Soccer Cards face pesky Winthrop in 2nd round of NCAA

The 10th-seeded Louisville men’s soccer team begin their sixth consecutive year of NCAA tournament play Sunday night, when they host Winthrop, an unexpected entry in the 48-team field.

The Eagles are champions of the Big South Conference by virtue of a tournament run that saw them take down the top three seeds in order. They then won their first-round NCAA game by downing the favored SMU Mustangs in penalty kicks.

Now 12-8-2 on the season, Winthrop has a polyglot roster – 13 players from six countries.They score at a clip of 1.77 goals per game, while conceding 1.64 goals per contest – not a recipe for consistent success. But they seem to play up to tough competition, losing each of their three games against ranked opposition by a single goal.

The 12-5-1 Cardinals, in contrast, have fared well against ranked opposition this year, going 4-1-1 against teams in the Top 25 at the time of the game, while sometimes stumbling against lesser opposition. Louisville is scoring at a nearly identical pace to Winthrop – 1.76 goals per game –  but conceding only .94 goals per outing.

While the records and defensive performances suggest a gap between the teams, complacency is not warranted. Louisville has had problems with offensive consistency this season and has suffered untimely lapses at the defensive end.

As the 10th seed (with a first-round bye), the Cards are guaranteed only the Winthrop game at home. If the Cards prevail and the seedings hold in the other games on their side of the bracket, Louisville would need to win twice on the road to make it to the College Cup.

Next up would be the winner of the game between #7 Marquette and Northwestern. The Golden Eagles defeated UofL in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament a couple of weeks ago, so a rematch would be an opportunity to avenge that loss. On the other hand, if Northwestern wins, the Cards get another game at home.

But the first order of business is to get past a seemingly ho-hum Winthrop squad that nevertheless has given good teams fits. The Cards need to deliver a performance on a par with their best efforts this year.