BILLIKENS ON THE ROAD TO TAKE ON LOUISVILLE
WHEN: Thursday, Aug. 29, 2019 • 7:30 p.m. EDT / 6:30 p.m. CDT
WHERE: Dr. Mark and Cindy Lynn Stadium • Louisville, Kentucky
RECORDS: SLU 1-1; UL 2-0
SLU-UL SERIES: SLU leads 9-2
LAST MEETING: UL 2, at SLU 0 (Sept. 12, 2010)
BILLIKENS' LAST GAME: at SLU 2, Indiana State 1 (Aug. 25) RECAP
CARDINALS' LAST GAME: at UL 3, Morehead State 0 (Aug. 25) RECAP
GAME NOTES: Saint Louis • Louisville
WATCH: ACC Network XTRA (subscription required) • ACC Network Information
LIVE STATS: SIDEARM
UP NEXT FOR THE BILLIKENS: Drake • Sunday, Sept. 1 • 1 p.m. CDT • Robert R. Hermann Stadium
A LOOK AT THE BILLIKENS
• Saint Louis ventures into Atlantic Coast Conference territory for a second time this season as the Billikens face the Louisville Cardinals Thursday, Aug. 29. Kickoff at U of L's Dr. Mark and Cindy Lynn Stadium is slated for 7:30 p.m. EDT/6:30 p.m. CDT.
• SLU is coming off a 2-1 win over Indiana State in its home opener Aug. 25. Sophia Denison and Hannah Friedrich scored the Billikens' goals, while Emma Farley and Evie Lavelle notched an assist apiece.
• The Billikens own a 9-2 series lead over the Cardinals. The nine victories were recorded between 1996 and 2004 when both teams held membership in Conference USA. Louisville won nonconference matches in 2009 and 2010.
• Louisville is the second of five Power 5 conference opponents on the 2019 Saint Louis schedule. The Billikens were edged 1-0 at Notre Dame in the season opener. SLU plays at Oklahoma State Sept. 8 and hosts Iowa State and Purdue Sept. 13 and 15, respectively.
• After winning Atlantic 10 Conference regular-season and tournament titles and posting a school-record 18 wins a year ago, the Billikens were selected to finish atop the league again in the A-10 head coaches' preseason poll. Seven starters and 10 additional players are back from SLU's 2018 team.
• Senior defender Alli Klug appears on the MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List for a second straight season. Klug also is one of four Billikens on the A-10 preseason All-Conference team, joining senior goalkeeper Mary Niehaus, senior midfielder Courtney Reimer and sophomore forward Hannah Friedrich.
• Saint Louis will host the semifinals and final of the 2019 Atlantic 10 Conference Championship Friday and Sunday, Nov. 8 and 10. Four first-round games will be played on the home fields of the top four teams in the final regular-season standings, with the winners advancing to SLU's Robert R. Hermann Stadium.
A LOOK AT THE CARDINALS
• Louisville received votes in this week's United Soccer Coaches national poll.
• The Cardinals were picked to finish eighth in the ACC in preseason polling by the league's head coaches.
• UL posted a season-opening 2-1 win at Ohio State before blanking Morehead State 3-0 in its second outing.
• Junior midfielder Emina Ekic (7G, 5A last year) was selected to the preseason All-Conference team. Ekic appears on the 2019 MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List after earning second-team All-America, first-team All-Region and first-team All-Conference recognition a year ago.
• Ekic is one of 10 starters and 20 total returning players from last year's 12-7 Louisville team that tied for fifth (6-4) in the ACC and earned an NCAA Championship at-large bid.
• Also back are senior forward Brooklynn Rivers, who scored a team-high 23 points (8G, 7A) and made the 2018 All-Region and All-Conference third teams, and sophomore midfielder/forward Maisie Whitsett, who netted a team-high nine goals last season. Whitsett tallied a goal in each of Louisville's first two games of 2019.
• The Cardinals' returning players combined to score 33 of the team's 37 goals last season.
