Women's Soccer upsets #12 Notre Dame..,Volleyball falls 3-2...Atlanta tops Sun 89-84

.
SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Yenney leads win over Notre Dame Soccer

-VolleyCards fall to Purdue

-Harding steps up for Atlanta Dream

-One last look at UofL vs UK football before the game

Chloe shuts
out the Irish

The University of Louisville women's soccer squad pulled off their biggest win of the season yesterday in South Bend, IN. with a 1-0 win over #12 Notre Dame. Louisville freshman Erin Yenney took a pass from Christine Exeter midway thru the second half and found net for the only goal of the contest.

The Cardinal defense was spectacular in shutting down the defending NCAA Champions during the contest. Senior goalkeeper Chloe Kiefer registered her second straight shutout and had five turn aways on shots-on-goal. Overall, the Cards were out-shot by the Irish 20-10 but stood strong...especially in the final half of play...when they denied three Irish corner attempts to score.

Louisville (3-4-1) returns home for a 1 p.m. Sunday match against DePaul.

******************************************************************

Despite Lola Arslanbekova's 20 kill effort, the VolleyCards fell 3-2 to #14 Purdue Friday in Champaign IL. The Boilermakers stay undefeated on the season with a 21-25, 25-19, 25-18, 16-25, 15-10 victory.

Louisville battled Purdue to the final game decider and led 7-5 before the Boilermakers went on a 5-0 run. The Cards could get no closer than three the rest of the way.

Juhl had 11
kills in the loss.

Emily Juhl had 11 kills in the match, Caitlin Welch recorded 13 digs and the Cards had nine serving aces...but fall to 8-3 on the season.

"We came out and competed. We had stretches of greatness and everyone showed sparks of just how good we can be. It was a full team effort and we can build on this experience in the future." Cardinal head coach Anne Kordes spoke after the match.

The building starts tonight at 8 p.m., when Louisville takes on #3 Illinois. Gwen Rucker did not participate for Louisville in the match...no word yet on how long she'll be sidelined.

******************************************************************

The former Duke guard leads the
Dream to a 1-0 advantage.

With Angel McCoughtry sidelined with foul trouble and the Atlanta Dream down by five going into the fourth quarter...one expected the worst for the Dream's first game in the playoffs. Not so fast, my friend...Lindsey Harding stepped up for Atlanta with 10 of her 21 points in the final stanza to help lead her team to a 89-84 win at the Mohegan Sun Arena. The Dream got balanced scoring with five players in double figures. Angel, despite the foul trouble, finished with 16. Erika de Souza tallied the same, Sancho Lyttle contributed 13 points and 11 boards. Armintie Price popped for 14.

They'll head to Atlanta for game two of the three game series. If the Dream can pull off the win in Philips Arena Sunday, they'll advance to face the winner of the Indiana vs.New York series. Indiana leads that one 1-0...grabbing a close 74-72 win over the Liberty Thursday night.

******************************************************************

Ran into former UofL offensive lineman Ron Madrick, Jr. last night at the Seneca vs. Eastern football game. Ron played for Howard Schnellenberger from 1985-87 and is the son of Covington Holmes coaching legend Ron Madrick, Sr
.
Ron still looks like he could protect Jay Gruden from a Memphis blitz...but is doing a different kind of protection these days - as a Louisville fireman.



"Coach"

 We talked about the upcoming UofL v. UK football game and Ron agrees that the key to victory could come from who will win the "trench battle" between the teams' linemen. He also pointed out the importance of special team play and expects the Cards to do well on containing the UK offense.

"It's a rivalry game...anything can happen. If the Cards get a few big plays and get momentum on their side...they could win this thing." Ron commented.

Madrick was a letterwinner during the first three years of the Schnellenberger era but never got the chance to go up against the Wildcats.

Seneca is probably wishing they wouldn't have had to face Eastern this year...losing 31-0 to the Eagles in Middletown.

Speaking of the game, as of 8 a.m. Saturday morning...we have 37 responses to picking the final score and winner of The Battle of the Bluegrass. 22 of you are going with UK, 15 with the Cards. Some other interesting numbers on your picks:

Highest point total : 116 (UK 59-UofL 57)

Lowest Point total:  9 (UofL 6 - UK 3)

Biggest margin of victory: 35 (UofL 42 - UK 7)

Best comment so far: "Why bother? Let's look forward to basketball. The Lady Cards and Pitino's crew will sweep this year."
Worst comment so far: "Your Cardinal Birds will fly west after UK's trouncing. Stay away from your busted Indiana bridge."

For Paul's final take on the contest, check out his post at http://www.uoflcardgame.com/

Remember, you have until 7 p.m. this evening to get your pick in. $10 gift card for PANERA to the winner. Just pick your team and the final score. Closest to the final score with correct team pick gets you the goods. E-mail your picks to: cardinalcouple@insightbb.com and make sure you give us a way to get in touch with you. Good luck and GO CARDS!

thankyouforcheckingouttodayseditionofcardinalcoupleweareproudtopresentyouwiththenewsonuoflwomenssportsonadailybasisandpromiseweredonewithfootballaftertomorrow

.