Cards outlast San Francisco in College Cup round 2
By Kevin Kernen
November 19th, 2017
November 19th, 2017
Louisville's Tate Schmitt braves the cold and runs downfield against the University of San Francisco in round two of the College Cup. Schmitt scored one of Louisville's three goals in the 3-2 victory. Photo by Seth Spalding, River City Cards
Goal by schmitt in the 77th minute the difference
On a night that saw a handful of upsets and a whole lot of goals around the bracket, the Cards did enough to outpace the Dons of San Francisco University in front of a raucous and loyal crowd.
It was an equally contested first half from Lynn Stadium, the first passage in play was fast paced yet largely unremarkable, with each team content with feeling the other out. San Francisco started conservatively, clearly having done their homework on Louisville’s explosive offense. UofL got a couple half chances in the first half, first in the 10th minute when Tate Schmitt headed an Adam Wilson swinging cross wide of San Francisco’s net. The Card’s first shot on goal wasn’t until the 26th minute when Wilson mishit a volley and left SFU keeper Ruben Stuiver with an easy save.
The Boys in Red broke the deadlock in the 32nd minute of play when Adrien Cabon got onto the end of Ziyad Fekri’s corner for his third tally of the season.
The Dons grew back into the game, and had a remarkable stint in play where they had a shot saved by Gelnovatch in net for the Cards, and the ensuing play around the net resulted in a shot blocked by a defender.
San Francisco were not to be denied, however. With a little over a minute remaining in the half, the visitors strung several quality passes together to navigate beyond the Cards’ defense that ended in a difficult goal for Striker Sean Bowman from a narrow angle.
Coach Lolla wasn’t too happy with redshirt freshman Gelnovatch’s performance, and he was replaced by Will Meyer for the start of the second period.
The second half opened pretty level, as the first, but the Cards quickly pressed forward. Adam Wilson notched his first goal of the season when his shot from the top of the box deflected off of Struiver’s hand and into the net to put the hosts ahead.
The few chances that San Francisco were afforded troubled substitute goalminder Will Meyer, who had featured in 8 games previous to the NCAA second round matchup. He found himself in no-mans land in the 55th minute when a Don’s free kick from the left side found the head of Senior Bryce Kaminsky for the team’s second equalizer of the match.
The teams traded possession for the ensuing 20 minutes, neither side getting more than a half chance and a handful of corners.
Louisville again regained control of possession as time wore on, and in the 78th minute the Cards found a winner when Tate Schmitt struck a solid ball from 22 yards out, only to glance off of a SFU defender’s head and into the corner of the Don’s net.
SFU’s hand was forced as time wore on and they grew more desperate for a third equalizer. Coach Lolla didn’t look to change formation however, welcoming the pressure and repelling it with resolve. A Will Meyer save from a dangerous cross in the last minute in sealed the match’s fate.
Louisville advances to the round of 16 in the national tournament, where they will host Colgate who also found themselves on the right end of a 3-2 result, over 13th seeded Michigan. The game will be played next Sunday at 5pm.
It was an equally contested first half from Lynn Stadium, the first passage in play was fast paced yet largely unremarkable, with each team content with feeling the other out. San Francisco started conservatively, clearly having done their homework on Louisville’s explosive offense. UofL got a couple half chances in the first half, first in the 10th minute when Tate Schmitt headed an Adam Wilson swinging cross wide of San Francisco’s net. The Card’s first shot on goal wasn’t until the 26th minute when Wilson mishit a volley and left SFU keeper Ruben Stuiver with an easy save.
The Boys in Red broke the deadlock in the 32nd minute of play when Adrien Cabon got onto the end of Ziyad Fekri’s corner for his third tally of the season.
The Dons grew back into the game, and had a remarkable stint in play where they had a shot saved by Gelnovatch in net for the Cards, and the ensuing play around the net resulted in a shot blocked by a defender.
San Francisco were not to be denied, however. With a little over a minute remaining in the half, the visitors strung several quality passes together to navigate beyond the Cards’ defense that ended in a difficult goal for Striker Sean Bowman from a narrow angle.
Coach Lolla wasn’t too happy with redshirt freshman Gelnovatch’s performance, and he was replaced by Will Meyer for the start of the second period.
The second half opened pretty level, as the first, but the Cards quickly pressed forward. Adam Wilson notched his first goal of the season when his shot from the top of the box deflected off of Struiver’s hand and into the net to put the hosts ahead.
The few chances that San Francisco were afforded troubled substitute goalminder Will Meyer, who had featured in 8 games previous to the NCAA second round matchup. He found himself in no-mans land in the 55th minute when a Don’s free kick from the left side found the head of Senior Bryce Kaminsky for the team’s second equalizer of the match.
The teams traded possession for the ensuing 20 minutes, neither side getting more than a half chance and a handful of corners.
Louisville again regained control of possession as time wore on, and in the 78th minute the Cards found a winner when Tate Schmitt struck a solid ball from 22 yards out, only to glance off of a SFU defender’s head and into the corner of the Don’s net.
SFU’s hand was forced as time wore on and they grew more desperate for a third equalizer. Coach Lolla didn’t look to change formation however, welcoming the pressure and repelling it with resolve. A Will Meyer save from a dangerous cross in the last minute in sealed the match’s fate.
Louisville advances to the round of 16 in the national tournament, where they will host Colgate who also found themselves on the right end of a 3-2 result, over 13th seeded Michigan. The game will be played next Sunday at 5pm.
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