Saturday Cardinal Couple --- Field Hockey gets soggy 2-1 win!...Volleyball wins!

SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

- Field Hockey downs Owls 2-1 in overtime

- Volleyball sweeps SMU in Dallas


It was a thriller at Trager despite the weather. Jennifer Pels slammed home the decider in overtime as Louisville Field Hockey goes to 9-2 with a 2-1 win over Temple.

It was a defensive struggle for the majority of the first half...the Cards getting several great opportunities on penalty corners early but unable to connect. Temple drew first blood on a penalty corner with less than three minutes left in the first half and took a 1-0 lead into the locker room at intermission.
 
I left the pressbox after the first half and hooked up with Cardinal Couple columnist Jeff McAdams to watch the final half in the bleachers.

Louisville got a tying goal from Elisa Garcia (her first of the season) with 20 minutes left in the final stanza on a penalty corner and nice feed from Paige Monson.

Then...minutes later...the rain moved in and a steady downpour and threat of lightning suspended play with a little over seven minutes left in the second half.

While taking shelter, I got a great conversation in with the father of Temple player Molly Doyle...who drove down from Havertown, PA. with his wife for the game. I sincerely wish I could have captured it on my digital recording device. His daughter had the lone Temple goal of the game at that point in time...but our conversation wasn't about that...drifting to who would score more points on the weekend against Louisville...the Temple Field Hockey team or the Temple Football squad. (If Temple Football can manage a field goal, they take the honor).

For the record, I predicted a 4-3 Louisville Field Hockey win on WKRD's The AFTERNOON UNDERDOGS about an hour before the game Friday...)

Memories and chatter about the NFL Eagles, ex-Cardinal kicker David Akers and John Chaney (ex-Temple men's basketball coach) made the time roll by quickly and when the rains subsided...the team re-took the field.

The final minutes in regulation saw both teams battle on the soggy field without scoring. Overtime awaited, a seven-on-seven sudden death playoff.

A wild overtime session ensured...the Cards finally getting the ball with a great opportunity near the Owl goal and Jennifer Pels sending a missile into the net past a charging Temple goalie Lizzy Millen for the winning score three minutes into the extra period.

Coach Sowry was effusive in her praise for the gritty Owls in her post-game comments. And, it was a gallant effort from the Philly stick-swingers...minus their leading scorer of the season...Amber Youtz...sidelined with a broken wrist in a contest last week against Villanova.

Louisville returns to the Trager turf Sunday with a 1 p.m. tilt against IU. It's a Pink Awareness game, dress accordingly if you go...

Stillman and Griner...we have
yet to successfully teach Jared
proper displaying of the "L"

As a sidenote, I ran into Jared Stillman (J-Bone) in the press box before the game started. I was unaware he was back in town and teamed up with Drew Deener on the morning show over at ESPN 680 AM locally. The "J-Train" was a favorite in the softball press box during his time on campus and is back from New Hampshire ESPN radio to thrill us on Deener's show.

Why am I always the last to know? I did present Stillman with my business card...to further the possibility of a apperance on the show. Whether it survived the storm and ever ends up on Deener's desk is anybody's guess...


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( Thanks to Louisville's SID dept. for the report below of the Cards Volleyball win)

Volleyball Sweeps SMU Juhl leads with 10 kills Emily Juhl   Senior outside hitter Emily Juhl had 10 kills and a block to lead the University of Louisville to a 25-19, 25-14, 25-17 sweep of The American Conference foe SMU Friday night in Dallas. "That felt good," said U of L head coach Anne Kordes. "We did a fantastic job of managing the match tonight. We have been talking all season about limiting unforced errors and tonight we did that. I thought Hannah Kvitle did a great job from the service line tonight to help us go on runs. It was a fun team effort to get on the road and get a win. I saw a lot of smiles on the court." The Cards improve to 3-0 in The American and are 7-6 overall. U of L hit .278 and outblocked SMU 8-4 with six service aces. SMU was led by Abbey Bybel's 10 kills . U of L used a 10-1 run in the first set to go up 19-11 and then withstood an SMU comeback to brought the Ponys to within three at 21-18 and forced a Cardinal timeout. SMU would score just once more as the Cards outhit SMU .222 to .097 and had three aces in the 25-19 win. An 8-1 run in the second set gave U of L a 22-13 lead over SMU with the winning point coming from freshman Javoni Faucett's service ace. The Cards hit .344 in the second set with Juhl and McClendon each notching three kills apiece. The Cards rolled out to a 10-6 lead in the third set but SMU fought back to tie at 10 and took the lead back at 11-10. U of L had a 6-1 run to gain some breathing room and then closed out the set and match with the 25-17 win. The Cards travel to Houston on Sunday at 2 p.m. for a match up with the Cougars of the University of Houston. <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><?><?><?><> We'll be one short in the studio for our weekly Saturday CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR on Crescent Hill Radio today at 11 a.m. (Jenny out-of-action with a upper respiratory infection) but Jeff and I will struggle through....plenty to talk about as Cardinal fall women's sports are in full swing. A rain-soaked Paulie did manage to catch Coach Justine's Sowry's post game comments after the Louisville Field Hockey win. Please join us tomorrow at 11 a.m. at the link below: SOCCER and SOWRY and SLAMS..Oh, my !!!