Cardinal Couple: Kouzelos Looks for NWSL Call-Up -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Saturday, December 18, 2021

Kouzelos Looks for NWSL Call-Up -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

2022 NWSL Draft Takes Place Today at 2PM

I'll bet you didn't expect to see a soccer focused article in the middle of December. However, with the last basketball game coming on Thursday and the next tomorrow, both of those games are out of my purview, and, unfortunately, Louisville isn't in the volleyball championship match for me to preview. If, like me, you had to step away after the heartbreaking Louisville loss, let me inform you that Pitt also lost. So, instead of a potential All-ACC final, it's an All-B1G matchup. Given the details of DBK's new contract, I'm not sure if we want Nebraska to win so that they stay happy with their coach or lose so that he doesn't feel satisfied and want to retire. That match is tonight at 7:30 on ESPN2. (Also, if you're like me and use YouTube TV, you officially can't watch this due to the contract breakdown that pulled ABC and ESPN platforms off of the service effective immediately.)

Anyway, I intended this to be a soccer article, and I've gotten off track. After the NWSL Expansion Draft for the two new teams, Angel City FC and San Diego Wave, took place on Thursday, a flurry of trades happened yesterday to set up the full rookie draft today. Racing Louisville lost one player in the expansion draft, a defender to San Diego, after the Christen Press trade with Angel City prevented the team from LA from selecting any Louisville players. Racing had protected Emina Ekic and Emily Fox, among others, from potential selection by San Diego.

Last night, RLFC announced a trio of trades, with two garnering the most attention as they were effectively one move. The team traded Savannah McCaskill, a fan favorite, for the 6th overall draft pick, which did not make very many people happy. The team will not use that 6th pick this afternoon, though, as they turned around and traded it as well. With that trade, Louisville brings in Jess McDonald, the all-time assist leader in NWSL. McDonald has also won the NWSL championship three times and has a World Cup trophy. The veteran presence will help guide the young team and winning experience is always welcomed.

Racing Louisville will add to their youth today. The addition of the two California teams brought the league to 12 total, so today's draft will feature four rounds and 50 overall picks (there are 14 picks in the second round for whatever reason). Louisville will be busy early as they draft second and fourth. The team will have just one pick in each of the final three rounds, giving them five new players via draft. We'll see if they hang on to those two first round picks or try to leverage them into a known quantity from a different team.

As for why this all ties in to UofL, that's owed to Gabby Kouzelos. The super senior finished her sixth season with the Cards as the all-time leader in minutes played and shutouts earned. Louisville played 36 straight games in which she was in goal every minute, and she became the fifth Louisville goalkeeper to finish with more than 200 career saves. Her final tally of 257 gives her the fourth place ranking in team history.

Hey look, she already knows how to wear purple!

Kouzelos is the only Louisville player on the NWSL draft eligibility list this season. The list includes 189 players vying for 50 available slots, so quick math tells you there's about a 30% chance she's selected. Of course, the math isn't quite so simple, as the teams will weight field players over goalkeepers due to flexibility. On the Top Drawer Soccer list of the top-30 players available for the draft, only one is a goalkeeper. Eighteen players on the eligibility list have goalkeeper as their sole position, with a handful of others including it in their list of positions.

Gabby was a wonderful player for UofL in her time on campus. She was an exciting player to watch and a joy to speak to. I think I speak for the whole Cardinal Couple crew when I wish her the best of luck today and moving forward. The NWSL draft starts at 2:30PM and will stream on Paramount+ and CBS Sports HQ.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

This week's show doesn't get to be quite as joyful as we're finally forced to cover a loss by UofL volleyball. Jeff and Jared were in Columbus for the match, so we'll hear from their first hand experiences. We've also got a pair of Louisville WBB wins over in-state foes to cover, as well as the matchup against UCONN to preview. As always, you can check out the live stream of the show by going to the Cardinal Couple YouTube page and clicking on the live video. Jeff usually creates that about an hour before the show, which officially starts at 11 AM Eastern. If the live time doesn't work for you, there are plenty of playback options, so be sure to check out whichever is best for you!

Cardinal Couple YouTube: Link

Anchor (podcast host): Link

Apple Podcasts: Link

Breaker: Link

Google Podcasts: Link

Overcast (free account required): Link

Pocket Casts (free account and app required): Link

RadioPublic: Link

Spotify: Link

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-

1 comment:

Anonymous12/18/2021 8:14 PM
This Nebraska Volleyball squad is going great guns at Wisc. They figured out the height disparity so far. Champions do that.

Nick O.
ReplyDelete
Replies

Add comment

Please leave your comments here. We ask you be respectful of other posts, no matter how ridiculous they may seem to you. After all, it is CARDINAL COUPLE.

Any attempts to advertise a product or other website here in the comments section without the prior consent of CARDINAL COUPLE will result in a bill rendered for advertising services and possible legal action. We're serious. No more bots.

Now, have your take...

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

RIGHT SIDE OF THE SITE

Welcome to the right side of the site! Table for two? Or would you like a seat at the bar? Over here, you'll find schedules, results, pictures, characters, notices, links and other ennui and general nonsense we offer and come across. You can hear past podcasts here, follow our Cardinal Couple Radio twitter account or find out more about us ! Of course, they've never heard of us at UofL. but we go on anyway. That's all pretty good and quite a bargain for the price (free). Please don't double park or take up two spaces while you're here and tip your server !

Who we are and what we do

We are an independent website that covers the joy and excitement of UofL women's sports. We're not about birds here, or trysts with other like-minded couples or major league baseball. We write about women's sports at the University of Louisville. We are non-profit, we run no ads and don't ask you for fees and our writers volunteer their services. We have no premium boards or fee-based reads. We are "daily". Any questions, comments or observations can be left in the comments section at the bottom of any article or sent directly to Paulie at: cardinalcouple@twc.com .. Thank you for reading. As we like to say..."You ARE Cardinal Couple! We never forget that and we appreciate you" !!

PEOPLE OF THESE PAGES

Jeff "Worldwide" McAdams writes our Sunday columns and is well-known for his snark on The Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast and love of Volleyball. (He knows he's the brains of the operation...) He secretly wishes he was on a rocket to Mars. With good coffee.. Jeff's been with us the longest out of our current group of writers (beside founder Paulie) and all that proves is that he's slow to change and Paulie probably needs to clean house again and bring in a new group of chimps. He and Case are the guys behind the always malfunctioning podcast format (which we fully expect to create trouble each week). Jeff thinks he has a superior I.T. background than us and we allow him to think so -- we need him to explain "technology" to Paulie. You like Volleyball? He knows Volleyball. More than your average bear. .

PEOPLE OF THESE PAGES

Case Hoskins writes here Saturdays and is on our podcasts when he isn't busy getting muddy, moving to a new house, field dressing deer. or saying "Yes, dear" to lovely Lindsay his wife.. He's also co-conspirator on the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast with Jeff -- when he has an Internet connection. consider him our soccer expert here at CARDINAL COUPLE....we just have to keep him away from WSOC head coach KFD. During the day he helps blueprint and design better mouse-traps or fancy-schmancy buildings and stuff. Another one of them engineer types. Known for his love of the Seattle Seahawks and dislike of games that end in ties...he adds a voice of reason, intelligence and rationality to THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR PODCASTS. ( Or so he thinks...) Truth told, he's probably a candidate for smartest one of this bunch of hoodlums, outlaws and ne'er do wells...but don't tell him that. Often mistaken for NFL quarterback Andrew Luck...we're 99% sure that ISN'T Bobby Petrino sitting to his left. . Free to a good home that will give him a bath, something to argue about and some Rice-a-Roni.

PEOPLE OF THESE PAGES

Jared Anderson is one of our favorite writers and does podcasts with us as well. When he's not busy snapping photos of student-athletes he's taking selfies of himself somewhere. We look forward to his expertise on several sports on these pages and hope he accepts the challenge of taking on the Field Hockey water cannons. He also serves as CARDINAL COUPLE'S official photographer...an extension of his business JDA Photography. He also takes photos for other sites. He spends his working hours impersonating Freddy Farm Bureau around town and making sure folks are insured. Be careful, he might follow you home...but give him a hot meal, warm blanket, internet access, and a corner to sleep in if he does...and he'll be fine and unobtrusive, unless you give him picture-taking capabilities.. It's said that "you're no one unless Jared has taken your picture". He's owned by Katy- she's got the rock to prove it- and that's probably a good thing, because the lad needs a keeper.

PEOPLE OF THESE PAGES

Our newest writer, Daryl Foust, is all about Cardinals Athletics. A essential part of the old Cardinal Couple Radio Hour on the ill-fated WCHQ FM, she also had her own radio show (Kentucky Women Talk Sports) and has written for a couple of other Cardinal Sports sites. The standing joke is that she'll show up for the CCRH podcast again someday. A UofL employee, she' stays busy being Aunt Daryl and Lulu's owner. Her WBB and Softball knowledge is top notch . And, if there's a live music festival going on locally, you can expect to see her in attendance. We're honored to have her on board, we invite you to spend Fridays With Daryl at the website -- just don't ask her to predict scores, fill out brackets or be overjoyed at taking the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast Worldwide Quiz during the summer months...she's rumored to be a golfer as well, so "fore" in advance if she's in your neck of the woods.

CO-FOUNDER AND CO-OWNER

The other co-owner and voice of reason....the lovely Sonja...who returns to us on a permanent basis after what can be called an "interesting" time at Rivals. In her words..."you work, slave, research and study for hours and build a site... a women's board. You spend hours on a three column article and several of the readers decide to take aim at you when all you're trying to do is enlighten. I've never seen so many mis-spellings of Louisville WBB players names anywhere...which made me think I was dealing with third graders over there... I have decided to stay off that street and source from here on out and I'm so glad to be back with those who love and appreciate me... not with haters and self-anointed experts " An avid fan of native gardening, hiking and the Smoky Mountains....she loves German potato pancakes and Led Zeppelin....and reminds you to plant native species. I've only seen her mad once (when she was ready to punch out another woman writer who was spreading lies about her) and I've got a feeling that might be a typhoon you want to steer clear of. One of the original writers on the site (with Paulie and David Watson), she has returned. Not as a columnist, but as a proof-reader, confidant and one to bounce thoughts and ideas off of. She's tired of guys with very limited women's basketball knowledge but huge egos calling her out when they are usually chauvinistic, and can be compared to the dog outside barking at something he can't see...We welcome her back and know she'll enjoy the calm waters here. You've got nothing you need to prove or defend with us....you are among those who love you.

We're still on the air! (Click the Pic)

Did you miss the latest installment of THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR PODCAST ?? Well fear not, mon frere! We now have two ways to hear the rebroadcast. You can go to Anchor FM and hear it, as well as continuing to listen on You Tube! To give Anchor a try.... Click the picture to listen to it...and listen/watch us on You Tube in the future..you just.might learn something if you're not careful. Tell a friend we're podcasting now. You can check out the livestream below, or catch the podcast on your favorite podcast network source. I'll just cut-and-paste the links that Case put together in yesterday's article: Anchor (podcast host): Link Apple Podcasts: Link Breaker: Link Google Podcasts: Link Overcast (free account required): Link Pocket Casts (free account and app required): Link RadioPublic: Link Spotify: Link

About the photos...

CARDINAL COUPLE uses photos from all sources in the daily columns that we present to you. If we've used a photo you have taken and want published credit it for it...just contact us and we'll be glad to do so. Shoot, we might even write a feature article about you and call your Mom and tell her what a good son or daughter you are. WE avoid pictures that may be subject to copywrite. Our legal advisors are busy enough chasing ambulances and wheelchairs when they're not trying to figure out trifecta plays at Churchill. Some of the photos are actually taken by the staff of CARDINAL COUPLE. (When we can get the camera away from the chimps). Paulie uses his cell phone to take pictures, too. You have been warned. Please realize that the captions that go with the photos are sometimes parodies. It's up to you to figure out which ones are and aren't. We can't spoon feed everything to you, you know... Jared Anderson is our main photographer and we have loved his work (even his selfies) for many years. Congratulations if you made it this far in your reading! We know...reading stuff like this can be pretty boring but WE have to put it on the site somewhere so that we can say..."hey, there is disclaimer on the site" in case some bozo decides that they want to sue us or something. Like we have any money. We're so poor we can't even pay attention. We even owe bums money.

I was walking down this road once years ago and I saw this guy chopping down a tree. It was hot, the guy was really sweating and I stopped to watch a while. He finally took a break, cracked a can of beer and then asked me if I had a gun. I hesitated before answering but finally told him that I didn't. He said: "That's a darn shame. I'm cutting down this tree because it's my neighbor's and I'm really pissed off at him right now. I was going to just shoot his sorry a$$...but I decided to do this instead. I'm having second thoughts...though." Sometimes, there just aren't enough trees... (I've never chose that particular walking route since..) .

If I'd taken a picture of that guy working on that tree, I'd been glad to share it with the entire world. That's the way WE see other photos out there. Share 'em and create through exposure and appreciation. We provide credit to the photographer when we feel it's needed. We also pay our taxes on time...