No. 18 and fifth-seeded Notre Dame will face off against No. 15 and fourth-ranked Louisville in the ACC Quarterfinals at Dr. Mark and Cindy Lynn Stadium on Sunday at 1 p.m.
The Irish (10-5-2, 4-3-1 ACC) played the Cardinals (8-4-3, 4-2-2 ACC) on Oct. 6 — a 2-1 double-overtime victory for Notre Dame. However, this time Louisville will be at home, where it most recently almost defeated No. 1 Wake Forest, but again fell 2-1 in double overtime.
Being one of the top four seeds in the tournament, the Cardinals received a bye in the first round, while the Irish defeated twelfth-seeded Clemson 2-0 on Wednesday night to earn a spot in the quarterfinal. Irish senior forward Ian Aschieris scored a brace for Notre Dame to give Irish head coach Chad Riley his first ACC tournament victory at the helm of the program.
The rest of the ACC quarterfinal match-ups are now set as well. On Notre Dame's side of the bracket, top-seeded Wake Forest will face off against ninth-seeded North Carolina State, which defeated eighth-seeded Boston College 3-1.
On the opposite side of the bracket, second-seeded North Carolina will play seventh-seeded Virginia Tech (the Hokies defeated tenth-seeded Syracuse 3-1). Finally, third-seeded Duke will host upset-minded Pittsburgh, as the eleventh-seeded Panthers have already knocked off sixth-seeded Virginia 2-0. Against the remaining teams in the field Notre Dame is 2-3, with losses to Duke, North Carolina and Virginia Tech.
The first two rounds, including the semifinals on Wednesday, Nov. 7, are held at the campus of the higher seed. The championship game will be played on Sunday, Nov. 11, at Sahlen’s Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina, and will be televised on ESPNU.
