CARDINAL COUPLE

CARDINAL COUPLE
We report on the joy and excitement of UofL women's sports here. Thanks for checking us out! Click the picture of Louie to hear the latest Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast!!

Friday, September 17, 2010

Still undefeated...




WELCOME TO THE WEEKEND! (We're glad you made it! )


FRIDAY @ CARDINAL COUPLE PRESENTS:

-Women's soccer now 7-0



-Angel and the Dream can't survive the Storm



-We recall Covington



The University of Louisville women's soccer team improved to 7-0 with a 3-1 win over BIG EAST rival Cincinnati Thursday night in Cardinal Park. Stepping up big for the Cards was Christine Exeter with two goals in the game. She booted home her first one and first goal of the game late in the first half...capitalizing on a miscalculated blocked shot by Cincy goalie Rachel Barnette on a corner kick attempt by Louisville. The ball stayed in bounds, fell in front of Exeter and she nailed it into the net. Louisville would take that 1-0 advantage into halftime.



The Cards scored again midway thru the second half when Exeter placed a head shot into the goal from an Angelika Uremovich floating kick pass. The Bearcats retaliated minutes later on a nice drive and shoot from Cincy's Kendall Loggins, who barely sailed one by Louisville goalie Taylor Vancil.



Louisville closed out the scoring and sealed the win about five minutes later...late in the game...on a Jennifer Jones penalty kick.



Louisville has pulled off a dramatic turnaround from last year's 5-11-1 record and travels to Champaign. Illinois next to face the Illini for a Sunday afternoon match.





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Speaking of Champaign...or champagne...the Seattle Storm celebrate their 3-0 sweep of the Atlanta Dream in the WNBA finals. Another close one, with Seattle holding on late to survive 87-84. Angel McCoughtry and Coco Miller missed potential game tying threes as the clock ran out to give the Storm the win.

Can't blame this loss on Angel. She was spectacular in defeat...totaling 35 points. She led the Dream back late from a eight point deficit by cashing in on a three point play and hitting two free throw to make it a 85-82 game with 30 seconds to go. Izzy Castro Marquez hit a jumper to cut it to one with 7 seconds left..but the Dream had to foul to get the ball back and Camille Little sank both foul shots for the final margin.


Atlanta started the game horribly...falling behind 9-0 in the opening minutes. Led by Castro Marquez and McCoughtry, the Dream battled back into the contest and actually took the lead late in the 2nd quarter 41-39 on a Kelly Miller three. They led at half 44-43.


Atlanta increased that lead to 59-53 late in the third quarter after a McCoughtry layup but Seattle scored 14 out of the next 15 points to close out the third and necessitate the Dream rally.

Lauren Jackson was named MVP of the Finals..finishing with 15 points in the game. All the Storm starters hit double figures in the contest. Castro-Marquez finished with 21 for Atlanta and Coco Miller added 12.


Tough way to end the season for Atlanta after pulling the upsets in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Admittedly, though...Seattle had... by far... the best record in the WNBA this year and led by Jackson, Sue Bird, Camille Little, Swin Cash and Tanisha Wright...they went into the finals as the prohibitive favorite.


Here's hoping MaryNell Meadors can keep this exciting and productive Atlanta squad together for next year. Given the traditional topsy-turvy nature of WNBA rosters, it probably won't happen...but I'd enjoy seeing these eleven together for another year. A great mixture of experience and youth and the superhero abilities of Angel McCoughtry.

Can't wait to see you at the KFC YUM Center when they retire your number at the Tennessee game, #35...pizza is on me, Angel...In the meantime, get over to the USA FIBA squad and help bring back a title.


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Daniel Covington, UofL football player from 2005-2009 was gunned down in the streets of Louisville early Thursday morning and pronounced dead on arrival at a downtown Louisville hospital one half hour later. It has been confirmed that the shooter was UofL baseball player Isaiah Howes. The incident began when Howes and his brother found out that Howes' ex-girlfriend was in the car with Covington outside the Prime Lounge on 2nd street.


You can "google" or "bing" the details on this one if you wish. What I'm going to talk about here is the Daniel Covington that walked on a 2005 Bobby Petrino coached Louisville football team and finally earned a scholarship from Steve Kragthorpe in 2008. Covington was unselfish. He came in as a defensive secondary guy and moved to linebacker. He took any assignment...special teams included. He was great with the fans and popular amongst his teammates. He graduated in 2009. He saw the highs and lows of Louisville football...going to the 2006 Orange Bowl and suffering thru three years of the mediocre Kragthorpe coaching era. He did a great interview and photo shoot with our buddy Shannon Ruffra last season over at CARDINAL DOMINANCE. He was one of those guys who you loved to see circle the Stadium at the end of the game to exchange 'high fives' with the fans...becuase he was into it...not just going thru the motions.


A young man from Lexington, a college graduate, that decided for some reason to jump out of his car and start punching passengers in another car outside a Louisville nightclub. He took two bullets for his decision.


It happens every morning and night in the cities across the United States. We can lament the loss of a former Cardinal and offer condolences and prayers to his family, friends and former teammates. We can't bring him back, though. All we can do is offer the incident as an example of someone losing their self-control. I'm sure that, given a second chance...he would choose to stay in that car. To ignore the taunts or profanities that were shouted at him. It's too late for that, though. A rash decision in a moment of anger that turned out to be a bad one.


The pressures of the twenty-something young men and women in today's society can be overwhelming. I can only suggest these words. Turn the other cheek. Be cool. Tomorrow's another day. A day that Daniel Covington...sadly...won't see.

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