Field Hockey vs #19 Cal -- Volleyball vs SMU -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

FRIDAYS WITH DARYL

Good morning readers, 

One week ago, the University inaugurated its twentieth president and I had the opportunity to get out there for the ceremony and reception.  Gerry Bradley has been with the program for roughly 20 years and seems well poised for the responsibilities.   

He also happened to visit my office earlier in the week and I had the chance to introduce myself and tell him how much of athletics impacts my life.  It's crazy to think how long this program has dictated alot of my life's decisions.... Anywho... I also recently learned I will get an opportunity to talk more about this on an Employee produced podcast.  More to come on that later.  

          

Field Hockey

#19 California at Louisville

6:00 pm 

ACCNX

The Cardinals (6-7, 0-4) are looking to avoid their third loss in a row as the nationally ranked California Golden Bears visit town for an ACC showdown.  

Cal is coming off a historical win for the program when it knocked off #5 Syracuse on Sunday. Liz Klompmaker's goal in the second period proved to be the difference. It was her 11th of the season, good for 5th in the ACC. The Bears' defense successfully defended 13 penalty corners in the match.

Klompmaker was named the Atlantic Coast Conference Offensive Player of the Week. Currently ACC Co-Defensive Player of the Week Delphine Ayitey-Hammond carries a 2.03 goals against average with two shutouts and 35 saves on the season.

Around the ACC

• #7 Wake Forest is the lone undefeated team in the ACC at 4-0  and 11-2 overall.
• Six ACC teams are ranked in the Coaches’ Poll, five in the top 10.
• The ACC’s six ranked teams are tied for the most of any conference. 
• As a league, the ACC boasts the top overall and non-conference RPI.

Volleyball

#8 SMU at #5 Louisville 
7:00 PM 
ACCNX

Jared Anderson

Big weekend for the VolleyCARDS with a couple ranked matches and the Mustangs up first for a Friday night bout.

Louisville is 3-0 vs SMU winning 3-1 in Dallas in the 2024 matchup. opposite hitter Malaya Jones, right side Jadyn Livings and middle blocker Favor Anyanwu are all on the AVCA Division I Player of the Year Watchlist.  

Golf


The golf squad is set to close the fall season on the road heading to North Carolina to take part in the Ruth's Chris Tar Heel Invitational. 

This is the third time in the last four seasons the Cardinals will take part in the event. Louisville is one of 15 teams competing in the event. The field includes six teams ranked in the Top 25 and 10 in the Top 60.

The Cardinals are coming off their best team finish of the fall season at the Pirate Collegiate Classic. Louisville finished third overall in a field of 15 teams at 6-over-par 870 for the tournament.

The Cardinals lineup for the Tar Heel Invitational will include Madison Moman, Veronika Exposito, Millie Cottrell, Bailey Burkett and Emree Cameron.

Softball

The Cardinals wrapped up its Fall scheduled with Ohio State on Thursday evening at Ulmer Stadium.  I saw the squad warming up for the game when I was leaving work... Jared was able to make it over there and will cover the results in this weekend's podcast I'm sure.   The program doesn't really report stats from any scrimmages.  I can report that the Cardinals got the win :D

Im looking forward to some Friday night football and time spent with family this weekend!! Make it a great one. 

As Always, 
Go Cards!
~Daryl

WBB in Preseason Polls -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards 20th in AP; 4th in ACC

College basketball is officially right around the corner, and preseason polls are now accompanying watch lists. As Paulie mentioned yesterday, Laura Ziegler and Taj Roberts are on the preseason All-ACC team, and the Cards were picked to finish fourth. It was close between Louisville and Notre Dame for that fourth spot, with the two teams being separated by just 21 voting points. Each had two first place votes, giving them more than third place UNC. Plenty of voters that didn't award those teams their first place votes thought more highly of UNC, though. The Tar Heels finished 98 points ahead of the Cards. 

After a less than stellar year last season, it is not a major surprise that Louisville has some work to do to convince the ACC media of their bona fides. There's only one way to do that, and it's to win games. While Louisville's early season international game against UConn is a bit in doubt, they will still have plenty of opportunities against ranked teams to put up impressive wins. The Cards will enter the season as the #20 team in the country according to the Associated Press. 

If that game against UConn does manage to happen in Ramstein, it will be a big one. The Huskies returned to the top of the league with a preseason #1 ranking. It also wasn't particularly close. They garnered 27 of the 31 first place votes, with South Carolina picking up the remainder. UCLA is third, and Texas and LSU round out the top five. 

The first ACC team to find their spot in the rankings is Duke. The team picked to finish first in the ACC is ranked 7th overall. Louisville is the lowest-ranked ACC team to crack the top 25, with Notre Dame getting more love from the AP voters than the ACC media. The Irish are 15th, with NC State coming home 9th and UNC 11th. As I mentioned, the Cards will have plenty of chances to score ranked wins. The Cards will play those four teams a total of five times, with Notre Dame being Louisville's double opponent this season. 

Although 20th isn't great, it was very close in that portion of the poll. Louisville was well ahead of Iowa in 21st (98 points) and they finished just one point behind Vanderbilt and six points off of USC in 18th. The Cards are also ahead of UK, who will see Kenny Brooks without Georgia Amoore for the first time in what feels like forever. The Cats are tied for 24th with Richmond. 

If things go as planned, Louisville will get their season underway on November 4th. It'll be here before we know it. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Two WBB Cards Named To Pre-season All-ACC Team -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 ROBERTS & ZIEGLER GARNER PRE-SEASON HONORS

(PHOTO FROM GO.CARDS)

You know basketball season is getting close when the preseason teams and awards start to get posted and we have good news today about two of the student-athletes on Jeff Walz's 2025-26 Louisville WBB squad. 

Since yesterday was National Dessert Day, what could be a sweeter treat than having Tajianna Roberts and Laura Ziegler named to the 2025 All-ACC pre-season team? 

Hannah Hildago

They join top vote-getter Hannah Hildago (Notre Dame), Nunu Agara (Stanford), Zoe Brooks (North Carolina State), Kymora Johnson (Virginia), Toby Fournier (Duke), Ashlon Jackson (Duke), Khamil Pierre (NC State) and Reniya Kelly (UNC) on the ACC first team.

One bit of news that isn't exactly frosting on the cake or Creme Brulee is the news that the government shutdown might affect the Cards planned trip to Germany to face UConn on a Air Force base. 

Jeff Walz: "Our first game, as you know, is on our Air force base... if we (the  government) open back up. We're closed right now -- our country"

Taj Roberts on the potential trip: "I'm really looking forward to going. I think Walz really makes a point to help us  enjoy life as a whole....and understand that after basketball, there is going to be life. We got to go to Paris. It was really fun. Now, Germany. I'm sure we'll do a lot of cool things out there and be able to play at the highest level. UConn, they won the National Championship last year..so we are coming out with a bang and I am really excited for it.' 

Other options include moving the game to either the KFC YUM! Center or even a UConn site. 

In the pre-season team rankings...Duke has gathered the most votes...with 40 of the 70 possible. Following them, in order, are NC State (25), North Carolina, Louisville, Notre Dame, Stanford, Virginia, Miami, FSU, Virginia Tech, Clemson, California, Syracuse, SMU, Georgia Tech, Pitt. Boston College and Wake Forest.

Being picked fourth overall in such a strong conference is encouraging, especially with such a young team and transfer-laden squad. 

We will keep you up on all the latest UofL WBB news here at Cardinal Couple.

paulie 

Late Season Updates for Fall Sports -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Updates for 'Big Three' Fall Sports

Late October means that the 'big three' of the fall women's sports enter the tail end of their respective seasons. We'll take a look to see how each of them are doing.

Field Hockey

Record: 6-7

ACC Record: 0-3

Status: On life support

The ACC schedule continues to be brutal for the Cards. Their back-to-back losses came against top-10 teams Duke and North Carolina. Louisville has only lost by three scores or more twice this season so they have been competitive in most matches. Louisville cannot seem to get over the hump this year and their NCAA Tournament chances are just about gone.

Women's Soccer

Record: 11-3-1

ACC Record: 4-2-1 (5th in ACC)

Status: Exceeding way beyond expectations

The surprise team for UofL this year is women's soccer. After several years of .500 being the norm, the Cards have their highest win total since 2019 and should be a lock for the NCAA Tournament even with three matches left in the regular season. The ACC Tournament only takes six teams and with a match against #1 Virginia on the horizon, Louisville definitely needs positive results against NC State and SMU to remain in contention. Still, I don't see the Cards missing out at the national level.

Volleyball

Record: 14-2

ACC Record: 6-0 (tied-1st in ACC)

Status: Sitting comfortably

There were gripes from fans following the losses to Texas and Kentucky, but both teams are currently in the top three and both matches went five sets. The Cards still have wins over ranked Stanford and Creighton, both on the road. A new coach and some new faces on the starting rotation haven't changed a thing with Louisville being a Final Four contender. Hosting #8 SMU and #6 Pitt this weekend will be a tough task and will give us a better glimpse at how Louisville will fare the rest of the season.

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

WSoc FH and VB recaps -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Good morning

It was a cup filling weekend for myself, I hope you as well! Thanks for coming back to check in with the joys and excitement of UofL Women's sports. 

Students are back from Fall break and it was a very busy Sunday afternoon so lets hop right into the recaps for the Cardinals. 

Field Hockey

Louisville 0 - UNC 3

Photo: Jared Anderson

In the game, North Carolina outshot Louisville 23-2 with a 7-0 edge in shots on goal and a 12-2 advantage in penalty corners.  Alessia Cicuto (1-1) and Emily Young each collected a pair of saves in the contest.

Louisville had a scoring opportunity in the fourth quarter, earning back-to-back penalty corners, but a pair of shots by Annabel Sep were turned back by the Carolina defense to keep the Cards at bay.

UP NEXT

Louisville vs California

Friday 10/17

7PM 

Volleyball

Louisville 3 - Virginia 1 

Photo: Jared Anderson

Louisville moves to 14-2, 6-0 on the season as they hosted the Virginia Caveliers defeating them in 4 sets 25-11, 25-21, 23-25, 25-17 and boasting a .396 hitting percentage on the day with 71 kills, 63 digs, four service aces and four blocks.

Kalyssa Blackshear knocked down a team-high 20 kills, and Cara Cresse posted 16 kills of her own, both new career highs. Outside hitters Chloe Chicoine and Payton Petersen each recorded their sixth double-double of the year. Chicoine tabbed 12 kills and 16 digs, while Petersen added 14 kills and 13 digs. Setter/libero Hannah Kenny served three of the Cards' aces, with Chicoine adding the other ace. Kenny dug 11 balls and libero Kamden Schrand added 12 of her own in the win. Middle blocker Hannah Sherman stuffed two solo blocks and combined for one block assist to lead the defense.

UP NEXT

Louisville vs SMU 

Friday 10/17

7PM 

Women's Soccer

Louisville 1 - Boston College 0

Photo: Jared Anderson

The Louisville women's soccer team picked up another road conference with and are now 11-3-1, 4-2-1 in the ACC.  It was a 1-0 win over Boston College (4-6-5, 0-5-2 ACC) Sunday afternoon at Newton Soccer Field. 

The Cards scored in the opening 3 minutes of the game.  Betsy Huckaby put the Cardinals up early after scoring at the 2:30 mark of the first half.   Huckaby was at the right spot at the right time to get the Cards on the board in the third minute of the match. She fired a shot from outside the box after getting to a loose ball and curled it inside the left post and under the bar for the goal. It is her third goal of the season and put the Cards up 1-0.

It is the 10th shutout of the season for the Cardinals as they have allowed just 10 goals in their 15 games this season.

That goal was all the Cards needed as Erynn Floyd made three saves on the afternoon.  Boston College looked to equalize in the 19th minute coming off a corner kick. After the corner was deflected to the top of the box, the Eagles had a point blank shot on goal that was saved away by Floyd. The Eagles got to the rebound and put another shot on net but Floyd was able to make the save.

Cards took the 1-0 lead into the half. The Cardinals held a 13-3 shot advantage and 6-2 shot on goal advantage over the first 45 minutes of play.

In the second half, the Louisville defense stood tall and allowed just four shots and only one made it on frame. Floyd was able to make the save for her third of the afternoon to close out the win for the Cards and collect her eighth shutout of the season.

UP NEXT

Louisville vs #1 Virginia 

Saturday 10/18 

5PM on ACCNX

Louisville will be hosting Senior Day! 

As Always
Go Cards! 
~Daryl

Cards womens' sports play three on Sunday -- SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 WSOC, FIELD HOCKEY AND VOLLEYBALL ALL PLAY ON SUNDAY

It'll be a busy Sunday for you if you like to follow UofL women's sports. 

WSOC is visiting Boston College, Volleyball  hosts Virginia and Field Hockey visits UNC. Let's take a look at the upcoming battles. 

WOMEN'S SOCCER AT BOSTON COLLEGE

The kickin' Cards go northeast to face an Eagles squad that is 4-5-5 overall and 0-4-2 in the ACC. Losses to Pitt, UNC NC ST and Stanford aren't going to get you into post season, either in the ACC Tournament or the NCAA Tournament. 

It's a noon game, available on ACCNX and Louisville arrives after going 1-1-1 in their last three games...10 wins over the Cards on the season so far, with just three losses and one tie. 3-2-1 in the ACC isnt exactly stellar for UofL WSOC, but it means the Cards are 7-1 out of conference. They are, however, 1-3-1 on the road. BC is that bad, though, and Louisville should get the win in Beantown. 

FIELD HOCKEY AT UNC

The Tar Heels are 4-1 at home and the Louisville "stick girls" are 0-2 on the road.  oh, yeah, UNC is ranked #3 in the DI coaches poll..the Cards are 19th but just 6-6 overall. 

You could definitely say that a Cardinals win in Chapel Hill would be a huge upset.

Coach Erin Matson, a pretty fair player "back in the day" and head coach at UNC has instilled in the Heels that same fighting spirit and striving for success that she had. after all, she won the national title at UNC in her first year of coaching...at the tender age of 23. 

There is a good article on Erin if you read Women's Health magazine. You can access it:

 here

It's a noon game as well and can be viewed on ACC Network. 

VOLLEYBALL HOSTS VIRGINIA

13-2 Louisville Volleyball brings in the "Hoos" or Virginia if you will...the serve and spike gals will play this one in the LNFCUA (Louisville and Nashville Federal Credit Union Arena) and draws a 1 p.m. start. 

Virginia is 8-7 on the season overall but only 1-4 in ACC play. The Cavaliers have lost...in conference...to Stanford, California, Boston College and Notre Dame and only beaten syracuse...in five sets. 

it'll be ACCNX for viewing, don't expect to just walk up and gain admission, from what our photographer tells me, it's maybe the hardest seat to get in all of UofL sports. Dan Meske has handled the coaching transition well,,,but...seriously...shouldn't this team being playing in an arena that seats more than 1,000 all the time at home? 

THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR PODCAST

It was Case, Jared and me (Paulie) on the weekly podcast. Daryl was out drowning golf balls somewhere and could not join us. 

A very good podcast, as we covered the three main UofL women's fall sports, Peytona/Waddy (or is it Waddy/Peytona?), visiting in-laws, home improvements. puppies  and other worldly matters. 

OK, maybe not other worldly matters...but it deserves a listen and you can hear it HERE

paulie

Volleyball Sweeps Again; FH Falls Short -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Continue ACC Win Streak

Although their run of sweeps was broken Sunday by Stanford, Louisville upset the Cardinal in Maples Pavilion to continue their hot start in the ACC. That hot start was extended last night with a 3-0 victory over Virginia Tech in L&N FCU Arena. The Hokies didn't come in with a stellar record, but they are above .500 overall. Taking care of business at home is an important part of staying on track for a top seed in the NCAA tournament. Louisville won fairly handily, slipping just a tad in the third set with a final score of 25-11, 25-12, 25-17.

The Cards mostly dominated statistically. They finished with a .430 hitting percentage in the match and only had six errors overall. VT had 15 errors and hit .172. Ten of those VT errors were Louisville blocks, and the Cards dominated the serving battle with ten aces to VT's zero. Louisville was on fire at the line, as they had just four service errors, while VT dumped ten. That gave Louisville a net +16 in the category, which is going to be tough to overcome for the opposition. 

Points coming in different ways meant that kills were actually at somewhat of a premium. Louisville only had 40 as a team, and they were fairly well spread out. Chloe Chicoine (11) and Kalyssa Blackshear (10) led the way, as has become the norm, with only one error between the pair of them. Cara Cresse and Payton Petersen each had five while Hannah Sherman and Ava Utterback had four apiece. Cresse's five kills came on five attempts, giving her a hitting percentage of 1.000, and she had a solo block and two assists. Sherman and Blackshear each had five block assists. 

Louisville is back in action tomorrow at 1PM when they host the Virginia Cavaliers. UVA is very similar to VT, as they now sit at 8-7 overall (VT is 9-7) and both teams are 1-4 in conference play. Virginia is coming off a sweep at the hands of Notre Dame last night. Tomorrow's match will be carried on ACC Network Extra.

FH Drops Close Match at Duke

It's a tale as old as time, or at least as old as this season: Louisville field hockey came up just short with an opportunity for a marquee win. The Cards scored first in Durham yesterday, but Duke answered the goal in the third quarter and scored a winner in the fourth. Louisville wasn't able to find the back of the cage more than once, and it doomed them once more. 

Louisville field hockey has plenty of chances this season, and they do have some good wins, but the biggest victories have eluded them. Nearly beating Northwestern hurt a lot. Now, facing an incredibly difficult road trip against Duke and North Carolina, nearly beating Duke doesn't get it done. The Cards face UNC tomorrow and the #3 team will be looking to ensure the Cards can't finish over .500 in conference play. 

Rylie Wollerton scored her 8th goal of the season, which leads the team. Her goal came after a great pass by Gigi Edwards, who is now tied for third on the team in assists with three. Wollerton herself is second with four. Louisville faced significant pressure from Duke, with the Blue Devils putting up seven total shots, compared to just two for the Cards. Duke also had four corners (Louisville one), which they took advantage of by converting one for their equalizing goal. The Cards earned a chance late in the fourth when they won possession with an extra player on the pitch due to the empty net, but they weren't able to find a chance for a shot. 

After the match, Coach Justine Sowry lamented the mental lapses that prevented the Cards from closing out the game. Louisville has been susceptible to giving up the ball in critical situations late in games, and yesterday saw that unfortunate trend come into play once more. The Cards fall to 6-6 overall and 0-3 in conference play. With five conference games to go, they'll have to run the table to finish over .500 in the ACC. Louisville gets a very difficult opponent to open that final stretch when they take on UNC in Chapel Hill tomorrow. The match gets underway at noon on ACC Network.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

We'll have three on hand this week as Daryl took the opportunity to grab a tee time with Louisville football off. Paulie, Jared, and I will discuss the joy and excitement that have been brought by all three teams this week, while also touching on some of the other news that has come and gone. You can check out the show after it posts around 1PM, and be sure to subscribe so that it comes to your feed automatically. 

Cardinal Couple YouTube: Link

Spotify: Link

Apple Podcasts: Link

Google Podcasts: Link

Overcast (free account required): Link

Pocket Casts (free account and app required): Link

RadioPublic: Link

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

WSoc draws at WF -- FH and VB Preview -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

FRIDAYS WITH DARYL 

Good morning readers and thanks for coming back, its Daryl back with you after a week away.  Lots to cover for today so lets jump into it. 

WSoc Recap

Photo: Jared Anderson

Louisville 1  vs Wake Forest 1

The Cardinals went on the road and squeaked out a 1-1 draw with the #13 Demon Deacs.  Its the first tie for UofL this season moving them to 10-3-1.  The equalizer came on a late goal from Liza Suydam in the 81st minute assisted by Betsy Huckaby.  

Coming into the match, Wake Forest was 8-0 when scoring first.  They were able to strike first in the 29th minute when a first shot attempt was rejected off the back pole and ricocheted into the WF attack zone where they booted it right into the back of the net when Erynn Floyd fell attempting to block the first strike.   

Louisville has 4 games left on the regular season schedule.  Next up, they're on the road at BC Sunday at 12pm on the ACCNX. 


Volleyball Preview



Virginia Tech is holding a 9-6 (1-3 in the ACC) record. After sweeping their first two opponents of the season, the Hokies suffered a head scratching loss to Lindenwood in a 5-setter. They are coming off a 3-1 win vs Boston College and a 1-3 loss to Syracuse this past weekend. Against BC, the first set was won 30-28 by the Hokies.

Junior outside hitter Payton Woods logged 20 kills in VT's win over Boston College on Oct. 5. Woods has recorded double-digit kills in 11 of Virginia Tech's 15 matches this season.
The Hokies are second in the conference in total aces, serving 106 on the year.




FH Preview

Photo : Jared Anderson

The Cardinals are hitting the road to North Carolina where they will face #9 Duke on Friday evening with opening play set for 6pm.  This one will be available on the ACCNX.  

The Blue Devils are 7-4 on the season with a 2-2 ACC record. Last weekend Duke lost 1-0 to #2 Virginia in double OT on Friday and won 5-0 over #19 JMU Sunday. All four of their losses coming against current top six teams – No. 1 Northwestern (0-1), No. 2 Virginia (0-1, 2OT) No. 5 Syracuse (0-1) and No. 6 Liberty (3-4).

Duke leads the series record 15-9 with the Cards going 2-8 on the road vs the Blue Devils.  The last time the two faced off was a year ago when Duke won 3-0 at Trager Stadium. 

Alaina McVeigh leads the Blue Devil offense with 7 goals and 4 assists while Julia Boehringer follows closely with 7 goals and 3 assists.
Kaiya Chepow, goalkeeper for Duke stands second in the ACC and five in the nation with a 0.87 goals against average.

Fun Fact:
The Blue Devils are coached by Pam Bustin, who is in her 15th season at Duke. Prior to that, Bustin spent 13 seasons (1998-2010) as Louisville's head coach.

Justine Sowry served as an assistant under Bustin at UofL from 1998-2002. She was named Louisville's head coach following the 2010 season.

As Always, 
Go Cards

~Daryl 

WSOC Takes on Wake Forest -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Face #13 Deacs in Winston-Salem

Louisville women's soccer continues the brutal portion of their schedule with another top-15 opponent on the road tonight. Following a tough match against Notre Dame in which the Cards held on for 45 minutes but were outmatched in the second half, Louisville is right back into the frying pan with a match against #13 Wake Forest tonight at 7PM. Tonight's match will be shown on ACC Network Extra. 

Gigs spots Jared snapping a photo

Historically, Wake has been a team that Louisville matches up well against in conference play. Overall, Louisville has a 3-4-1 record against the fourth school on Tobacco Road, but two of those losses came before Louisville joined the ACC. Since 2014, the Cards are 3-2-1 against the Demon Deacons. Working against Louisville in this matchup, though, is that the Cards are 1-4 all-time in Winston-Salem, and Wake won the last meeting in 2023 1-0. 

This season, Wake is 9-2-2 overall and 3-1-1 in conference play. They sit one spot ahead of Louisville in the ACC rankings (fifth over sixth). Alarmingly, they're unbeaten at home, with a 7-0-1 record. Somewhat surprisingly, that home draw was a 1-1 score against Brown on September 7th. Wake hasn't lit the world on fire this year, but they've been consistent. Their three conference wins came over Miami, Virginia Tech, and at Duke, and they drew against Boston College on the road. Interestingly, they opened the season with a 2-0 win over SMU, but that doesn't count in their conference record for reasons that are unclear to me. That said, we've seen UNC and Duke play multiple times in a season in various Olympic sports, so it must be a North Carolina thing. 

Louisville and Wake Forest are 3-0 against common opponents, with those teams being Virginia Tech and Miami in conference and USC Upstate in non-conference play. Both teams played all three of those matches at home. Louisville beat USCU 9-0 and won the conference games 3-0 on aggregate. Wake had a less impressive performance against USCU (6-1), but they won the conference games 5-2. Miami and Virginia Tech are tied at the bottom of the conference with Syracuse all on one point. They've played one more game than the Orange. If Louisville can play as well on both sides of the ball as they have proven to be capable of, we could be in for a ranked road win for the Cards. If not, Wake could run away with it.

Perhaps the Wake Forest result that should most concern the Cards is their most recent one: a 2-1 loss on the road at NC State. NC State is a bit of an enigma this season. They are 2-1-2 in conference and their only loss was a 2-1 loss in South Bend in their conference opener. They drew Florida State 1-1 and drew VT 4-4 before the win over Wake. However, they were awful in non-conference play. They opened the season with a 3-0 home loss to James Madison and proceeded to start 0-5-2 before earning their first non-con win over Campbell at the last opportunity. All that is to say, Wake is probably not thrilled to have taken their first conference loss against the Wolfpack, and they may have something to say about it in a return to home play.

For Louisville's part, the Cards are 3-2 in conference play and are coming off a match in which they conceded the most goals all season. Granted, it was only three goals and it was on the road against one of the best (or at least highest-rated) teams in the country. Still, it's not the confidence builder you want to see in the middle of a tough swing such as this. 

Louisville does still have Amelia Swinarski at the helm of the offense, though, so things could be worse. Swinarski was recently named to the Julie Hermann Midseason Watch List, making her one of 35 players considered to be in contention for the top individual award in women's collegiate soccer. Swinarski's nine assists are fourth in program history for a single season and they see her atop the ACC and tied for second nationally in the category. She has 23 total points, which is third best in the ACC and tied for 11th nationally. Swinarski has been quieted in ACC play, though, as she has just two total points on a single goal. Louisville has not been the offensive powerhouse that we saw in non-conference play since the ACC season got underway. Wake's defense appears to be a bit porous, so tonight could be a great time to get back on track. 

A win would be critical in Louisville's battle to make the ACC tournament, as only the top six make the event. It would also be a big resume builder in the hunt for an NCAA tournament bid as well as for seeding. There are four games left to play after this one, but every point matters now. As I mentioned, kickoff is scheduled for 7PM on ACC Network Extra.

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

FH Blanks Bellarmine 6-0 -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 FIVE CARDS SCORE IN UOFL'S WINNING OF THE FH BATTLE OF EASTERN PKWY 6-0 OVER BELLARMINE

Louisville Field Hockey got two goals from Mary Wordelmann and allowed just one Bellarmine shot in the 6-0 shutout win over crosstown DI foe Bellarmine Tuesday afternoon at Trager field. 

Lauren Masters, Emily Eaton, Chloe Cuzzupe and Tyler Everslage were the other Cards to score for the Justine Sowry's squad...which improved to 6-5 on the season. Bellarmine drops to 2-10 with the loss. 

The Cards starters were Parker, Masters, Tatum Kroon, Eaton, Izzy Bianco, Annabel Sep, Cuzzupe, Everslage, Rylie Wollerton, Luciana Carpenter and Alessia Cucito in goal

The Cards scored three goals in the first quarter...starting with a Everslage pass to Eaton, who fond the net for her first goal of the season...with 12:57 left in the first frame. Three and one half minutes later, it was Cuzzupe getting a feed from Gigi Edwards and finding net success for her third goal of the season. The quarter's final goal came when closed when Masters was assisted by Sophia Parker and got her third score of the season. 

The two squads battled through a scoreless second quarter.  The Cards did get four shots off, but Bellarmine came up with three saves to send the squads into halftime with UofL leading 3-0 

The Cards added a goal in the third quarter to go up 4-0 and tacked on two more in the fourth quarter on three shots for the final 6-0 score. 

The victory was Justine Sowry's 250th career win and she had this to say after the contest.:

"We tried to get different combinations in today. It was fun to see it actually work and for a defender to be up there and able to finish a nice goal. Hopefully it will give the team a bit of confidence that we can play good hockey and finish on the scoreboard"

It was the highest goal total for the Cards so far this year and also their last non-conference game of the regular season. 

The Cards take to the road next...for a Friday night tilt at #6 Duke. It's a 6 p.m. contest and will be on ACCNX.

paulie