Saint Louis Men's Soccer // Match Information
Match No. 24	Saint Louis (13-2-8) vs. NC State (15-2-4)
Date // Time	Friday, Dec. 12 // Approx. 7:30 p.m. (CT)
Location	Cary, N.C. (First Horizon Stadium)
NCAA Championship	Interactive Bracket
TV	ESPNU / WatchESPN
Live Stats	NCAA.com
Series History	Saint Louis leads 2-0-2

ABOUT THE MATCH
-- The Billikens head to Cary, N.C., for the NCAA Men's College Cup. SLU takes on NC State on Friday night in the second semifinal matchup. Game time at First Horizon Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park is scheduled for approximately 7:30 p.m. (CT), or 30 minutes following the first semifinal. Furman and Washington plays in the first semifinal at 5 p.m.(CT).

-- The winners of the semifinal matches advance to the National Championship game on Monday night at 6 p.m. (CT).

FOLLOWING THE ACTION
-- All games in the Men's College Cup will be televised on ESPNU and the ESPN App.

-- SLU's matches in the College Cup will air live on 104.1 FM / 1120 AM KMOX in the St. Louis region. The longtime voice of SLU Soccer on ESPN+, Dan Bettlach, and Nate Gatter will call the action from Cary.

-- Fans are invited to Watch Parties at Sports & Social St. Louis in Ballpark Village, and at Humphrey's near the SLU campus. Fans are encouraged to reserve a table at Sports & Social by clicking here.  

HOW SLU GOT HERE
-- The Billikens have advanced through the NCAA Tournament by defeating Kentucky, Indiana, Bryant and Akron all in thrilling fashion.

-- SLU hosted the first round against Kentucky, the Bills' lone NCAA Tournament match during this run played at home at Hermann Stadium. Freshman Jack DiMaria scored the equalizer in the 86th minute, then buried the golden goal in double overtime as the Billikens advanced with a 2-1 victory.

-- SLU then took on No. 6 overall seed Indiana in Bloomington in round two. An early goal by Tanner Anderson stood as the Billikens shut out the Hoosiers 1-0 to earn a trip to the third round.

-- The third-round match at No. 11 Bryant saw the Bills jump out to an early lead on a goal by Quinten Blair, only to have Bryant respond with two goals for a 2-1 halftime advantage. Blair got the Bills' equalizer on the a penalty kick in the second half. After a 2-2 draw, the advancing team was decided by a penalty-kick shootout. SLU goalkeeper Jeremi Abonnel made two saves in the shootout to help send the Billikens to the quarterfinals.

-- Playing another seeded team in the quarterfinals, the Billikens rallied once again at 14th-seeded Akron to punch their ticket to the College Cup. The Zips led 2-0 at halftime. SLU quickly got a goal back early in the second half on an Akron own goal. Quinten Blair equalized with a PK in the 78th minute. Then Tanner Anderson scored in the 87th minute to complete the thrilling 3-2, come-from-behind victory.

BILLIKENS IN THE COLLEGE CUP
-- Saint Louis is making its 17th College Cup appearance and the first since 1997, when Billiken head coach Kevin Kalish was a junior defender on the team.

-- The Billikens, who are making their NCAA-record 52nd NCAA Tournament appearance, have won 10 NCAA Men's Soccer Championship, the most of any other program.

BILLIKENS ARE STREAKING
-- Saint Louis is unbeaten in its last 14 games, tied with Furman for the longest active unbeaten streak in the NCAA. The Billikens' last loss was Sept. 23 at Akron.

-- SLU is 9-0-5 in its last 14 matches. 

FIGHTING SPIRIT
-- One of the cornerstones of the Billiken program under Kevin Kalish is "Fighting Spirit." In fact, that very term is printed in big letters in the Billikens' locker room at Hermann Stadium. 

-- That fighting spirit has been on display in particular through the Billikens' 14-match unbeaten streak. SLU has trailed in eight of those matches and rallied to either earn a draw or a victory.

-- In the NCAA Tournament run, the Billikens trailed at halftime in three of the four matches and rallied to advance in all of them.

ABOUT THE BILLIKENS
-- Saint Louis is making its NCAA-record 52nd NCAA Men's Soccer Championship appearance.

-- The Bills were the A-10 regular season and tournament champions. They went 5-0-3 in the A-10 regular season. SLU captured the A-10 tournament title in thrilling fashion in PKs against Dayton at Hermann Stadium to earn the A-10's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

-- Freshman Theo Franca leads the Billikens in scoring with 11 points (5G, 1A). Three of his goals were game-winners. He scored the second-half equalizer against Dayton in the A-10 final that helped SLU capture the A-10 crown. 

-- Graduate Quinten Blair is tied for the Billiken lead with five goals. He tallied both scores in the Billikens' 2-2 draw at Bryant in the third round of the NCAA Tournament, and notched the second-half equalizer in the quarterfinals against Akron.

-- Junior Tanner Anderson has scored twice in the NCAA Men's Soccer Championship and is third on the Bills with nine points (4G, 1A). Sophomore Andrew Heckenlaible and junior Carlos Leatherman lead the Bills with four assists apiece.

-- Senior Jeremi Abonnel, a first-team All-Conference selection and the A-10 Goalkeeper of the Year, has played every minute in goal and is tied for fifth in the country with 11 shutouts. Abonnel is 15th in the NCAA in goals against average (0.72).

-- Drake Fournier, Abdoul Karim Pare, Quinten Blair and Carlos Leatherman all earned a spot on the A-10's second team All-Conference squad. The Billikens placed a league-high three players on the All-Rookie team – Jack DiMaria, Theo Franca and Nick Schramm.

-- SLU head coach Kevin Kalish, the A-10 Coach of the Year, is in his eighth season at Saint Louis (82-33-35) and 14th season overall (131-79-49). This is the fourth NCAA Tournament for Kalish as a head coach. In 2021, he led the Billikens to the NCAA quarterfinals.

QUICKLY ON THE WOLFPACK
-- NC State is the No. 15 overall seed in the NCAA Men's Soccer Championship and enters Friday's semifinal with a 15-2-4 record.

-- The Wolfpack had a first-round bye, then defeated Marshall and UNC Greensboro at home to advance to the quarterfinals. Last weekend, NC State knocked off No. 7 overall seed Georgetown 3-2 on the road to punch its ticket to the College Cup.

-- NC State is led in scoring by junior Donavan Phillip. He ranks second in the country with 17 goals and is a semifinalist for the MAC Hermann Trophy.

-- The NC State defense is directed by sophomore center back Nikola Markovic, also a MAC Hermann Trophy semifinalist.

-- Wolfpack keeper Logan Erb is second in the NCAA in goals against average (0.45) and shutouts (12).

-- NC State leads the NCAA in goal differential (+38). The Wolfpack have scored 47 goals this season while yielding just nine.

-- Head coach Marc Hubbard is in his second season at NC State. He has guided his teams to nine straight NCAA Tournaments, including seven straight while at New Hampshire prior to him arriving at NC State.

SERIES HISTORY
-- This will be the fifth meeting all-time between the Billikens and Wolfpack and the first since 2007.

-- SLU leads the all-time series 2-0-2.

-- The Billikens defeated the Wolfpack 3-0 in the 1991 NCAA Tournament on the way to a SLU College Cup appearance.

CHECKING IN ON HISTORY
-- This is the 67th season Billiken men's soccer. SLU's all-time record is 854-284-139.

-- Saint Louis has won 10 national championships, an NCAA record. The Billikens' 10 national titles came in the first 15 seasons in their history. The Bills won the first NCAA crown in 1959 and won its 10th in 1973.

-- SLU has made 52 NCAA Tournament appearances, an NCAA record.