By Jordan Shim–
The No. 8 Louisville men’s soccer team cruised past Belmont in a non-conference match 6-0 at Lynn Stadium on Tuesday night.
Goals by Mohamed Thiaw, Jack Gayton, Daniel Johnson, Grant Hollkamp, Cherif Dieye and an own goal by Belmont gave the Cards their second six-goal game in three matches.
Having a non-conference game sandwiched in between ACC games is risky, but the Cards quickly established authority.
“It was a dangerous game because where Belmont was in RPI,” Johnson said. “This game had the potential to hurt us a lot, and we know that they’re a team that could hurt us, especially on the break. So we had to come out and play with the intensity, and the effort that we have played with that has gotten us to this point.”
Louisville opened the scoring in the 19th minute. A cross by Tim Kubel sailed over the box, but Johnson recovered. He dribbled past a Belmont defender and his deflected pass fell to the feet of Thiaw, who tapped it in for his eighth goal of the season.
The Cards attacked the right flank throughout the first half and doubled their lead in the 22nd minute. Kubel put a through ball to the Tate Schmitt who was streaking down the right flank. His low cross met Gayton, whose shot slipped underneath Belmont goalkeeper Mertcan Akar.
“The ball movement was really good,” Gayton said. “When we swung it from side to side, the spaces started opening for not just me, but everyone else, and that’s how a lot of the goals came tonight.”
Louisville turned on the style as Johnson’s brilliant solo goal gave the Cards a commanding 3-0 lead in the 56th minute. Johnson cut in from the left dribbling past five defenders and slotted the shot below the charging Akar.
“DJ has the ability to create his own shots,” Louisville head coach Ken Lolla said. “He’s so quick and so effective on the dribble that he eluded a few guys and he can hit a heavy ball. He created an opportunity on his own and scored a really good goal.”
Hollkamp would make it four in the 68th minute. The Cards caught Belmont on the break. Ricardo Oliveros ran down the left flank with lots of green in front of him. His low cross was tapped in by Hollkamp for his second goal of the season.
Hollkamp would go from scorer to assister in the 77th minute. Cherif Dieye was on the other end of Hollkamp’s diagonal pass, whose shot crept just inside the left post.
An own goal by Belmont made it six in the 84th minute. Danny Reynolds’ curled a cross into the box. The attempted clearance redirected the cross to the top right corner of the net.
A season-high 18 Cardinals saw action against Belmont.
“The guys that came off the bench were awesome,” Lolla said. “They came in, and when they had the opportunity to get after it and score some goals, they did. Overall a really good team effort, but the second group put it away.”
The Cards bombarded Belmont all night long, finishing with a 26-5 shot advantage, with 13 on goal.
Schmitt led the way with a game-high six shots. Gayton followed with five and Dieye with three.
Louisville is back in action in the second of a three-match homestand against No.3 Syracuse on Oct. 7. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
Photo by Dalton Ray / The Louisville Cardinal
