Cards Eclipse Redhawks -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Karen Ferguson-Dayes Earns 150th Win

After a closely fought victory over the Terriers of Boston University on Friday, Louisville's Women's soccer team settled in yesterday for their second victory in three days. This one wasn't quite as much of a nail biter as the Cards scored two goals to Miami's zero. It was the 150th career win for head coach Karen Ferguson-Dayes. Many have their own opinions about the skipper of the Louisville women's soccer team, but I would argue she is working diligently to produce a fine on-field product in a tough sport to recruit and perform well without conference continuity. The ACC is a tough place to play and Louisville will likely take a few lumps this year. However, this team has looked decent in its first two games this season and will look to iron out the creases as they get closer to conference play. Having the mental toughness to finish in close games, even if they shouldn't be close, will help this team a lot this season.

In her post-game interview, Coach K expressed that she was not pleased with the first half, despite the Cards leading 1-0 after an Allison to Alison connection in the 29th minute. Both teams finished the first 45 with three shots, even with Louisville holding a possession advantage. Whether or not this is carry over from the purposeless passing issues from the last game, I couldn't say, as I was unable to take this one in myself. However, whatever was said in the locker room at halftime seemed to have a marked effect on the team, with Louisville winning the second half shots battle 13-4. Louisville continued to hold the ball in the attacking end of the field, earning 11 corner kicks to Miami's 1. Increased chances are bound to lead to increased goals eventually, which was the case when Kennadi Carbin was brought down in the box in the 74th minute, and Gabi Vincent was able to convert the penalty. This came just after Miami's best opportunity of the day to equalize on a free kick was kept out by Gabrielle Kouzelos in the Louisville goal. 

Louisville moves to 2-0-0 this season, which puts them only 10 wins away from my regular season goal. The Cards have two more games this year, against Southeast Missouri State and Gardner-Webb, which I believe they absolutely cannot afford to lose (not just for my 12 win goal but also for their confidence and tournament hopes). The rest of the schedule is made up by tough non-conference adversaries and the brutal ACC schedule. Louisville has shown that it can be diverse on offense--all 5 goals this year have come from the foot of a different player--and stingy on defense--earning their first clean sheet yesterday afternoon. Their first big test of the season will come this Thursday when they travel to Bloomington to take on Indiana University. The game begins at 7:30PM, and the Louisville site does not currently list any viewing options.

Post game interviews with Paulie below. New video guy...he actually showed both Paulie's face briefly and the legendary Tascam DM-50 audio recorder during the interview. I hope he still has a job this morning. They also featured the Gator golf cart audio -- but no planes, trains or sirens. As usual, they deleted some of Paulie's stuff.

POST GAME KAREN FERGUSON DAYES

POST GAME GABI VINCENT

Keep Your Eyes Safe

Today is the day of the Great American Eclipse, as the shadow of the moon will go coast-to-coast just like Russ Smith. It will be an awesome experience as millions of Americans gather along the path of totality to see midday turn to dusk in an instant. No matter where you intend to be while you view the eclipse, make sure to take care of yourself. Direct viewing of the sun can lead to permanent retinal damage. Even while wearing approved safety lenses, do not make a habit of staring directly at the sun during the eclipse. If you are in the path of totality, be sure to perform proper research about when it is safe to remove your glasses and when you must replace them before totality ends. If you do not have safety lenses, there are many other ways to safely experience the eclipse which do not include risking your eyesight because "a little look won't hurt." It will. You cannot even feel the rays burning your retinas until it is too late. Additionally, the forecast around the Kentucky area shows potential cloud cover. You would not stare at the sun through light clouds on a normal day, and those clouds will not protect your eyes today. Be smart, be safe, and enjoy what may be a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-