By Jordan Shim–

The No. 4 Louisville men’s soccer team defeated Notre Dame 3-1 in the third round of the NCAA tournament in Lynn Stadium Nov. 27. Goals by Mohamed Thiaw, Tate Schmitt and Cherif Dieye lifted the Cards into the quarterfinals. U of L will face the winner of Stanford and Virginia.

Both teams were cautious with their possessions. Neither team registered a shot in the first 10 minutes of the game.

Louisville took the lead in the 16th minute. Tim Kubel crossed the ball up the field for Thiaw. Thiaw first timed his volley that hit the crossbar but was in a position to follow up with a second to the right post. Notre Dame goalkeeper Chris Hubbard got a hand on the shot, but not enough as the ball crept into the side netting. It was Thiaw’s 12th goal and Kubel’s 11th assist of the season.

“It was very important to get the first goal,” Thiaw said. “As coach tells us, 70% of teams who score the first goal wins the game, and that is what we always try to do.”

ACC Player of the Year Jon Gallagher had a chance to equalize in the 18th minute. He feinted to his left to create space to run into the box. However, he shot from a tight angle and went right at Louisville goalkeeper Stefan Cleveland.

The game was back and forth for the rest of the first half. The Fighting Irish held more possessions and chances, but the Cards were able to stay organized and hold onto their advantage heading into the break.

Cleveland stayed attentive, as Notre Dame tried to break down the Louisville defense by going over the top. He was able to cut off the long balls but was too aggressive in the 54th minute. Gallagher stole the ball from Joey Kunkel and had a straight path to the goal. Cleveland charged to pressure Gallagher, but the ACC Player of the Year dribbled past Cleveland and slotted his shot inside the right post for his 14th goal of the season.

The crowd was not pleased with no-calls. Dieye danced past a Notre Dame defender to create a one-on-one with Hubbard, but he was brought down in the box. The referee did not point to the spot and play continued. Gallagher immediately had a chance of his own on the other end and was brought down as well, but still no call was given.

Danny Reynolds and Schmitt linked up again to give Louisville the lead in the 70th minute. Reynolds swung in a cross from the corner kick to the back left post. Schmitt went up and headed it past Hubbard for his fifth goal of the season.

“So much of that is timing,” Lolla said. “The delivery of the ball and the timing of the run and that’s why we train on restarts. But both Danny’s delivery and to head a ball when you’re rising up and timing it the way Tate’s has the past two weeks is amazing.”

Louisville caught Notre Dame in transition in the 89th minute. Daniel Johnson dribbled past a Notre Dame player to run to the box and passed to Thiaw, who failed to get off a shot. Thiaw backheeled a pass to Dieye, who blasted his shot past Hubbard to seal the victory.

“It means a lot because you literally play for tomorrow,” Kubel said. “If you don’t win this game, you don’t train tomorrow. Sometimes it’s good, and some people don’t realize it because I use it for extra motivation. As soon as we conceded the equalizer, I told myself that we need to shift up a couple of gears. We have to keep going because I really want to keep going with this group. I think everyone wants to be a part of this journey.”

The ACC solidified its status as the toughest soccer conference in the country with five schools already advancing to the quarterfinals. Notre Dame head coach Bobby Clark believes this tough schedule in the regular season prepared the team for situations like this.

“I said before, the tournament even started that winning the ACC is almost harder than winning the national championship,” Kelly said. “It’s a great conference to play in, and we’re very lucky to play in a conference where you play great games every week. Today was an example. It was closely contested.”

Louisville will play the winner of Stanford and Virginia in the quarterfinals. The game will kick off on Saturday, Dec. 3 at Lynn Stadium at 7 p.m.

Photo by Laurel Slaughter / The Louisville Cardinals