Freshman Tate Schmitt scored a pair of goals and senior Ben Strong added a goal and two assists to lead the No. 24 Louisville men’s soccer team to a 3-0 victory over Memphis on Tuesday night at Dr. Mark and Cindy Lynn Stadium.

Schmitt became the first Louisville (4-2-2) player to score multiple goals in a match since Ricardo Velazco had two goals in a 4-1 win over Pittsburgh on Sept. 26, 2014. With Tuesday’sperformance, Schmitt leads the Cardinals with five goals through the first eight matches of the season while also adding a pair of assists.

Strong had his best outing of the season doubling his goal while scoring his seventh career goal as a Cardinal. Sophomore Tim Kubel added his second goal and second assist of the season, while junior Andrew Brody chipped in with two assists as Louisville finished with its highest goal total since the four-goal performance against Pitt last September.

“I think it was our energy and I think we wore on them. I thought we created a lot of great opportunities and those opportunities came off of movement up top,” said Louisville head coach Ken Lolla. “Guys like Ben (Strong), who was awesome tonight, and DJ (Daniel Johnson), who was very good. Tate, especially in the second half, got going a little bit and Brody – those four guys, when they’re active and getting around each other can be very good. Tonight, I thought they were excellent.”

The Cardinals opened the scoring when Schmitt connected on a header from six yards out in the 30th minute. Kubel earned his second assist of the season with a beautifully played cross from along the right sideline into the center of the field, where Schmitt found the net for the 1-0 lead.

After maintaining that advantage into the halftime break, Louisville wasted little time adding to the lead scoring a pair of goals in the first four minutes of the second half. Schmitt delivered his second goal of the night in the 47th minute connecting on another header, this time from five yards out following a perfectly placed cross by Strong. The chance started with a feed from Brody to Strong, who sent a cross from along the right side of the end line into the box, where Schmitt finished past Memphis goalkeeper Cody Uzcategui.

Kubel increased the margin to 3-0 in the 49th minute after completing a run down the right side of the field with a finish inside the far post for his ninth career goal. Brody started this chance with a feed in the center of the field to Strong, who then found Kubel in stride up the right side.

The final goal of the night came in the 72nd minute when Strong, on a run near the center of the field, received a heel kick from freshman Ricardo Oliveros before scoring inside the left post for the four-goal margin. As he passed the midfield line, freshman Max Stiegwardt advanced the ball forward to Oliveros, who redirected to Strong to help create the advantage for the Cardinals. Both Oliveros and Stiegwardt were credited with their first career assists on the goal.

Defensively, junior goalkeeper Theo Jamilloux earned his first shutout with the Cardinals and the sixth of his career (five previous shutouts at FAU) after finishing with four saves in his second start at Louisville in Tuesday’s triumph. The home side finished with a 13-9 edge in shots, including an 8-4 advantage in shots on goal. Corner kick chances were even at 2-2.

Up next, Louisville hosts No. 22 NC State on Friday at 7 p.m., ET for Hispanic Heritage Night at Dr. Mark and Cindy Lynn Stadium.

The following two tabs change content below.
@UofLSheriff50. Louisville native, University of Louisville Business School Grad c/o 2004. Co-Founder of TheCrunchZone.com

TCZ Comments

comments