Women's Soccer, Volleyball get Sunday wins.

.
CARDINAL COUPLE MONDAY

-Cards win 2-1 over Georgetown women's soccer

-Volleyball sweeps Rutgers

-Watson on re-alignment (again)

The University of Louisville women's soccer team with an impressive win over the Georgetown Hoyas yesterday in our nation's capital. Christine Exeter with both Cardinal goals in the double overtime 2-1 victory. The win improved Louisville to 7-5-3 overall and also put them in first place in the National Division of the BIG EAST Conference with a 5-1-2 record.

The Hoyas hit the scoreboard first in the match...getting a header goal from Camille Trujillo twenty minutes into the game. That advantage held up through the first half and well into the second...before Exeter took a pass from Angelika Uremovich and found he back of the net in the 79th. minute of play.

Kiefer's goal-tending has sparked
the Cards lately.

It would be 23 minutes later until Exeter nailed the game-winner...taking a throw-in pass from Jennifer Jones and guiding the ball past Georgetown goalie Elizabeth Hanna early in the second overtime to end it. For Exeter, it was her ninth goal of the season - tops for the Cardinals - and her eight goal in the last nine games.

With the win, Louisville edged ahead of the Hoyas (11-5-0, 5-3) in the National division. Chloe Kiefer did another great job defending the net for Karen Ferguson-Dayes team, with four saves. Georgetown out shot the Cards 13-6 in the contest and held a 5-3 advantage in shots on goal...but the Cards led in the most important stat...goals scored.

Louisville returns to Cardinal Park for two this weekend...hosting Rutgers Friday, Oct. 14th. at 7 p.m. and Seton Hall Sunday, Oct 16th. at noon.

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

Volleyball also found success on Sunday with a 3-0 sweep of Rutgers in Piscataway, NJ. The Cards took advantage of 19 Lola kills for the 25-19, 25-13, 25-16 sacking of the Scarlet Knights.

"I'm proud of this East Coast swing to get two road league wins and in a sweep says a lot about our team dealing with adversity and injury. I thought Caitlin Welch did a great job passing and serving. We got two big blocks from Gosia Lech and Lola continues to lead our offense." -UofL head coach Anne Kordes.

Emily Juhl and Gwen Rucker are both inactive because of injuries. The Cards played only eight players in the Sunday match.

The Cards battled against Rutgers evenly to start game one - tied at 11-11 - before a 7-3 run gave them a 18-14 advantage. They closed out the first game with three straight Lola kills to take the six point victory. 

Taylor Brauneis had 34 assists in
the win over Rutgers.

Rutgers stayed close in game two, trailing 14-10, until a 7-2 Louisville run put it out of reach at 21-12. Taylor Brauneis served the final three points to close out the Scarlet Knights - including a game ending ace. 

In the final, Louisville jumped out early and had the Piscataway girls down 19-10 before coasting in with the nine point victory. 

The Cards are on a five game winning streak. They return home to prepare for a Friday night contest against arch-rival Cincinnati in Cardinal Arena.

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

(The weekend added more mystery and intrigue to conference re-alignment and expansion with the hiatus on Missouri getting a SEC invite and TCU expected to announce Monday they're joining the BIG 12. Our David Watson sounds off.)

Monday morning, you sure look fine.

That line from a classic Fleetwood Mac song would be an apt description of the viewpoint from the Horned Frog campus down in the Dallas-Ft.Worth area. They're expected to announce sometime today that they're accepting the BIG 12 offer to join the band.

This move made sense all along. There was the flirtation with the BIG EAST. Did anyone ever really think that they'd go through with the ridiculous-from-a-geographical-standpoint action of having to travel to Providence to play women's basketball or take their football team to Piscataway to plow through the Scarlet Knights? 

So the BIG EAST takes another right cross to the chin and wobbles back to the corner  behind in points and staggering like a UK fan after a Saturday of Keeneland and Cats football. Syracuse and Pitt gone. Louisville and WVU waiting to hear the word. Connecticut and Rutgers wishing they were on someone's short list.

Missouri appears to hold the key to Louisville's possible inclusion in the BIG 12. Whether the haughty SEC will include the Mizzou Tigers or not remains to be seen, but I don't see the BIG 12 sending out any more party invitations if the Show Me state gets spurned by this non-committal suitor and stays in the BIG 12. 

Watson has an affinity
for lemonade shake-ups,
corn dogs and carnies.

Louisville makes no sense in the previously mentioned from-a-geographical-standpoint scenario inclusion in the BIG 12. Neither does WVU. But, the most I look at the conference re-alignment facade that has shook up college sports like the guy in the lemonade shakeup booth at the state fair midway, I can identify with another 70's rock music line - this one from legendary Jimmy Buffett.

I'm just trying to make a little sense of it all.

Those Louisville fans expecting to be on buses down the road for fall football clashes in Norman, Stillwater and College Station may have to put off those calls to their travel agents for awhile. The conference that no one wants to stay in is still standing. The ring referee, however, is watching closely. 

(David Watson is a special correspondent for CARDINAL COUPLE. His oldest daughter will attend Notre Dame next fall unless Ball State ponies up a field hockey scholarship.)
.