Field Hockey Finishes in O.T. -- WSOC Prevails in O.T. -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

In a day that provides bonus time for both the Louisville Field Hockey and women's Soccer squads...both fall sports got wins. 



CARDS 1 - MICHIGAN ST 0

Erin McCrudden couldn't have picked a better time for her first score of the season...


Shortly after 70 minutes of scoreless Field Hockey...Shannon Sloss started an overtime drive and found McCrudden with a pass that she fired by MSU goalkeeper Katie Miller to give the Cards the hard-earned win in the 7 v 7 overtime session. 

The Cards had the chance to win it as time expired in regulation, but...off a penalty corner...Bethany's Russ sent a shot toward goal that would have ended it if it hadn't bounced the wrong way off the side post. Three minutes later, in overtime, the Cards extended their win streak to six with McCrudden's score. 

Louisville held the statistical edge with 19 shots -- compared to MSU's 6. 

Justine Sowry was pleased: 

" I am very proud of our team's performance today.  That is one of the grittiest wins we've had against a very resilient and energetic Michigan State team.  Their goalkeeper was superb and kept denying our shots and the easy thing for us to do would have been to panic and lose our pose. We kept to our identity and kept persisting. We deserved to win this game and fortunately overtime was on our side in this occasion and it was a great finish by Erin." 


It'll be an even bigger identity check for the Flock beginning on Friday when the Cards return home and face Duke to begin ACC play. Coached by former UofL head coach Pam Bustin, the Blue Devils won both their weekend contests -- over Virginia and James Madison -- To remain perfect at 6-0 also. They are ranked #2 in the nation

A great match-up that begins at 6 p.m. Friday at Trager....we'll have more on it as it gets closer. 

If you want to get a little early tailgating practice in before the Louisville v. FSU football game on Saturday, this is the perfect venue to practice it. Come out to the game and help the Flock protect Trager. 




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KICKIN' CARDS BOOT PAST BELMONT 2-1


Freshman Brooklynn Rivers provided both Cardinal scores...one in overtime..as the women's soccer soccer battled back from a 1-0 deficit to win in overtime over Bemont Sunday night in Lynn Stadium. 

Scoring off a deflection, the Bruins took the 1-0 lead 22 minutes into the first half and held it until there were just 18 minutes left in regulation. Rivers connected on a penalty kick and the teams played the remainder of the second half scoreless.

It was Rivers who won it...eight minutes into overtime...when she got free on a break and sent one over the goalkeepers head to give Louisville the 2-1 victory. 

Karen Ferguson-Dayes will take the win: 

'" I think it may have been our worst performance to date...the irony is that we won. We'll take the win. Give Belmont a lot of credit...they battled us hard the whole way. Brooklynn had a great performance tonight and you haven't seen the best of her yet."

Louisville improves to 5-2-1 with the win and will travel to Pittsburgh for a Saturday afternoon -- ACC Conference opener against the Panthers.

OUR VIEW AT THE TITANS GAME. WE WERE "UP THERE"

Once again, the Cards...as they did Friday...dominated the shots statistics...24-6 and shots on goal 13-4. Taylor Bucklin went the distance at goal and had three saves. 

So...in a contest I was fervently following on Twitter while returning from Nashville..."the Rivers" rose and the Cards salvage the weekend with a win. They could have made it easier on Paulie and just played the game down there...Belmont is located in Nashville...and I could have had a football (Titans vs. Vikings) and WSOC double-header Sunday... 

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SO...What does it all mean, Paulie? 

First off...Cardinal sports fans have to be pleased that both squads are well-over .500 at this juncture of the seasons. I know a few of you are disgruntled about the WSOC loss to UK...let it go and take a look at the overall "state of Lynn" report so far. 

5-2-1 and with freshmen providing a very huge contribution and role in women's Soccer's successes, Karen Ferguson-Dayes' squad has pretty much met my expectations for them at this point of the schedule. We expected the defense to be strong and and they are holding opponents to less than one goal per game. We hoped for an offensive resurgence and we've received that...the 2016 squad has already out-scored the 2015 squad and their are 10 regular season games left. All of those 10 are ACC games. We would like to see the Kickin' Cards make the eight-team ACC Tournament in late October - early November. If they can go .500 over the next ten we think they'll get there. Yes, three of the final four are on the road...(Miami, FSU and Virginia Tech) but a four game home-stretch that begins 9/25 should help them build up a few wins. 




Finally, Field Hockey has been nothing short of amazing in six outings. 13 regular season games remain...the final three of the season on the road. Nine of these 13 opponents are currently ranked in the top 20...so the competition doesn't get any easier...five ACC schools grace the top ten and the Cards sit at #8  You have to beat the best to become the best, though...and Justine Sowry's stick-swingers will have that opportunity to control their own fate. The state of Trager...well, it hasn't been too challenged in two games...but with a 15-2 scoring edge at Trager...we have to think the Cards will hold their own with anyone who comes into the stadium. We'll find out Friday against the Dookies. 


paulie
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