It's Friday time again. -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

I think "It's Friday time again." is more upbeat than Ray Charles' "It's Cryin' Time Again." (originally written by Buck Owens) so that's what we're going to go with.

Soccer Can't Get It Done

A top 25 opponent came into Lynn Stadium last night and won the game against UofL, but a Cards fan could be forgiven for not getting too down about this one.

OK, the first half wasn't pretty overall, with FSU posting 2 goals, but to be fair, UofL came out of the gate strong, they just couldn't find the back of the net.  The 'Noles put one up in the 19th minute scoring off of a deflection, and then again in the 27th with a free shot from just outside the box.

The Cards came back strong again in the 2nd half, dominating possession, and Emina Ekic finally slipped one past the keeper on her own free kick from just outside the box.  The free kick came as a result of a FSU player fouling Ekic, so she gets all of the credit on this one, top to bottom.

KFD and her squad will be back in action Sunday at 1pm against Miami.  As is typical, this one is available on ACC Network Extra.

Field Hockey

After a disappointing road trip, the Field Hockeyers are returning to the friendly confines of Trager Field.   The going doesn't get any easier, though, with Wake Forest coming to town.  It almost seems redundant to say that this is a top 15 matchup, because, well, it's the ACC, they're all top 15 matchups in conference.

 Wake shows up at #11 in the nation, and technically at the top of the conference standings at 2-0 in conference.  Louisville sits at #15 in the nation, which means we're the lowest ranked team in the ACC right now, and we're sitting 2nd to last in the conference officially, albeit with only a single conference matchup played so far.  This one doesn't list any video availability.

The non-conference matchup for the Sowry Squad is James Madison, who clocks in at #13 in the nation, so it doesn't get any easier for the Flock in the non-conference matchup either.  Catch it at Trager, or on the ACC Network Extra.

Volleyball

Volleyball got a good win against a pretty decent Kennesaw State team Sunday to wrap up the last of their non-conference slate.  They start conference play with a good test, with The Irish come into what promises to be a pretty warm Cardinal Arena on an approximately 90 degree day.  Notre Dame's program almost completely fell apart a few years back, and head coach Debbie Brown was replaced with Jim McLaughlin who has rebuilt the program over the past 3 seasons with great success.  McLaughlin is the only coach to have led both Men's and Women's teams to NCAA titles.  For the past few years, I've been saying that Notre Dame isn't what they used to be.  Yeah, they are again, now.  Will they win the conference and be a national championship contender?  Maybe not quite yet, but they are a back to their ways of being a potent team.  They are poised on the edge of being a Top 25 ranked team.  This would be a big statement win for UofL.

Coach Busboom Kelly and the team will hit the road for the 2nd half of the weekend, with a trek down to North Carolina.  You never know what you're going to get with the Tarheels year to year, but this year hasn't been kind to the baby blue, with an overall record of 3-5, with losses to Auburn and Loyola Marymount and no signature wins on their resume' thus far.

The ACC Network Extra will be on hand for both matches this weekend.


Football, Softball and Radio

This is NOT Paulie, Jeff, Case and Jared. Do
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With a noon kick-off versus the Golden Flashes of Kent State, The Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Crew will not be in the studio, but we do have some great interviews that Kathy, the wonderful station manager at our hosts WCHQ, is arranging to put on the air.  I'll be getting some brief audio with Dani Busboom Kelly after the Kennesaw State win over to Kathy to add in, but Paulie has been camped out on Floyd St this week and has gotten audio from Jeff Walz, Sandy Pearsall of Softball, and more.  You won't have us goofballs in the studio, so even more reason to tune in and check out the latest reasons to be excited about upcoming women's sports at UofL.

You can hear the Pearsall softball here:

LINK: PAULIE INTERVIEW WITH SANDY PEARSALL

-- JMcA