Buckeyes Host Seventh-Ranked Louisville

Ohio State welcomes defending national runner-up Cardinals to JOMS

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The Ohio State men's soccer team begins a three-game stretch vs. 2010 NCAA College Cup teams at 7 p.m. Wednesday vs. national runner-up and current seventh-ranked Louisville in Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium. The Buckeyes (4-2-1) then welcome Michigan, a NCAA semifinalist last year, to their home field at 4 p.m. Sunday in nationally-televised match on BTN before traveling to defending national champion No. 4 Akron next Wednesday. Admission to the Louisville and Michigan games, as well as all Buckeye home regular-season games, is free.
 
IN A NUTSHELL
Ohio State is 4-2-1 on the season after splitting its games at the Coastal Carolina Invitational, defeating Hartwick, 3-0, before falling to the host Chanticleers, 2-0. Chris Hegngi is the leading point scorer with eight points off four goals, followed by his older brother Parnell Hegngi (2g, 2a) and Sebastian Rivas (3g) tied for second with six points. With two goals vs. Hartwick over the weekend, the younger Hegngi became the first Buckeye to tally two goals in a contest since Konrad Warzycha converted a pair of penalty kicks Sept. 5, 2010 vs. Buffalo. The last to do so within live game action was Hegngi himself, leading the Buckeyes to a win over Butler Sept. 18, 2009, during his rookie season.
 
FOLLOW LIVE
If you cannot make it to JOMS this week, watch the games live on the Internet via BuckeyeVision on OhioStateBuckeyes.com. Packages available for purchase include a one-month subscription for $9.95. Sign up today and watch the Buckeyes from anywhere. In addition, live statistics for will be available through OhioStateBuckeyes.com, linked from the front page, as well as the men's soccer schedule page, and twitter updates can be received from @OhioState_MSOC.
 
HOME COOKING
The Buckeyes currently have a 12-game home unbeaten streak (11-0-1), dating back to the beginning of the 2010 season. Overall, Ohio State holds a 77-25-15 record in Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium since the facility opened in 1999, including at least six wins in each of the last four seasons. Prior to last season when they went 8-0-1, the last time the Buckeyes had gone undefeated on their home grass was 1974 when they earned a 4-0-1 record in home contests (11-6-3 overall, head coach Al Bianco).
 
BIG TEN MOBILE TOUR
The Big Ten launched the Honoring Legends. Building Leaders. Mobile Tour this summer to visit each Big Ten campus this football season. The tour is stopping in Columbus this weekend and making an appearance Wednesday at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium during the soccer match. The mobile tour was created to entertain and educate fans about the new age of Big Ten football and the exciting road ahead – two divisions, the championship weekend in Indianapolis, 18 new trophies and the path to the Rose Bowl or BCS National Championship Game. Ohio State senior Jake Demyan, a strategic communications major, is reporting on the events surrounding the mobile tour by using several different online outlets and at the end of the season, fans will vote for their favorite reporter from each school. The winner will have the opportunity to attend the inaugural Big Ten Football Championship Game or a Big Ten bowl game of their choice.
 
SCOUTING THE CARDINALS
The Cardinals come into Columbus ranked fifth in the NSCAA poll released Tuesday and have a 5-1-0 record to their credit. Their lone loss came Sept. 4 as the No. 1 team vs. then-No. 2 North Carolina, 2-1, on the road. Since then, Louisville has out-scored opponents 9-2 over three games, increasing its season margin to 14-4. Colin Rolfe leads 14 Cardinal point scorers with seven off two goals and three assists. A total of eight players have found the back of the net at least once. Goalkeeper Andre Boudreaux has played all 540 minutes, tallying a 0.67 goals-against average and an .800 save percentage. Head coach Ken Lolla is in his fifth season with the Cardinals after building Akron into a national power.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Ohio State holds a 7-5-2 record against Louisville with the last meeting taking place in the third round of the NCAA Tournament a year ago. The top-seeded Cardinals defeated 16th-seeded Ohio State, 2-1, to advance to the quarterfinals and eventually the national championship game. Earlier, in the regular season, the teams battled to a scoreless draw Sept. 22 in Louisville, initiating a four-game unbeaten streak for the Buckeyes, three of which would come against ranked opponents.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The 24th-ranked Buckeyes fell to Coastal Carolina and its second-ranked scoring offense in the country, 2-0, Sunday afternoon at the CCU Soccer Field in the final game of the Coastal Carolina Tournament in Conway, S.C. Ashton Bennett scored both of the Chanticleer goals in the win with the first came in the 33rd minute after he gathered the ball off a block and shot into the far side. Bennett followed it up midway through the second half with the help of teammate Justin Portillo. This shot came from the right edge of the box and was crossed into the net inside the far post.
 
UP NEXT
The Buckeyes welcome national semifinalist Michigan to Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium to open the Big Ten slate with a 4 p.m. nationally-televised game Sunday with Chris Doran and Daryl Shore calling the action. The Wolverines are 2-6-1 this season and are off until their meeting with the Buckeyes this weekend. The Buckeyes are 16-4-0 in Big Ten season openers all-time. They previously have played Northwestern in 12 of these contests, Wisconsin in four, Michigan State in two and Indiana and Michigan in one. With a 1-0 win vs. the Wolverines in Ann Arbor Sept. 25, 2010, head coach John Bluem is 12-2 in his first game on the conference schedule.