kick in the 43rd minute to trim the lead in half and Savina Zamborini nearly tied it in the 48th minute, but her shot was saved. The Cavaliers then added goals in the 57th and 71st minutes. Louisville was outshot 21-8 for the game and had four shots on goal to Virginia's seven.

GAME FACTS
Date: Thursday, October 21
Time: 7 p.m. ET
Site: Charlottesville, Va. | Klockner Stadium
Video: ACCNX (William Foshee, play-by-play; Paddy Foss, analyst)
Series History: 0-9-0 (L9, 0-3-0 home, 0-5-0 away, 0-1-0 neutral)
Last Meeting: L, 1-4 (Nov. 10, 2020 at ACC Quarters)
Next UofL Game: Sunday, Oct. 24 at Clemson

For the latest information on Louisville women's soccer, visit GoCards.com, or follow the team's Twitter account at @ULWomensSoccer or on Facebook at facebook.com/ulwomenssoccer.

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Players Mentioned

Emina Ekic

Nina Nicosia

Julia Simon

Savina Zamborini

University of Louisville Athletics