Women's Soccer Roster Preview -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Look to Replace Significant Production

With Louisville women's soccer just under a month away from kicking off their season with an exhibition and just over a month away from beginning the regular season in earnest, what better time to take a look at the roster than now? The Cards have had quite a bit of roster turnover due to graduations and transfers, so let's take some time to see who is gone, who is back, and who is filling the gaps.

The Goalkeepers

Because the goalkeeper position is so intertwined with departures, returnees, and new entrants, I'm breaking it out here. Louisville had the unique problem of replacing a career stalwart in goal last season. Gabby Kouzelos graduated after playing six seasons for the Cards. Kouzelos is Louisville's career leader in games played with 85, having started in all of them. To have done that as a goalkeeper is even more impressive, as she played more than 2,000 minutes more than the next highest goalkeeper (Meredith Miller, 01-04) and has the fifth lowest goals against average (1.13). Kouzelos's 28 shutouts were good for 33% of her total matches and put her atop the leaderboard in that career stat as well. (Side note: As impressive as Kouzelos's numbers are over her entire career, they benefit from Louisville only having the services of Joanna Haig for two years in 2006 and 2007. Haig only played around 3,600 minutes, about 4,000 fewer than Kouzelos, but those made up nearly every minute of the 41 games in those two seasons. She put up a goals against average of 0.48 and had 20 shutouts (48.7%). That's... pretty good.) 

While losing an experienced goalkeeper is unfortunate, Gabby Kouzelos showed that KFD is more than willing to hand over the reins to a freshman goalkeeper and let that player defend their position for their career. While Olivia Pratapas looked set to inherit the spot between the pipes for Louisville, her role was threatened by the incoming transfer of Alyssa Zalac and the arrival of freshman Erynn Floyd. As it turned out, Pratapas had no competition from Zalac, as Alyssa was inactive for the season. Early on, Coach Karen Ferguson-Dayes seemed content to rotate Pratapas and Floyd to determine who would earn the spot. It took much less time than expected for the full-time job to be handed over to Floyd. Pratapas ultimately earned just 212 minutes, playing in three games, while Floyd played 1228 minutes in 14 starts.

Olivia Pratapas, originally from Clemmons, North Carolina, transferred to NC State following the 2022 season. NC State notes that they were interested in Pratapas during her initial collegiate search, but that she committed to Louisville very early in the process. While it's unfortunate to see a player transfer in conference, we wish her the best going forward.

UofL Athletics

As noted, the goalkeeping position appears to be Erynn Floyd's to lose entering the 2023 season. Floyd allowed 17 goals over her 14 games, an average of just 1.25. She had a save percentage of 65.3%, with 32 total saves. Louisville only scoring 13 goals on the season didn't help her win/loss record, but she also played with a pretty stout defense in general. Floyd showed a lot of promise as a freshman, so it will be interesting to see her development.

While Floyd has the keys to the car, it's not yet clear if it's only a lease. The aforementioned Zalac has a full season under her belt in the program and is technically in the same class as Floyd after redshirting at Ole Miss prior to transferring. Zalac is interesting, having been eligible to play last year but seeing no time. Zalac hasn't seen live action since club ball in Quebec in 2019. Her one season at Vanier College in Montreal was scrapped due to Covid in 2020 and she didn't play prior to redshirting at Ole Miss.

Another transfer also entered the goalkeeper room this season. Malene Nielsen is a junior transfer from Fairleigh Dickinson (perhaps best known for the puns on their name during March Madness). Nielsen hails from Juelsminde, Denmark and is of no relation to junior midfielder Ava Nielsen. Nielsen started 21 games last season, allowing 1.88 goals and tallying 100 saves. She had five or more saves in 10 games, tallying nine in the season opener. In her freshman season, Nielsen was named NEC Goalkeeper of the Year and made the All-NEC First Team. She played in every minute of the 2021 season, allowing just 1.2 goals per game and saving 78.7% of shots faced. My guess is that this is the primary threat to Erynn Floyd, and I would expect to see all three goalkeepers early in the season.

Key Departures

Louisville loses a number of major contributors from last season. While a total of nine players left the program via graduation, transfer, or other departure, three of those players recorded no stats for the Cards in 2022. Two freshmen, Evelyn Pazienza and Riley Goss, and junior Riley Mullady didn't get on the field last year and are no longer a part of the team. In addition to the three players departing that earned no stats, five other rostered Cardinals saw action in 0 games. Since we've already talked about goalkeepers, I'll take them out of the equation as well. For the purposes of any future stats, the numbers will be out of the 19 field players that played in at least one game. 

Jared Anderson

Louisville loses Sarah Hernandez, Patricia Ward, Corinne Dente, Anouk Denton, and Maisie Whitsett. That's five of 19 active players from last season, right around 26%. The production they lose, though, is a bit more lopsided than that. All five players played in every game in which they were available. Four of the five were regular starters, with the fifth being a top sub that earned seven starts. The team loses 34.4% of its minutes from last season. The average active player for Louisville played 758 minutes last year. Hernandez and Denton played 1260 each. Only Ravin Alexander (1416) and Savina Zamborini (1287) played more. Ward and Whitsett also exceeded the average, each with around 900 minutes, while Dente came in at 609.

Although two of the five departures are defensive starters, the offensive production lost is even more significant. Louisville loses just 36% of its shots from last year, but it loses 61.5% of goals, 50% of assists, and 58.8% of total points. Louisville's 13 goals were scored by eight players. All five departing players scored at least one goal, with Maisie Whitsett being the team leader. Three of the players took above the average number of shots (at least 10), and Whitsett accounted for nearly 33% of the team's points on her own. She had four goals and three assists on the year. 

Sarah Hernandez didn't have the flashy offensive stats, but she had been a defensive stalwart since her freshman year. Hernandez played in 82 games over five years, starting in every one. In those 82 games, she played 7,404 minutes. That's an average of 90.3 minutes per game. There are 90 minutes in a regulation match. Replacing a center defender like that doesn't come easy. Hernandez was an instrumental part of the defense Gabby Kouzelos commanded, and she made it her own last year in Kouzelos's absence. In addition to being the primary defender, Hernandez finished her career with eight goals and an assist. She scored three game winners. Just like losing Kouzelos was hard the year before because of all she provided on and off the pitch, losing Hernandez will be hard this season.

Jared Anderson

While the Cards expected to lose four of these five players, it doesn't make it easier to stomach. Graduations can be planned for, but Louisville would have liked to have had more production from returning players to count on. They'll now need to depend on the incoming freshmen and transfers that much more. For a team that struggled offensively as much as it did last season, watching half of that offense walk out the door is a bit painful. 

The big shock came when the Cards learned they would also lose Anouk Denton. Denton decided to leave Louisville to return to England to play for West Ham United in the Women's Super League. It's hard to fault her for the decision, but it means Louisville loses two of four defensive starters from last season instead of just one. Denton was a major factor in Louisville's strong defense as well as their play from the back, as Denton worked the opposite side of the field from Ravin Alexander. She had a goal and 11 shots out of the back. 

Key Returners

Perhaps Louisville's most important returner is the previously mentioned Ravin Alexander. Alexander returns for a graduate year in what will be her fifth active season for the Cards. She redshirted as a freshman in 2018. Alexander has started in 56 of her 57 career matches. While she has just two goals and no assists in that time, she has played in over 90% of the available minutes. Alexander has put 50% of her 30 shots on frame, presenting pressure to the opposing defense if not actually getting the ball in the back of the net. Her presence is most felt in her recovery speed on the outside of a wide defensive line. Alexander frequently works the ball up the sideline, but is hardly ever beaten back after a turnover. The ability to work both directions will remain critical as the Cards need to replace both her running mate and a center defender this year.

Aiding Alexander on the back line will be one of the freshman revelations from last season, Karsyn Cherry. Cherry stepped in alongside Sarah Hernandez in the center of the defense. She was afforded a bit of leeway defensively with Hernandez there to clean up some mistakes, but she loses that safety net this year. Hernandez's presence allowed Cherry to float forward, as she threatened Whitsett's offensive dominance early in the year. Cherry ended up second on the team in goals, as she finished with three. Cherry played 1230 minutes in 14 games. She'll be asked to develop quite a bit, as the lead of the defense will fall on her shoulders, but she showed last year she can be quite capable. 

Jared Anderson

Savina Zamborini came into her own a bit last year. Zamborini will be looking to get on top of the ball more this year, as she came away with no goals and just one assist offensively last season. Zamborini played 1287 minutes, starting all 16 games, but she was able to put just eight of 28 shots on frame. With Whitsett out the door and Cherry being asked to hold back, Zamborini will need to find the back of the net this season. She's more than capable, and the issues could be fixed in training, but if the junior was in her head last year, the pressure may make that even worse this year. We'll look for a fast start for Savina to get out ahead of the yips.

Another freshman surprise last season was the midfield pair of Addie Chester and Lizzie Sexton. They played 820 and 920 minutes, respectively, with 15 and 16 games played and 12 and 13 games started. Chester played more of the offensive minded midfield role with Sexton filling the center defensive mid style. Chester finished with two assists and took 17 shots, but she couldn't find the back of the net. Both of these players taking big steps forward could be critical for the Cards.

The New Additions

Louisville was a very young team last year. Seventeen players on the roster were freshman or sophomores, with 11 of those being active contributors. While there are still 14 underclassmen on this year's roster, only five are freshmen. Eight of the nine returning sophomores played in at least one game and seven of those eight played in at least half of Louisville's games. In addition to the five freshmen, Louisville brought in four transfers, with one being goalkeeper Malene Nielsen. Joining her are forwards Maya Anand and Amber Jackson and defender Lucy Roberts.

It looks like KFD may be attempting to fill the major holes left behind with upperclassmen transfers. Roberts and Anand are both grad transfers, while Jackson is a senior. The Cards replace one English defender with another in Lucy Roberts, who comes from USF and has previously missed time due to English National Team obligations. Roberts was on the TDS Preseason Best XI Freshman team ahead of the 2019 season and proved worthy with an all-conference rookie team selection. She has started 57 games and scored six goals with two assists. At age 17, Roberts became the youngest player in Liverpool history to debut for the WSL team. 

Maya Anand comes to us from Binghamton, which competes in the America East conference. Over the last two seasons, Anand started 36 games and scored 18 goals. She was the 2022 America East Striker of the Year. Amber Jackson started 52 games in three years for Oregon State. She has played a full 90 on 12 occasions and scored eight goals over the last two years while adding three assists in each. Jackson also had two assists as a freshman. 

In addition to the two international transfers, Louisville brings in two international freshmen in Viktoria Wik (Denmark) and Fiona Gaißer [Gaisser] (Germay). Each has represented their country at the U-17 level and plays high level club ball. Wik is a midfielder with HB Koge, who advanced to the second round of the 2022 Women's Champions League and currently leads the Danish League. Gaisser plays as a forward for Bayern Munich II in the second division of the German women's league. She scored seven goals in the most recent season and has scored nine goals in 25 matches over the last three seasons.

Louisville's other three freshmen come from America, though one is from the west coast. Emma Sanchez is a defender who played club ball for Northwest Elite FC ECNL out of Washington. She did not play high school soccer. Sanchez was named to the All-Conference First Team in the 2021-22 season and has been part of the US Soccer ID Camps. The other two freshmen are in the midfield. Molly Cochran is from Madeira, Ohio and was All-Conference First Team in the Ohio Valley ECNL playing for Ohio Elite. She was selected for last year's ECNL national game. Cochran earned First Team All-Conference honors in high school three times and was named to the All-American and All-State teams in her sophomore year. Betsy Huckaby is a local product, playing for South Oldham High School. South Oldham went 77-11-2 in Huckaby's four years, winning the state championship last year after finishing as runners-up the year before. Huckaby was first team all-region and second team all-state as a junior. She bested herself as a senior by being named District MVP, 8th Region POTY, first team all-state, and Ms. Kentucky Soccer.

Louisville loses a lot from last year, but the future is bright with the returning talent and incoming stars. The season starts soon. I'll see you there.

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Summer Slump Approaching -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Spring Sports Coming to a Close

We had our summer interns and co-ops start at work this week, which can only mean one thing: Speed School students' one week summer break has ended. Since the summer semester has already begun, the tail end of spring sports is here and the summer slump is upon us. With the Louisville softball team missing out on the NCAA tournament, the last sports hanging on are Track and Field and Rowing. Rowing's NCAA championship weekend is on the horizon (May 27-29), and Track and Field are sending a record number of entries (31) to the NCAA Regional event next week. Among the 11 participants on the women's side are three ACC champs in Gabriela Leon, Synclair Savage, and Elena Scott. They'll all look to improve upon those finishes and add even bigger hardware to their collections.

Another way to get your fix of Louisville athletes is the Racing Louisville W League team. The lower-division side under the Soccer Holdings umbrella boasts eight current and former Louisville soccer players. The W League team's home games are free and are hosted at the Lynn Family Sports Vision and Training Center on Edith Road. One of those games was last night, a 2-0 loss to Indy, and, while the stats aren't kept on the website, Sarah Hernandez got a shout out for a shot in last night's game. It was, as you might guess, a spectacular header, just like many of her goals at UofL. The team will play four more home games this summer, with the next coming at 7PM on Sunday.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast Hiatus

As Daryl mentioned yesterday, we're off today, as hosts are scattered to the wind. As she hinted at, we'll be off next week as well, as the holiday weekend will have everyone's schedules in disarray. The break is beneficial, as Paulie will need the time in the lab to devise questions for the traditional summer quiz segment. If all goes to plan, we should be back to normal in June. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Field Hockey, Soccer Open Conference Seasons with Wins -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Field Hockey Continues Undefeated Start

After volleyball won a tight match to move to 9-0 on the season on Wednesday, field hockey figured that seemed like a pretty cool thing to do. As such, Sowry's Cards welcomed in the 11th ranked Virginia Cavaliers for their conference opener and fought hard til the end to maintain a 1-0 victory. The win moved the 5th ranked Cards to 7-0 on the season and gave them a confidence booster to open the conference slate. 

Louisville's offense struggled in this one a tad, making it the second straight Friday match with a problem for the Cards. They looked to have shaken off their woes when they dropped three goals on Liberty Sunday, but the Cavaliers held the offense in check. Louisville managed only four shots and one corner in the game, and those all came in the first half. On the other hand, Virginia kept consistent pressure on Louisville's defense with a total of ten shots (five on goal) spread throughout the match. The Hoos biggest pressures came in the first and third quarters, when they put up four shots in each. Fortunately for the Cards, freshman goalkeeper Mila de Kuijer was up to the task and had five saves, earning the clean sheet.

On the other end, it was a wonderful goal to give the Cards the lead in the second period. Originally appearing to be a fantastic long shot by Charlie van Oirschot, the goal was officially credited to Mattie Tabor, with the credit going to CVO for the assist. Had the goal been given to van Oirschot, it would given Louisville its 12th different goal scorer of the season. Instead, Tabor scored her fourth of the season, the most on the team. Louisville had a couple of chances to double their advantage in the second with a shot by Mia Duchars blocked just five minutes after the goal. Then, shortly before the quarter ended, Louisville earned their only penalty corner of the match. Unfortunately, Mackenzie Karl's shot attempt went wide. 

After the onslaught from Virginia in the third quarter, the fourth was rather uneventful. The Cavaliers did take the risk of pulling the goalie in a last ditch effort to tie the match, but it was for less than 90 seconds. All in all, Louisville's defense held strong in the second half, but they'll be looking for their offense to return to form. The Cards have a huge test coming up next as they'll take on the Iowa Hawkeyes, currently ranked second in the country. We talked briefly about the Big Ten emergence in field hockey on the CCRH Podcast last week, and Iowa has been a big part of that. The game will be shown on the ACC Network proper and gets underway at 2PM tomorrow.

Soccer Gets Back on Track with Win at Miami

For the second match in a row, Louisville found themselves tied with the opponent after 90 minutes. Unlike the last match, the Cards were able to find the net in the overtime period, scoring three unanswered goals after half time to overcome a 2-0 deficit at Miami. While Louisville probably would have gladly left Cobb Stadium with a point after the first half, they're sure to be thrilled to have earned all three to open the conference season on the road. 

It took about 50 minutes extra to start the game, due to weather in the area, but the teams kicked off to what appeared to be a pretty average night in Miami. Like many of the recent matchups between the Cards and Hurricanes, Louisville owned this one offensively. The Cards put up 12 shots, with six on frame, compared to eight and two for the Hurricanes. Unfortunately for Louisville, they gathered no saves in the first half while Miami picked up six. While both of Miami's goals were pretty flukey, flukey goals still count. 

The first came in the 25th minute, when a crossing ball headed to the side of the goal on Gabby Kouzelos's right. A header flicked it high in the air and farther away from goal, and everyone relaxed for a moment as they anticipated it going out of bounds. The relaxation was brief, though, as a Miami player made for the endline to keep it in play. Kouzelos reacted by moving all the way to her goal post, cutting off the short side opportunity for a goal. However, the ball didn't come to the ground. Instead, Jackie Koerwitz headed it back up and across the goal, where it drifted just over Sarah Hernandez and found Maria Jakobsdottir, who slotted it home. Perhaps the most frustrating part about the goal is that it came on a Miami possession immediately following what was pretty clearly an uncalled handball in the box that would have awarded a penalty to Louisville. So it goes. 

The second goal wasn't quite as wild as that one, but it was still quite unfortunate. The Cards had thus far been unable to answer the first goal, with possession split between the two teams after Miami broke the seal. The Canes had threatened with a corner and an offsides, but finally took advantage of a gap in the defense when Katrina Molina found an opening at the top of the box. She fired a shot on frame that looked as though it wouldn't be much problem for Kouzelos. Herandez again had a hand in this goal, though, as the shot clipped off her thigh without losing any speed and redirected to find its way just inside the post and just outside of Kouzelos's outstretched reach. 

Down 2-0, the Cards didn't look to be giving up, but I was beginning to wonder if it just wasn't to be their night. Perhaps I had jinxed them with the prewriting I had done. A couple of more opportunities presented themselves as the half wound down, but they couldn't find any goals before heading to the locker room. Whatever the halftime speech was, it had an impact. Louisville came out in the second half and finished with nine shots to Miami's three. They had more shots on goal, more corners, and more possession. Basically, they did what I expected in the whole game. The newfound effort was rewarded right away, when Louisville scored off of a corner kick in the first minute of the second half. Hayley Howard picked up the goal, her second of the year, with Maisie Whitsett and Hernandez grabbing assist credits.

After the goal, Louisville kept the pressure on, but as the time ticked away, I wondered if the two goal deficit would just be too much on this particular night. Those fears were wiped away inside of the ten minutes to go mark when a foul in the box gave them a penalty (I thought this was their third good shout for one but it was the only one awarded). Hernandez stepped calmly to the spot, ready to complete her personal comeback, and knocked it home to the keeper's right. It was 2-2 with seven and change to go. The last couple of minutes were frantic, with Louisville firing off a few more shots and then having to defend two last second corners, but they ultimately moved to OT. 

The first overtime wasn't terribly eventful. Miami had an off target shot and Louisville earned a corner that went to nothing, but both teams were still trying to feel each other out. In college OT, both teams want to win, but neither wants to be the aggressor that makes a mistake and gives up a countering goal. The most exciting part about the first OT period was that Miami's on site scoreboard randomly malfunctioned prior to kickoff, leading the referee to start the period while keeping time on his own. Since the on site scoreboard didn't work, the ACC Network feed was blind as well, so we had no idea how much time was left for the first five or so minutes. The SIDs were saved the statistical hassle of trying to figure out when the game ended by no one scoring during that time.

Once the teams switched ends, Louisville decided to go for it. They made four substitutions between periods, while Miami made none, giving them fresh legs. Those fresh legs came in handy, as the Cards consistently pressured in the offensive third. Pressure leads to mistakes, and the Canes made a desperation foul just outside the edge of the box, off to the side of the field. It's an awkward place for a free kick, but Miami made the interesting decision not to wall. Everyone crowded into the box as if for a corner, and Maisie Whitsett located her kick right into the middle of the chaos. Whether or not it was intended to be a shot is irrelevant, but it snuck its way through everyone and into the backside netting. Cards win 3-2.

After back-to-back exciting overtime matches, I'm sure Louisville is ready to play a normal game. They'll get six days of rest either way, as they will travel to Syracuse on Thursday for their next match. The Cards have never lost to the Orange, winning seven of the eight matchups, with a draw coming in 2012. The two didn't meet in 2016 or 2017 but Louisville has won every other year since joining the ACC. Thursday's edition of the multi-conference spanning rivalry will get underway at 6PM and should be covered on the ACCNX, though it isn't listed yet.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

I'm out this week as I have a morning wedding to attend, but Daryl finally returns to the booth, so the streak of four hosts continues. The gang will talk about the strong results over the past week for fall sports, particularly the big win over Kentucky. They'll also cover the next big test for the VolleyCards as they take on Nebraska tonight in another top-15 matchup. 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-

Red Black Scrimmage -- WSoc Hosts Western Michigan -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

VOLLEYBALL RED VS BLACK SCRIMMAGE 

We are starting to get in the swing of things again with several fall sports having started or are about to start. Volleyball hosted their annual Red Black Scrimmage last night. Worldwide was in attendance last night. With the start of band rehearsals picking back up last night I was not able to make it out to L&N Federal Credit Union Arena.

Some of you may remember that prestigious music conference the group I'm in- the Louisville Winds- performed in up in Chicago back in December 2019. After nearly a year and a half of not playing together, we finally got back to playing again. And we already have been invited to another big music conference at the beginning of next year!

Worldwide had all sorts of positive comments on volleyball last night . One of the promising signs was Ayden Bartlett getting a lot of playing time in the libero spot. Elena Scott and Alexa Hendricks also spent some time in the odd-colored jersey. Tori Dilfer was the clear favorite to be the starting setter again, but Rachel DeMarcus also saw some action in the same position. We did find out that Paige Morningstar is planning to redshirt this season.

Scores of matches are of a secondary nature in Red & Black scrimmages. We do know Aiko Jones' squad won the first set 28-26 per Jeff.

 

CARDS WSOC VS. BRONCOS

Moving onto tonight, we have the first true regular season game of any sport for the 2021-2022 season. Women's soccer hosts Western Michigan at Dr. Mark and Cindy Lynn Stadium at 7:30 p.m. This match can be caught online on ACC Network Extra.

It's hard to preview the first game of the season because there is nothing to scout and base the opposition on. It's even more difficult because of the inconsistencies with last season and the pandemic.

Western Michigan finished last season 6-2-2, all in MAC play. They finished last season winning four straight matches. The Broncos scored 15 goals through 10 games, but did record a strong number of 55 saves.

Like the Cards, the Broncos have an experience goalkeeper in fifth-year senior Maggie Rogers. Rogers had an .861 save percentage last year. Fifth-year forward Bailey Korhorn led the team with five goals last year. Morgan Ottenson and Jenna Blackburn were a big part of the offense each contributed four assists to help power the offense.

Louisville has some experience on their side as well, with veteran keeper Gabby Kouzelos. She has a four-year starting centerback in Sarah Hernandez helping corral the back line. Taylor Kerwin, Maisie Whitsett, and Delaney Snyder have all been a big part of the team in recent years and enter their final year with the program. We did not see Snyder in the 2-0 exhibition win against Ball State last week, no information on her status yet for tonight. 

Snyder is expected to be a big part of the new offense, if she plays, with help from graduate transfer Mikayla Hampton. Ravin Alexander has converted to a forward and showed the impact she can make with her performance against Ball State. The Cards started five freshman n the exhibition we'll see if  that holds tonight. 

Louisville's schedule is rather unforgiving once conference play begins so we hope to see plenty of non-conference wins to slingshot the season out of the starting gate.

Paulie should be there and Sonya will accompany him. She made it out to the scrimmage on Saturday. Worldwide made it out for the scrimmage, and with free admission this year, we hope to see him at a few matches this year. In the past, Case had season tickets to soccer so it's a safe bet he will make it out there from time to time. Daryl will be running the video camera crew at the Bats game so she will not be in attendance. I plan to be back on the field taking pictures.

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

Jeff Walz has a presser scheduled today at 2 p.m. (on-line) that Paulie and a few of us will monitor and we'll bring you that tomorrow, along with the recap of WSOC.  No earth-shaking news, as far as we know, upcoming from Walz, he hasn't done a presser in awhile and this is just planned as a "catch-up, how we're doing" event. . 

Happy Thursday and Go Cards!

Jared

Season Review: Soccer -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 Season Review: Soccer

We find ourselves back to reviewing UofL sports seasons. Today, we will take a look at women's soccer, another team that split their season between the fall and spring.

A solid start to the season quickly turned sour and the spring ended about as disappointing as possible with the final two matches of the season cancelled.

The fall season consisted of eight regular season matches against ACC opponents and then the ACC tournament. The spring season was set to be a non-conference schedule.

Louisville opened the season with a 3-0 win at Miami with Emina Ekic and Delaney Snyder doing all the scoring against the Hurricanes. The Cards remained in the Sunshine State where they fell to eventual National Runner-Up Florida State.

The Cards game home for a two-game homestand. UofL defeated Syracuse 3-0 as the Ekic-Snyder duo contributed to a majority of the scoring once again with Jessica De Filippo scoring the other goal. Boston College visited Dr Mark and Cindy Lynn Stadium next with the Cards taking the win 2-0. Ekic scored her fifth goal on the year and Taylor Kerwin recorded her first with the assist credited to both Ekic and Snyder.

Another road trip was next for Karen Ferguson Dayes' squad. It started with a 2-0 loss to Final Four contender Virginia, who did all their damage in the first half. They then went across the state to down Virginia Tech 1-0 with Morgan Bentley getting her first goal on the season.

Louisville came home to wrap up the regular season with a pair of matches. Notre Dame would take the first match 1-0. The regular season finale saw Louisville host Final Four contender North Carolina. It was Ekic who would put the Cards up early in the second half in the pouring down rain before the Tar Heels with three goals over the next 30 minutes to get the win.

At 4-4, Louisville earned the #6-seed in the ACC Tournament and saw a rematch with the Wahoos. Diana Ordonez would post a hat trick as Virginia would cruise to a 4-1 win. You can take a guess on who scored the Cards' goal- her seventh and final of the season.

We saw the spring season begin in early March with the Cards hosting Dayton and winning 1-0 on a Maisie Whitsett goal. Auburn came to town next and would go on to take a 1-0 in sudden death double overtime.

What would eventually be the final match of the season, Louisville traveled to Bowling Green. WKU relied on a goal 93 seconds into the match to get the win.

Matches scheduled against Tennessee and Wake Forest would get cancelled due to various reasons.

Louisville would end the year with a 5-7 record and a 4-4 mark in the ACC. One year after an impressive 13-5-2 mark, Louisville showed signs of struggling and a frustrating ending.

The Cards would end up getting outscored by just one, 13-12 on the year. Ekic led the way with seven goals and three assists. Snyder would be one of five Cards to score one goal this season but led the team with four assists.

Only three of the six scorers are set to return next season. Taylor Kerwin graduated after the spring semester. Jessica De Filippo transferred out after the fall season. Emina Ekic entered the NWSL Draft after the fall season and was drafted in the first round by Racing Louisville FC, where she has put on a show. Louisville is bleeding profusely on offense for next year. You cannot replace Ekic with any single player. Snyder looks to take the lead but needs a second and third scorer. Corinne Dente was a hopeful candidate but is still in recovery mode from a torn ACL. We may see Whitsett convert back to a forward or possibly Emma Hiscock steps up after a promising freshman outing.

Defensively, Sarah Hernandez is set to return as a centerback and power the back line. Gabby Kouzelos is expected to return for another season in goal. Kouzelos recorded 53 saves on 66 attempts for an incredible .803 save percentage. Louisville is set on defense for the fall 2021 season.

We quickly approach a holiday weekend with Memorial Day on Monday. Daryl returns back to her Friday column tomorrow and we should be back on our Cardinal Couple Radio Hour this Saturday.

Happy Thursday and Go Cards!

Jared

NWSL Draft Approaches -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Racing Has Picks, UofL Has Prospects

The NWSL draft has been long awaited in this area since the announcement of the formation of Louisville's expansion team, Racing Louisville FC. Excitement grew in November when the expansion draft allowed Racing's roster to really start to take shape, and the final step toward the first gameday roster will take place this week. The NWSL rookie draft is set for January 13th at 7PM, and Racing has five picks in the four round draft. They'll get the first player off the board in each round, as well as the fifth pick in the first round.

 

Prior to the last week or so, the process was pretty straightforward for the draft, and we only knew of one Louisville player making herself available for the draft, Emina Ekic. The NCAA approved a waiver late last year that would allow any eligible player to register for the draft and then decide whether to report before or after the collegiate spring season, but we haven't seen news of any other Louisville players electing to register for the draft. There are plenty of seniors on the squad, so you would expect they might want to take advantage of that, but they also have an additional year of eligibility on hand, so perhaps they'd rather ply their trade in college for one more year. Ekic has already announced that she will forego the spring season completely, leading me to believe that she is already working with draft assurances.

I said that was straightforward until last week because the NCAA and NWSL announced another rule change. This one granted blanket draft registration to any college player that has exhausted three years of eligibility. This comes without a formal draft declaration. It's similar to baseball, in that the expectation could be that players will not join the team, but it's much riskier since there are 40 picks over four rounds rather than hundreds of picks over 40 rounds. A team like Racing Louisville can hardly afford to use one of their five picks on a player that will not report. 

Another change in the rules is the extension of the protected player period. When a player is drafted and does not report, the professional team still retains their rights until the end of the subsequent season... typically. This year, however, and this year only, the protected period has been extended until the start of next season. This article goes into whether or not that's good for players' rights, but it is definitely interesting for selecting players this year, and signing them after the 2021 fall college season. Whether or not that will happen, Louisville went from one player registered and likely to be taken to a whole host of "registered" players. The following is a list of players that were redshirt sophomores or beyond on Louisville's 2020 roster:

Hanna Wise, GK

Gabby Kouzelos, GK

Sarah Hernandez, D

Nadege L'Esperance, MF

Ravin Alexander, D/MF

Emina Ekic, MF

Taylor Kerwin, MF

Shay Hampton, F

Kiana Klein, MF

Lana Batson, GK

Maisie Whitsett, F/MF

Delaney Snyder, F

Cassie Amshoff, MF

Now, obviously, most other programs' eligibility lists look like this, but there are some very interesting undeclared players on this list. The most obvious is Gabby Kouzelos, who seems destined for higher play. Is she ready? I don't know the answer to that question, nor do I know what NWSL front offices think of her, but the extended protection period means that teams could take a flyer and allow a player to develop further in college. Other interesting players in that vein would be Sarah Hernandez, who has proven to be a top defender as a three year starter, and Delaney Snyder, who appears to be a rather good goal scorer. Whether either of their play translates to the next level is up for debate, but, like I said, it's not such a black and white answer. 

All of our questions will be answered next week, and by the end of the month, as drafted players have until January 22nd to decide whether or not they will join the team. The draft will air in full on NWSL's Twitch Channel at 7PM on January 13th.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

Jared is out banking this week, but we'll still have a four-stack in the booth this week. Paulie will be back at the helm, thankfully, and Jeff, Daryl, and I will be along for the ride. We'll discuss the week that was in Louisville women's basketball, and then move on to look ahead at the upcoming week. There's plenty of joy and excitement to go around. Tune in at 11AM on the Cardinal Couple YouTube Channel for the live show, or check out the replay or podcast following the conclusion of the show.

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-

Ekic Earns ACC Honors -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Emina Ekic Grabs First Team All-ACC, Offensive POTY

Louisville may have been soundly defeated by Virginia in the first round of the ACC tournament earlier this week, but that didn't prevent Emina Ekic from earning top honors in the conference. Conference awards were announced yesterday, on the day of the conference semifinals, and Emina Ekic picked up an unsurprising award and one that was a bit unexpected. The unsurprising award was Ekic's naming to the First Team All-ACC team. Ekic was tied for the league lead in goals scored in conference play with six and her seventh goal, the stunner against Virginia in the quarterfinals, tied her for third in the country. Ekic made Louisville go during the fall, so it was straightforward for her to be named to the First Team.

The Offensive Player of the Year Award, though, didn't seem so straight forward. Ekic's scoring was strong, and she had good assist numbers, but Diana Ordonez of Virginia (you know, the one who poured in a hat trick on Tuesday night) had, I believe, the same number of conference regular season goals and had one more assist. She was also on the 3rd seeded team rather than the 6th. However, the conference voters put Ekic on top, and didn't even add Ordonez to the first team. Shows what I know. Florida State picked up three of the five major awards, earning Defensive POTY, Midfield of the Year, and Coach of the Year. Freshman of the year went to Lia Godfrey of Virginia. Surprisingly, the top seeded Tar Heels were locked out of the major awards.

Were there a goalkeeper of the year award, UNC may have found themselves in the top awards, as Claudia Dickey was named to the first team. Cristina Roque of FSU earned the second team spot, as Florida State was so good defensively, and Gabby Kouzelos picked up the third team honor. No other Cardinals made it onto an all-conference team, despite Delaney Snyder sitting in the top ten in assists. I would have thought she or Sarah Hernandez might have had a case with the good season they put up, but the ACC voters thought differently. 

Unsurprisingly, the ACC fall soccer season will wrap up tomorrow at noon with the conference championship between undefeated UNC and undefeated FSU. It's the matchup most people have been wanting to see this year, and we'll finally see which team will blink. FSU has looked stronger recently, but UNC has been a very good team the whole year. Tune in to ESPNU for the final. Looking ahead, we'll see how the national landscape looks in the spring, but the ACC plans to continue their soccer season in 2021.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

We're back on the airwaves (internet waves?) this week with a full house as Jared returns to the show. We'll talk about the recent ACC tournament results in field hockey and women's soccer and take a look toward basketball season as it's next on the docket. Tune in to the Cardinal Couple YouTube channel at 11AM for the live show, or check out the podcast after the live show ends by searching for "Cardinal Couple" in your favorite podcast player. Be sure to subscribe to both to catch the latest show as soon as you can!

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-

Interview with Karen Ferguson Dayes -- Field Hockey Signees -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

KAREN FERGUSON DAYES INTERVIEW

The chance on Tuesday to interview Louisville women's soccer coach Karen Ferguson Dayes was a great opportunity to catch up with her and the team. In these COVID-19 days, we are all going through changes from what we used to consider the "normal" and Coach had been adjusting as well. 

We discussed the past season, the future and quite a few individual players...in addition to quite a few other relevant subjects. I really think you'll enjoy her words and thoughts on Louisville women's soccer and, like many of us, "Coach KFD" is ready to transition from the Zoom and other type meeting with student-athletes and return to "the pitch". 

As we all wait to see how and when we can accomplish this safely, we all must put the safety of the student-athletes, coaches, staff and fans as our prime objective...and Coach puts that as "Job #1" in what she sees her responsibilities entailing. 

Louisville WSOC had a 13-5-2 season in 2019, was 5-3 in the ACC and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. 

Enjoy the discussion. LINK below: 

LINK:   KAREN FERGUSON DAYES INTERVIEW

I appreciate Karen spending the time with me and thanks to Nick Evans, Louisville women's soccer S.I.D., for setting the interview up. 

In coach's final words, she summed up our situation these days perfectly. Make adjustments, not excuses. Great words to live by as we continue to chart our course in the uncertainty of today's world. 

Our writer Jared Anderson suggested Coach Karen and I do the interview after a couple of Margaritas, to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. We didn't do that, but Coach probably could have used a few after being on the phone with me...


FIELD HOCKEY ANNOUNCES EIGHT

Louisville Field Hockey head coach Justine Sowry has announced the addition of eight prospective student-athletes to the 2020 squad. 

In the group are five midfielders, two forwards and a back. Three of the players are from England or Europe and one is a Louisville (Sacred Heart Academy) product.

The Louisville Field Hockey team was 16-6 in 2019, 3-3 in the ACC and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. 


The new Field Hockey players: 

Maitland Demand -- midfielder -- Waretown, N.J. 

Mia Duchars -- midfielder -- St. Louis, MO

Embry Jane Imorde -- forward -- Louisville, KY

Brigid Lowry -- midfielder -- Wayne, PA

Paulina Mayer -- back -- Baden-Wurttenberg, Germany 

Sofia Pendolino -- midfielder --  Hummelstown, PA

Aimee Plumb -- midfielder -- Canterbury, Kent, England 

Charlotte Van Dirschot -- midfielder -- Haarlem, The Netherlands

We welcome these eight to the "Ville" and can't wait to see them in action at Trager Stadium! 


Have a wonderful Wednesday! 


paulie
xxxxx

Cards See Three NCAA Advancements; Volleyball Sweeps -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

                   *** BREAKING NEWS***

HAILEY VAN LITH SAYS "LOUISVILLE" !!!! THE #1 CLASS OF 2020 IS A CARDINAL ! THE 5'7" GUARD OUT OF CASHMERE, WA. COMMITTED TO UOFL AT 3:30 P.M. SATURDAY AFTERNOON. WE'LL HAVE MUCH MORE ABOUT THIS IN THE SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE. WELCOME TO THE VILLE HAILEY !!

Field Hockey Comes Back to Beat Michigan

In the first event of what was a busy day on Floyd Street, Justine Sowry's field hockey team got underway at Noon against the Michigan Wolverines. Coming into the game, Louisville was 5-0 against Big Ten opponents, but they had not yet played Michigan. The Wolverines finished the regular season at 13-5 before losing in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament to Iowa. That set up yesterday's matchup with the Cards, and Michigan seemed quite up to the task. 

In the first quarter, and for much of the game, Michigan seemed able to control the ball at will and play solid defense when Louisville got their chances. The Wolverines consistently held Louisville out of the circle with timely stick checks and intercepted passes. To their credit, Louisville also prevented Michigan from getting much of anything going offensively in the first quarter. Unfortunately, the one chance Michigan had, they took. With just over two minutes remaining in the first quarter, Meg Dowthwaite got free after a Katie Anderson pass and knocked in her eighth goal of the season. It was the only shot by either team in the quarter and it was on frame and in the cage.

Fewer than five game minutes later, Louisville got what appeared to be the equalizer. On a penalty corner, Bethany Russ deftly worked herself open before firing a shot that sailed into the net. The referees initially called a goal, but many Michigan players could be seen exclaiming about the height of the ball. Michigan's coach initiated a video referral and the review process began. The officials went to the monitor for nearly six minutes before coming out to have a conversation with the two coaches. They could be heard explaining that the shot was high and would be ruled a dangerous ball. Michigan's coach seemed pleased and walked away. Justine Sowry did not. After about 30 seconds of heated discussion, the officials returned to the review monitor for another six or seven minutes. We don't know what Coach Sowry said that made them continue their review, but it was ultimately to no avail. The goal was overturned. Michigan still led 1-0. The Cards continued to pressure in the second quarter, garnering three shots, but were unable to put any on frame. The halftime horn sounded with Louisville still behind a goal.

The third quarter was the busiest for both teams by far, with five total shots coming in that quarter. The quarter saw Hollyn Barr make an outstanding save to keep Louisville in the game and Bethany Russ refuse to be denied in her quest for an equalizer. After Louisville earned a penalty corner, Mercedes Pastor worked to get a shot that was blocked by a defender. Russ got ahold of the ball and used some impressive stick play to work just enough space to fire a shot into the back of the catch. The clank was unmistakable and Louisville had tied the match with two minutes to go in the third.

The fourth quarter and both overtimes required Barr to be nails. In those final 33 minutes, Barr picked up five saves. She had just one in the opening 45 minutes. While Michigan's offense peppered Barr, Louisville offense kept up the pressure as well. The Cards didn't have any shots in the fourth quarter, but they did have four in the 18 total minutes of overtime, including three on goal. Michigan's goalie was able to protect two shots in the first overtime, but with just under two minutes until a penalty shootout, Bethany Russ once more found the back of the cage. A crossing assist from Emilia Kaczmarczyk found Russ at the left side of the circle where she fired it home. Louisville won 2-1 on the golden goal and advance to the next round of the NCAA Tournament. 

All in all, it was a great game from the Cards. Coach Sowry discussed how they were able to stick to their game plan and execute when it mattered. Both teams had five corners. Louisville was able to stop Michigan from scoring on any of them. While the stat sheet doesn't technically say it, the Cards were successful on two of their five. Though one was disallowed and another was on a second effort, those are still better opportunities than Louisville has been getting throughout the season and this is an important time to clean up mistakes.

Cards Supporting Cards. Representatives from softball,
swimming/diving, golf, and lacrosse braved the cold.

Louisville will host the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday at 1:00 PM. Boston College will come to town, likely looking for revenge. The Cards handed the Eagles a home loss when they played in the regular season, winning 3-2 in Chestnut Hill. Every game is a new day in the tournament, though, and Louisville will look to keep rolling into the next round.

Coach Sowry's interview apparently didn't make it to the screen, but a link to the transcript can be found here.  Paulie did catch the jumbled audio of Sowry's words and tou can hear them HERE.

It wasn't the most prepared or best set up scenario for NCAA post-game comments. 

Bethany Russ got podium time also time, which you can watch at this link or read the transcript if you prefer.

Soccer Ends Two Game Losing Streak at Perfect Time

The Cards ended their season with a pair of matches against NC State. The Wolfpack won both of those, sending Louisville into the NCAA Tournament with some confidence to rebuild. The Cards were able to do so last night, dominating possession of the ball on their way to a 1-0 win against the Lipscomb Bisons. Coach Karen Ferguson-Dayes noted in her post-game comments that she believed the possession was one thing Louisville could have done better on, but I believe Lipscomb's counter attacking ability was skewing her view of that stat. Louisville held possession for 71% of the first half and 64% for the entire game. 

Louisville's game plan in this match was pretty simple, and matched the rest of the season: sit on the ball, work possession through the midfield, and get chances on goal. Lipscomb's game plan was equally simple: disrupt the Louisville attack, win the ball, and counter. Had the Bison strikers been able to stay onsides for the life of them, we could be having a very different conversation this morning. After being called offsides 11 times in their last game, Lipscomb was called for four in the first half of last night's match. In each one, the Cards were beaten and Lipscomb either had a one-on-one opportunity or were poised for a very dangerous cross. On two, Lipscomb attempted shots after the whistle. On both of those, Gabby Kouzelos refused to get the ball out of the back of the net and made a pair of saves that don't go in the stat sheet. In scoreless games, seeing the ball in the back of the net can do things for both the offense and defense. Kouzelos refused to lose that psychological matchup.

As Louisville held possession, they also gathered a lot of chances. Fortunately for Lipscomb, Melissa Gray was up to the task. Gray had five saves in the first half, and would go on to finish with eight on the night. A couple of those first half saves were real beauties. However, all it took in this game was one chance, and Sarah Hernandez took that chance. Finishing her third goal of the season, all three on headers, Hernandez took flight Superwoman style to get to a perfectly placed free kick by Emina Ekic. Gray was caught out just a bit and the ball found the back of the net with 34 seconds remaining in the first half. Louisville finished the first half with 10 shots and six on frame, showing that they intended to keep beating on the door until they broke it down.

The second half saw quite a bit of the same. Louisville continued to earn chances much as they had in the first half. The Cards got five corners in the second half and ultimately put up seven shots. Though only three were on frame, the pressure was evident and the six shots off of the frame of the goal were close. As Coach Ferguson-Dayes mentioned in her postgame comments, Gray's play in the first half affected Louisville's shots in the second, putting more pressure on the Cards to be fine with their placement and ultimately leading to misses. 

Gabby Kouzelos maintained her staunch defense in the back, assisted of course by the back line. Lipscomb only finished with three shots and Kouzelos with two saves, but the defense saw quite a bit more work than the stats imply. Hernandez and Niamh Nelson both saw plenty of chances to clear crosses, through balls, and overhead balls, and they were up to the task last night. Kouzelos even got quite a bit more work than the box score shows, having to come all the way out of her box to win jousts at least three times and gathering a number of searching balls into the box by Lipscomb. Louisville picked up their tenth clean sheet on the way to this win.

After the match, the two teams gathered in a show
of sportsmanship.

Louisville's path gets harder from here. Their quadrant has seen nothing but chalk so far, as BYU, Arkansas, and NC State advanced last night. The second and third rounds will be held next weekend at the home site of the highest seed in the quadrant. In this case, the teams will travel to Provo, Utah, where Louisville will take on the Cougars of BYU. More information will be available as the first round ends across the tournament.

Hear the press conference style interview with Coach KFD, Emina Ekic, Sarah Hernandez, and Brooklynn Rivers here.

Ivine Chemutai Advances in NCAA Cross Country

Yesterday, Louisville cross country was in Charlottesville, Virginia to compete in the NCAA Southeastern Regional. The Cards did not have a ton of success in the regional, but there was some good news to come out of it. Sophomore runner Ivine Chemutai finished in 8th place in the women's 6K race, which was good enough for an automatic qualification in the NCAA Championship meet. No other Louisville runners qualified. Chemutai finished just thirty seconds off the pace of the winner and just 17 seconds behind third place. She was clear of 11th place, the non-AQ position, by 10 seconds. The National Championship meet will be held on November 23rd in Terre Haute, Indiana.

Volleyball Sweeps Syracuse in Return Match 

Louisville Volleyball has been reeling a bit since the loss of Melanie McHenry. Since McHenry went down in the Notre Dame match, and excluding that match, Louisville was 2-5. They quickly fell out of the chase for the ACC title and have since dropped behind five other teams that are tied for second. A benefit for the Cards in this situation is that they haven't given up. They're playing without McHenry, who happens to be the only senior on the team, meaning that the current iteration of Louisville volleyball is just getting additional practice time for next year. From now on, Louisville's priorities change a little bit. While the goals early in the season included a conference victory and potentially making a lot of noise in the NCAA Tournament, the Cards now need to focus on keeping their feet under them and building confidence going into next year. 

That started last night when Louisville completed a sweep in their first match of the final home stand of the year. The match was a revenge game against Syracuse, who beat the Cards in five sets in New York earlier this month. Louisville hit no worse than .280 in the three sets and held the Orange to .000 hitting for the match, despite having only five blocks. Louisville committed only 15 errors in the match and had a relatively low seven service errors. I know that's not a low number of service errors but the Cards have committed plenty more this season. Syracuse kept the first set close at 25-19 but the Cards did what they needed to and dominated the final two sets at 25-15 each. 

Amber Stivrins and Claire Chaussee led the way for the Cards in this one, both finishing with 10 kills. Chaussee even took an unusual lead from Aiko Jones in total attempts with 25 compared to Jones's 23. The two also added just six errors, and Stivrins finished with an outstanding .571 hitting percentage. Jones was a bit off on the night, finishing with just six kills and five errors, but she did add an ace, two assists, and three blocks to contribute to the cause. For the first time in awhile, we saw both Tori Dilfer and Shannon Shields in the same sets, though Shields finished with just one service error in the stat sheet. Dilfer appears to have taken at least a noticeable lead in the setter race as she has finished with the lion's share of the assists recently. 

Louisville will have two more home matches this season, both against teams they have defeated this year. The first will come against Notre Dame when the Irish come to town next Friday for a 7:00 PM matchup. Notre Dame will surely be looking for revenge for the five set loss Louisville handed them in South Bend, but the Cards need to keep their momentum rolling towards the end of the year. Head on down to L&N FCU Arena Friday to root on the Cards. 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

In case you couldn't tell, we'll have plenty to talk about this week on the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour. This week, Paulie, Jeff, and I will be joined in the studio by Daryl Foust. We'll talk all of the fall sports action that is still ongoing thanks to yesterday's victories and bring in basketball as it ramps up. The Cardinal Couple Radio Hour is still brought to you by WCHQ. Tune in at 11:00 AM to 100.9 FM, the WCHQ App, wchqfm.com, or on Facebook Live.

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-