LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The fourth-seeded Louisville men’s soccer team begins its march to the 2018 College Cup with an NCAA Championship second round tilt against Michigan State Sunday at 5 p.m., ET at Dr. Mark and Cindy Lynn Stadium. The match will be televised on ESPN3 and live stats will be available at GoCards.com.

ABOUT THE CARDINALS
Louisville enters the 2018 NCAA Championship at 11-4-3 overall after defeating a trio of ranked foes to win the program’s first ACC Championship. The Cardinals entered the ACC Championship as the No. 4 seed after registering a 4-2-2 conference record. Louisville is positioned to play at home in each round of the NCAA Championship prior to the College Cup, which is set for Dec. 7-9 in Santa Barbara, California. With a win over the Spartans, the Cardinals would host either No. 13 Georgetown or West Virginia in a third round match Sunday, Nov. 25 at 5 p.m., ET at Lynn Stadium.

Tate Schmitt, MVP of the ACC Championship and an All-ACC First Team honoree, leads the Cardinals with five goals and eight assists this season. Cherif Dieye (All-ACC Third Team) also has five goals, including the game-winner against North Carolina in the ACC title match, while Adam Wilson has four goals. Elijah Amo and Geoffrey Dee (All-ACC Second Team) have scored three goals each. Goalkeeper Jake Gelnovatch (ACC All-Tournament Team) has six shutouts in 14 starts and a 0.87 goals against average.

ABOUT THE SPARTANS
Michigan State, which earned an at-large bid into the NCAA Championship, advanced to Sunday’s match with the Cardinals after registering a 2-0 win against UIC in Thursday night’s first round contest in East Lansing. The Spartans, making their eighth NCAA appearance in the last 10 years, have an 11-4-4 record overall and were fourth in the Big Ten with a 4-2-2 conference mark. MSU is guided by 10th-year head coach Damon Rensing.

Louisville is 1-2-1 all-time vs Michigan State. The Cardinals suffered a 1-0 loss in double overtime to MSU in East Lansing in 2013 in an NCAA second round match. The Spartans have just one visit to Louisville, earning a 6-1 win in 1994.

Making its 11th NCAA Championship appearance in the last 13 years, Louisville is 14-9-2 all-time in the tournament with one College Cup appearance (2010). The Cardinals are 12-4-2 all-time at home in NCAA Championship matches.

Thirteen of Louisville’s 18 matches in 2018 were played against NCAA Championship qualifiers with the Cardinals registering a 6-4-3 record in those contests. Louisville registered wins against top-seeded Wake Forest, No. 5 North Carolina, No. 6 Duke, No. 7 Notre Dame, No. 13 Georgetown and Georgia State. The Cardinals earned draws with No. 16 Syracuse, NC State and Charlotte. UofL was defeated by No. 1 Wake Forest, No. 3 Kentucky, No. 7 Notre Dame and Lipscomb.

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Daryl Foust

Lifelong fan of the Louisville Cardinals, been covering the teams since 2012, graduated from c/o 2015, Writer/Contributor for TCZ for Men's Soccer, Women's Basketball & Softball since 2016.

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