Friday, October 8
Blacksburg, VA
5:00 PM
University of Louisville
at
Virginia Tech
Photo by: Mark Natale | Louisville Athletics
Cardinals Square Off with Second Straight Top-10 Opponent Friday
October 07, 2021 | Men's Soccer
Kickoff at No. 9 Virginia Tech is scheduled for 5 p.m. ET in Blacksburg.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The 23rd-ranked University of Louisville men's soccer team will face its second straight top-10 opponent on the road Friday against No. 9 Virginia Tech in Blacksburg. Kickoff is scheduled for 5 p.m. ET and will be televised on Regional Sports Networks, including Bally Sports South in Louisville.
ABOUT THE CARDINALS
The Cardinals saw their five-match winning streak come to a close last Friday with a 3-1 loss at then-fourth ranked Duke. Pedro Fonseca scored the lone goal for Louisville, despite the Cardinals outshooting the Blue Devils 15-12.
Friday night's match at Virginia Tech will be the second straight for the Cardinals against a top-10 opponent. It's the first consecutive matches against top-10 teams for Louisville since defeating No. 1 Wake Forest and No. 4 North Carolina in the 2018 ACC semifinals and championship.
SERIES HISTORY
Louisville and Virginia Tech meet for the 19th time on Friday night with the Hokies holding a 10-5-3 advantage in the series. The Cardinals are 2-3-0 all-time in Blacksburg, including a 1-0 victory on their last trip there in 2017. VT scored less than three minutes into the first overtime to defeat the Cardinals 2-1 last fall in Louisville.
FONSECA SHOWING OUT IN SENIOR SEASON
Injuries limited Pedro Fonseca to just 16 matches over his first two seasons (2018-19) at Louisville. However, a healthy Fonseca has been among the best players in the ACC over the last two seasons.
Dating back to the start of the 2020 season, Fonseca has tallied 10 goals and 10 assists in 24 matches. The forward set career highs in 2020 with four goals and four assists and needed just nine matches to surpass those numbers this season. Fonseca currently leads the ACC with 17 points, including a conference-leading 10 points in league play.
The Brazilian netted a pair of penalty kicks at Syracuse on Sept. 17, becoming the first Louisville player to record multiple goals in a match since Kino Ryusuke on Oct. 1, 2019 and the first with two PK goals since Mohamed Thiaw on Oct. 10, 2017.
LOUISVILLE SPREADING THE GOAL SCORING WEALTH
While the Cardinals have been putting goals on the board in large quantities, the scoring has come from a variety of sources.
Aboubacar Camara and Pedro Fonseca have led the way with seven and six goals, respectively, but 10 different Cardinals have scored a goal this season with six recording multiple goals.
Macoumba Ba, Dante Huckaby, Josh Jones, Brandon McManus, Ayden Nocus and Sander Roed have all tallied their first collegiate goals this season.
LOUISVILLE PUTTING ON IMPRESSIVE OFFENSIVE DISPLAY
After a slow start to the season offensively, the Cardinals have gone on a scoring binge over the last three weeks. Louisville tallied just five goals over the first four matches of the season, going 2-2-0 over that stretch. However, the Cardinals found the net 21 times in their next five matches, securing their first five-match winning streak since September of 2016.
Louisville put nine goals on the board in consecutive wins over Syracuse and Northern Kentucky, and then again in victories over Boston College and Western Illinois, the most in a two-match stretch since scoring 12 in matches against Asbury (10) and Transylvania (2) during the 1987 season.
The Cardinals currently rank third in the ACC and rank seventh nationally at 2.70 goals per match, and lead the ACC with 11 goals through four conference matches. UofL also sits fourth in the ACC and eighth in the country with 27 goals and is first in the ACC and third nationally with 7.50 corner kicks per match.
FOLLOW LOUISVILLE MEN'S SOCCER ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Fans can follow Louisville men's soccer on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram at @UofLmenssoccer.
ABOUT THE CARDINALS
The Cardinals saw their five-match winning streak come to a close last Friday with a 3-1 loss at then-fourth ranked Duke. Pedro Fonseca scored the lone goal for Louisville, despite the Cardinals outshooting the Blue Devils 15-12.
Friday night's match at Virginia Tech will be the second straight for the Cardinals against a top-10 opponent. It's the first consecutive matches against top-10 teams for Louisville since defeating No. 1 Wake Forest and No. 4 North Carolina in the 2018 ACC semifinals and championship.
SERIES HISTORY
Louisville and Virginia Tech meet for the 19th time on Friday night with the Hokies holding a 10-5-3 advantage in the series. The Cardinals are 2-3-0 all-time in Blacksburg, including a 1-0 victory on their last trip there in 2017. VT scored less than three minutes into the first overtime to defeat the Cardinals 2-1 last fall in Louisville.
FONSECA SHOWING OUT IN SENIOR SEASON
Injuries limited Pedro Fonseca to just 16 matches over his first two seasons (2018-19) at Louisville. However, a healthy Fonseca has been among the best players in the ACC over the last two seasons.
Dating back to the start of the 2020 season, Fonseca has tallied 10 goals and 10 assists in 24 matches. The forward set career highs in 2020 with four goals and four assists and needed just nine matches to surpass those numbers this season. Fonseca currently leads the ACC with 17 points, including a conference-leading 10 points in league play.
The Brazilian netted a pair of penalty kicks at Syracuse on Sept. 17, becoming the first Louisville player to record multiple goals in a match since Kino Ryusuke on Oct. 1, 2019 and the first with two PK goals since Mohamed Thiaw on Oct. 10, 2017.
LOUISVILLE SPREADING THE GOAL SCORING WEALTH
While the Cardinals have been putting goals on the board in large quantities, the scoring has come from a variety of sources.
Aboubacar Camara and Pedro Fonseca have led the way with seven and six goals, respectively, but 10 different Cardinals have scored a goal this season with six recording multiple goals.
Macoumba Ba, Dante Huckaby, Josh Jones, Brandon McManus, Ayden Nocus and Sander Roed have all tallied their first collegiate goals this season.
LOUISVILLE PUTTING ON IMPRESSIVE OFFENSIVE DISPLAY
After a slow start to the season offensively, the Cardinals have gone on a scoring binge over the last three weeks. Louisville tallied just five goals over the first four matches of the season, going 2-2-0 over that stretch. However, the Cardinals found the net 21 times in their next five matches, securing their first five-match winning streak since September of 2016.
Louisville put nine goals on the board in consecutive wins over Syracuse and Northern Kentucky, and then again in victories over Boston College and Western Illinois, the most in a two-match stretch since scoring 12 in matches against Asbury (10) and Transylvania (2) during the 1987 season.
The Cardinals currently rank third in the ACC and rank seventh nationally at 2.70 goals per match, and lead the ACC with 11 goals through four conference matches. UofL also sits fourth in the ACC and eighth in the country with 27 goals and is first in the ACC and third nationally with 7.50 corner kicks per match.
FOLLOW LOUISVILLE MEN'S SOCCER ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Fans can follow Louisville men's soccer on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram at @UofLmenssoccer.
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