Saturday Cardinal Couple - Defense dominates in Women's Soccer win over Butler

SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Corral, Exeter with goals in 2-0 Cards win over Bulldogs


The University of Louisville women's soccer team opened the regular season Friday night in Cardinal Park with a convincing 2-0 win over Butler. Seniors Charlyn Corral and Christine Exeter produced second half goals and the Cardinal defense limited the Bulldogs to just four shots on goal in 90 minutes in front of a rowdy and full contingent of Cardinal fans.

Karen Ferguson-Dayes:

OPENING REMARKS

" Definitely to get a win in the first game of the season is a nice to start off. I thought we were a little unfortunate in the first half because their was a penalty kick that the referees didn't call and we scored a goal that they didn't call....so it could have been 2-0 at that time...but to have the fortitude to fight back and get a goal about a minute into the second half and to get that second goal at the end of the game was really nice. I think Butler is a really good team...they double teamed Christine (Exeter) and Charlyn (Corral). It was obvious that anytime either of those two got the ball there were numbers around them but we were able to fight them off."

On any second half adjustments by the coaches:

"No, good players got it done. We told them we thought they were playing good and just stay aggressive. Really, I thought  if we could get a goal in the first ten minutes, it would give us a chance to settle into the game. We did get that goal but I don't think we ever settled into a good rhythm."

On Butler:

"I have a lot of respect for Terri and what she's done. We've played them regularly each season and I think what we saw tonight was what we expected we would get. They're a good team and they're going to win some games in the BIG EAST."

After a scoreless first half, Christine Exeter found the back of the net with a header just 53 seconds into the final stanza on a nice set-up pass from Corral. The defense stayed strong and with 5 1/2 minutes left in the game Corral took a pass from Hannah Konermann and performed a nifty cross to get open in the box and drive a kick past Bulldog goalie Julie Burton.

The kickin' Cards outshot Butler 20-9 and had nine attempts on goal...four by Corral. Louisville freshman goalie Paige Brown had her first shutout of her career and the Cardinal defense of Rachele Armand, Chelsea Hunter, Rachel Melhado and Megan Berberich frustrated Bulldog attackers for most of the evening.

The Cards return to action Sunday. Illinois visits Cardinal Park for a 1 p.m. contest.

You can see Paulie's hand and digital recording device in the post game interview...plus hear his brilliant questions at:

http://www.gocards.com/allaccess/?media=400888



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Coach Sowry lookin' chic in her ballcap!

Field Hockey begins their exhibition season with a Saturday game in Bloomington against IU. Start time is 1 p.m. We'll review the action in the Sunday edition of CARDINAL COUPLE.

The Cards split with the Hoosiers last year, winning the exhibition match and losing in the regular season.

You can follow the action on GAMETRACKER over at

www.gocards.com


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SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR has a jam packed 60 minutes with pre and post game comments from Coach Ferguson-Dayes, post game remarks from Charlyn Corral and interviews with Justine Sowry, Arthur Albiero and Kellie Young. We'll also cover the latest on basketball recruiting, volleyball news and the upcoming Saturday night Alumnae game.

Be sure to join us at:

BALLS, BUMPS, BREAKAWAYS and O'BRYAN

We tee it off at 11 a.m.

-Paulie

LouisvillemifielderCharlynCorralspentherfirsttwoyearsofcollegeattheUnversidaddeMexicoCityandhasonlybeenspeakingenglishforacoupleofyearsSheisadorable!