Panic Mode for Field Hockey and Soccer? -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Panic Mode Time or Stay Patient?

As we venture into the back half of the respective fall sports seasons, one Louisville women's sports squad finds themselves below .500 and another is headed in that direction.

Field Hockey

Field hockey has lost four straight and is now 5-7, two full games under .500. All seven losses have come against ranked opponents and the most recent four losses were by one goal each, three of those on the road. Those last four losses have all come against teams ranked in the upper 15 and two of those teams are currently top four.

Even at 5-7, Louisville is still 29th in the RPI. The latest Coaches Poll has not yet been released, but it is safe to assume the Cards will drop from those rankings this week. 

Things won't be getting any easier with top-ranked North Carolina visiting on Friday. Wake Forest (rpi #28) and Duke (rpi #10) follow suit on the schedule. Louisville then closes out the regular season against California (rpi #17) and UC Davis (rpi #59).

The Cards lost a ton of talent and experience with last year's graduating class and a good chunk of the minutes played this year has come from freshmen and sophomores. 

Defense has been the killer this year as Louisville has allowed 1.67 goals per match. That doesn't come as much surprise after a majority of last year's graduates came from the back defensive line or a defensive midfield position. Offense has proved to be doing alright at 1.75 goals per match, but has been shut out four times in 12 matches this year.

The season is far from over, but the Cards need to pull off a couple upsets down the stretch if they hope to be playing in the NCAA Tournament. The good news is that nearly all of the roster is returning next season at the moment.

Women's Soccer

This is a familiar tune for women's soccer. Louisville has historically had great success in the non-conference portion of the season before limping to the finish line due to the brutality of the ACC slate. This year appears to be the same. We saw the Cards go 5-1-2 out of conference but have started 1-4 in conference play. 6-5-2 doesn't look too hot, but it is over .500.

There are five games remaining on the schedule and four of those are at home. Louisville has a noticeably good home record at 5-1-1. Unfortunately, the next three teams are all currently ranked- Notre Dame, Stanford, and California.

Scoring has slowed way down the last few games. The Cards have scored four goals over the last six games. They scored 19 goals in the first seven games this season (12 goals in six games if you exclude the Bellarmine game). Defense has also taken a hit as of late. After allowing four goals in the first seven games, Louisville has allowed 17 goals over the last six games including giving up five goals in a game twice.

This is another squad that has a fair amount of youth and will return a major chunk of the team next year. Amber Jackson and Brooke Dardano are in their final year of eligibility. Everyone else is of junior status or less. Five freshmen have seen a respectable amount of playing time so far. 18 of the 23 goals scored so far this season have come from players who are eligible to return next year. We could possibly be see Jackson return next year if the NCAA grants her an extra year due to injury and the COVID-19 season.

Only six teams make the ACC Tournament. The Cards are far from the top six right now. Cal and Stanford are tied for 5th/6th with 10 points each. Louisville has three points in the ACC from their lone victory over NC State.

The Cards are back home for an unusual Saturday match this coming week. They will play Notre Dame at 5:00pm on ACCNX. 

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards

Jared