The Cavaliers took advantage of an early offensive attack. Meghan McCool received a pass off a cross into the box from the far side six minutes into the match and knocked it into the back of the net.
Defensively, Louisville looked strong despite the early goal. Virginia was held to one other shot on goal, which Gabby Kouzelos handled with ease. They were limited to only five shots total.
Even the midfield seemed to hold their own for most of the match. It was a battle for possession in the middle of the pitch between the two teams and Louisville never backed down. Sadly, anything past the midfield was poor.
The offensive front could not get anything going. At times, Louisville looked lost up front and appeared to have no game plan. They struggled to penetrate the box against the Virginia defensive line. Turnovers were common as frustration overcame the Cards. The Cards managed one shot on goal from Taylor Kerwin in a late first half push, but it was to no avail. Passing effectively just wasn't in the cards.
Overall, the match wasn't too bad for Louisville. Virginia (10-2-0, 3-2-0) was held to one goal or lessfor the fourth time this season. The Wahoos were averaging a little over 2.6 goals per match going into the night.
Louisville falls to 9-3-0 and 3-2-0 in the ACC after losing their second straight conference match. As in past years this is about the time of the season for a hopeful season falls into another average year. This team plays together better and has more talent than any other women's soccer team to play at Lynn and could potentially break the curse. The Cards host Miami for Senior Day at noon on Sunday.
Still, in retrospect, I have to believe that very few Cardinal fans expected Louisville to be 9-3 at this point of the season. The losses have come to two top 10 teams in college women's soccer and to Purdue, who is 6-3-4. Two of the losses are just by one goal. Two of the losses have been on the road. The Cards have five matches left in the season and two are at home.
 |
| THE KNUCKLEHEADS |
Yes, I'm serious!
In the post-game interview, you'll easily notice that the railroad industry makes a cameo appearance several times. They also prevented Case from getting to the stadium earlier than he and Lindsay would have liked.
You'll also hear Coach KFD defend her team's performance, which is what a good coach does in close affairs. Paulie did not address a rumor that surfaced before the game started. An item that we'll wait for official confirmation on. More as it develops.
LINK: Postgame with Coach Karen Ferguson-Dayes
Looking Ahead at the Weekend
Friday, October 5
Men's Tennis is split in half with some of the crew at the All-American Championships in Tulsa and the rest in South Bend for the Notre Dame Invitational.
Volleyball hosts Duke at 5:00 p.m., for their first home ACC match of the year. The Cards are
currently 4-0 in the conference and went undefeated at home in conference play last year. Worldwide will be present for this event.
Football hosts Georgia Tech in a Black Out at 7:00 p.m. The slumping Cards will have their hands full against a triple option offense (who do they think they are, Army?). Plan for some rough traffic on your way home from work if you pass through the area.
Saturday, October 6
Rowing hosts their Red and Black Regatta beginning at 10:30 a.m. and will last for two- to- two and a half hours. This is their only home event of the season.
Men's tennis continues both of their events in Tulsa and South Bend.
Men's soccer will also be up in Irish territory for a Top 15 showdown and another big ACC match-up. The Cards hope to remain undefeated in conference play. Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m.
Sunday, October 7
Women's soccer will help kick off the busiest day of the weekend with their Senior Day at noon. Miami will visit town and the Cards will hope to halt the losing streak. You can catch Paulie and maybe Case at the event.
Field hockey also starts at noon and will host Duke. The Cards are hoping to get their third conference win. The last time these two teams played featured at penalty shootout victory in the ACC Tournament semifinals last year. This is a Pink Out.
Men's tennis continues their split time in Tulsa and South Bend.
Mens's golf heads down to Tennessee for the FAMC Intercollegiate for an all day affair.
Volleyball will host Wake Forest at 1:00 p.m. If all goes well the Cards will be 6-0 in the ACC following this match and will continue to climb the rankings. Worldwide will be present.
Softball will host a double header against Morehead State for their first home event this fall starting at 1:00 p.m. This is an opportune time to go see what Coach Holly Aprile has to offer and a chance to meet her.This is another jam-packed weekend for Louisville sports and the Cardinal Couple crew. I will attempt to make it to WSoc, FH, VBall, and softball all on Sunday, but four games in about 3-4 hours is a lot easier said than done so we'll see.
Make sure to catch us on The Cardinal Couple Radio Hour tomorrow morning at 11:00 a.m.!
Happy Friday and Go Cards!
-Jared-
MORE PICTURES FROM JARED FROM LAST NIGHT'S WOMEN'S SOCCER GAME BELOW:
Man, what a disappointing loss last night. Ol' Curtis stopped in to watch the action but had to beat feet afterwards to get to work, so I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to talk to you guys, pretty sure I know where Case and Worldwide were and I think I saw Jared on the big screen playing the drum?
ReplyDeleteI have to wonder about Mollie Rouse. She's been out of action now for the last two or three games? No mention of her at the UofL site or elsewhere? Injury? Disciplinary actions? THe box score at gocards doesn't mention her. She's still on the game program, though. The rumor you guys referred to? I need answers, brothers!
Curtis "Likes the picture of the Knuckleheads but wonders if Jared and Case are really that much taller than Paulie and Jeff" Franklin
Curtis,
DeleteSadly we know just as much as you about Mollie right now. However, she was sitting in the ‘Boyeling Point’ and was not on the field with the team. Not sure what’s up with that.
We used the art of deception for our most recent picture ;)
To back up what Jared said and providing full disclouse, once again we have no confirmation of her future. Here's what we know:
ReplyDelete-- WE heard a rumor about Mollie. The rumor, in fact, was based around she might be transferring.
-- SHE was spotted sitting in the stands, by herself for most of the game, not in uniform.
-- Subsequent conversations with others led us to believe that "the rumor" might have some credence.
-- We DID NOT approach her about the rumor.
-- )ne of our associates received further information concerning the rumor, but, since all stories have two sides and we haven't heard the UofL WSOC version of what's going on -- we will not reveal what other, further rumor information was related.
-- Athletic department and S.I.D. usually don't go public with any type of transfer or disciplinary action on a player.
Draw you own conclusions here. Once again, I will stress, that we just heard a rumor. More to follow when it, or if it, becomes available.
Paulie
It doesn't take an Einstein to figure out what's going on here. Mollie's either been kicked off the team or is transferring or just quit soccer all-together. Otherwise she would have been on the sidelines in some form or fashion. How in the world do you get rid of a player that performed in the World Cup?
ReplyDeleteYeah. Louisville women's soccer has plenty of talent to go around but I have to believe that one side of this "rumor" scenario is inflexible and won't budge. It's like if Field Hockey would decide to bench Ayeshia.
Gibbs rule: You don't waste good.
Nick O
I think you all are making way too much of this. Last I heard, soccer is a team game and no one is bigger than the team. If Rouse is gone, so be it. If she isn't, that's fine, too.
DeleteWhat I want to know is if Louisville WBB is a Final Four team again this year. Get busy, Knuckleheads! Bring us hoops stuff!
Blue Lou
As a player that featured heavily for the English international team in the U-20 World cup just two months ago, it's a safe bet that Rouse isn't quitting the sport.
ReplyDeleteAs for the game, I was much more impressed with the defense after the major struggle against UNC. However, there were still times that they were caught out of position and got lucky, and Gabby Kouzelos' 1 save in the stat sheet does not tell the whole story of her fantastic performance to keep the game close.
The offense strung together a bit of pressure last night, but weren't able to find many efforts on goal. They always seemed to be just late on the last pass or have a critical execution breakdown at the last second. There were also some issues with communication.
On Louisville's best chance for a goal, both Emina Ekic and Delaney Snyder did something great, but they weren't on the same page as Snyder's overlapping run was to the right and Ekic's no look pass was to the left. Hard to fault either player for attempting a slick play, but the connection just wasn't there. Felt like that on offense for most of the night.
As it stands, the loss was significantly less demoralizing than the one against UNC and the Cards should be in a good position to bounce back Sunday against Miami.
Nice picture of Paulie and his knuckleheads.
ReplyDeleteI think so too.
DeletePaulie