A Winning Friday -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Field Hockey Takes Win in Exhibition 

Louisville took down Miami (OH) in yesterday's midday exhibition with a final regulation score of 6-2.  After the regulation period, the teams continued to play an overtime and shootout to get in some practice for future situations. Louisville prevailed in both of those as well, scoring about halfway through the sudden victory period and taking the shootout 3-2. Prior to Louisville running away with the game, the Cards and Redhawks were locked in a battle, reaching ties at 1-1 and 2-2. The half finished at 2-2 with Louisville holding a 10-3 shot advantage. The advantage in possession and scoring opportunities came to a head for Louisville in the second half as they scored 4 unanswered in the second half. Louisville's regulation goals came from all over with Whena Munn, Jillian Shive, Marigrace Ragsdale, Taylor Stone, Minout Mink, and Sydnie Smartwood. Whena Munn added her second goal during the overtime period and Stone and Mink grabbed their second goals during the shootout. Freshman Alli Bitting rounded out the scoring with a goal during the shootout.

Louisville is still without Ayeisha McFerran as she is on international duty, but sophomore goalkeeper Hollyn Barr did well in her place. She gained one save on Miami's 6 total shots. Louisville field hockey will be back in action today when they play their annual alumnae game at 2PM today.

Women's Soccer Holds on in Tight Win

The regular season got underway for the women's soccer team last night as they hosted Boston University. After a one-sided first half with Louisville leading 2-0, the game became very interesting in the second half before Louisville finished with a 3-2 victory. Fans on the west side of Lynn Stadium were treated to the most action with 4 goals coming in the goal in front of the Berm. Louisville dominated the first half, with 10 shots in the first half to BU's 1. They used their opportunities to gain a 2-0 advantage. They started the scoring in the 19th minute when Gabby Vincent sent a deep ball toward the box. Off the bounce, Brooklynn Rivers flicked a touch to the Boston goalkeeper's left and put her shot on frame in a mostly open goal. Boston goalkeeper, Hannah Ciolek, was able to get a hand on the ball as she worked backwards but not enough to keep it out of the net. Less than five minutes later, Louisville put up another tally when Emina Ekic slotted a ball into the bottom right corner of the net from the top of the box. Kaela Dickerman crossed the ball to the top of the arc, and Ekic turned a sent the ball on goal with her left foot. Ciolek was unable to get to the ball with her outstretched hand. 

The second half was much less in favor of the Cardinals and they actually wound up losing the half 2-1. Boston University scored their first goal in the 63rd minute when Kelly Park scored on a header from a free kick. Louisville stretched their lead back to 2 after a potentially frustrating sequence for the Terriers. A clearance went awry and bounced off of the leg of the center official directly to a Louisville midfielder who passed it to Allison Whitfield. Whitfield worked around defenders at the top of the box before sending an almost identical ball to Ekic's into the goal. Louisville led 3-1 in the 74th minute. The extended lead was short lived as Boston University's Kiana Ghamarifard scored a rebound shot from a corner kick 14 seconds later. The final 16 minutes were mostly on edge as BU threatened to tie the game and Louisville did their best to hold. Arianna Ferraro was issued the only yellow card in a fairly chippy match and Louisville played the stall game in BU's corner of the field for the final two minutes, much to the dismay of the Boston fans, players, and coaches.

The first half of last night's game looked much better than the second, but there are definitely items to focus on for the Cards today prior to their game against Miami (OH) tomorrow afternoon (1PM in Lynn Stadium). Many of Louisville's passes felt as though they lacked purpose, with balls being sent ahead to no one or sent aggressively out of reach on through balls or wide passes. This was something Coach Karen Ferguson-Dayes noticed as well as she spent much of the second half yelling "FEET" at her players, indicating she wanted passes to go TO a player instead of just around them. The second issue I had was with the comfort Louisville has in passing back to goalkeeper, Gabrielle Kouzelos. Against DePaul last week, the ball was sent back often, and Kouzelos almost always placed it to a Louisville player with her clearance. However, such was not the case last night. Kouzelos sent the ball out of bounds and straight to Boston players, putting herself in uncomfortable positions. Some of those errors were unforced but others were because she was fed the ball in bad situations. Louisville's defenders need to be more cognizant of when they are making those passes back or the Cards could find themselves giving up some very easy (and frankly, very stupid) goals this season. (Also, Gabrielle, if you're coming out for a ball outside the box and you're passing a defender to get to it, that shouldn't be your ball). Finally, Louisville struggled on set pieces last night. Both Boston goals were given up on set pieces and Louisville was unable to score on 9 corner kicks and at least 5 free kicks in the offensive third. It will take better execution on designed plays to succeed in ACC play.

All in all, Louisville came away with a 3-2 victory to open the season 1-0. You can't ask for too much of a better start, and hopefully the adversity will prepare them for future games. Paulie has interviews with Coach K and a player, which you can likely hear on today's radio show.

Volleyball Opens with Red vs Black Scrimmage

Tonight is the first opportunity to see the new Cardinal Arena as the volleyball team opens its doors for the annual Red vs Black scrimmage. Jeff McAdams had a great preview of the volleyball season yesterday so be sure to check that out. The match starts at 6PM and admission is free. Be sure to stop by and check it out if you're interested in all of the new excitement surrounding this year's team.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Today

Because I am out of town and on the wrong time zone, you're probably not reading this until after the CCRH has aired today, but I promise it's going up before air time. The guys are back in the studio with guests hosts as Jared and I will leave our chairs empty this morning. Tune into WCHQ 100.9 FM or the WCHQ app or Crescent Hill Radio website to listen in. The CCRH starts at 11AM and will give you all you need to know over an hour of conversation about the joy and excitement of Louisville Women's Sports. It's great to be back in the midst of the athletic season.

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-