Breakout Candidates for Field Hockey -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Breakout Candidates for Field Hockey

Chloe Plumb

The final of our 'Big Three' fall sports to look at breakout candidates is field hockey. Louisville had its worst season in ages last year mainly due to a large graduating class the year before and younger players being thrust into more impactful roles. They should be back on track this season.

As always, players who have already made large impacts or have preseason or postseason accolades are not eligible as they already have high expectations. This excludes players like Rylie Wollerton and Izzy Bianco from being on this list.

Emily Young

Chloe Plumb enters the back half of her collegiate career and is entering her first season without Aimee Plumb being on the team. While she hasn't exactly lived in her sister's shadow by scoring four goals herself last year, this is a prime opportunity for the younger Plumb to have a breakout year.

Emily Young split time in the cage last year and will have some competition for the starting goalkeeper spot again this fall. Having a good chunk of a season under her belt already including a nine-save performance against Cornell, Young is in a good space to command the cage again and be one of the best keepers in the ACC.

Emily Eaton

Emily Eaton had a decent showing as a freshman last year. Oddly enough, she was one of the top offensive players when she graduated high school, tallying 18 goals her senior year, but transitioned into a defensive role at UofL. With a year of Division I field hockey under her belt, I think she'll ease into the defensive role better and help strengthen a defensive unit that struggled greatly last year.

We will have plenty of coverage once the season begins.

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

FH/VB Split Close Matches -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Volleyball Beats FSU in 5 Sets

Louisville volleyball hit the road to take on 21st-ranked Florida State last night and took down the Seminoles in a back-and-forth five set match. Louisville dropped the first before taking the next two and losing the fourth to lead to the tiebreaker. The Cards won the fifth set going away, 15-9. The victory was Louisville's fifth in ACC play, keeping them undefeated in conference, and it broke a 17-match home winning streak for FSU. The Cards take on FSU's travel partner Miami on Sunday at 1PM. 

FSU came out of the gates hot, hitting .417 in the first set en route to a 25-16 victory. Louisville hit just .200 with five errors, matching their high for the match, which they'd repeat in the third and fourth sets. Despite the higher error number in the third, Louisville still outhit the 'Noles .235-.207 in that third set. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. Louisville responded to the opening punch from FSU with a .429 hitting percentage of their own in the second. They had just two errors compared to FSU's 8, which gave them a .182 for the set. Despite the hitting dominance, Louisville won just 25-21. They'd go on to win the third 25-21 as well. 

The match swung back in FSU's favor in the fourth, as the 'Noles outhit the Cards once more and inverted the score of the previous two sets, taking it 25-21 themselves. Neither team hit the ball out of the gym in the fourth, but FSU had enough juice. Part of what kept FSU so scrappy was the serving line. The Seminoles had nine aces compared to Louisville's four. They were also even at the line, matching the number of aces with the number of errors. Louisville was -11, as they had 15 service errors. Yikes. Those errors helped push the momentum squarely to FSU for the fifth set. After Louisville tied the fourth at 19, FSU had just one kill to score their last six points. Louisville had three attacking errors (including two of their nine blocks) and two service errors, including set point. 

FSU came out and won the first point of the fifth, but Louisville was about done playing games. At least, that's what they thought. The Cards won four of the next five points before FSU took three straight to regain a 5-4 lead. At the second time of asking, though, they were able to put it away. Louisville won the next four points to make the score 8-5 and alternated points until 11-9. All the past errors went by the wayside, then, and Louisville won the last four points of the match on four straight kills by Sofia Maldonado Diaz and Anna DeBeer. 

DeBeer led all hitters with 23 kills in the match (narrowly beating FSU's Audrey Koenig who had 22). DeBeer had six errors as well, but with 51 attempts, she finished with a solid .333 hitting percentage (outhitting the team's .295). Charitie Luper joined DeBeer in double figures with 12 and Sofi finished with nine. The Cards had two players finish with no errors, as PK and Reese Robins each had seven kills and hit over .500. 

Defensively, the Cards finished with one more block than FSU, picking up 10, all assisted. The Seminoles were keen to avoid Elena Scott, as Louisville's star libero had only 12 digs. DeBeer had a double-double with 11 digs and Luper narrowly missed it with nine. Elle Glock and Nayelis Cabello were each forced into five digs of their own. 

Louisville moves to 13-2 (5-0) on the season and they'll take a five-set road victory and run. That win is especially difficult in Tully Gymnasium, where FSU last lost on November 6th, 2023 to then 10th-ranked Georgia Tech. Louisville heads down to Coral Gables next, where they'll face the Hurricanes who are coming off of a five-set win themselves. Miami beat Notre Dame 3-2 last night to move to 11-5 (2-3). They've already played FSU twice and were shockingly swept by Virginia on the road last weekend. Tomorrow's match is at 1PM on ACCNX.

Field Hockey's Skid Continues with 2-1 Loss

Louisville field hockey brought in the top-ranked team in the land yesterday afternoon, and despite their best efforts, dropped their fifth straight match. Louisville was under immense pressure throughout the match but maintained a 1-1 tie until just under seven minutes remaining. UNC scored the game winner to move to 9-0 on the season and push Louisville down to 5-8. The Cards get no time to lick their wounds, as they hit the road for Winston-Salem to face Wake Forest tomorrow. 

Sophomore goalkeeper Emily Young has continued to split duties with Brandelynn Heinbaugh this season, and she has drawn difficult opponents. Young started the last two games and showed pretty well. Against UVA and UNC, Young played just under 60 minutes in each match as the Cards pulled the goalie, and she finished with a combined 11 saves and just three goals allowed. That's a combined save percentage of over 75%, which is pretty nice. Her season save percentage in 7.5 games is .694, which is still no slouch. 

As I mentioned last week, Louisville field hockey needs to find the offense. One or fewer goals per game isn't going to get it done against the quality competition they're facing. In addition to the lack of goals, Louisville isn't threatening much at all. The Cards were outshot 21-4 and 10-3 in on-target attempts. They gave up six penalty corner attempts and had just two. In the end, it was an incredible defensive effort that kept the match as close as it was. 

Louisville's lone goal in this one came as an equalizer in the middle of the second quarter. Chloe Plumb scored the unassisted effort, her fourth goal of the year. Other shots came from her sister Aimee, Chloe Cuzzupe, and Rylie Woolerton. 

UNC is very good, don't get me wrong. However, we've seen some real flashes from this Louisville team, and it seems like there should be more to them than what they've shown in conference play. The Cards have four games remaining and they'll have to win out to finish above .500. Three of those four matches are on the road, with the lone home match coming against a tough Duke team next Friday. They are back in action tomorrow against Wake at 1PM on ACCNX.

Other News and Notes

Louisville softball played two against Indiana last night as they continued their fall ball schedule. The Cards won the first game 5-4 on a walk-off single. Our correspondent had to leave midway through the second game so we've got no reporting on the final from Ulmer. Louisville athletics, as usual, are tight-lipped on the results of scrimmages, so let's just think positively and assume they won. Softball looks to be having fun and can hopefully break through once spring comes around. 

Louisville soccer is back in action at home tonight, but most of us will miss the rare Saturday evening event. The Cards are taking on Notre Dame, who is currently ranked 13th, and we'll hope to see an upset. Louisville has lost five of their last six but they've played pretty tough competition. After the brutal trip to Tobacco Road (losses to UNC and Duke by a combined 8-1 score), the friendly confines of Lynn Stadium will hopefully turn things around. Tonight's match is at 5PM and will be carried on ACCNX. 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

There will be just three of us this week as Daryl and Jared are otherwise occupied. As has become a disappointing norm, we'll look forward to talking about volleyball and try not to spend too long commiserating about the others. 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

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Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Volleyball Sweeps; FH Offense Goes Cold; Louisville Live -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

DeBeer is Back as Volleyball Beats Clemson 3-0

Louisville volleyball took care of business against Clemson ahead of their big matchup tomorrow and moved to 3-0 in conference. After a big win over Stanford last weekend and with Georgia Tech on the horizon, it was important for the Cards to not have an emotional letdown when the Tigers came to town. No such thing was at hand, as Louisville ripped off a 25-13 first set to establish the tone of the match. Clemson fought back by making the second set closer at 25-22, but Louisville separated again at the end with a 25-17 victory to complete the sweep. 

The Cards finished with 20 errors in yesterday's match, but the first set was fairly clean. Louisville only hit 0.28 but they had just four errors. With only 25 attack attempts, it's not so difficult to see why the percentage was low. Clemson, meanwhile, hit 0.0 in the first set. The Cards won the matchup in both aces and blocks for the match and they had far fewer serving errors. In fact, Louisville was +6 at the line while Clemson was -5, netting the Cards a +11 advantage in serving. Coupled with their 12-6 advantage in blocking, it becomes apparent how Louisville could sweep while committing more overall errors (Clemson had 19). 

The second set, where Clemson closed the gap, saw the Cards hit 10 errors. They had 51 attempts in the second, putting 15 kills on top of their errors. They managed to stay positive and still outhit Clemson 0.098-0.07. It was nothing to write home about, and Louisville actually played from behind for most of the set. After going up 3-2, Louisville gave up a 6-1 run to Clemson to go down 8-4. They slowly clawed back the deficit throughout the set before regaining the lead at 18-17. The teams traded points until a tie at 20, after which Louisville took five of the next seven points to win. 

Halftime was likely filled with a bit of a wakeup call, which it seemed Louisville responded to. They came out of the break and jumped out to a 4-1 lead which they extended to 11-6. From there, the Cards kept the Tigers at arm's length before ultimately going away at the end. Clemson won three straight points to make it 19-16, but they'd only score one more for the remainder of the match. 

Leading the way were Anna DeBeer and Charitie Luper (of course). Luper had 11 kills and 4 errors to finish with a .250 hitting percentage. DeBeer, on the other hand, was back with a vengeance. We've been waiting for her to return to form and she has shown signs of getting there recently. Yesterday was another indication. DeBeer hit 12 kills with no errors, finishing with a .522 percentage. She assisted on 4 blocks and had two aces with no service errors. She also finished second on the team (and third in the match) with 11 digs. Hello, Anna DeBeer. 

Elena Scott led all players with 19 digs and added three aces and a pair of assists. She had just one service error and an error in reception. Light work for the player of the week, who continues to make her case as the top libero in the nation. Many will say it's still debatable. Most in this region would disagree. 

The Cards take on Georgia Tech tomorrow. The Yellow Jackets have slipped a bit this season but they are still plenty dangerous. It's a 1:30pm start in L&N Arena, and the match will air on ACC Network. 

Field Hockey Scores First, Falls 2-1 at Syracuse

Justine Sowry would desperately like for her team to find some offense. I know you're saying, "Case, they've scored 21 goals in 11 games; that's not bad." I hear you, but there is a bit more nuance to that. While they've scored 21, they are 5-6. Of their 21 goals, 16 have come in their five wins. Three came in their 4-3 overtime loss to Ohio State last weekend. That means they've scored two goals in their other five losses. That's... not going to get it done.

Yesterday, Louisville looked to be off to the races. The Cards earned a corner in the first three minutes and Chloe Plumb tipped in the goal after an assist from Izzy Bianco. They were 1-1 on corners and 1-1 on shots. Unfortunately, the game doesn't end at the three minute mark. Louisville went on to get just three more shots in the game and none of them were on target. That's even with earning four more corners. Eek. 

Syracuse, on the other hand, calmly took the first goal in stride. The Orange earned two corners in the first quarter, taking a total of five shots. They forced two saves from Brandelynn Heinbaugh, but they finally got by her as time wound down in the quarter, tying the game at one with just 19 seconds remaining. While the second quarter was silent for both teams, Cuse took seven more shots in the second half, putting four of those on target. For those not keeping track, that means Syracuse outshot the Cards 12-4 and outshot them on target 6-1. The Orange scored the go-ahead goal (which would prove to be game winning) with five minutes left in the third quarter.

We've talked about how Louisville's offense needs to support the keepers in women's soccer, and the same is true in field hockey. Heinbaugh finished with four saves, which isn't world beating, but it could have been enough. Louisville forced no saves from Syracuse. Outside the first goal, they couldn't even put the ball on the cage. That's not how you're going to win games. 

I don't want to be overly negative. Field hockey is difficult at the top, and that's where Louisville fancies themselves. The non-conference schedule is a gauntlet, which is supposed to help prepare them for their conference schedule. Unfortunately, for the second year running, we're looking at a team under .500 halfway through the season. The Cards may remain ranked even if they lose to #3 Virginia tomorrow, but they're going to have to find a way to get out of the offensive slump. With UNC and Duke still on the schedule, as well as Wake and Cal on the road, Louisville field hockey need some wins to be considered for the NCAA tournament. I think they're good enough to do it, but they'll need to prove it to the committee.

Louisville Live at the KFC Yum! Center

Louisville men's and women's basketball have put aside the flashy outdoor venues of 4th Street Live, Louisville Slugger Field, and Churchill Downs in favor of the friendly confines of the KFC Yum! Center. I think they should consider Lynn Family, but I doubt Soccer Holdings would be too keen to allow them to put something on their well-manicured field. L&N Stadium could also be fun with the new field level suites.

That said, there's something quite right about doing your kickoff event on your home floor. Given all that has happened with the men's basketball program in recent years, there's not a thing wrong with getting everyone to bring good vibes to the Yum! Center. Last night there were good vibes galore. Plus, how can you not get excited for the upcoming year with an introductory picture that goes as hard as this one?

Last night's festivities included a 3x3 game, 3-point contest, and a dunk competition. Taking home victory in the 3x3 were Ja'Leah Williams and Mackenly Randolph from the women's team along with J'Vonne Hadley and Terrance Edwards on the men's. They were joined by Stephen Van Treese representing the alumni. Their team was coached by Aly Khalifa and Kobe Rodgers. The team they defeated featured Imari Berry, Anaya Hardy, and Chelsie Hall along with Koren Johnson and James Scott. It was coached by Merissah Russell, Olivia Cochran, Elif Istanbulluoglu, Nyla Harris, and Jayda Curry. 

It's nearly impossible to tell who all participated in the 3-point contest, but unfortunately the women couldn't quite keep up this year. The finals were between grad transfer (and 6'-11" forward) Noah Waterman and transfer senior guard Reyne Smith. The aptly named Reyne took home the victory. 

Freshman Khani Rooths was the winner in the dunk contest, earning 10s across the board, except for the (well within his rights) strict judgement of Darrell Griffith. Dr. Dunkenstein still scored Rooths a 9. Anaya Hardy got it on the action in the dunk contest as well, exciting the crowd with (just about) a dunk of her own. I'd score it a "standard Peyton Siva breakaway" style dunk but it'd be pretty difficult for anyone to defend, so I like it. 

This season should be exciting for the Cards, and we're looking for both teams to feed on the energy each can bring to the Yum! Center.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

It'll be a twosome on the show today, as a noon kickoff holds out Jared and Daryl. I'm headed to a friend's shower (it was scheduled before the football game), but Paulie and Jeff will hold down the fort. They'll be happy to talk volleyball and Louisville Live, but perhaps not quite as thrilled about field hockey and soccer. 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

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RadioPublic: Link

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Cards Get Big ACC Opening Win -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Field Hockey Beats Newcomer Stanford 2-0

Louisville field hockey welcomed Stanford to the league with a nice get-back win for the Cards, who shut out the Cardinal in their first ever ACC conference game. Louisville has had some hiccups this season so far, especially on the defensive end, but this win put them back over .500 at 4-3 and gives them their first back-to-back victories on the year. The shutout was especially welcome after a 4-3 barn burner against Cornell last time out. 

Stanford is on an extended road trip to the eastern time zone, as they came to Louisville for their midweek game as well. The Cardinal took on Bellarmine and won 4-0 to move to 5-1 on the season. This loss drops them to 5-2, and they'll go farther east to take on Virginia before returning to the Pacific coast. Virginia is ranked 3rd in the country, so it won't get any easier for Stanford going forward. The Cardinal had a relatively soft opening schedule, having played no ranked teams until Louisville. Their first loss was a 1-0 home defeat against Northeastern. 

It was a tense opening to the match, as the first quarter was the most offensively productive for both teams, but neither could find the back of the cage. Louisville finished the first with six shots and three penalty corners, but their two shots on frame were saved. Meanwhile, Stanford had three of their five total shots and two of their three shots on target in the first quarter. Brandelynn Heinbaugh was up to the task in the first, earning two saves to keep the match level. She'd earn her third and final save in the second. 

Stanford also had a save in the second quarter but it was followed up by Louisville's second shot of the quarter when Chloe Plumb slammed home the rebound from her own shot. That goal came with less than two minutes to go in the half, and it would ultimately prove to be the game winner. After halftime, Louisville had another productive quarter in the third, earning two penalty corners and a total of four shots. Three of those four were on target, including Izzy Bianco's goal off one of the penalty corners. That goal came halfway through the third, and neither team would score afterwards. 

Stanford had a shot off target in the fourth, but the game was more or less wrapped up by that point. Louisville finished with 12 total shots and put seven of them on frame. A 1/5 conversion rate on penalty corners isn't very good, but they held Stanford to 0/4 on their attempts. Despite the low conversion rate, Louisville was active on their penalty corners. The Cards earned a shot on each, with the first two being blocked, the next two being saved, and the fifth being the goal. Aimee Plumb tried very hard to match her sister in the opening stages of the third quarter, having her penalty corner shot saved, picking up her own rebound, and firing it back toward the cage. Unfortunately, that shot was also saved. 

As I mentioned, Louisville needed this win. They'd been reeling a bit and hadn't seemed quite as sharp as we're accustomed to. They'll head up the road to Ball State for a match tomorrow before returning to Trager and ACC play Friday night when the Boston College Eagles come to town. There's no better time to find your groove than the start of conference play, so let's hope the Cards can extend their streak to three games tomorrow before another tough test Friday. 

Softball Wins a Pair of Fall Ball Games

Louisville softball got their 2025 season off to a decent start last night in their first offseason fall ball scrimmages. The Cards brought in Bellarmine for a double-header at Ulmer and walked away with a pair of wins with a combined 21-5 score line. The first game was a bit tighter than the second, as Louisville earned a 9-4 win, but the 12-1 blowout was pretty encouraging. 

The Cards turned out pretty much the whole roster in the two games, giving Jared plenty of whiplash as he tried (unsuccessfully) to identify the new freshmen. Familiar names found the long ball in the second game, though, as Maddi Grant and Katie Thatcher hit home runs. 

Louisville will be back in action on October 6th against EKU in Richmond. 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

We're without Daryl this week as she tries not to melt like the ice in everyone's drinks at Bourbon and Beyond. Jared is going football tailgaiting with his fmily and then to the  Ga.Tech contest...but we'll have the rest of the crew on hand. We'll talk big wins for field hockey and volleyball for the most part, with various news and notes filling out the show. 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

Spotify: Link

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Google Podcasts: Link

Overcast (free account required): Link

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RadioPublic: Link

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Field Hockey Drops Opener -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Fall in Double OT at Maryland

Louisville headed up to College Park this weekend where they will play a pair of games. They'll take on American University tomorrow afternoon, but the weekend started with a top-10 matchup against the hosts, 4th-ranked Maryland. The Cards gave it a good run, scoring first and standing strong against a stout Maryland attack, but they ultimately gave up a game-winner with just over a minute remaining in the final overtime period. 

Louisville's goal came from Sophia Parker, which gives the redshirt sophomore her first collegiate goal. Although they don't officially get the credit for a penalty corner conversion, I'm going to say it counts. Chloe Plumb sent the corner to Mia Duchars, who forced a save by the Maryland goalie, Alyssa Klebasko. Klebasko wasn't able to block it very far out of play, and Parker was on hand to score the rebound attempt. 

The Cards' celebrations were short lived. After taking the lead at the 24:27 mark, they gave it up just under a minute later. Maryland earned a corner at 25:15, but they were not able to get a clean shot as a direct result. Louisville couldn't force the offense away, though, and the goal came at the 25:25 mark. That set the stage for a continued tense match, as the two teams would ultimately play just 58 seconds of the 78:42 match not tied. 

Louisville's offense stalled after the first half. Though they put three shots on target in the second quarter, those would be their only three threats of the game. The Cards were unable to find a shot in any of the other three quarters, managed just one off target in the first overtime, and were shut down again in the second OT. Defensively, Louisville was under immense pressure. Maryland had three shots in each of the first three quarters, two in the fourth, and one apiece in the OT periods. Eight of their thirteen shots were on goal, meaning grad transfer Brandelynn Heinbaugh was called on plenty in her first start for Louisville. Heinbaugh finished with six saves, a fantastic effort, but she needed more help from the offense to earn the victory. 

The starting lineup for Louisville was quite different than in their season-ending loss to Northwestern last year. Primarily driven by graduations, the Cards saw just four of their eleven starters from Northwestern game start this game against Maryland. Lauren Masters started in that game but came off the bench yesterday. Subs that moved into the starting line up were the Chloes, Plumb and Cuzzupe, and the only repeat substitute was Tyler Everslage.

While a season-opening loss is unfortunate, let's not forget that it was against a top-5 opponent on the road. Louisville will have many difficult games this season, and this is a good one to get them energized for those big games moving forward. We'll look for a bounce back against American tomorrow at 1PM.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

There will be just three of us today, as Daryl and Jared are both out for various reasons (not least because of a noon kickoff for football). With sports underway, though, we'll have plenty to talk about on the show. We'll talk a huge volleyball win, a fine road draw for women's soccer, and yesterday's tough field hockey loss. 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

Spotify: Link

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Overcast (free account required): Link

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RadioPublic: Link

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Cards Pick Up Top-Ten Win -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Field Hockey Knocks Off No. 7 UVA

Louisville field hockey faces a tough schedule every year by virtue of being in the ACC, a league not far removed from having all 7 teams make the NCAA tournament. This is nothing new, and the Cards have been one of the teams making conference play a nightmare for others. Something that comes along with that tough conference schedule, though, is benefit of the doubt that may run out if you aren't consistently winning some of those conference games. Last year the Cards went 1-5 in conference on their way to finishing 12-8 overall. They were still well regarded for the most part, but it's important to show that was a fluke and not a new normal.

Louisville got on their way to proving the doubters wrong yesterday with a 2-0 victory over seventh-ranked Virginia. It was a home match, sure, but it was still a ranked win and a shutout, Louisville's second straight. The Cards used a goal in the second to take momentum into the locker room and scored another in the fourth to ice the game. Defensively, Louisville had Virginia locked down, as the Hoos only managed a pair of shots on goal, both in the fourth quarter. On the whole, Louisville outshot UVA 7-5 and put six of their seven shots on target.

As they did last week, Louisville came out firing, earning a penalty corner in the first five minutes of the game. The ensuing shot was blocked, and neither team would do much for the remainder of the first period, aside from a pair of shots that missed the cage by UVA. The second started as slowly as the first ended, but a substitution bringing Aimee Plumb on halfway through the quarter paid off immediately. Fifteen seconds after the substitution, Louisville earned a penalty corner. Chloe Plumb played the ball in to her older sister, who laid it off for Minna Tremonti to put the Cards up 1-0. Before the end of the half, Aimee Plumb nearly doubled Louisville's advantage, forcing a save by UVA on a shot from open play.

The third quarter was passive once more, with neither team making many inroads into the opposing defense. Louisville finished the quarter with only substitutions on the stat sheet, while UVA had one shot blocked. The Hoos also picked up their first of three yellow cards in that third quarter. In the fourth, things got a bit more frantic. Virginia opened the quarter with possession, pushing hard for the equalizer and forcing Merlijn van der Vegt into action two minutes in. Another yellow card followed shortly after the shot, and Louisville went to work with their advantage. The Cards earned a corner in the 51st minute and saw three consecutive shots saved.

A couple of minutes after that heroic effort, Louisville earned another penalty corner and made sure to put the first shot home. Lara Niebler put the ball in play to Mia Duchars, who sent it to Izzy Bianco. Bianco fired it home to put the Cards up 2-0 and make the remainder of the match much more comfortable. Less than a minute later, UVA tried to cut the deficit back to one, earning a penalty corner and forcing van der Vegt's second save. Despite their 2-0 mountain to climb, Virginia never pulled their goalie, trying to play traditionally to get back into the game. It didn't work, and Louisville moved to 1-1 in conference play.

The Cards needed a win like yesterday's. Before the Miami match, Louisville's only shutout had been in the 1-0 win against Northwestern. After yesterday's game, Louisville has two straight shutouts and have won three straight by multiple goals since losing the conference opener at UNC. Those three multiple goal wins are Louisville's only of that type since the season opening 3-1 win against Northeastern. The Cards now get another weekend at home before a strong late season stretch. Louisville faces Wake Forest next Friday with a chance to beat their ACC record from last season before taking on CMU on the following Sunday. After that, Louisville goes on the road to face IU and Duke before returning home to host Iowa and Syracuse. That's an extremely difficult four-game stretch and another pair of wins ahead of it will do wonders for the team's confidence.

You can hear all about what Coach Justine Sowry had to say after the game and hear from the goal scorers at the links below.

Minna Tremonti and Izzy Bianco Postgame

Justine Sowry Postgame

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

We'll have four in play for today's show, with Daryl riding the wave of the Ohio River Valley fall allergy season. Dr. Paulie has prescribed a handful of Hot Toddies with double bourbon to clear the sinuses so we'll hope to get her back in the game for next week. (Although it might be fun to talk with her today after a few of the "remedies") There's plenty to discuss this week, with Louisville seeing wins from field hockey and volleyball and a top-ten matchup for women's soccer this evening. 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

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!

Case

All photos by Jared Anderson

Cards Take Care of Business -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Field Hockey Returns to Winning Ways

After suffering their first loss of the season on the road last week against UNC, Louisville field hockey returned home to face a James Madison team that was not quite as big of a threat as they may be normally. At 2-5 entering the game, JMU was looking to get their season back on track with a big road win against a top-5 opponent, but Louisville had other plans. The Cards struck early and often, with Emilia Kaczmarczyk scoring a brace, to cruise to a 4-1 victory.

Louisville (and Kazzy) very nearly kicked things off even earlier than they actually did, as the Cards earned a penalty corner just two minutes into the game. Kaczmarczyk forced a save on the attempt, but it wouldn't be until later in the quarter that Louisville would score their first. I wasn't able to watch the game, and the box score is quite confused about the sequence of events, but the Cards nabbed the lead on a Chloe Plumb goal halfway through the quarter. Plumb was assisted by Julie Kouijzer, but the question is whether it was a penalty corner goal or not. Louisville took two in the quarter, and the second is listed directly above the goal. However, it is also listed as occurring four minutes later. To further complicate the matter, below Plumb's goal, the play-by-play indicates "tipped penalty corner shot." Either way, Louisville held a 1-0 lead.

JMU tried to answer at the end of the quarter, earning a shot from open play, but Merlijn van der Vegt was up to the task, picking up one of two saves on the day. In the second quarter, Louisville wasted no time doubling their advantage. After a hectic play in the circle, Aimee Plumb ultimately came out ahead, scoring her fourth goal of the year on an assist by Riley Wollerton 1:43 into the quarter. A minute later, Louisville earned another penalty corner, but Kouijzer's shot went wide. The Cards continued to apply pressure and picked up a flurry of shots from the Plumbs in the 22nd minute of the match. Chloe had a shot saved away, but Louisville quickly reapplied pressure. Aimee took a shot that was blocked and bounced directly to Chloe, who fired one more at the cage but missed high. A minute and a half later, Emilia Kaczmarczyk put the Cards up 3-0 with a reverse shot assisted by Lara Niebler. 

JMU decided it was time for a goalie change at that point, replacing Brandelynn Heinbaugh with Katie Frick with five minutes left in the half. The change came in response to Louisville winning yet another penalty corner, but the JMU coach used the opportunity to challenge the call. The call was overturned, though Louisville would earn a fourth penalty corner shortly before halftime. The play resulted in nothing for the Cards, and the teams hit the locker rooms with Louisville still holding a 3-0 lead.

Louisville's offense was slowed in the second half, with the Cards being outshot for the first time in the third quarter. Overall, Louisville led the shot battle 10 (7) to 5 (3). Three of JMU's shots came in the third, as they controlled possession for nearly the entire quarter. The Dukes earned a penalty corner six minutes into the third but couldn't get a shot off. A few minutes later, they earned a shot from open play but it was high. Encouraged by the attack, they kept it up, finally scoring with six minutes to go in the quarter. A pass from the right side ended up right in front of the cage and was knocked in. Coach Justine Sowry asked for a video referral, but the call was upheld, and Louisville's lead was cut to 3-1. Louisville earned a corner a minute later, but Izzy Bianco's shot was saved. Another penalty corner for JMU was the last recorded effort of the quarter, with van der Vegt again stepping up for the save. JMU was ultimately 0-3 on penalty corners.

Just like the second quarter, Louisville opened the fourth on the attack. A penalty corner 1:24 into the quarter saw the play go just as they drew it up. Aimee Plumb put the corner into play, where Tatum Kroon stopped the ball for Kazzy to step up and fire it home. Louisville moved their advantage back to three goals with a 4-1 lead and improved their penalty conversion to two (or one?) of six. JMU would get one more chance to cut into that lead with ten to go in the game, but their penalty corner shot was blocked away. 

The Cards were largely dominant in this one, which is what you'd expect in a match against a 2-5 mid-major opponent. You can check out what Coach Justine Sowry and Kazzy had to say after the victory at the links below. Louisville has another non-conference match before returning to ACC play, this time with an unusual Tuesday midday game at Miami (OH). The Cardinals and Redhawks will get underway at 2PM, and no video is listed.

Justine Sowry Postgame

Emilia Kaczmarczyk Postgame

Volleyball Opens ACC with Sweep

In case you weren't already aware, Syracuse isn't quite the threat they used to be in volleyball. As some would say: "How the mighty have fallen." The Orange entered yesterday's match in L&N Federal Credit Union Arena at just 2-8, with wins over Cornell and Morgan State by a combined 6-1 score. All eight losses had been sweeps, including by teams such as Delaware State, Belmont, and Colgate. It has been a tough year. Louisville didn't make that year any easier, sending the Orange up the road to Notre Dame with a 25-15, 25-11, 25-8 sweep. 

Syracuse held a 2-0 lead in the second set. It was their only lead of the match as Louisville dominated while playing a largely rotated lineup. The Cards hit .452 as a team in the match while holding Syracuse to just -0.056. They did so with just eight blocks, meaning Syracuse had 17 "unforced" hitting errors. Yikes. Louisville committed just five errors themselves, with two of those being Syracuse blocks. 

As I mentioned, the Cards put a lot of players on the floor, with 15 earning at least one set played. Aiko Jones and Elle Glock nursing injuries made way for Brigitta Petrenko and Alanna Bankston to see a lot more time. Cara Cresse also sat this one out, allowing Reese Robins and Hannah Sherman to show their stuff in the middle. The middles had perhaps the biggest coming out party. Robins and Sherman combined for 11 kills, with Robins' seven being second on the team behind nine from Anna DeBeer. Robins also added four block assists to Sherman's three BAs and two solo blocks. Bankston had a nice day as well, coming third on the team in kills with six on fourteen attempts. 

Petrenko played well in relief of Glock, picking up 23 assists on Louisville's 36 kills. Glock had 9 more. It was a relatively muted day at the serving line for Louisville, with a final total of four aces and seven service errors. They did still win that battle, though, with Syracuse matching the number of errors and having just two aces of their own. Louisville got one ace each from Petrenko, Elena Scott, serving specialist Kamden Schrand, and redshirt freshman setter Alexis Finnvold. 

In addition to her four kills on four attempts, Aiko Jones added a solo block in her limited minutes. Elena Scott was the usual stalwart at libero, picking up 15 digs. Depending on which stats you look at, that puts the junior at 999 career digs. The problem is that we can't figure out what stats are being used to give her that number. Disagreements between the stats on the volleyball team page and Scott's individual player page are leading to the confusion, with no obvious distinction to identify why the numbers are different. By our calculations, Scott joined the 1000 dig club earlier this season. At any rate, she's sure to meet the mark on Sunday against Boston College.

Louisville was never in danger in this one, with even the 2-0 deficit in the second quickly turning into a 6-2 and then 10-3 advantage. The first set, ultimately the closest, saw Syracuse hang around early, keeping within touching distance by making the score 7-5. The Cards then won five of the next six points to make it 12-6. A service error made it 12-7, but the Orange would get no closer in the set. Up two sets to none entering the third, Louisville put Syracuse out of their misery quickly. Louisville won the first six points and extended their lead to 13-2. After a few traded points kept the deficit at 11, Louisville went on another five point run to go up 22-6. Believe it or not, Syracuse was unable to win 18 of the next 20 points that they would need to extend the set. 

The win was a good one for Louisville to open conference play, coming off of the unfortunate reverse sweep to start the week against Stanford. Sunday's match against BC will give the Cards another chance to get back in their groove before a Wednesday night match on the road against the always irritating Notre Dame. Louisville and BC will get started at 1PM and the match will be on ACCNX.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

The crew will be a bit lighter today as Daryl and I continue to abuse our bodies (primarily ears, feet, and skin) with another day at Louder Than Life. Paulie, Jeff, and Jared will make sure the show goes on, though, and there's plenty of positive and exciting stuff happening for Louisville on campus to discuss in this week's episode. 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

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!

Case

All photos by Jared Anderson

Field Hockey Opens Exhibition Season With a Win -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Drop Bellarmine 4-0 in Extended Exhibition

Louisville field hockey opened their season yesterday afternoon with an exhibition game against Bellarmine. Whether Louisville was on the road or at home is a matter of linguistic preference, as the teams share Trager Stadium as their home facility. After picking up the win yesterday, Louisville is truly on the road today, as they head up to Athens, Ohio to take on the Bobcats of Ohio University in their final scrimmage tomorrow.

Bellarmine won four games last year, their fourth in D1. Their head coach was MAC coach of the year in 2021, a season in which they also won four games with two of those being in conference. In 2022, Erin Schneidtmiller joined the Bellarmine staff as an assistant coach. As I mentioned previously, the home locker room would have stayed the same, so hopefully it wasn't too much of a transition.

There isn't much out there about this game, since Louisville doesn't typically post box scores for exhibition games. We did have Jared on site, though, so we've got at least the final results and the makeup of the match. Louisville was mostly unthreatened in this one, and they jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first half. It would probably be safe to assume that the Cards tried a few different lineups and introduced some new players in the second half, as Louisville only extended their lead to 4-0 by the end of regulation.

Because field hockey is played to a result in every game, it is important to practice the various post-regulation methods for when they're inevitably employed during the season. As a result, the two teams played one overtime period before going to a shootout. Remember that field hockey overtime is played with a reduced field player count, leading to different strategies and play styles. Neither team scored in the overtime and Louisville finished with a 4-3 advantage in the shootout. 

After the match Jared was able to catch up with Coach Sowry to get her thoughts on the team's performance. You can listen for yourself below, but one of the interesting items she mentioned was that she'll play almost an entirely different squad tomorrow. Jared was also able to throw Coach off a bit with a question that he could have only gotten away with given the final result. The sisters Plumb also got a special shoutout.

Postgame with Coach Sowry

The Cards are back in action tomorrow at noon, though we're likely to find out very little about that match with it being on the road. Their regular season will get underway next Friday when they host Northeastern at 5 PM. Bellarmine will actually open the regular season action at Trager when they host St. Louis at noon that day. Northeastern will also stay in town for the weekend, playing Bellarmine on Sunday. To make things more confusing, Louisville will travel to Evanston to play Northwestern on the 27th.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

We should have four in the booth once more as Daryl remains in full house prep mode. We'll have plenty to talk about now that there has been some on field action for Louisville, and I'm sure we'll get some preview time for the volleyball red and black scrimmage, which Jeff will talk about in his column tomorrow. 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

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!

Case