CArds WSOC and FH sweep Sunday -- MONDAY CARDINALCOUPLE

 ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL SUNDAY ON FLOYD STREET

A fun afternoon of watching UofL women's sports on sunday via the ACC Network Extra for me. If you made the drive down to campus to watch any or all of the actio, i hope you have rehydrated and had a great time. 

Starting it off, Louisville women's soccer met the Akron Zips and pulled them down and exposed their weaknesses. To end the day, Cards Field Hockey battled a very good IU squad tooth and nail and finally prevailed in overtime. Let's look at the wins a little closer, shall we?

LOUISVILLE WOMEN'S SOCCER 5 - AKRON WOMEN'S SOCCER 0 

Louisville struck early in the match at Lynn, getting a score 11:47 into the contest when Liza Suydam took a fee from Nicole Jodoin and discovered net success. The Cards offense was the show pretty much all of the contest, and tacked on another goal about six minutes late when Amelia Sinarski got into the act after getting set up by Suydam and Jodoin. Two minutes later, Swinarski picked up another goal, this time on a pass from Karina Peat. It was 3-0 after 20 minutes of action. The Zips looked lost on the pitch. The Cards would not score again the rest of the half but got four more attempts off and a stubborn cross bar on the goal prevented the score from being 4-0 going into the mid-match break. Still..34-0 was a formidable lead and gave coach Norton a chance to explore some other combinations. 

UofL got four shots off in the first seven minutes of the second half and the one from Karina Peat , off a Jodoin assist, got by the Zips goalkeep to make it 4-0. The Cards would add their final goal in the 73rd minute of the 90 minute game...Abigail Cox getting an unassisted score.  It is the third time this season the Cards have scored five goals in a match. 

The stats indicated the rout. Louisville had 22 shots, 10 of them on goal. Akron attempted 2 with one of them on goal. The Cards had a 9-1 corners advantage and used 18 players..17 got at least 37 minutes except for one. 

Next up for the Cards WSOC is a trip to Lexington to face UK on Thursday. 

LOUISVILLE FIELD HOCKEY 2 - iNDIANA FIELD HOCKEY  1 

The squads went thru a scoreless first period where  IU actually looked to be the more aggressive squad on offense. The Cards go off only three shots, two of them coming with less than a minute to play in the quarter and IU countered with five. Neither of the squads scored in the first 15 minutes. 

In the second quarter, the scoreless affair continued until the Cards got on the board when Lauren Master got her first goal o fthe season on an assist from Aubreigh Uba at the 26:43 mark of the contest. That lead lasted the rest of the first half and the Cards went to the locker room carrying a fragile 1-0 edge. 

A scoreless third period followed the halftime intermission . The Cards took only  two shots in the quarter, while IU had seven attempts.  That fragile 1-0 UofL lead was still in place but IU was getting way more shots off and you had to wonder just when they were going to finally connect on one. 

Almost eight minutes into the final quarter, IU got a tying score. The goal came only 18 seconds after IU had pulled their goalie to increase their scoring chances. Neither team was able to score the rest of the way, and the cards were headed to their secon dovertime game in two contests. 

A ten minutes overtime session ensued. 

Uba got checked rather roughly driving to the goal for a shot in the extra time and the refs awarded her a penalty stroke attempt against the IU goalie after a long review.  It was a golden opportunity for the Douglasville, PA native to end the contest and she did just that in her one-on-one contest...scoring her first goal of the season and giving the Cards the "W" they are now 2-0 on the season.

UofL travels to St. Louis next...for a Friday, Sept 4th contest. 

Cards Field Hockey and WSOC return to action today on campus -- SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 AKRON AND INDIANA SCHEDULED TO FACE CARDS SQUADS TODAY

Both Louisville Field Hockey and Women's Soccer will return to play today, with the "Kicking Cards" going up against Akron at 1 p.m. and the "Stick Cards" engaging in a match with IU at 2 p.m. The ACCNX will show the soccer match...according to one source i found..and another source reads that the field hockey match will be on ACCNX..so I guess we'll know for sure when 1 p.m. rolls around.. . 

LOUISVILLE WOMEN'S SOCCER VS AKRON

This will be the first meeting ever between the two squads. The Zips come into town with a 2-1-0 record and most recently fell to Duquesne 2-0. 

Rachel Wenzel leads the Zips in scoring with two goals and the squad has scored five goals in three contests. 2025 was a rebuilding season for Akron...going 5-9-4 and posting a 2-7-3 record in MAC Conference play. 

The two Akron wins this season came against Oakland (3-0) and U.S.I. (2-1)

The Cards are now 3-1, after their win over Miami (OH) and, hopefully...won't be looking too far ahead to their upcoming match against UK in Lexington on Thursday, Set 3rd .  

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

LOUISVILLE FIELD HOCKEY VS INDIANA

Last year the Cards and Hoosiers played to a 5-4 Louisville win in Bloomington. The Hoosier are 0-1 so far this season, losing to Miami, OH 2-1 Saturday at Trager Stadium.

IU has three players back who scored against the Cards last season. Junior forward Charlotte Glasper, sophomore midfielder Molly Shutte, and senior midfielder Inez Garcia Prado.

The Cards lead the series all-time with a 19-7 record. They are 11-2 against the Hoosiers at Trager and 8-5 in Bloomington. 

This one is a 2 p.m. start at Trager and is listed to be shown on ACCN.X

paulie 

UofL Field Hockey, Volleyball Pick Up Friday Wins -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 HOME TURF, COURT DEFENDED IN CARDINAL WINS

Two UofL women's sporting events on campus on the same day? And two wins? Yes, it did happen Friday down on the Belknap campus...as #18 Louisville Field Hockey started it off with a dramatic shootout victory over #10 Miami (OH) 2-1 and #7 Louisville Volleyball thumped the visiting IU Hoosiers all over LNFCUA in three sets....25-20, 25-12 25-11. 

FIELD HOCKEY UPSETS #10 MIAMI (OH) IN OVERTIME

On the Trager turf, the Justine Sowry coached Louisville Field Hockey squad had a defensive battle with Miami (OH)  in a match that saw Cards goalie Emily Young pick up eight saves in a affair that ended in a tie at the end of regulation play, and then went through two overtimes before a shootout ended in the Cards favor .

Sowry breaks down the win HERE 

Gigi Edwards scored the Cards lone regulation goal in the second quarter. Edwards took a pass from Annabel Sep with 3:43 left in the first half and drove to the goal to put in a shot which put the Cards up 1-0. Miami tied it up in the third quarter and the teams kept up the defensive pressure on each other the rest of regulation and thru two overtimes. 

In the best-of-five shootout, it came down to the final players taking attempts against the opposing goalkeeper. Both teams had recorded a shootout goal, Tyler Everslage sank her attempt to end it after Miami (OH) missed a go-ahead effort. 

The Cards return to Trager Sunday to face IU. A 2 p.m. affair, and ACCNX will show it.  

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

VOLLEYBALL SWEEPS INDIANA

Louisville got a good battle from IU in the first of three sets in the LNFCUA Friday night before winning 25-20, then made the final two sets look pretty easy in the sweep over the Hoosier squad. The Cards offense recorded 39 kills and posted a lofty .346 hitting percentage.

Chloe Chicoine led UofL with 11 kills, Chloe Meester added 10 kills and Kalyssa Blackshear was good for nine. 

IU led once in the contest, on the opening serve. The Cards scored the next four points, and then went up 10-4. UofL stretched the advantage to 22-15 late in the first set, before IU rallied back for three straight points and closed the Cardinal edge to 23-20, but two Chicoine kills closed the book on the first set. 

In the second set, IU hung close early at 6-5, but a 13-3 UofL run put the Cards up 19-6. Louisville coasted in for the 25-12 eventual second set victory

After the halftime break, a 5-0 opening Cardinals run to start the third set indicated that the Cards weren't looking to "play four" last night and they eventually stretched the lead out to 15-4. That lead increased to 20-9 and the Cards finished with a 5-2 run to grab a 25-11 third set win and end the match. 

The VolleyCards return to action Monday night when they host Dayton in the LNFCUA. A 6 p.m. start for this one and ACCNX will handle the broadcast. 

Enjoy your weekend!

paulie

 

Cards WSOC Grounds Flyers 4-2 -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 SCORING FLURRY PUSHES LOUISVILLE PAST DAYTON

This one was 1-1 with 17 minutes gone in the second half and one had to wonder if the next goal by either team would be the winning goal. Then, Louisville remembered..."Hey, we're the team that scored five goals in each of our last two games"...and unleashed a three goal scoring flurry in a seven minute period and coasted in for a 4-2 win at Dayton. 

Four different players scored for the Cards..and one of them wasn't Amelia Swinarski..which was a mild surprise...to push the Cards to a 3-1 season mark. 

The Flyers were the first ones to find the back of the net in the contest...when they scored off a throw-in 21 minutes into the match. Louisville would counter with 37:28 gone in the first half when Swinarski set up Trista Morris with a feed and the sophomore defender from the Brown School here in Louisville got her first collegiate goal of the season with a nice plant from the left foot into the bottom center of the net. 

That tied it 1-1 and that's the way the squads went into the half. 

At the 62:17 mark of the second half, the Cards took a 2-1 lead when Grace Morris took a pass from "you know who" (Swinarski) and headed it in. The Cards added a third goal six minutes later when Abigail Cox picked up her first goal of the season off a pass from Brooklyn Lee and just a minutes or so later the Cards made it 4-1 when Liz Eddy drilled one into the back of the net. 

Dayton would end the scoring in the game when they climbed back within two with15 minutes to play...to make it 4-2 and that's it how it ended. . 

The Cards will return home and host Akron on Sunday. It'll be a 1 p.m. kick back and ACCNX will broadcast it. 

paulie

WSOC faces Dayton at Dayton tonight -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 1-2 FLYERS HOST 2-1 LOUISVILLE WOMEN'S SOCCER

Louisville Women's Soccer heads north tonight to face the Dayton Flyers in Dayton, OH at Baujan Field. It's scheduled for a 7 p.m. start. Live streaming will be available on ESPN+ and live stats at the Dayton Flyers website. ESPN+ is a "pay for" service that runs $13.99 a month 

Last time out, the Flyers hosted the UK Wildcats but got grounded 5-0 by the Big Blue women.  UD opened the season at West Virginia and fell 2-0, then returned home and won over Toledo 2-1. 

Scoring the two goals this season for the Flyers this season are Olivia Baca and Lauren Contini, with one each. If the name Lauren Contini sounds familiar, she started her studies at UofL back in 2024 and is now starting her second second as a Flyer. 

Louisville began season action hosting Nebraska and fell 3-1. Since then, the Cards have won two in a row at Lynn Stadium, downing IU Indy 5-1 and Belmont 5-0.

Tops in scoring for UofL after three contests are Liza Suydam and Amelia Swinarski with two goals each. All told, nine different Cards have scored for the Red and Black this season. 

Dayton has only one player from Kentucky...junior forward Laney Smith, out of Ft. Thomas Highlands. 

The Cards have six players that hail from Ohio. Suzie Roginski, Norah Roush, Amelia Swinarski, Avery George, Fina Davy and Ella Bard. 

Eric Golz is the Flyer head coach, assuming the role back in 2016. 

We'll recap the action in the Friday Cardinal Couple, so be sure to come back at check out the results here on the only site we know of that likes to mix their black eyed peas with mashed potatoes and serve them on Zwieback crackers...usually to bewildered consumers. 

paulie

Walz adds another...Amiya Joyner -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 EX ECU, LSU STAR JOINS CARDS WBB

Jeff Walz continues to stock the pantry with goodies. 

He has brought aboard 6 foot 2 forward Amiya Joiner, who spent three years at East Carolina and a year at LSU. 

From Farmville, NC. she averaged 9.2 ppg and 7.2 rebounds last year at LSU and will add experience, depth and skill to a Cards front line that already has Mackenly Randolph, Carys Baker, Elif Istanbulluoglu, Grace Mbugna and Ayse Melek Demirer. 

Fifth year eligibility movement strikes again.  

Her numbers at ECU her junior year are even more impressive. She averaged 15 points a game and 9.2 rebounds. 

She joins a squad that is already bursting with top flight talent and impressive incoming freshmen. Back for the Cards are proven talent like Imari Berry, Mackenly Randolph, Elif Istanbulluoglu, and Taj Roberts.

Joyner was one of 30 student-athletes that received temporary eligibility for another year from the NCAA and access to the transfer portal. Jeff Walz jumped at the chance to bring her onboard the Cards roster. 

Joyner's career high point total was in 2024 when she put up 32 against Howard when she was at ECU. 

Welcome aboard Amiya and shoot and score! 

paulie

 

Volleyball brings three in to end August and start September -- TUESDAY CARDINA COUPLE

 VOLLEYCARDS FACE THREE IN THE LNFCUA

Chloe when she was a Boilermaker

Louisville Volleyball will bring in three opponents to close out August and start September. Being a squad that has two home courts, these next three will be at the smaller venue for Cards Volleyball, the on-campus L&N Federal Credit Union Arena. 

First up is Indiana on Friday, August 28th. The Cards lead the all-time series 9-8, but the two haven't faced each other since 2008, when IU won 3-2. The Cards are 4-2 overall against IU when UofL is the home squad. 

Next is Dayton on Monday, August 31st. Louisville leads the series 10-6 all-time and is 6-2 when they are the home squad. They last met in 2024 and the Cards won in five sets.  

Then, it's TCU on Friday Sept. 4th. The Cards are 5-0 all-time against TCU and this one will start at 4 p.m. on the Labor Day Weekend. 

There aren't any official Volleyball rankings at this time, although TV was showing the Cards as a #6 ranked team, I'm not sure who was doing the ranking. 

The Cards are 1-1 on the young season, defeating Texas A&M and losing to Wisconsin in Milwaukee. 

Louisville women's soccer blanks Belmont 5-0 -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 CARDS FLY PAST BELMONT WOMEN'S SOCCER

Good to be back with everyone after a nice, restful vacation watching the water rushing by our scenic accommodations viewpoint in Gatlinburg. Despite there being Jeeps everywhere we went, we we able to get away from the go, go, go pace of life in Louisville and relax, rejuvenate and restore. Always good to catch up with acquaintances down there and dine at some of our favorite spots. 

Meanwhile.... 

Louisville women's soccer got out to an early lead on Belmont and never looked back, picking up a 5-0 shut out on the Bruins on Sunday night at Lynn Stadium. 

Louisville had a 27-2 shot advantage over the Nashville school and held a 12-2 shot on goal edge. 

The Cards opened the scoring when Brooklyn Lee found Amelia Swinarski with a set up ten minutes into first half action. UofL tacked on a second goal 25 minutes into the contest when Lee got a goal off a set up from Liz Eddy. Those two goals completed the first half scoring. 

In the second half,  the teams went almost 30 minutes without a goal...finally Swinarski found A.G.Gibson for an assist and the Cards were 3-0  leaders. Less than three minutes later, UofL struck again, this time when  Nicole Jodain sent a long shot toward the Belmont goal and it seemed to catch the defense by surprise and the goal made it 4-0 Cards. 

The Cards picked up their final score with about four and one half minutes to go in the contest when Kiley Peat set up Taylor Wilson for the closing score of the game. 

Louisville is now 2-1 on the season and will face Dayton at Dayton next on Thursday. 

paulie

Annabel Sep gets pre-season ACC Field Hockey honors. -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 SENIOR DEFENDER FROM NETHERLANDS IS ALL-ACC

Annabel Sep

Annabel Sep had a tremendous junior season in the Louisville field Hockey defensive backfield in 2025 and will be looked upon to bolster the Cards ball-stopping efforts in the 2026 season. 

She made the second team National Field Hockey All-West Region in 2025 and All-ACC Second team honors as well. She also did a bit of scoring for UofL Field Hockey with four goals and two assists.  

Justine Sowry recruited her and used the international student-athlete recruiting agency SianStox to help facilitate the transition to the States from the Netherlands. 

Minout "Minnie" Mink ...one of my favorite UofL field Hockey players of all-time

Louisville has had a fair modicum of success going the Netherlands route in past years. Julie Kouilzer and Charlie van Oirschot are two that come to mind immediately, although van Oirschot ended up going to play at Duke as a junior and was a three year starter in 59 games for Pam Bustin. Other former "Dutch" Cards include Tatum Kroon and Minout Mink. 

Louisville field Hockey goes against Bellarmine in an exhibition contest on Wednesday and will also scrimmage Ball State (on the 22nd) before officially getting the season underway against Miami, (OH) on August 28th. 

paulie

 

CARDS WSOC STORMS PAST IU INDY 5-1 -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 CARDS SCORE ALL GOALS IN FIRST HALF IN WIN OVER JAGUARS 

In a game that was delayed by almost two hours because of thunderstorms in the Louisville area, it was the Louisville Cardinals women's soccer team who emulated the storm and thundered past IU Indy early and often in the 5-1 win at Lynn. 

Louisville scored 52 seconds into the contest when Karina Peat set up Liza Suydam with a pass and the goal that followed by Suydam made it 1-0 Cards. Louisville dominated the offense for almost all of the first half and got their second goal at the 11:38 mark after Liz Eddy and A.G.Gibson assists found Peat for a goal and a 2-0 lead. 

Louisville maintained the offensive attack pressure and Ella Bard got into the scoring at the 16:04 mark, this time Suydam supplied the assist and the rout was pretty much on with almost 30 minutes left in the first half. Five minutes later, Amelia Swinarski got into the goal scoring club when Peat picked up her second assist of the night. 

UofL picked up their final goal of the half, and for the game, when Abigail Cox connected from the passing of Fina Davy and Betsy Huckaby....with seven minutes left in the first half. The 5-0 halftime lead was a clear case of one-sided domination and superiority. 

IU Indy did pick up a score in the second half against UofL reserves, but the Cards worked on a lot of things with a lot of different personnel. Louisville used 21 players in the contest and none of them saw less that 15 minutes on the pitch. 

Stats wise, the Cards had 30 shots, compared to the Jags four.  UofL had 18 of those on shots on goal while IU Indy had just one. The Cards took 18 corners, where IU Indy took just one.  

Give IU Indy credit, they didn't continue to fall apart in the second 45 minutes and actually. won the scoring battle 1-0...but UofL got back to a .500 record on the young season with a dominant win after a stormy start to the evening. 

paulie