Cards Get Big ACC Opening Win -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Field Hockey Beats Newcomer Stanford 2-0

Louisville field hockey welcomed Stanford to the league with a nice get-back win for the Cards, who shut out the Cardinal in their first ever ACC conference game. Louisville has had some hiccups this season so far, especially on the defensive end, but this win put them back over .500 at 4-3 and gives them their first back-to-back victories on the year. The shutout was especially welcome after a 4-3 barn burner against Cornell last time out. 

Stanford is on an extended road trip to the eastern time zone, as they came to Louisville for their midweek game as well. The Cardinal took on Bellarmine and won 4-0 to move to 5-1 on the season. This loss drops them to 5-2, and they'll go farther east to take on Virginia before returning to the Pacific coast. Virginia is ranked 3rd in the country, so it won't get any easier for Stanford going forward. The Cardinal had a relatively soft opening schedule, having played no ranked teams until Louisville. Their first loss was a 1-0 home defeat against Northeastern. 

It was a tense opening to the match, as the first quarter was the most offensively productive for both teams, but neither could find the back of the cage. Louisville finished the first with six shots and three penalty corners, but their two shots on frame were saved. Meanwhile, Stanford had three of their five total shots and two of their three shots on target in the first quarter. Brandelynn Heinbaugh was up to the task in the first, earning two saves to keep the match level. She'd earn her third and final save in the second. 

Stanford also had a save in the second quarter but it was followed up by Louisville's second shot of the quarter when Chloe Plumb slammed home the rebound from her own shot. That goal came with less than two minutes to go in the half, and it would ultimately prove to be the game winner. After halftime, Louisville had another productive quarter in the third, earning two penalty corners and a total of four shots. Three of those four were on target, including Izzy Bianco's goal off one of the penalty corners. That goal came halfway through the third, and neither team would score afterwards. 

Stanford had a shot off target in the fourth, but the game was more or less wrapped up by that point. Louisville finished with 12 total shots and put seven of them on frame. A 1/5 conversion rate on penalty corners isn't very good, but they held Stanford to 0/4 on their attempts. Despite the low conversion rate, Louisville was active on their penalty corners. The Cards earned a shot on each, with the first two being blocked, the next two being saved, and the fifth being the goal. Aimee Plumb tried very hard to match her sister in the opening stages of the third quarter, having her penalty corner shot saved, picking up her own rebound, and firing it back toward the cage. Unfortunately, that shot was also saved. 

As I mentioned, Louisville needed this win. They'd been reeling a bit and hadn't seemed quite as sharp as we're accustomed to. They'll head up the road to Ball State for a match tomorrow before returning to Trager and ACC play Friday night when the Boston College Eagles come to town. There's no better time to find your groove than the start of conference play, so let's hope the Cards can extend their streak to three games tomorrow before another tough test Friday. 

Softball Wins a Pair of Fall Ball Games

Louisville softball got their 2025 season off to a decent start last night in their first offseason fall ball scrimmages. The Cards brought in Bellarmine for a double-header at Ulmer and walked away with a pair of wins with a combined 21-5 score line. The first game was a bit tighter than the second, as Louisville earned a 9-4 win, but the 12-1 blowout was pretty encouraging. 

The Cards turned out pretty much the whole roster in the two games, giving Jared plenty of whiplash as he tried (unsuccessfully) to identify the new freshmen. Familiar names found the long ball in the second game, though, as Maddi Grant and Katie Thatcher hit home runs. 

Louisville will be back in action on October 6th against EKU in Richmond. 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

We're without Daryl this week as she tries not to melt like the ice in everyone's drinks at Bourbon and Beyond. Jared is going football tailgaiting with his fmily and then to the  Ga.Tech contest...but we'll have the rest of the crew on hand. We'll talk big wins for field hockey and volleyball for the most part, with various news and notes filling out the show. You can check out the live stream of the show by going to the Cardinal Couple YouTube page and clicking on the live video. Jeff usually creates that about an hour before the show, which officially starts at 11 AM Eastern. If the live time doesn't work for you, there are plenty of playback options, so be sure to check out whichever is best for you!

Cardinal Couple YouTube: Link

Spotify: Link

Apple Podcasts: Link

Google Podcasts: Link

Overcast (free account required): Link

Pocket Casts (free account and app required): Link

RadioPublic: Link

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case