CARDINAL COUPLE

CARDINAL COUPLE
We report on the joy and excitement of UofL women's sports here. Thanks for checking us out! Click the picture of Louie to hear the latest Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast!!

Monday, September 30, 2013



MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Soccer defeats Rutgers 4-1 in Cardinal Park

-Volleyball down Temple in four sets

-Softball takes two on Sunday @ Bellarmine


A strong effort from Charlyn Corral led to Rutgers taking their second loss of the season Sunday afternoon at Cardinal Park in women's soccer.

Louisville (6-3-1, 2-0-0) put the first mark on the scoreboard eight minutes into the contest when Christine Exeter found Charlyn Corral with a pass. The senior from Mexico booted a 25 footer past the Rutgers goalkeeper to give the Cards a lead they would never relinquish.

It appeared Corral had another goal with 18 minutes left in the first half...but the ball didn't quite get in. Shannon Dennehey was there for the rebound...though....and knocked it in to put UofL up 2-0. Five minutes later Chelsea Hunter capitalized on a penalty kick to make it 3-0 Cards. Rutgers scored their lone goal of the game three minutes later and the 3-1 Cardinal lead held until the end of the half.

The Cards wasted no time adding their fourth goal of the match to start the second half. 30 seconds in...Corral was there for a missed Exeter attempt and guided the ball to the back of the net to put UofL up by three. The score held the rest of the way in a defensive battle for the rest of the game.

Louisville held a decisive 8-5 shot on goal edge and freshman goalie Paige Brown had four saves.

Louisville hits the road next...facing SMU Thursday, Oct 3rd. in a 8:00 p.m. tilt.

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The Louisville Volleyball team started slowly against the Temple Owls...dropping the first set 21-25...but roaring back to the the final three 25-18, 25-16 and 25-16.

After an mistake-filled first game, where the Cards had 14 unforced errors, the Cards righted the ship and got outstanding play from Maya McClendon (15 kills and 11 digs), 20 digs and pin-point passing from Caitlin Welch. Hannah Kvitle shone from the back row and the Cards got solid contributions from (surprisingly) Emily Juhl (12 kills), Randi Ewing (10 blocks) and Janelle Jenkins ( 9 kills and 10 blocks).

Louisville jumped out to a 11-4 lead in game two and was never seriously challenged...winning by seven.

The Cards blew open a close start in game three with a 6-2 run to take a 15-11 lead. After Temple timeouts, the Cards scored 10 of the next 15 points to win going away.



In the final game, Louisville jumped out to a 8-3 lead...pushed it to 18-11 before seeing Temple closed the gap to 21-15. The Cards finished the game on a 4-1 run, though and won the final by nine.

Next up, a trip to Texas. The Cards will face SMU on Friday and Houston on Sunday.

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Day two of the fall exhibition season bode well for the Softball Cards...knocking off host Bellarmine in the opener 5-3 and Tennessee State 5-0.

LOUISVILLE VS BELLARMINE

The Knights jumped out to a 2-0 lead in their game against the Cards....Louisville chipped away and tied it in the third...aided by freshman Jordan McNary's triple.

Bellarmine regained the lead 3-2 in the bottom of the third...but the Cards countered with two in the fourth...a based-loaded single from Valparaiso transfer Brittany Duncan scored Maryssa Becker and Autumn McDuffie. The Cards added a run in the fifth when Maggie Ruckenbrod singled, advanced on a Tiarra Sanabria double and scored on a Becker sac fly.

Pearsall used all four Cardinal pitchers in the game...Becker getting the win.

LOUISVILLE VS TENNESSEE STATE

After two scoreless innings to open the contest, the Cards got two across the plate in the third...Whitney Arion and Jordan McNary scoring on a Duncan double.

The Cards added a run in the sixth and two in the seventh...Katie Keller blasting a moon-shot over the left field fence to create the final 5-0 win.

Once again, Pearsall put all four Cardinal pitchers in the circle...Connell, Becker, LeCoq and Sanabria allowing just three TSU hits.

The Cards return to Bellarmine next weekend to face Ball State for a Saturday game and Wallace State on Sunday. Both games are scheduled for 1 p.m. starts.

-Paulie

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Sunday, September 29, 2013

Sunday Cardinal Couple --Newcomers impressive for Softball Cards



SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Field Hockey routs Georgetown 8-1

-Softball sweeps two in exhibition

-Soccer, Volleyball live action today!


We worried a bit about Louisville Field Hockey's trip to Maryland to play Georgetown yesterday. Our worries were unfounded...as the Flock romped G'Town 8-1 to go 2-0 in BIG EAST play. 

It looks like everyone scored except me, Jeff and Jenny in the rout.

Louisville said hello to Hoya goalie Rosalie Nolan right after the National Anthem...scoring less than a minute into the contest when Shannon Sloss took a feed from Elisa Garcia and put the scoreboard operator to work early. That lead was increased later in the half when a Garcia penalty shot was deflected and sent into the net by Becca Maddock. The Cards headed to the locker room at half with the 2-0 advantage.

Georgetown actually drew first blood with a goal three minutes into final half play. It was the last anyone heard of the Hoya attack during the afternoon.

Alyssa Voelmle sent a pass to Paige Monson...who made it 3-1 Cards around the 50:00 minute mark. About a minute later, Maddock connected for her second score...on a Voelmle feed.

The Cards pushed it to 5-1 when Michelle Amon connected on a pass from Erin Schneidtmiller. 120 seconds after that, Kelsey Rosenmeier tallied her first score of the season. That was followed by a second goal from Amon. Victoria Stratton finished the Cardinal scoring on an assist from Megan Anstotz with three minutes left to set it at an 8-1 Cardinals.

Louisville (7-2) outshot the Hoyas 24-4. The eight goals in second highest in UofL history...the Cards defeated Central Michigan 10-0 back in 2010.

Coach Justine Sowry was pleased with the win but also offered a few words of schooling:

"We need to continue to work on our discipline both on and off the ball in order to complete a solid game. Our depth proved to be the difference maker today."

Louisville returns to action Oct. 1st with a non-conference matchup at Ohio State.

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Fall exhibition softball is off and running...the Cards taking two at Bellarmine Saturday.

Louisville 8 - Bellarmine 0

Slow start offensive in this one...the squads going through three innings and failing to send a runner all the way around the bags. The Cards broke through in the top of the fourth...Hannah Kiyohara reaching on an infield single and junior transfer Brittany Duncan singling. The freshmen went to work after that...Kristina Dillard singling home Kiyohara and Rachel Houck's single scoring Duncan.

Louisville added four more in the fifth. Jordan McNary, Katie (Killer) Keller were on when Taner Fowler's grounder was misplayed...scoring McNary. Kiyohara cleared the bases with a double to make it 5-0 and then scored on a Dillard single.

The Cards added the final two in the seventh. Fowler reached on a error and trotted home when freshman Tierra Sanabria sent one over the left field fence. Caralisa Connell got the win...going four innings, striking out eight and allowing just two hits. Sanabria relieved...striking out three and allowing a single in three innings of mop up.

Louisville 8 - EKU 1

Louisville wasted no time introducing themselves to the Colonels...popping for four in the first. Killer's double sent Kiyohara and McNary home and Duncan and Fowler hits drove in two more runs. 4-0 after one inning.

The Cards completed their scoring for the day with four runs in the second. Whitney Arion and Kiyohara singled to start the inning and Keller singled home Kiyohara. Duncan followed to the plate and blasted a three run shot over the center field fence to make it 8-0 UofL.

Rachel Le Coq got the start and allowed an unearned run and three hits in four innings. Freshman Maryssa Becker finished it for Louisville...allowing one hit in the final three innings.

The Cards play two again today...Bellarmine again at 11 a.m. and Tennessee State at 1 p.m.

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Other events in town have the Women's Soccer Cards hosting Rutgers at Cardinal Park at 1 p.m. and Volleyball returns to the KFC YUM! Center for a 2 p.m. match with Temple.

-Paulie

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Saturday, September 28, 2013



SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Volleyball downs Memphis in KFC YUM! Center

-Soccer Cards: Another overtime, another win.

-Field Hockey, Lacrosse and fall Softball on tap today


So far...the University of Memphis' re-introduction to competition against UofL women's sports hasn't gone so well. Both the VolleyCards and SoccerCards took victories against the visitors from Elvis-ville. Welcome to the AAC, Tigers...enjoy your stay.

Maya McClendon led a balanced Louisville attack with 17 kills in the Cards 25-16, 25-21, 21-25, 25-14 four set win over UM. Seniors Randi Ewing and Brooke Mattingly added 12 kills each in the conference opener for both teams. A check of the box score indicates that Emily Juhl played in only two of the four games. We'll discuss any injury status concerning the senior Cardinal on our CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO SHOW later this morning. Jeff McAdams was lurking around the wide net and will have a full report.

The teams were evenly matched in the first set...Louisville holding on to a 12-8 lead before ramping up and outscoring the Tigers 13-8 to win going away by nine.

Game two saw the teams deadlocked at 16-16 before McClendon took control and lifted the Cards to a hard-fought four point victory.

After the break, Memphis showed they weren't quite ready to hit I-40 West...using a 7-0 run to take an early 8-3 advantage. The Cards did battle back to get within one at 19-18...but the Tigers produced a game-closing, 6-3 point spread to make the match 2-1.

Any hopes of the Tigers extending the match to five sets was eliminated early in the final game....UofL scoring the first six points of the contest and zooming out to a 14-7 dominance. The Cards pushed that edge out to 20-10 and won going away by 11.

Over 2200 in attendance to see the battle...Louisville returns to 2nd and Main Sunday for a bird battle...the Temple Owls line up across the net at 1 p.m.

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Louisville women's soccer team assures the fans get every penny's worth of the admission price once again...going to overtime to down the Memphis kickers 3-2 at Cardinal Park.

It was senior Christine Exeter providing the game-ender two minutes into the extra session...taking a pass from junior Casey Whitfield and progressing downfield to send an 18 footer to the back of the net.

UM broke a 30 minute scoreless opening to lead lead Louisville briefly...the Cards responded less than a minute later when Erin Yenney found nylon on a penalty corner attempt.  The teams went into the half tied at 1-1.

Louisville grabbed the advantage early in the final half when Whitfield outfoxed the Memphis goalie on a nice cross and booted the orb past her as she charged to defend. Memphis tied it, though with 20 minutes remaining in the half and regulation ended with the teams still knotted at 2-2.

The Cards improve to 5-3-1 with the "W" and will grace the middle of the track and field facility again on Sunday when the Rut-gals travel to the 'Ville for a 1 p.m. showdown.

(Editor note....can we PLEASE get away from these same start times for Volleyball and Soccer? Some of actually would like to attend both matches. Since the transporter device ran out of dilithium crystals...I can't be in two places at once.)

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On tap today? Field hockey travels to College Park, MD. for a rough conference match against the Hoyas. Not sure why they're playing this one on Maryland's home field...but they'll slap the ball around with the sticks at appox. 1300 (1 p.m.).

Louisville softball opens their fall exhibition season today with two games at Bellarmine...since Ulmer Stadium is undergoing an expansion and facelift. The Cards face the host Knights at 11:00 a.m. and Eastern Kentucky at 1 p.m.

Pearsall has a full cupboard on the field with Arion, Fowler, the Ruck, Kiyohara, Killer Keller and hurlers Caralisa Connell and Rachel Le Coq. The Cards also add nine freshmen.

Louisville Lacrosse hits the road for a scrimmage at Boston University today as well. Check out the great photo of Coach Kellie Young getting interviewed by Paulie's old digital recording device, letter-jacket, gloves and goatee over at gocards.com

My ol' buddy Michelle Hutchins snapped that last season. I don't have any money to buy it, though. Damn economy...

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WE return to the studio this morning for a (believe it or don't) LIVE broadcast of the CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR.
Lots of UofL women's sports to discuss, Don Paulie makes a visit and I'm feverishly preparing a little quiz for my slacker co-hosts...Jumping Jeff McAdams and birthday girl Jenny O' Bryan.

They don't stand a chance. Click the link below to listen live. Or, wash your hair and head to the buffet at the Chinese place. We can't make all your decisions for you...

TWO CHIMPS AND A LADY


-Paulie

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Friday, September 27, 2013

Friday Cardinal Couple -- Soccer, Volleyball in action tonight



FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

- Memphis comes to town to face Volleyball and Soccer

- Angel & Dream slip by Indiana in Game 1


Seems like old times for tonight.

The Memphis Tigers, conference mates for this season with Louisville in The American Conference, come to Louisville for games at the KFC YUM! Center (Voleyball) and at Cardinal Park (Soccer).

Both contests start at 7 p.m.

In Volleyball...the Tigers have fared well in the pre-conference slate (8-5) despite losing three of their top four hitters from last year.

Gee, that sounds familiar.

They were 12-19 in Conference USA last season and were picked to finish tenth in the pre-season AAC Coaches poll.

The series is extensive between the Cards and UM...spanning over four difference conferences and 35 matches. Louisville holds a 29-6 all-time advantage.

You get TV for this one, too...if you can't attend. WHAS Digital 11.2, Comcast 207 and Time Warner 432 will have the live feed.

In Soccer...the Tigers are looking impressive as well. They've built a 7-2-0 record in the pre-conference slate. Last weekend they ran the table in the Sunshine State...knocking off FAU and Florida Gulf Coast. Goalie Maryse Bard-Martel stands an impressive 0.88 goals against average and has four shutouts on the season.

Louisville looks to bounce back from a double-overtime 3-2 loss at Marquette last Saturday. The Cards (4-3-1) are led by senior Charlyn Corral..who has seven goals on the year...second best in the AAC.

Louisviile and Memphis have met nine times over the years...the Lady Tigers hold a 6-2-1 series lead.

It's also Louisville women's soccer alumni night at Cardinal Park.

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Balanced scoring got it done for the Dream in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals.


Tiffany Hayes scored 23 points, Angel McCoughtry added 18 points and the Dream beat  Indiana  84-79 on Thursday night for a 1-0 lead in the Eastern Conference finals.


Armintie Herrington finished with 16 points, grabbed seven rebounds and had five assists for the Dream. Erika de Souza had 10 points.


McCoughtry scored on a three-point play to give the Dream an 81-75 lead with 1:07 left.
The league's leading scorer made three free throws down the stretch to help Atlanta take the win.
Tamika Catchings led the Fever with 21 points, while Erlana Larkins had a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds. Karima Christmas and Shavonte Zellous each had 15 points.


It's the third straight year the teams have faced each other in the East finals

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Game 2 is at Indiana on Sunday. The Dream split their two games at Indiana in the regular season.


The Atlanta run at the end of the third quarter was the game changer.
With the score tied at 56, the Dream scored the last six points of the third quarter.
McCoughtry made a running layup, Hayes scored on a layup and Alex Bentley made a jumper to close out the quarter strong for Fred Williams' crew..


Despite the Dream's third-quarter surge, they had a rough time pulling away from the Fever. Indiana stayed in the game with key baskets from Catchings and a couple of 3-pointers from Erin Phillips.


Hayes provided offense, while Herrington made several hustle plays to help give the Dream the edge.

And...as a side note...Indiana coach Lin Dunn looks like the proto-typical doting grandma, doesn't she? I almost expect her to greet the players during timeouts with freshly baked cookies...wearing an apron and toting a grandkid under one arm. We now also know what happened to one of Paulie's favorites from college WBB. Ex-UK coach Mickie the Mouse is an assistant for the Fever.

I says...Dream in three. Bring on Minnesota. And cheer up, Angel. The ESPN gals love ya.

-Paulie

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Thursday, September 26, 2013

Thursday Cardinal Couple -- Angel in Final...10 Things About Walz



THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

- Atlanta in WNBA Divisioal Final

- Our Top 10 on Walz


Stop me if you've heard this one before. The Atlanta Dream and Angel McCoughtry have advanced to the WNBA Eastern Regional finals by eliminating Washington in three games. Their next opponent in the Indiana Fever and they face off tonight at 7 p.m. on ESPN2.

Here's what is weird. Angel is on the 2nd team WNBA. Really? No first team?

Here's the selections:



Diana Taurasi had made the WNBA All-Star team for a record-breaking 8th time.

Taurasi was also on the team in 2004 and from 2006-2011. She averaged 20.3 points and 6.2 assists to get Phoenix back to the Western Conference finals, where it will face Minnesota and fellow first-team members Maya Moore and Lindsay Whalen.

Chicago center Sylvia Fowles is the league's leading vote-getter, while WNBA MVP Candace Parker rounds out the squad announced Wednesday. The Los Angeles Sparks forward is the only member of the group who was on the first team last season.

Chicago's Elena Delle Donne, the rookie of the year, made the second team. She was joined by Indiana's Tamika Catchings, Connecticut's Tina Charles, Atlanta's Angel McCoughtry and Minnesota's Seimone Augustus.

Voting was done by a national panel of media and broadcasters.

So...Angel can't knock Taurasi, Moore, Whalen, Fowles or Parker out of the first team? She was leading scorer in the freakin' WNBA!!! She's held that title for three straight years. She was also second in steals.

I call shenanigans.

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WE get questions and e-mails everyday about Louisville WBB and Coach Walz. It's a busy time of the year for the coaching staff right now....checking out both 2014 and 2015 prospects. We can't catch up with Coach for CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR interviews....and we're OK with that.

We'd rather he be out there talking to players instead of us.

Paulie came up with 10 things on Coach and UofL WBB to tide you over for a few days:

10) Coach is a new Dad. We'd prefer he spends time with his wife Lauren and daughter Lola instead of talking to us. We know he'd prefer that, too...

9) When Walz retires in the late 2020's, he wouldn't mind getting back into lawn maintenance...something he did with his Dad when he was in high school. (For the record, he can cut my lawn anytime if he misses it.) 

8) Walz has the distinction of having a former assistant (Bethann Ord) as the head coach of one of the worst programs in WBB. Weber St. was 0-for-season last year. Turn it around, Bethann!
 
7) WBB will ring in the 'New Year' in Philadelphia, playing
Temple. Home of the Liberty Bell. Sweet! I propose Walz takes the team out for delicious Philly Cheesesteaks at Pat's King of Steaks at 9th and Wharton...if you are going to Philly for the Temple football game next week...stop by and have one. You won't regret it.

6) Coach wasn't the best basketball player in his family. That honor goes to his little sister Jamie, who was a star at Ft. Thomas Highlands and WKU. She is the leading scorer in the history of Kentucky high school hoops. In some areas of northern Kentucky...Jeff is still referred to as "Jamie's brother" instead of Coach Walz. Oh, and she's a coach, too.

5) The Cards start the season on 11/05 with an exhibition game against Pikeville in the KFC YUM! Center. The game tips at noon. It's also on a Tuesday. Election day. Those of you who like a beer while watching the Lady Cards are out of luck.


4) Louisville ends the regular season against UConn in the KFC YUM! Center. A 7 p.m. contest on March 3rd. Fill the arena that night...Cardinal fans! This could be our big shot to get a win over Geno.

3) Coach Walz names "Shawshank Redemption" as one of his favorite all-time movies. ( I wonder if he has posters of Rita Hayworth, Marilyn Monroe and Raquel Welch on his walls like inmate/escapee Tim Robbins did?)

2) Coach Walz is a Pittsburgh Steelers fan when it comes to the NFL. He has never had a Pittsburgh, PA recruit to play at UofL. (Probably because Bradshaw, Swann, Rothliesberger, Harris and Greene had already used up their eligibility...)

1) The Cards will have an early season road trip to Bowling Green, KY to face WKU and his former assistant Michelle Clark-Heard on 11/27. Candyce Bingham and Laura Terry are also on staff at WKU. We need to pack E.A Diddle arena that night with Cardinal fans. (And, BIG RED is a cool mascot...almost as good as Louie the Cardinal Bird.) It's a 7 p.m. game on a Wednesday night...but the next day is Thanksgiving and you're probably off work. Make the 90 minute drive. You'll be home in time for the 11:00 news...

-Paulie

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