Louisville defeats Winthrop 5-0 in second round of NCAA Championship

Louisville, Ky. – Led by a three-goal performance from redshirt sophomore Dylan Mares, the No. 10-seeded Louisville men’s soccer team (13-5-2, 7-1) defeated Winthrop (12-8-2, 5-4-1) 5-0 in an NCAA Championship second round match on Sunday night at Cardinal Park. With the win, the Cardinals advance to a third round matchup against Northwestern on Sunday, Nov. 25 at 7 p.m., ET at Cardinal Park.

Louisville didn’t waste any time getting on the scoreboard against the Eagles, as they netted their first goal of the game just 54 seconds in. Senior Paolo DelPiccolo sent a pass into the box, which was headed away by a Winthrop defender before being picked up by Will Vitalis. The sophomore then passed the ball to senior Greg Cochrane, who fired a shot past Winthrop goalkeeper Enrique Miranda. The goal was the sixth of the season for Cochrane.

After the first goal, the teams went back and forth showing good ball movement and had several chances to capitalize. Louisville’s next chance came when Mares was eventually able to get free, but curved the ball high of the goal as it sailed out of bounds. Winthrop then had an opportunity to score the equalizer off a free kick when Alex Isern fired a shot past the Louisville defenders that bounced off Cardinals’ keeper Mike Mauro and hit off the cross bars to land out of play.

Louisville increased its lead before halftime in the 34th minute, when senior Ryan Smith found Mares, who sent a shot past Miranda to make the score 2-0. The Cardinals ended the first half with a 6-3 shot advantage over the Eagles. Miranda and Mauro each recorded a save a piece during the first half of play.

Just like the first half, the Cardinals wasted little time scoring a goal in the second half as Mares gathered a pass from DelPiccolo and was able to net his second goal of the game in the 49th minute to give Louisville a 3-0 lead. Moments later, Cochrane had another chance at a goal but sent a floating shot that was saved by Miranada.

In the 64th minute of play, Mares’ number was called again. This time Louisville had a flurry of passes and eventually Cochrane fed Mares the ball inside the box for his third and final goal of the match. Prior to Mares’ Sunday night performance, the last time a Cardinal had scored three goals in a game was on Nov. 3, 2011 when Colin Rolfe achieved the feat against Providence.

Louisville’s last goal of the night came from junior Zach Foxhoven in the 81st minute for his fourth goal of the season, while freshmanLuis Ramirez was credited with the assist as the Cardinals sealed the victory over the Eagles. Louisville finished the match with seven shots on goal, while the Eagles registered just one. Mauro ended the game with one save while Miranda collected two.

The winner of next week’s Louisville-Northwestern match will advance to the quarterfinal round of the 2012 NCAA Championship on Dec. 1.