By: Kelli Gerding

After losing four games in a row, Louisville came out strong from the beginning of the game while hosting Florida Gulf Coast University. The game resulted in a 2-1 victory over the Eagles.

The Cardinals now stand at a 6-5-1 overall.

Within the first 10 minutes of the game, Louisville had their first goal with a connection from sophomore Andrew Brody to junior Ben Strong. The team’s momentum rose as they kept fighting to put the ball in the back of the net.

“We talk about getting the first goal in every game and I thought we did a good job coming out strong and putting it away,” junior midfielder Ben Strong said. Louisville persisted in dominating the ball as their offense kept fighting for shots on goal.

The other goal throughout the duration of the game was scored by freshman midfielder Tim Kubel from a penalty kick at the end of the first half. Shortly after Kubel’s goal, FGCU also had the opportunity to shoot a penalty kick and succeeded in doing so, changing the score to 2-1.

“We knew going in they were going to be a very technical team so we just needed to get numbers behind the ball and offensively find the ball good spots. I think we did a good job fighting as I said earlier,” Strong stated.

Louisville outshot Florida Gulf Coast 8-3 throughout the game along with their shots on goal coming in at 3-2 over FGCU. FGCU totaled a number of 3 shots in the first half and 6 shots in the second half, resulting in 9 shots during the game. Louisville tallied 8 shots in the first half and 4 in the second half to rack up a total of 12 shots.

“It’s good to win. I’ll tell you what, Florida Gulf Coast is a very good team. If you look at the teams they’ve played this year, they’ve outplayed some very good teams and haven’t necessarily gotten the result they wanted. To get a win against them at this point in the season for us is very good. We’re encouraged by it; I told our guys after the game that we have played better than this and lost and tonight wasn’t necessarily our best game, but we’ll take the win,” head coach Ken Lolla stated.

“We continue to tell our guys that we have everything still to play for. The ACC is still in our control and even the NCAA tournament. Finishing the season well is so important and I think right now it’s just building on each and every game. We have a good one coming on Friday with Syracuse and now it’s just a matter of physically and mentally getting ready for the game,” Lolla said.

The Cardinals next match will be an ACC game as they host number four Syracuse on Friday night at 7:30 p.m.