Orange Continues Road Trip at Louisville

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- The No. 2 Orange (12-1-0, 4-1-0 ACC) travels to Louisville to take on the Cardinals (6-5-1, 3-2-0 ACC) in an ACC Atlantic Division showdown on Friday, Oct. 17 at 7:30 p.m. Syracuse has won eight straight games and can set a new school record for consecutive wins with a positive result against the conference's newest member.

The Orange is coming off a 4-0 non-conference win Tuesday at Connecticut. Louisville ended a four-game losing streak with a 2-1 decision against Florida Gulf Coast the same night.

DEFENSE CONTRIBUTING OFFENSE
Orange backs have combined to score eight goals this season. Tyler Hilliard (3), Skylar Thomas (2), Jordan Murrell (2) and Louis Cross (1) all have goals in 2014. The eight tallies from the back line is one less than the total number of goals scored by SU defenders from 2011-13 (9). The Orange has benefited from four goals in the past two matches being scored by defenders, including three by Hilliard.

LEADING FROM THE FRONT
Syracuse has trailed for only 15:56 out of a possible 1,186:36 this season. The only time SU has been behind was on Sept. 13 versus Notre Dame. The Irish scored in the 75th minute to take a 1-0 advantage, a lead they held until the end of the match.

SIZZLING START
At 12-1-0, the 2014 squad owns the best 13-game start to a season in program history. No previous Syracuse team has ever won 12 of its first 13 matches.

ORANGE EARNS HIGHEST RANKING IN PROGRAM HISTORY
Syracuse received five first-place votes and is No. 2 in the most recent NSCAA poll, released on Oct. 14. The ranking is two spots better than the highest previous ranking in program history (No. 4), which the team achieved last week. Before 2014, the Orange's highest position in the poll was sixth back in 1984.

Washington is No. 1 for the second week in a row. The Huskies totaled 13 first-place votes and 466 points to edge out the Orange (452 points).

THE LOUISVILLE SERIES
Syracuse hasn't beaten Louisville since 2008 and the Cardinals own a 5-2-1 lead in the overall series. Both Orange wins against the Cardinals have been in overtime (2-1 in 2005 and 3-2 in 2008). Louisville won the most recent matchup, 2-1, in 2012 at the SU Soccer Stadium.

SCOUTING THE CARDINALS
It's been the tale of two seasons for Louisville, which opened the year 5-1-1 before losing four in a row from Sept. 30 to Oct. 10. The Cardinals are now 6-5-1 overall and 3-2-0 in conference play.

Ben Strong leads the Cardinals in both goals (5) and points (13). Ricardo Velazco and Tim Kubel are second on the club with four goals apiece, and Will Vitalis has a team-best four assists.

Joachim Ball has played the majority of minutes in goal. He has 37 saves and owns a 1.06 goals-against average with three shutouts.

Ken Lolla is in his ninth year at the helm of the Cardinals. He owns a 105-52-24 record at Louisville and guided the team to its first NCAA College Cup appearance in 2010. Prior to taking over the Cardinals, Lolla was the head coach at Akron from 1993 to 2005.

UP NEXT ...
The Orange concludes non-conference play Tuesday, Oct. 21 against Bucknell at the SU Soccer Stadium. Match time is 7 p.m.

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Players Mentioned

Louis Cross

Tyler Hilliard

Jordan Murrell

Noah Rhynhart

Skylar Thomas

Syracuse University Athletics