Okay, so no Friday' With Daryl again quite yet, but we promise she'll be back for her regular Friday slot here soon. The Louisville Bats season is winding so her Head Honcho duties with the video camera crew will conclude in the next couple of weeks.
With fall sports in the full swing of things now, weekends stay busy. We have plenty of recaps and previews to cover and other random news will pop up here and there in the mix.
Women's Soccer Takes Down Saint Louis
The only sport to recap is women's soccer, who played an 8:00 p.m., match last night at Saint Louis. If you don't pay for ESPN+, then you most likely missed the game other than the social media updates.
The first half was mostly a defensive battle. Louisville took a shot just 60 seconds in but it was saved. The Cards controlled possession for much of the next 15 minutes but couldn't get close to a shot on goal. Saint Louis took some momentum with them on back-to-back corner kicks, but to no avail as the Louisville defense stayed strong. A late half corner by the Cards had a chance but the kick sailed away from the goal. Louisville and Saint Louis went into halftime scoreless.
Saint Louis nearly took the lead early in the second half when a deep shot hit the cross bar. A follow up shot sailed way over the goal. It was a moment of wiping sweat of the brow for Coach Karen Ferguson-Dayes.
Louisville had a scoring opportunity shortly after when Morgan Bentley was taken down inside the box and the Cards were awarded a penalty kick. The Saint Louis goalkeeper made the right choice when she dove to her right to save the penalty kick by Maisie Whitsett, keeping the score 0-0.
With just over 30 minutes remaining in the match, Nina Nicosia looked ahead to find Morgan Bentley at the top middle of the box. Bentley wasted no time in sending her shot to her right and into the corner of the goal to give the Cards a 1-0 lead.
The Billikens found an opening with 24 minutes remaining on a fast break, but Gabby Kouzelos positioned herself well to get the save.
 |
| (Wait...what's Gabby doing in a blue uni?) |
Louisville had a couple good looks down the stretch to extend the lead, but could not get a second one on the scoreboard. Nonetheless, the one goal was enough to earn the road win.
Louisville improves to 4-0 on the year and comes home to Dr. Mark and Cindy Lynn Stadium on Sunday night when they face Western Kentucky.
Weekend Happenings
Volleyball
Plenty of sports are playing over the next few days with two set to play today. One of those teams is on the road while the other is at home down on Floyd Street.
Volleyball hosts their annual Cardinal Invitational all weekend at L&N Federal Credit Union beginning today. Besides the Cards, Northern Kentucky, South Dakota, and Missouri will be playing.
The first match of today begins at 4:30 p.m., with NKU and South Dakota squaring off. Louisville and Missouri will follow the conclusion of that match, playing at approximately 7:00 p.m. The matches involving host Louisville will be aired on ACC Network Extra.
Missouri enters the weekend with an 0-3 record, which is a bit surprising seeing as they advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament last year. A pair of 3-0 losses to Saint Louis and Creighton, with a 3-1 loss to Kansas City in between is just the brief picture of the early season struggles for the Tigers. Their .199 attack percentage and 51 errors have been the main contribution to their woes. The Cards and Tigers have split the overall series 2-2.
South Dakota enters the weekend without a match under their belt this year due to their entire opening weekend getting cancelled. South Dakota went 15-7 last year and won the Summit League Tournament to earn an automatic qualifying bid into the NCAA Tournament. The Coyotes fell in the first round to Missouri, who, coincidentally is also in town. UofL and South Dakota have never played before.
Northern Kentucky is the only team from in state to join the Cards on campus this weekend. The Norse enter with a 1-1 record, having been swept by #11 Ohio State and then defeating Ohio 3-2 in the Ohio State Invitational. NKU finished last season 9-5 and made it to the Horizon League semifinals before bowing out. This will be the 19th overall meeting between Louisville and Northern Kentucky, but the first since 1984. The Cards have won the last six meetings.
#12 Louisville started the season 3-0 after going to the Arizona State Tournament last weekend. They swept Cal Poly and Texas A&M - Corpus Christi before holding on to beat Arizona State in five sets.
Field Hockey
After opening the season with a pair of wins at home last weekend, Louisville field hockey hits the road for two matches this weekend.
Louisville squares off against Pennsylvania at noon today. This will be the season opener for Penn, who went 7-10 last year. They were predicted to take third in the Ivy League this season. The Cards and Quakers will meet for the first time ever.
On Sunday, #5 Louisville will then take on host and #13-ranked Princeton. Princeton will open its season on Friday against North Carolina, who beat them in their last game in the NCAA Championship in 2019. The Tigers did not play in 2020. Princeton is the favorite to win the Ivy League this year and won the only match-up against the Cards back in 2010.
Both matches for field hockey are listed to be aired on ESPN+. Sadly, we still run into a lot of paid viewing options when it comes to your Olympic sports.
*************
So -- we enter the long Labor Day weekend. Besides UofL games left and right, we do hope you find some time to relax or start decorating for fall this weekend. Be sure to set a little time aside for us tomorrow at 11 a.m. for the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast, where we'll catch you up on the week's activities and look ahead to Sunday's action...and more!
Happy Friday and Go Cards!
Jared
I "rediscovered" I had a ESPN+ account last night (NOTHING LIKE PAYING FOR A YEAR AND THEN NOT USING IT FOR NEARLY SIX MONTHS)so I was able to watch the soccer match. I was most impressed with Bentley -- she has a motor that never slows down. And Gabby. She made some fantastic saves.
ReplyDeleteI was also impressed with the SLU announcer. He knew both teams quite well and wasn't a "homer".
I did watch the last part of the WKU Football game against UT-Martin on ESPN+ after the match. Louisville Football should be VERY GLAD WKU isn't on the schedule this year. The Tops have a passing game that rivals the one the Cards had when Teddy was here. (Gotta give the Tops a little love, I spent two years there majoring in party before Mom and Dad decided enough is enough and brought me back home, to live at home and go to UofL and work a part time job).
Go Cards!
Blue Lou