Cards VB and FH secure Sunday wins -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 UofL Field Hockey, Volleyball Have Sunday Successes 

A good day for Louisville women's sports squads, as #4 Louisville Volleyball handled a pesky #9 Crieghton in five sets...and # 9 Cards Field Hockey got a game winning goal from caroline Pusey to down stubborn Cornell 4-3. 

VOLLEYBALL

Set 1 - 25-18 Cards. 

Louisville jumped out t o the erly lead in the first set, 5-2, and never relinquished the lead to the Jays. Creighton tied the match at 7-7 but the Cards rallied to build that lead to 15-9 after an attack error by Crieghton on an Anna DeBeer serve. Louisvviile set lead at 21-16 on a j kill by Sofia Maladonado-Diaz. Reese Robins got the kill to make it 25-18 Cards. 

Set 2-  25-20 Cards

Louisville went on an early 5-0 run to take a 10-5 lead over the Jays, and led 15-8 after getting a block from PK and Charitie Luper. The Jays got close at 16-12, and 20-18, but UofL got five of the next seven points, including two kills from Luper to quell the Jays rally and go to half time   with a 2-0m set advantage. 

Set 3 - 25-10 Creighton 

This set started fairly close, tied at 5-5, but Crieghton went on a 10-1 run to take a commanding 16-6 lead. Louisville rallied briefly to get within seven at 17-10, after a Jays service error....but the visitors went on a set ending 8-0 run, that included four Louisville aattack errors. It wasn't the best of Louisville performances. 

Set 4 - 25-15 Creighton 

Creighton ever trailed in the fourth set, leading 5-2, 7-4 and 10-5 early. Louisville still trailed at 15-10 and did make it 15-12 before the Jays rallied and ran off five points in a row. A Cardinals service error and Creighton ace serve made the final 25-15. It seemed the Nlue Jays had all the momentum, as the two squad headed to the fifth set.

Sst 5 - Louisville 15-8

The Cards started strong in the final set and jumped out to an early 6-2 lead after a PK kill. They build that to a 10-4 edge when Anna DeBeer got a kill, and the Cards won 15-8 on a DeBeer kill to take the set and match. 

FIELD HOCKEY

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#9  Louisville jumped out to a 2-0 early lead on the visiting Big Red from Cornell Uniersity and kept the visitors scoreless for nearly the first 25 minutes of the match.

 In the end, the Cards had to survive two missed Cornell penalty corner atempts and being a player short due to penalty. But it was a Louisville win, and a well deserved one over a Cornell squad that simply refused to give up the fight. 

The Cards got an early score 2:23 into first quarter action off a penalty corner play, when Chloe Cuzzupe fired one into the back of the net. 

The Cards scored their second goal with 11 minutes gone in the match off another penalty corner, when Tyler Everslage got her first goal of the season...the Cards tried three penalty corner attempts in a row before Everslage's score... making it 2-0.  

Cornell got on the board at the 24:58 mark when they benefitted off a penalty corner attempt. UofL took a 3-1 lead in the third quarter on a Lauren Masters goal and then saw Cornell tie it at 3-3 with two scores within a minute of each other at the 49 and 50 minute marks. 

UofL got the deciding goal at the 52 minute mark when Caroline Pusey deflected a shot into the goal. 

Jared Anderson interviewed Pusey and head coach Justine Sowry after the win. 

Caroline Pusey

Justine Sowry

(Photos by Jared Anderson) 

(Interviews by Jared Anderson)  

paulier

Field Hockey Gears Up For 2024 Season -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 CARDS PICKED TO FINISH FOURTH IN ACC PRESEASON FIELD HOCKEY POLL

We've gotten two of the fall sports we traditonally cover here at Cardinal Couple underway---with Women's Soccer and Volleyball having taken to their courts and fields for competition -- now let's take a look at another fall sport we devote a lot of coverage to...Field Hockey. The "Stick Girls" get their 2024 campaign started Friday this week, when they take on Bellarmine in an exhibiton at Trager Field. 

Head coach Justine Sowry begins her 14th season as the Field Hockey skipper, and, as she would say...the squad is ready to "give it a go" against their opponents in the finest D1 league in college Field Hockey...the ACC. 

The Cards were picked to finish 4th in the ACC in a coaches' preseason poll... Virginia narrowly edged  out last year's national champions UNC for first place in voting. Duke was selected to finish third and Louisville was tied for fourth with Syracuse. 

At the Fall Sports Preview,  Sowry spoke of her team. You can here the remarks at this link

Louisville gets plenty of talent back and some impressive freshmen to join the flock. Aimee Plumb was named to the 2024 All-ACC First Team. It's her second straight year for the honor. Last year, she led the Cards with five goals and eight assists. The fifth-year midfielder from Canterbury, Kent (Eng) also has her sister...sophomore Chloe on the squad. Also returnng are Rylie Wollerton, Izzy Bianco, Mia Duchars, Tyler Everslage (Assumption HS) and Caroline Pusey. The Cards are bringing in a veteran goalkeeper in fifth-year transfer from James Madison Brandelynn Heinbaugh. Sophomore goalie Em Young also returns for the Cards. 

The squad also has nine iincoming freshmen. Of particular interest is Megan Mauzy (Christian Academy) a mid-fielder/back who was a part of the 2023 Kentucky Field Hockey champions. Mauzy was named 2023 Kentucky Student Athlete of the Year. If the name sounds familiar, her dad Mike played football at UofL from 1985-89. 

The 2023 Louiville Field Hockey squad went 15-7 and 3-3 in ACC play. They advanced to the second round of the ACC Tournament, where they lost to #3 ranked Duke, and also went to the NCAA Tournament...their fifth consecutive apperance there...where they defeated #8 Iowa but fell in the second round to Northwestern. 

Sowry has 180 wins in 13 seasons at Louisville...she also was head coach at UMass and was a prevous assistant coach at Louisville. Pam Bustin, Duke head Ffeld Hockey coach who was head coach before Sowry, says of Sowry: “Justine is an elite competitor and a great player’s coach. She and her outstanding staff will lead the Cards to the next level"

We wish "the Flock" the best of luck this season and a deep run in both conference and NCAA Tournaments. Admission is free to games at Trager and we have the schedule listed on the right side side of the website. 

paulie

Interviews with Cardinals women's soccer's Karen Ferguson Dayes and Field Hockey's Justine Sowry -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

THE FALL INTERVIEWS

It has become a tradition over the years for me to do preseason interviews with many of the women's sports coaches at UofL.. I usually break these up between the fall and the spring.

I got out on a steamy, hot Tuesday to talk with Women's soccer and Field Hockey. I respect and like both coaches -- (Karen Ferguson Dayes and Justine Sowry) a lot -- and they have been on campus a combined 33 years. 

The interviews were great, in my opinion, but the ordeal of transferring them from my DR-50 Tascam Recorder to my computer was quite the ordeal. I forgot how! 

I sent out a "HELP!" text to our writer group and Jeff answered me and helped walk me through the process -- all the way from Iceland, where he is starting his vacation. Now...that's dedication! 

Here are the interviews: 

https://www.dropbox.com/t/rGRruhnxlHnNWW4C https://www.dropbox.com/t/FSX62WEnDxu5PJ3d I hope you enjoy listening to them as much as I did doing them.   paulie

Cardinals in the ACC -- Field Hockey Edition -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

FRIDAYS WITH DARYL

Hello readers and welcome to the weekend again!  I am still coming down from my most anticipated concert of the entire year.  Shoutout to the gang for being so accommodating to my shenanigans.   Also safe travels to our newly wedded couple, the Andersons on their upcoming honeymoon! 

The summer is flyyyyying by and the fall seasons will be here so soon and we've still got a few programs to cover.  Let's remember Field Hockey in the ACC (which has a relatively small presence in the ACC; including UofL, totals 7 schools).



Field Hockey

Against the rest of the ACC: 

(Yes, it's blue turf. Virginia one of the schools having it)

. 

Vs Boston College 6-5 series history (2014-2022)

Vs Clemson (does not currently support a Field Hockey program) 0-1 series history (1979)

Vs Duke 9-12 series history (2001-2022) 7-5 since joining the ACC

Vs. North Carolina 6-11 series history (1977-2022) 5-10 since joining the ACC

Vs Syracuse 9-13 series history (1993-2022) 6-6 since joining the ACC

Vs Virginia 8-11 series history (1977-2022) 7-7 since joining the ACC

Vs Wake Forest 9-14 series history (1991-2022) 7-5 since joining the ACC

2022 record 12 – 8. Lost to Penn State 0-5 in first round NCAA

2021 record 16 – 4. Lost to Harvard 0-1 OT in first round of NCAA

2020 record (Covid Year) 14 – 6.  Falls to Michigan 2-1 in sudden victory shootout in NCAA Semifinals

2019 record 16 – 6. Falls to Boston College 2-1 in sudden victory shootout in NCAA Quarterfinals

2018 record 13 – 6. Lost to Wake Forest 2-3 in ACC Quarterfinals

2017 record 14 – 8. Lost to Northwestern 2-3 OT in first round

2016 record 15 – 6. Lost to Delaware 0-1 in first round in NCAA

2015 record 13 – 7.  Lost to Connecticut 0-3 in first round of NCAA

2014 record 15 – 6.   Lost to Stanford 1-2 OT first round of NCAA

ALL ACC Awards

2022 - Sasha Elliott and Julie Kouijzer First Team selections

2021 - Cardinals senior Alli Bitting was recognized as the ACC Defensive Player of the Year, while UofL goalkeeper Mila de Kuijer was selected as the conference’s Freshman of the Year.  Louisville’s Justine Sowry received ACC Coach of the Year. Louisville led all schools with four first-team selections. Julie Kouijzer and Aimee Plumb were First team ALL ACC selections

2020 - Mercedes Pastor First team selection

2019 - Mercedes Pastor First team selection

(Ayeshia McFerran -- one of the best to ever play at Louisville)

2018 - Ayeisha McFerran and Mercedes Pastor First team selections

2017 - Nicole Woods and Ayeisha McFerran First team selections

2016 - Ayeisha McFerran First team selection

2015 - Elisa Garcia and Nicole Woods Second All ACC Selections

2014 - Alyssa Voelmle All ACC First Team


Current Head Coach

Justine Sowry recently completed her 12th season as head coach of the University of Louisville field hockey team. During that time, Sowry has guided the Cardinals to 165 wins along with three conference titles, including the 2021 regular season championship and 2020 ACC fall regular season crown as well as a pair of runner-up finishes in the ACC tournament. Sowry actually began her time at Louisville as an assistant under Pam Bustin and returned to take the head coaching job when Bustin left for Duke

Under Sowry, Louisville has made eight NCAA tournament appearances.

Thoughts...

You can see as the years passed, the program has maintained a solid record that has given them the opportunity to go to the NCAAs but have seen many frustrating and disappointing losses in the first round.   The Cardinals are hoping to fly higher than before and get past that first round in the NCAAs.  If the Cards can land the ACC Players of the Year in all categories, I think they can make that happen and push this program to the next level. 

As Always, 

Go Cards 

~Daryl 

Louisville Field Hockey over Michigan 2-1 -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 JULIE KOUIJZER SCORES WINNING GOAL OVER #4 MICHIGAN

It was, in the words of Louisville Field Hockey head coach Justine Sowry, a real "rip snorter" Sunday afternoon against the Michigan Wolverines. 

#5 Louisville Field Hockey got a goal from Julie Kouijzer with 4:20 left in the contest to put Louisville ahead for good over the visitors from Ann Arbor. A penalty corner goal, with Aimee Plumb getting her second assist of the match.  The action, though, didn't cease with the Cards score. Michigan attempted five shots on the Louisville defense in the final 150 seconds...but the Cards defense held firm and Cards goalkeeper Sasha Elliott had two of her six saves in that that frantic final 2:30 to preserve Louisville's lead.

 

The contest started out as a strong defensive battle between UofL and UofM. with only three shots in the first quarter -- two from the Cards and one from the Wolverines. Michigan recorded their only save of the match in those first 15 minutes, Michigan starting goalkeeper Anna Spieker deflecting an attempt by Mattie Tabor. 

Michigan turned up an already suffocating defense ever more in the next fifteen minutes. They allowed no Cards shots and got off a couple of shots on their own. Sasha Elliott came up with a huge save with about four and a half minutes left in the half...and the squads went into halftime knotted up in a 0-0 scoreless tie. 

Michigan switched goalkeepers to start the second half, pulling fifth year student-athlete Anna Spieker and inserting sophomore Caylie McMahon. The move seemed a bit odd to me, but I found out later on that it was something that head UM coach Marcia Pankratz has done in the previous four Wolverine contests.  

Coach Sowry realized that Michigan pressed quite well, so she encouraged her squad to up the tempo and continue to keep the Wolverines quiet on offensive, The opposite appeared to happen, though, as Michigan did out-shoot Louisville 4-1 in the third quarter. Elliott had two saves in the quarter, but Michigan did get on the scoreboard first. With 2:17 left in the quarter, the Wolverines received a penalty corner and Nina Apoola attempted a shot that went wide of the goal. Katie Anderson was there for the putback, though, and her reverse shot from the top of the circle was successful. It was 1-0 Michigan. 

It didn't take long for the Cards to respond. They drew a corner attempt less than a minute later and Mia Duchars netted her first goal of the season off Aimee Plumb's assist. 

The quarter ended with the 1-1 tie and the fourth quarter promised to be a very exciting one. 

The teams were feeling the excitement and things were also starting to get a little chippy on the pitch. Katie Schneider drew a green card from the officials a minute into action and Michigan's Rosie Hope got one three minutes later. 

All told, the Cards got four corner opportunities in the fourth quarter and Michigan three. Three of Sasha Elliott's saves came in the fourth quarter and a nervous but excited crowd breathed a collective sigh of relief (if they were wearing red) when the final horn sounded.

 

We have post-game video and comments from Sasha Elliott, Julie Kouijzer and Justine Sowry. Watch for the Michigan coach going ballistic in the background during Julie's chat with us. We apologize for the windy audio that accompanies the video...mother nature, it seems, also wanted to get her two cents in on the UofL win. 

SASHA ELLIOTT

JULIE KOUIJZER

COACH JUSTINE SOWRY

A good win for a Louisville squad that has another tough one coming up on Friday. #2 UNC comes to Trager Stadium for a 3 p.m. match in the ACC opener for the Cards. A squad that had 10 newcomers at the start of the season is showing more familiarity and cohesiveness as the season rolls on. They are jelling and UNC will be a huge test for the Cards. I'm pretty sure Coach Sowry would tell you this one will also be another "rip snorter". 

(PHOTOS TODAY BY JARED ANDERSON)

paulie

Field Hockey ekes by Bellarmine 2-1 in rain-shortened match -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 CARDS FINISH PRESEASON EXHIBITION SEASON WITH WIN OVER KNIGHTS 2-1

In a rain-shortened Sunday exhibition against Bellarmine, Louisville came from behind to knock off the Knights 2-1 at Trager Stadium. The Cards went deep into the roster in this final exhibition, playing all but four players (holding them out presumably because of injuries?) on an afternoon where weather eventually defeated both squads and the contest was called midway through the final quarter. 

UofL requested that I not use names of any of the student-athletes in the exhibition, which, I understand...due to "peeping eyes". It makes a write up a bit more difficult, but we can't go divulging any Cardinals student-athlete superlative performances to the likes of Bucknell or Penn State or ACC foes, can we now?  (Not that there were a trunkful of those on a day where stats would be a bit misleading to someone if they were reading them with no idea of the final score.) So, I only used the names that were used in the Go Cards write up.

A weather delay (because of lightning in the area) pushed the start time back to 2:05 (from a scheduled 1 p.m. beginning) -- the fans were asked to leave the stadium but started lining up to get back in once the skies cleared. It looked to be about an equal amount of fans for Bellarmine and Louisville in the east-side bleachers at Trager..

 Bellarmine does have nine players on their roster from the Louisville area or Oldham County. 

The Cards had 19 shots in the contest, 12 on goal -- while Bellarmine had just six shots (four in the first quarter) and only two were on goal. But, Bellarmine found success with just five minutes gone in the contest when Anna Crump converted on a penalty corner attempt. Louisville dominated in the penalty corner department, too -- 14 to 2 -- and the Cards did get the tying goal on a penalty corner conversion with 9:45 gone in the contest...freshman Izzy Bianco doing the scoring

The Cards defense stiffened up considerably after the first quarter and a lot of the second quarter action took place with Louisville on attack in Bellarmine territory. The tie score held firm, though, and the squads went to the half knotted at 1-1

After the half. the Cards took eight shots in the third quarter, but none of them scored a goal. To use an old term that a Louisville coach used years ago, we all love shooters but we prefer makers. Bellarmine got just one shot in the entire second half, so one could surmise that the Cards were the dominant offensive threat in the final 30 minutes. Louisville went ahead when Katie Schneider fired, missed, got the rebound and successfully scored on her second attempt. The deciding goal came with about nine minutes left in the fourth quarter. 

Lightning was spotted about a minute later and action was halted again. The fans were asked to go through the same exit drill, except this time they did not return. After waiting a while to see if things would clear, the officials and coaches made a determination that conditions didn't appear to be getting any better and the match was called. 

Bellarmine led Louisville in one category and that was in saves. They recorded 10, while the Cards two goalies that saw action had just one. 

We did not get a post-game interview with Coach Sowry or any of the Cardinals student-athletes after this one. The SID staff seemed anxious to get to another event with one of the other women's squads at the north end of the campus, and there wasn't anyone around to interview, anyway, if we had wanted an interview or two. So, off we went into the rain, which miraculously, began to lighten as we trudged toward the vehicle.  

So, the Cards take off to begin the regular season in University Park, PA next week -- where they'll face Bucknell on Friday and home standing Penn State on Sunday.  

Color me surprised that Louisville managed just two goals on the Knights. Either Bellarmine has gotten worlds better since they joined Division I and the MAC Conference...or this Louisville team isn't very good yet.  It is early, though, and maybe the Cards need a bit more time to jell on their passing and shooting. The Cards roster list looks impressive. Let's hope they play better against someone who isn't in the MAC next week. Identical 2-1 wins in the preseason, one against league favorite and one against lower level predicted Bellarmine. 

We'll see. The season hasn't officially begun and the Cards are young. Stay tuned. 

(PHOTOS BY JARED ANDERSON)

paulie

 . 

2022 UofL Fall Sports Media Day -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 Field Hockey, Cross Country, Volleyball and Women's Soccer Meet the Media

Another sports season begins at UofL and another Fall Sports Media Day, where the coaches and the players answer media questions. Back to the soccer meeting room for the 2022 "Meet and Greet" and I was glad to be back in the facility this year. A balky, stubborn train parked on Floyd Street ruined any plans I had in getting there early, so... a last-minute "turn-around" and approach to Lynn Stadium in a southward direction down Floyd Street instead of north got me in the lot at 10:59 for the 11:00 presser. 

There was actually a spot to park at the facility  -- a rarity anymore, so I maneuvered in it and walked toward the complex. Field Hockey and Softball S.I.D. Lori Harmon was waiting outside for me and mentioned that she had saved me a spot, as well. This old man's legs are really appreciative of the thoughtfulness of  Lori and the other UofL SID's

Louisville Field Hockey was the first squad to address the media and answer questions. Coach Justine Sowry was flanked by seniors Mattie Tabor and Julie Kouijzer at the teams' table. I've found over the years that the best way to cover these in an article is just to just put the link up where you can hear it -- instead of making a lot of observations and comments on it. 

LINK: FIELD HOCKEY 2022 FALL SPORTS MEDIA DAY

Cross Country went next and since Dale Cowper coaches both the men and women's squads, there was a representative for each squad at the podium table with him. Sophomore Lexie Paszkiewic represented the womens' squad student-athletes. 

LINK: CROSS COUNTRY 2022 FALL SPORTS MEDIA DAY

Volleyball was the next Fall sport to be heard from and Dani Busboom Kelly had sophomore Elena Scott and senior Amaya Tillman with her to answer questions. 

LINK: VOLLEYBALL 2022 FALL SPORTS MEDIA DAY

Women's Soccer was the last group to address the media and Coach Karen Ferguson Dayes had redshirt senior Ravin Alexander and grad student Sarah Hernandez. Since WSOC is the only sport that was there who hs actually already had a competition so far this fall, it was good to here the coach and players observations on how the team looked and performed. 

LINK: WOMENS SOCCER 2022 FALL SPORTS MEDIA DAY

                                                         *************************

Men's soccer was also there and, although we don't cover them -- here's a little bonus for you with their segment:

LINK: MEN'S SOCCER 2022 FALL MEDIA DAY

A SPECIAL THANKS TO THE COACHES, PLAYERS, SID'S, STAFFERS AND INTERNS WHO HELPED PUTTING THE FALL SPORTS MEDIADAY TOGETHER ! 

JUST A REMINDER,,,

Louisville Women's Soccer gets their regular season started tonight with a 7:30 p.m. match against UIC in Lynn Stadium. It's free admission to soccer this season and the action is fun, fast-paced and full of energy, so "c'mon in for a win in Lynn"

paulie

Cards Field Hockey Brings in 10 New Players -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 NINE FRESHMEN, ONE GRAD TRANSFER JOIN FIELD HOCKEY ROSTER

With women's soccer underway, the next fall women's sport we'll wait for to get started is Cards Field Hockey. It'll be a fun team to get to know, with 10 new faces on a 23-player roster. 

Let's start with the grad transfer. The Cards were looking for goal keeper help and went out and got a good one when they landed Sasha Elliott from VCU. Elliott helped lead VCU to a Atlantic 10 title her senior season and was a two-time NFHCA All-South Region selection. She's one of three student-athletes on the squad from The Netherlands and Sasha was a four-year starter at VCU. 

The Cards also brought in a freshman goalkeeper in Logan Jancerak, out of Danville, NJ. She gathered a lot of honors while in high school, being named to the 2020 US Under-16 National Team and the 2021-22 U-15 National Indoor Development team. 

Three forwards join the squad and one of them is a name well-known in the Louisville high school Field Hockey circles in Ella Martin. Martin, from Assumption High School and IFHCK club team, scored 54 goals in her high school career. She was ranked among the top 100 in Max Field's 2022 list and a top 40 in the  West/Midwest High School Players to watch. 

Jane Ramsey is another new forward and is out of Brisbane, Australia. She helped her team win the U18 Hockey Australian Championship.  The third forward is Sophia Parker, from Doylestown, PA. She was a first team Pennsylvania High School AAA pick in 2021. 

The four midfielders are Izzy Bianco (Berlin, NJ), Chloe Cuzzupe (Woodstown, NJ), Tatum Kroon (Den Bosch, The Netherlands) and Rylie Wollerton (Gibsonia, PA). Cuzzupe was a four-time All-Regional selection in high school, Bianco had 104 assists in her career, a New Jersey record. Kroon was the captain of the Dutch National Under 16 team and Wollerton had 139 goals in four years of high school. 

Luciana Carpenter is a defender that was a three-time all state selection in Pennsylvania. 

The newcomers join a roster that has a wealth of returning talent that includes Sofia Pendolino, Aimee Plumb, Emilia Kaczmarczyk, India Reed, Filippa Niebuhr, Katie Schneider, Mattie Tabor and Julie Kouijzer. The Cards were 16-4 last year and lost to Harvard in the NCAA Tournament. Louisville was 6-1 in ACC play, winning the regular season conference title with a 6-0 mark. The Cards won all six of their overtime contests. 

Scoring shouldn't be a problem for Louisville, unless it takes awhile to get familiar with the new turf out at Trager Field. There should be a strong defense also in front of the new goalkeepers...Kouijzer and Pendolino have seen extensive playing time at defender. 

Louisville opens the 2022 season with a couple of exhibition matches, at Miami (OH) on Friday 8/19 and hosting Bellarmine on Sunday 8/21. The Cards return their top four scorers from last year in Schneider, Kouijzer, Plumb and Tabor. Starter Charlie van Oirschot from last year did transfer to Duke, but the midfielder only scored one goal last year for Louisville. 

An extensive search by me failed to find any preseason DI or ACC Field Hockey polls or pre-season rankings. Hopefully I can learn more about that at the Fall Sports Media on Wednesday. 

paulie

Malachi Mahan Joins Field Hockey -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Malachi Mahan Joins Louisville Field Hockey

Louisville field hockey announced a personnel change recently. Malachi Mahan joins the Cards as an assistant coach on Justine Sowry's staff.

"I am super excited to be joining the University of Louisville Field Hockey staff," said Mahan. "I am looking forward to both learning from Coach Sowry and helping bring my own experiences to the team. The opportunity to coach a top ACC program is a highlight of my career so far."

Prior to coming to Louisville, Mahan spent the last eight seasons as an assistant coach with the University of California. The Golden Bears have gradually gotten better the last few seasons including a 10-7 season that featured a semifinal appearance in the America East Tournament.

Mahan was an assistant coach with the U.S. Men's Under-16 Team before joining the coaching staff at Cal.

Mahan was a player on the U.S. Men's National Team for 10 years, specializing in defense.

Louisville is fresh of a 16-4 season including an ACC regular season title and an appearance in the NCAA Tournament.

Guess the Athlete

A weekend at Louisville baseball was an opportune moment to meet another Louisville student-athlete whom I had only connected with on social media in the past.

This student-athlete is a member of the Louisville track and field team. She is a runner and came to Louisville after spending a year at Bellarmine. She is a local, hailing from duPont Manual High school. She competed in the individual 200 and 400 and was apart of the 4x400 team that broke a school record this year.

The answer to today's Guess the Athlete is Taylor Boggess.

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

WBB vs Union -- FH Awards -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 Women's Basketball vs Union

Louisville Women's Basketball unofficially opens up the 2021-2022 with an exhibition against Union University tonight at 7:00 p.m., at the KFC Yum! Center.

The Cards come into the game ranked #6 in the preseason AP poll. They are listed second in the ACC preseason poll.

Louisville returns nearly their entire team from last year. Dana Evans graduated. Elizabeth Balogun and Malea Williams transferred out.

Jeff Walz reloaded, though. Payton Verhulst, Sydni Schetnan, and Alexia Mobley join the Cards as freshmen. Mobley is confirmed to be redshirting and Coach Walz has hinted that Schetnan may follow suit. He also brought in Emily Engstler and Chelsie Hall from the transfer portal.

The starting five is up for grabs and your guess is as good as mine. However, I'll take a jab at the starting five we see: Hailey Van Lith, Mykasa Robinson, Kianna Smith, Olivia Cochran, and Emily Engstler. I could take out any of those names and replace it with Chelsie Hall and I'd feel as confident with my guess either way.

Union University makes the drive up north from Jackson, Tenn. The DII school is reigning Gulf South Conference Champions and is the favorite to repeat as conference champions. The Bulldogs fell in the Regional Semifinals last year. They are currently ranked #12 (media poll) and #19 (WBCA poll).

Former UofL WBB player Sara Hammond was their assistant coach from 2017-2021. She's now married, living in Memphis and head coach at Lausanne Collegiate School, a college preparatory school in Memphis The Jeff Walz coaching tree continues to expand.

Union is no easy team to square off against, especially at the beginning of the year. The Bulldogs will keep the Cards on their toes tonight and should be an excellent game to watch.

There is no viewing option listed for this game, but you can tune into 790-AM WKRD to hear Nick Curran and Adrienne Johnson on the call.

Field Hockey Awards

The ACC Field Hockey Awards were recently announced and Louisville dominated the awards.

Justine Sowry was named ACC Coach of the Year after leading the Cards to a 16-2 overall record and a perfect 6-0 in ACC play.

Alli Bitting was named ACC Defensive Player of the Year. Bitting came back for a fifth season and was a crucial part of the defense that allowed 16 goals in 18 matches. The super senior also scored a pair of goals.

Mila de Kuijer was named ACC Freshman of the Year. After Sam Minrath was still recovering from what was described as  health issues, de Kuijer was immediately thrust into the starting goalkeeper and was the only active keeper on the roster for much of the year. Her seven shutouts was the best of any keeper in the ACC.

Katie Schneider was named to the All-ACC Second Team while Julie Kouijzer and Aimee Plumb joined Bitting and de Kuijer on the All-ACC First Team. 

Louisville earned the 1-seed in the ACC Tournament hosted by Syracuse. The Cards earned the sole first round bye. They will play the winner of 4-seed Boston College and 5-seed Virginia. On the other side of the bracket, 2-seed Syracuse and 7-seed Duke will play and 3-seed North Carolina and 6-seed Wake Forest will play.

The ACC Field Hockey Championship is scheduled for November 4, 5 and 7 at Syracuse’s J.S. Coyne Stadium. The quarterfinal games are scheduled for 1 p.m., 3:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. ET on Thursday, Nov. 4, while the semifinals will be played on Friday, Nov. 5 at 1 and 3:30 p.m. The championship game is set for noon on November 7 on ACCN. Mike Corey (play-by-play) and Leah Secondo (analyst) will be on the call for all of the games of the championship. 

I'm not great at filling out brackets, as we've all seen in the famous Cardinal Couple Basketball Pick Em, but if I were had to make a Pick Em, the favorites would win all the way up to the final game. However, with Syracuse playing host for the event and having the comfort of home field advantage, I fear the Cards may fall in the final.

BUT, if Louisville were to take another loss this year, I would much rather it be in the ACC Tournament and then they go on to win the NCAA Tournament. Ideally, the Cards win out and take both titles.

Happy Thursday and Go Cards!

Jared

FH Cruises to Win -- VBall Rankings -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Field Hockey Cruises Past Miami (OH)

In a rare Monday night game, Louisville Field Hockey welcomed Miami (OH) to Trager Stadium. The Redhawks fell at home to Wake Forest on Sunday, which is the reason for the Monday match.

The Cards cruised along to a 4-1 win over the Redhawks to improve to 11-1 on the year.

Due to my church dart ball league starting up last night, I was unable to make the match, but did catch in on ACC Network. Thankfully, this one was easy to catch on TV or online unlike the snafu with Louisville Volleyball at Wake Forest the other day.

We recently questioned if the offense had the firepower to pull off a high-scoring affair. The Cards answered with a four piece as Louisville threw a volley of shots at Miami- 11 total shots with nine on frame- to tally four goals.

Julie Kouijzer, who has made a name for herself on the stat sheet recently, put the Cards on the board in the second quarter. Penalty corners have been better this year than in recent years and Louisville showed why again last night. Aimee Plumb inbounded the corner to Charlie Van Oirschot, who halted the ball in position for Kouijzer's shot to break through the charging defense.

Less than three minutes later, Camryn Pichea dribbled the ball into the circle and near the baseline to the left of the cage. Pichea found an opening for a shot, but her shot got deflected ever so slightly and wound up making contact with the stick of Katie Schneider. The connection was small, but enough to hit the back of the cage for the 2-0 lead right before halftime. It confused the scorekeepers for awhile, with credit to the goal going to Pichea, but eventually Megan got the official "goal mcored" stat.

Schneider wasn't done, as just three minutes after intermission, the senior scored her seventh goal of the season. A pass got tipped and made its way towards Schneider, whose powerful swing would not be stopped and Louisville would race ahead to a 3-0 lead.

The crowd was rocking and the time was ticking down to just under four minutes remaining in regulation. Mackenzie Karl was ready for her second career goal (both this season) when a rebounded shot came her direction. Her swing from the left side of the circle went across to the opposite side of the cage and the Cards held a comfortable 4-0 lead with just a few minutes remaining.

By this time, Coach Justine Sowry had switched out a few players for reserves who don't see as much playing time. With 39 seconds remaining, the Redhawks managed one final corner. Their fifth corner proved fruitful as Miami prevented being shutout with Claudia Negrete Garcia's 11th goal on the season.

Sacred Heart players on the Cards
and RedHawks roster

Besides the lone goal at the end of the match, Louisville kept Miami at bay much of the night. In fact, goalkeeper Mila de Kuijer saw only two shots on frame prior to that and saved both of them. The Cards maintained possession for much of the match... to the point de Kuijer pulled out a lawn chair to look at the stars.

Louisville remains out of conference for another match as they head to Ann Arbor on Sunday for a noon match against #2 Michigan. The Cards fell to the Wolverines 2-1 in sudden death (golden goal) overtime in the Final Four last year so they'll be looking for revenge.

POST GAME JUSTINE SOWRY

It took two people to replace Jared and his post-game questions for Coach Sowry -- but it is a nice and lengthy session with the coach. Listen below: 

COACH SOWRY POST MIAMI REDHAWK MATCH

VolleyCards Remain #3

Despite two more sweeps, both on the road, and one of them against a ranked opponent, Louisville Volleyball was not able to move up in the rankings. The Cards remain #3 in the AVCA Poll.

Texas stayed atop the rankings and were a unanimous #1. Pitt held their #2 ranking after sweeping Virginia and Duke during the week.

Purdue dropped from #4 down to #6 while Wisconsin and Kentucky moved up to #4 and #5, respectively. Georgia Tech stayed put at #18 while Florida State made the receiving votes category.

Louisville's RPI remains high due to a tough strength of schedule that has so far featured wins against now-#5 Kentucky, #6 Purdue, #10 Nebraska, and #18 Georgia Tech.

The Cards return home to L&N Federal Credit Union Arena this weekend to host Boston College on Friday and Syracuse on Sunday.

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared