WSOC romps WMU 6-2 -- WALZ INTERVIEW -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 

YOUTH MOVEMENT KICKS PAST BRONCOS 6-2 IN HOME OPENER

To say that the University of Louisville women's soccer team is young would be a "Captain obvious" over-statement. 

Last night, in Lynn Stadium, the "kickin" Cards" started six freshmen and got five of their six goals out of that freshman contingent, plus a goal from a sophomore (Emma Hiscock) who saw limited action last season, in the four-goal romp over visiting Western Michigan.

This Louisville WSOC attack is fun to watch, very pro-active and aggressive with the ball. Those tactics paid off in the eighth minute of play when Brooke Dardano and Maisie Whitsett set up the perfect pass to Nina Nicosia to give the Cards a 1-0 lead. Just eight minutes later Morgan Bentley got a pass to Brooke Dardano for goal #2 and the Cards had already matched their output in scores from their exhibition game last week against Ball State. 

Louisville would continue to control things in the offensive set and, despite allowing a Bronco goal with nine minutes left in the first half, looked to have a firm control of the pitch action as the squads went to halftime -- UofL sporting a 2-1 lead. The Cards held a 11-4 shot advantage over the MAC foe and a 59% to 41% edge in possession time. 

If you like scoring on the soccer pitch, the best was still ahead. 

Wheaton, IL freshman forward Julia Simon was pumped for the final 45 minutes and it showed, as she got loose with just four minutes gone in the second half and drilled an unassisted goal past WMU goalkeeper Maggie Rogers to put the Cards up 3-1. Simon was still feeling the "magic foot" and added her second goal of the match just seven minutes later -- off a nice feed from Dardano -- to set the tally at Cards 4 - Broncos 1. 

The proliferation of Cardinal points was slightly interrupted when WMU's Jenna Blackman picked up her second score of the match three minutes later. The Cards remained aggressive in the attack, though and stingy on the defense and it paid off when Sophomore Emma Hiscock found net success with 14 minutes left in the contest. Nicosia had started the scoring frenzy a couple of hours earlier, so it was perhaps fitting that she end it -- connecting on an unassisted shot with 2:40 left on the scoreboard. 

The romp was complete and the Cards had begun the regular season with a convincing win over a faairly decent MAC foe that had finished 6-2-2 last year and had their leading scorer, assist creator and starting goalie back from that squad. 

Louisville had a 27-9 shot advantage over WMU on the evening and 13-5 edge on shots on goal. The Cardinals also held a 8-0 edge on corner kicks.  UofL goalkeeper Gabby Kouzelos recorded three saves in her season opener --she has 195 of them in her long and illustrious career as the Cards net-tender. 

I was able to gets post-game words from UofL head women's soccer coach Karen Ferguson Dayes and Julia Simon after the match. You can hear those at the links below:  

COACH KFD

JULIA SIMON

All in all, a fun, feel-good win for Ferguson-Dayes and her young gunslingers last night. A night that featured a duck landing on the Lynn turf and getting wide open for a potential Cardinal shot attempt in the first half, but deciding wisely to take flight and leave the field when the Cards came charging toward her on a breakaway.

(photos by Jared Anderson) 

JEFF WALZ INTERVIEW

Jeff Walz talked with several members of the media in a teleconference yesterday and caught us all up on the activities and pursuits of the 2021-22 Louisville women's basketball squad and, obligatorily, Walz's tennis pursuits. 

It was good to hear from Walz again and we got informative new on Chelsie Hall, Emily Engstler, Payton Verhulst, Hailey Van Lith, Olivia Cochran, Liz Dixon, Alexia Mobley and more. 

You can hear the 21-minute presser below: 

JEFF WALZ PRESSER 8/19/21  

Have a fun Friday!

paulie

USA WBB takes U19's 70-52 over Australia -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 

BALANCED TEAM EFFORT GIVES USA THEIR NINTH TITLE

For the second time in two years, USA U19 has won their title game in the FIBA U19 Tournament over Australia. 

USA got a balanced scoring effort in the win, North Carolina State's Diamond John son led the way with 15 points, Caitin Clark had nine points, eight rebounds and eight assists and Lauren Betts added 14 rebounds. 

Louisville signee Payton Verhulst had three points, six rebounds and three assists in 19:52 for USA in a game that was the toughest one of the tournament for USA.. The Cori Close squad held a 18-14 lead after one quarter and won thee second quarter by the same 18-14 margin to hold a 36-28 halftime lead. USA would slowly continue to increase that lead as the second half progressed, up 54 to 38 after three quarters and getting the 18-point win. 

Nine of the 11 Americans on the squad played in the final and all scored. Te-Hina Paopao, the sophomore guard out of Oregon also finished in double figures for USA with 10 points and Sonja Citron -- headed to Notre Dame in the fall, added 10 points as well. 

USA went 17 for 47 from the floor (36.2%) and sank nine of their 26 three-point attempts (led by Johnson's three). It wasn't a particularly good free throw line outing for USA (9 of 15 for 60%) but it's a win for them and one of the keys to victory was USA's 53-34 edge on the boards. 

Australia came to contend to the title and, to their credit,  didn't let USA go on any huge runs to gain dominance of the contest. For a team that had averaged 98.6 points in their first six games, USA was held to a tournament low with the 72...but defense had been a strong factor in USA's six previous wins and they held opponents to an average of 47.8 points a contest in the tournament. 

Let's be objective and realistic here -- seven games in eight days is a grueling schedule and playing in a foreign country makes the USA feat all that more remarkable. 

Caitlin Clark (Iowa) was named the tournament MVP and joined on the all-tournament team by teammate Sonja Citron. Also named were Jade Melbourne (Australia), Julia Boros (Hungary) and Sika Kone (Mali). Kone led all 16 teams in scoring and rebounding, as Mali finished fourth overall, falling to Hungary in the third-place game. 

The experience gained by Verhulst in the tournament should prove to be invaluable as she now returns to the UofL campus to prepare for her freshmen year student-athlete on Jeff Walz's squad. She averaged 8.3 points per game in Hungary, but, much more than important that that was the experience she gained in a team setting over an extended period of time. It's a bit like what she'll walk into at Louisville. She joins a squad full of talented and "name" players who have had successes in their careers at Louisville and Verhulst should be able to mesh well into the rotation and challenge for a starting spot and significant minutes for Louisville. 

So, a "job well done" to Payton and her FIBA teammates and now on to the next task, defending their ACC regular season title and going far in the NCAA Tournament.

Have a Marvelous Monday

paulie