# 2021 Louisville Cardinals men's soccer team

The 2021 Louisville Cardinals men's soccer team represented the University of Louisville during the 2021 NCAA Division I men's soccer season. The Cardinals were led by head coach John Michael Hayden, in his third season. They played their home games at Lynn Stadium. This was the team's 43rd season playing organized men's college soccer and their 8th playing in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
The Cardinals finished the season 10–7–1 overall and 5–3–0 in ACC play to finish in second place in the Atlantic Division. As the fourth overall seed in the ACC Tournament the received a bye into the Quarterfinals, where they lost against fifth seed Notre Dame. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament where they lost in the First Round to Bowling Green to end their season.

## Background

The teams' 2020 season was significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, which curtailed the fall season and caused the NCAA Tournament to be played in spring 2021. The ACC was one of the only two conferences in men's soccer to play in the fall of 2020. The ACC also held a mini-season during the spring of 2021.
The Cardinals finished the fall season 1–6–1 and 1–4–1 in ACC play to finish in fifth place in the North Division. They were not invited to the ACC Tournament. They finished the spring season 4–2–0 and 4–2–0 in ACC play, to finish in second place in the Atlantic Division. They were not invited to the NCAA Tournament.

## Player movement
### Players leaving

Departures :
| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Year | Hometown | Reason for Departure |
| Osmar Chavero | 1 | GK | 6'0" | Freshman | Mission, TX | — |
| William Portman | 2 | DF | 5'8" | Junior | Sheffield, England | — |
| Lamine Conte | 3 | MF | 5'11" | Senior | Conakry, Guinea | Graduated; Drafted 40th overall by the New York Red Bulls in the 2021 MLS SuperDraft |
| Haji Abdikadir | 4 | FW | 5'11" | Junior | Louisville, KY | Joined San Diego Loyal |
| Evil Elveroth | 9 | FW | 6'0" | Senior | Halmstad, Sweden | Graduated |
| Carlos Sanchis | 10 | MF | 5'7" | Senior | Madrid, Spain | Graduated |
| Elijah Amo | 17 | MF | 5'10" | Senior | Lothian, MD | Graduated; Drafted 34th overall by Real Salt Lake in the 2021 MLS SuperDraft |
| William Howard | 28 | GK | 6'5" | Junior | Chester, VA | Graduated |
| Sebastian Falsone | 29 | DF | 6'1" | Freshman | Warrenton, VA | — |
| Jake Gelnovatch | 31 | GK | 6'0" | Senior | Earlysville, VA | Graduated |

### Players arriving

| Name | Nat. | Hometown | Club |
| Jean Claude Bikorimana MF | USA | Lexington, KY | FC Cincinnati U17 |
| Parker Forbes DF | USA | Cedar Park, TX | Lonestar SC |
| Dante Huckaby DF | USA | Morganton, WV | Philadelphia Union |
| Josh Jones MF | USA | Hatfield, PA | Ukrainians Nationals |
| Gavin Krenecki GK | USA | Sacramento, CA | Sporting Kansas City Academy |

## Squad
### Roster

    As of January 26, 2022
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | USA | Gavin Krenecki |
| 2 | DF | USA | Dante Huckaby |
| 3 | MF | USA | Jamie Diluzio |
| 4 | DF | USA | Bryce Lebel |
| 5 | DF | USA | Matty Walters |
| 6 | MF | MEX | Rafael Pinzón |
| 7 | FW | USA | Brandon McManus |
| 8 | MF | USA | Jack Fasteen |
| 9 | FW | USA | Aboubacar Camara |
| 10 | FW | BRA | Pedro Fonseca |
| 11 | FW | SEN | Macoumba Ba |
| 12 | DF | BER | Zeiko Harris |
| 13 | MF | USA | Bradley Sample |
| 14 | MF | GHA | Eric Danquah |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 15 | MF | USA | RC Schmeider |
| 16 | DF | USA | Josh Jones |
| 17 | FW | USA | Nico Diaz |
| 18 | DF | USA | Jack Hickey |
| 19 | MF | USA | Patrick Ajdukiewicz |
| 20 | DF | USA | Parker Forbes |
| 21 | MF | USA | Ayden Nocus |
| 22 | DF | USA | Axel Alejandre |
| 23 | FW | NGA | Ugo Achara |
| 25 | MF | USA | Jean Claude Bikorimana |
| 27 | DF | USA | Ryan Nichols |
| 30 | GK | BER | Detre Bell |
| 31 | GK | USA | Liam Fitzgerald |
| 46 | MF | NOR | Sander Roed |

### Team management

| Position | Staff |
| Head Coach | John Michael Hayden |
| Associate Head Coach | Bryan Green |
| Assistant Coach | Donovan Dowling |
| Volunteer Assistant Coach | Darren Yeagle |
| Director of Operations | James Kusak |
Source:

## Schedule

Source:
| Date Time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (Attendance) City, State |
| Exhibition ||||||
| August 14* 8:00 p.m. | | at UAB | W 4–1 | – | BBVA Field Birmingham, AL |
| August 21* 8:00 p.m. | | at No. 2 Indiana | L 4–5 | – | Bill Armstrong Stadium Bloomington, IN |
| Regular Season ||||||
| August 26* 8:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Saint Louis | L 1–2 $^{2OT}$ | 0–1–0 | Hermann Stadium (2,224) St. Louis, MO |
| August 30* 7:30 p.m., ACCNX | | Evansville | W 2–1 | 1–1–0 | Lynn Stadium (504) Louisville, KY |
| September 3* 7:30 p.m., ACCNX | | Bellarmine | W 1–0 $^{2OT}$ | 2–1–0 | Lynn Stadium (1,200) Louisville, KY |
| September 7* 7:30 p.m., ACCN | | No. 17 Kentucky Rivalry | L 1–3 | 2–2–0 | Lynn Stadium (1,679) Louisville, KY |
| September 10 7:30 p.m., ACCNX | | No. 25 Wake Forest | W 3–0 | 3–2–0 (1–0–0) | Lynn Stadium (1,307) Louisville, KY |
| September 17 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | | at Syracuse | W 5–4 $^{2OT}$ | 4–2–0 (2–0–0) | SU Soccer Stadium (1,113) Syracuse, NY |
| September 21* 7:30 p.m., ACCNX | No. 25 | Northern Kentucky | W 4–0 | 5–2–0 | Lynn Stadium (393) Louisville, KY |
| September 24 7:30 p.m., ACCNX | No. 25 | Boston College | W 2–0 | 6–2–0 (3–0–0) | Lynn Stadium (827) Louisville, KY |
| September 28* 7:30 p.m., ACCNX | No. 14 | Western Illinois | W 7–1 | 7–2–0 | Lynn Stadium (482) Louisville, KY |
| October 1 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 14 | at No. 4 Duke | L 1–3 | 7–3–0 (3–1–0) | Koskinen Stadium (1,017) Durham, NC |
| October 8 6:00 p.m., ACCRSN | No. 23 | at No. 9 Virginia Tech | L 2–4 | 7–4–0 (3–2–0) | Thompson Field (765) Blacksburg, VA |
| October 12* 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | | Eastern Illinois | W 5–0 | 8–4–0 | Lynn Stadium (609) Louisville, KY |
| October 15 7:00 p.m., ACCN | | North Carolina | W 2–0 | 9–4–0 (4–2–0) | Lynn Stadium (562) Louisville, KY |
| October 19* 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | | Oakland | L 1–2 | 9–5–0 | Lynn Stadium (0) Louisville, KY |
| October 22 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | | NC State | W 2–1 | 10–5–0 (5–2–0) | Lynn Stadium (608) Louisville, KY |
| October 29 7:00 p.m., ACCN | | at No. 15 Clemson | L 1–5 | 10–6–0 (5–3–0) | Riggs Field (1,889) Clemson, SC |
| ACC Tournament ||||||
| November 7 6:00 p.m., ACCN | (4) | (5) No. 23 Notre Dame Quarterfinals | T 0–0 (0–3 PKs) $^{2OT}$ | 10–6–1 | Lynn Stadium (582) Louisville, KY |
| NCAA Tournament ||||||
| November 18 6:30 p.m., ACCNX | | Bowling Green First Round | L 0–1 | 10–7–1 | Lynn Stadium (672) Louisville, KY |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from United Soccer Coaches. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern. ||||||

## Awards and honors

| Recipient | Award | Date |
| Pedro Fonseca | Preseason All-ACC Watchlist | August 18 |
| Aboubacar Camara | ACC Offensive Player of the Week | October 19 |
| Pedro Fonseca | All-ACC First Team | November 10 |
| Aboubacar Camara | All-ACC First Team | November 10 |
| Sander Roed | All-ACC Third Team | November 10 |
| Sander Roed | ACC All-Freshman Team | November 10 |

## 2022 MLS SuperDraft

| Player | Team | Round | Pick # | Position |
| Pedro Fonseca | Real Salt Lake | 2 | 53 | FW |
Source:

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked RV = Received votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | Final |
| United Soccer | — | — | — | RV | 25 | 14 | 23 | RV | RV | — | — | — | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | — |
| TopDrawer Soccer | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |