Case Hoskins reviews Clemson loss...women's soccer falls in double OT -- SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Fall in a Shootout at Clemson -- 42-36

As I sat staring intently at my phone, watching the play by play change at an agonizingly slow pace, in the back of my friend's car, I rewrote the beginning of this article countless times in my head. This is what I settled on.

I chose to spend my weekend at the Louder than Life rock musical festival at Champion's Park, and my favorite band, Avenged Sevenfold, took the stage at 9:40PM. Since there were no TVs available, no reentry into the festival, and we wanted a good spot for the show, I sacrificed getting to watch any of the Louisville game. Since the signal was spotty, we couldn't even see score alerts with any reliability. I found out when the game was tied 7-7, when Clemson took a 14-7 lead, and when Louisville trailed 28-10 at the half. It was disappointing, but I cared more about the live music at the time. By the time we made it to the car, the fourth quarter had begun, and Louisville had taken the lead. That is when my phone watching began.

In one of their updates, the designers of the ESPN app decided to put the current win probability percentage right next to the updating play-by-play. It's impossible to ignore and excruciating to see. When I finally walked into my house an hour later, that win probability ticked up to 99.9% in favor of Clemson. See, Louisville had just gained 11 yards on a 4th and 12, with James Quick being forced out of bounds at about the Clemson 3 and a half yard line. He needed to get to the 2. Much will be said in the upcoming days about Quick's effort to gain the first down, so I'll just say this: If your team needs a first down with the game on the line in a top 5 road matchup, I don't see how you don't do everything in your power to gain an extra yard. 

Despite whether or not he tried hard enough, James Quick is not to blame for the Louisville loss

 Fingers can be pointed all over the place. A false start penalty drove the Cards back an extra five yards on the fourth down play in question. The team struggled completely in the first half. The defense was unable to hold onto an 8 point lead after Louisville scored 26 unanswered points to take control of the game. It's extremely frustrating for the team to take a loss in this game, especially since every game with Clemson has come down to the wire. It's even more frustrating that, with Florida State's last second loss to North Carolina, Louisville's road to the ACC Championship is extremely rocky now. 

I've always hated writing about losses, and without getting to see more of the game, that's really all I have to say about it. I truly believe that Louisville is a better team than Clemson, despite the head to head result. I think that in a large sample size, Louisville would win last night's game more than half the time, even in Death Valley. Unfortunately, in real life, you play the game once. Clemson took it this time, and I'll tip my hat to them for it. It sucks, but the road doesn't end here. Louisville still has a special team, and there's no telling what lies ahead for the rest of the season.

Until next time, Go Cards.

-CH-

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IN OTHER NEWS...


Another Saturday night for UofL soccer and another two overtime affair...the Kickin' Cards falling to #15 Notre Dame 2-1.

In the 104th. minute of play, the Irish capitalized on a corner kick to end the contest. UND out-shot the Cards 22-13 in the contest and go to 8-1-3 overall and 3-0-1 in the ACC. Louisville stands at 7-3-2 on the season...2-1-1 in ACC play.

The Cards scored with just 4:14 gone in the first half... Alison Price receiving a header from Niamh Nelson and using her head to beat the Irish goalie. That lead held until the 37:04 mark in the first.

Both teams had chances to win in regulation...Notre Dame narrowly missing when a shot on goal actually bounced off the sidebar and went back into the field instead of in the net. Sarah Feola had a good shot for the Cards in the 70th. minute but Irish goalie Kaela Little made the save.

Taylor Bucklin had a season high nine saves in the game for the Cards, who will return to action Thursday night when they host NC State.

As much as we complain about WSOC''s system for handling tie games after regulation,..Louisville played well enough last night in the first 90 minutes to actually make one hope it went into overtime and the Cards could pull it out . Sadly, a mixup late prevented that...but the Cards are still having a great year and will be ready for the Wolfpack.

Coach Ferguson-Dayes post-game remarks at the link below:


LINK: KFD discusses Notre Dame game


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ROWING ON THE RIVER

We had an absolutely wonderful time on the Ohio River yesterday...doing our weekly radio showTHE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR there. It was Cards vs. Cards in the eight race card...which featured some interesting match-ups...like Kentucky vs. Kentucky squad members, Alumni vs. Seniors and Florida vs. Georgia. I' m glad to say that Louisville (in one form or another) won each event!

I arrived around 10:15 to find our tent was already set up (to keep us dry) and Worldwide was already setting up our equipment. At 10:30 Coach Copeland welcomed the crowd and introduced his staff and there was a boat dedication...Elaine Wise...who is the faculty Athletic Representative honored.

Al Greener and the Pep band were on hand early and we chatted with him. We also noticed that former WBB player Megan Deines was on hand to watch the regatta...unfortunately we did not get a chance to talk to her.

The races began at 10:50 and our first guest...junior rower Elizabeth Patrick joined us right at 11 a.m. After a delightful and informative interview with the marketing major, Patrick left us to participate in the 6th race and senior Gabi Biedenharn, fresh off her win in the first race...which featured Internationals vs. Americans...sat down with us and filed us in on the ins and out's of the sport, event and her time at UofL. She hopes to parlay her Sports Administration major into a social media career and has already has experience in the field.

The show seemed to fly by and before we knew it, the light rain had left, it was noon and the alumni vs. alumni final event paddled by us. We had a great view of the races and both student-athletes helped us identify most of the races and who was winning. Unfortunately, we weren't able to get Coach Copeland on the air with us, but chatted with him throughout the day and will definitely be doing an interview with him down the road.

We enjoyed a delicious pot-luck lunch after the racing and also watched as the team raffled off six items...including two tickets to the UK v. UofL football game and souvenir basketballs signed by Rick Pitino and Jeff Walz...plus four tickets to games! We left around around 2 p.m....full of food and happy about covering the event.

If you have never been to the event, you need to attend next year! A special thanks to Pierce and Garett Wall from the UofL SID department for his assistance, the rowing staff and players and WCHQ 100.9 for letting us do this!

LINK TO REBROADCAST: REBROADCAST OF 10-1-16 SHOW ON THE RIVER!


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FINAL WORD ON FOOTBALL LOSS TO CLEMSON

AFTER a night's sleep to think it over...I can't be too discouraged about the loss to Clemson. Sure, there are things to nit-pick about if you wish...but the Cards overcame a 28-point second quarter by the Tigers and had a lead late in the fourth quarter. Much has been said already about James Quick's catch and run that failed to produce a first down and gave the ball back to Clemson. I will refrain. I played the game. Things happen so fast on the field. 

I looked at the season way before the first kickoff. I publicly stated I would be happy with two wins out of our contests with Florida State, Clemson and Houston. I still would be.

Lamar Jackson did nothing to hinder his Heisman hopeful season. And Clemson defensive punk Ben Boulware should be suspended for the season for his intentional throat-choking and gouging the eyes of Jackson. There is no call for that in the game. It's a misdemeanor at the very least and any court in the land would find "Bozo-ware" guilty of assault and battery. Don't even go with accidential forearm placement. This was deplorable, harmful and an act of crime. 

The Cards lost...but Louisville will survive, they will return and definitely still a daggone good team. Go Cards. Beat Duke. 

paulie
xxxxx