WOMEN'S SOCCER HOSTS THE RAIDERS TONIGHT AT 7:30
Louisville women's soccer gets things underway this evening with a 7:30 p.m. match against the Wright State Raiders in Lynn Stadium. It's good to be writing about events again and getting official stats and (hopefully) interviews for you to read and reflect on here at Cardinal Couple.
The Kickin' Cards bring in Wright State, a foe that is (surprisingly) 12-3-1 all-time against the Cards. Louisville did take the 2015 match up between the two the last time they met 2-1...at Lynn Stadium.
ABOUT THE FOE:
Wright State, located in Dayton, OH, went 12-8 in 2017 and 6-3 in Horizon League play. They finished fourth in the conference last year and are picked to finish third in a Horizon League preseason poll. Two of their three leading scorers return. Mattie Cutts, a senior out of Colorado Springs, CO. (Jeff Walz's favorite destination) and Jordyne Helinski, a junior from Bellville, OH. (which is just off I-71 and located in north-central OH) will headline the attack for Coach Pat Ferguson. He's been the Raiders head coach since 2005 and complied a 204-156-41 record at Wright State. Also keep an eye on senior forward Aaliyah Patten.
The Wright State match is the first of two for Louisville Women's Soccer that'll take place in Lynn over the next four days. The Cards welcome in Xavier on Sunday.
CONCERNING THE CARDS
Louisville returns nine starters from the 2017 squad which complied a 9-7-2 record. The Cards were prognosticated to finish ninth of out 14 ACC teams in preseason predictions. The top three scorers for Louisville return in Emina Ekic, Brooklyn Rivers and Allison Whitfield. The Cards strong middle defense with Gabby Kouzelos and Gabrielle Vincent (Gabby squared" ) also returns for the Cards. Niamh Nelson, Kennadi Carbin, Sarah Feola and Nadege L'Esperance should also provide a strong scoring ability for UofL. Mollie Rouse, a sophomore midfielder for Louisville, is currently in France playing for England's U 20 World Cup squad and will miss a few early games. When she returns depends on how well the English do...they face The Netherlands Friday night in quarterfinal action.
Karen Ferguson Dayes has 18 seasons in the books for Louisville and has a career record of 157-149-35. Louisville has two exhibitions in the books...one we know the results of...a 4-0 win over Morehead State University back on Saturday night and a scrimmage against an "unknown opponent at an undisclosed location with a unrevealed result."
STUFF YOU MIGHT WANT TO KNOW:
-- You might pack rain gear (in clear plastic containers) when you head out for tonight's contest. It's been raining since Wednesday night in Louisville and there is a 70% chance of rain for Thursday. -- Tickets for tonight start at $5 for general admission and can be purchased at the door about an hour before the contest, via TicketMaster or over the phone at (502)GO-CARDS. Season Tickets are available as well at the phone option listed above.
-- You might want to leave early or be prepared for delays. It is the first night of the Kentucky State Fair and traffic could be snarly around the Crittenden Drive, Eastern Parkway and I-65 areas near the stadium.
-- We do know Cardinal Couple official photographer Jared Anderson will be there "snapping" things, in addition to banging drums, shouting and other non-sense... so shout out "Hi, Jared" when you see him down on the turf. Refrain from tossing him small treats...once you feed him, you'll have a hard time getting him to leave. As for Worldwide Jeff, I'm forecasting a 40% chance of him showing up. Thursdays usually have him playing trivia or haunting Bardstown Road if he isn't swimming in the digital ocean.
Go Cards tonight and hopefully we'll see you at Lynn for a Cardinal win!
SYD STARS FOR G.W IN SPAIN
Sydney Zambrotta, who played for the Cards WBB squad for two seasons, has transferred to George Washington...as most of you are aware of. She's with the GW team in Spain this late summer...transfers are able to play in events like this even though they have to sit out a season in NCAA competition...and she led George Washington in scoring with 19 points in a 63-58 win over Spanish team CD Cref in Madrid. She had 13 of the 19 in the second half.No box-score that I could find on this one...but Syd was 3 for 5 from three-point range.
paulie
xxxxx
It should be a lot of drumming and yelling with a little bit of photography on the side for me tonight. I’m just ready for sports again!
ReplyDeleteLove the bit about the "undisclosed etc" opponent Paulie. Who'd they play? The CIA? Donald Trump? Go Cards! Beat Purdue! And Wright State!
ReplyDeleteCurtis "full disclosure unless I'm in the shower" Franklin
Might you be thinking of Charlyn Corral? She was at Louisville in 2012 and 2013. She made the Mexicn U 21 squad...at the age of 14...in 2006. She also played for the Mexican U20's in the 2006, 2008 and 2010 World Cups.
ReplyDeleteI remember an interview I did with her after a Louisville win at the old Cardinal Park field. She didn't understand or speak a whole lot of English but we got through it. I think she basically smiled a lot and said "Yes" and "I have good teammates" and "I can score well". A lot...
Paulie