Women's Soccer Wins Season Opener -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Women's Soccer Wallops Wright State

Christmas came early in the Ville this year.  Santa brought goals upon goals for the UofL women's soccer team.  Louisville defeated Wright State 8-1 in the season opener in front of nearly 1000 spectators.  The victory was a tad lopsided for the team sporting their red 2018 jerseys.

It was actually Wright State would put up the first goal of 2018, when Erin Gaefen brilliantly placed a free kick into the top of the net in the 10th minute of regulation.  Her shot soared over the heads of the wall of defenders and passed the outstretched arms of a diving Gabby Kouzelos.  The sun definitely played a factor in the goal as well.

Louisville answered in the 20th minute as Louisville native Emina Ekic dropped a shot in over the head of Wright State's goalkeeper off of a corner by Nadege L'Esperance.  Ekic led the Cards in goals scored with seven last year.  She is already a quarter of the way there after putting up two on the evening.

Freshman Maisie Whitsett scored her first goal in a Louisville uniform six minutes later after sneaking in on the weak side following a cross from Kennadi Carbin.  The defense was frozen in their shoes as Whitsett's shot whizzed by the goalkeeper.

Less than four minutes later, freshman Delaney Snyder found her shot sailing into the back of the net.  She took a cross from Whitsett into the box and powered her way into the mix of defenders to send the Cards into the locker room with the lead. 3-1 UofL at the half.

Coming out of halftime the bloodbath worsened.  Carbin's header off a set by Allison Whitfield gave the Cards a sizable advantage.  The senior forward, who recently gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, seemed to be back in midseason form already.  Unfortunately, baby Kali was not in attendance to witness the goal.

47 seconds following Carbin's goal, L'Esperance joined in on the fun.  The Canadian native, whose parents and grandparents came to town for the weekend, received a pass from Brooklynn Rivers and took a shot from 25 yards out.  Her goal (5-1 at this point for those keeping track) set a new Lynn Stadium scoring record for UofL women's soccer with the previous record being four.

Lynn Stadium's PA announcer Delbert Ault couldn't even finish the announcement to the fans before Ekic knocked in her second goal of the night.  Ekic dribbled past a couple defenders, found an open shot with her strong foot, and made the defense regret giving her space with a goal near where L'Esperance had previously made one.

Just a hair over five minutes later came Whitsett's second goal of the night.  Whitfield (not to be confused with Whitsett) set up her freshman teammate off the cross to add to the unstoppable offense.

Taylor Kerwin ended the scoring on the night in the 69th minute off an assist by Snyder.  Kerwin took the pass on the left side of the field and found an open net to cap off the record eight goals by the Cards.

Defensively, the Cards kept the Raiders from doing much of anything.  UofL maintained possession well and kept the ball and their side of the field.  The only shot on goal Kouzelos faced in her 69 minutes was the free kick early in the game. Reserve keeper Lana Batson closed out the final 21 minutes and recorded one save.  Centerbacks Gabi Vincent and Sarah Hernandez were a force to be reckoned with as they disrupted the Raiders' offense all night.

24 different players stepped foot on the pitch for the Cards.  The blowout gave Coach Karen Ferguson-Dayes a chance to see her new faces in action and give her veterans and starters a chance to rest before Sunday's match. The Cards bring in Xavier for a Sunday 7:30 p.m. match next.

Both Ekic and Coach Ferguson-Dayes offered their insights following the match.  Ekic was grateful to be back on the pitch playing following a season-ending ACL tear last year and enjoyed being able to celebrate the victory.

"We pride ourselves on defending always," said Ferguson-Dayes, "but tonight what I thought was pretty special was our attacking, so I thought we moved the ball really well."

She was extremely happy to see both sides of the ball performing to the best of their abilities.

"Enjoy it, but tomorrow at 9:30 when we meet again it's back to business," said Ferguson-Dayes regarding her message to the team following the match.

The Cards start the season in the win column (1-0) as many of us guessed.  They have the chance to push that to 2-0 when they host the Muskies on Sunday at 7:30 p.m.  After that, they visit Dayton later in the week to cap the matches against Ohio schools.  With Paulie, Case, and myself in attendance last night we can only hope to talk Worldwide into joining us Sunday.


They talk it up a bit

The post-game interview with Karen Ferguson Dayes can be heard at the link below:

WRIGHT ST. POST-GAME WITH COACH FERGUSON DAYES

We also had Emina Ekic, a sophomore mid-fielder from Louisville, KY who scored twice, join us:

EMINA EKIC DISCUSS THE WIN OVER WRIGHT ST.

UPS was nice enough to send a cargo jet over during the Ekic interview and L&N provided  background theme audio by rumbling several trains down the Floyd Street tracks to show their support of Cardinal women's athletics, including one during the Ekic interview. We did not get a siren during either interview...the third factor we normally mandate and request when we do these.

Those two corporations must really like Emina...or Louisville women's soccer...right?


Other News and Notes


Congratulations to Scott Teeter and his wife, Jen, of Louisville lacrosse on the birth of their baby boy Lunas Scott Teeter!  Born 8 lbs, 9.2 oz, and 19 inches, we're sure to see little Lunas at the Louisville Lacrosse Stadium in the spring.

We send our condolences, thoughts, and prayers to the Louisville community which lost a student yesterday, just four days before the first day of classes.

I spoke with a few members of the softball team last night who were at the game.  Things have been going great with the transition of a new coach.  Their will be an actual fall schedule this year with opponents, dates, and times to be announced later on. Also seen in attendance at Lynn were speedy Jazmine Jones from UofL WBB and post Bionca Dunham. It's always good to see other student-athletes out supporting sports they aren't directly involved in. Could you imagine Dunham guarding the net with her height or Jones sprinting down the Lynn turf leading a breakout?


What Day Is It?

With some fancy hair by a couple of our veteran members here at Cardinal Couple, I must mention that it is National Men's Grooming Day.  Remember having to use a specific pencil when taking certain tests such as the ACT or SAT?  Well, the #2 pencil has its own holiday as well.  It may not be a Friday the 13th, but today we also appreciate black cats, which are sadly considered to be a sign of bad luck.

Happy Friday! You made it through another week Congratulations!