FRIDAYS WITH DARYL

Hello readers and welcome back another end of the work week.  Here are some snaps from Floyd Street on the Belknap campus this week.  

The Track Field

Natatorium 

Soccer

Louisville 8  -  Detroit Mercy 0

Photo: Jared Anderson

Do we think the Cards were excited to open the season at Lynn Stadium last night??  Lynn Stadium witnessed 4 goals from the home squad in under 16 minutes of play and 6 goals in the first half.    There were 8 total goals scored for UofL, the first time since 2018 when they faced off against Wright State.. who happens to be the Cards' next opponent.    Actually one of them was an own goal by Detroit Mercy with counted towards the Cards total score none the less.  

Leading the scoring efforts for Louisville was Mackenzie Geigle who put two in the back of the net including the final goal in the final 5 minutes of the match.   Betsy Huckaby, Karsyn Cherry, AG Gibson, Nicole Jodoin and Grace Maddox also contributed to the final stat sheet. 

The Cardinals got the scoring going early with a connection for Jodoin and it was all Cards all night long.  Just when I thought Detriot Mercy were looking tired and gassed,  with 20 min off the clock in the first half, KDF did a 6-man substitution and put some new legs in for some valuable playing time.  At this point, the Titans had made no shot attempts in the match.  And with some fresh legs in the match, Louisville was able to put another level of pressure on the Titans offensively.  At the half, the Cardinals had 18 shots while the Titans had managed just 2.  

Brielle Baker took over in the goal for keeping duties with 20 min left in the match, which prompted many cheers from the sidelines as the senior handed over some responsibility to the freshman.   Erynn Floyd did not have much work to do in this one.   UofL finished 28 shots and 13 of them on goal.   

UP NEXT

Louisville vs Wright State 
Sunday 8/24
7:00pm
ACCNX  

Photo: Jared Anderson

As Always
Go Cards
~Daryl

WSOC Hosts Home Opener -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Bring in Detroit Mercy

After an unceremonious end to their season-opening road trip, Louisville women's soccer opens their slate at Dr. Mark and Cindy Lynn Stadium tonight on what is the first day of regular season action on campus. Karen Ferguson-Dayes's squad isn't the first team to compete on campus today, nor are they the first team to compete in Lynn. The men's soccer team will open its home schedule this evening as well, as the two teams take part in a double header. Tonight marks the only soccer double header of the season, making next Thursday's 3PM kickoff for the women a bit of a head scratcher. At any rate, the men will get things started against Southern Indiana at 5PM with the women to follow against Detroit Mercy. The scheduled start time for the women's game is 7:30, and the match will be available on ACC Network Extra. 

The Cards are coming off of a 1-1 SEC road trip following a 1-0 win at Auburn and a 2-0 loss at Vanderbilt. Louisville may have preferred those results come in the opposite order for multiple reasons. The first of those is that Vandy was the 17th-ranked team in the country when the two teams met and the second is for momentum. The great vibes created by the win they toughed out in Alabama were a bit deflated by their mild dismantling in the first half in Nashville. Louisville could be buoyed by their second half performance where, although they weren't able to find the net, they outshot Vandy 10-4 (3-0 on frame).

I think what I would expect most from tonight's match is for the defense to be lockdown. Both goals on Sunday were the direct result of defensive errors. On the first, a high defensive line was beaten by a breakaway on a good through ball. While the high line can create offsides and keep the ball forward for offensive chances, that opening goal displayed the potential pitfalls. If you lose track of a player, especially a speedy one, you can give away one-on-one opportunities. (Personally, I would have played the situation a bit more aggressively in goal and challenged the ball harder at the top of the box, but Erynn Floyd chose to test the freshman forward and forced her to make a clean shot. Either option was fine. One-on-ones are difficult and usually favor the attacker.) 

Speaking of one-on-one chances, the second goal came on the most advantageous of those: the penalty kick. A clumsy tackle in the box led to a penalty, even after video review, and penalties have about an 85-90% success rate. I absolutely see the case for a penalty in that instance, but I wouldn't have minded the commentating crew at least acknowledging the case against it. Olivia Stafford was never going to get to the ball after her heavy touch toward the end line, and Hadley Snyder's stab at the ball didn't create the contact with Stafford; Stafford started to chase the ball and crashed into Snyder's leg. Like I said, it was clumsy, and since it happened in the box, the only option is to not call a foul at all, which wouldn't have gotten much applause from the home crowd. So it goes. 

Louisville's defense cleaned it up in the second half, allowing four shots for the second straight half but keeping Vandy from putting the ball on frame. I think the Cards will look to keep their second clean sheet of the season, and I suspect the defense would like to keep Detroit Mercy from taking any shots at all if they can. 

Offensively, I'll be looking for a bit more consistency from the attack. So far, KFD has been much more fluid with the lineup in the front, partially to keep fresh legs in the tough conditions of the first two games. Amelia Swinarski (118) and Liza Suydam (114) lead the way in offensive minutes for the Cards. It will be interesting to see if Mackenzie Geigle is back to full strength or not. We never got a full report on what kept Gigs out of game one, but she did return against Vandy with limited minutes (31). Nicole Jodoin has been a presence as a freshman, starting both games so far and helping the offense move along. We'll see if she can continue to break out against the run of somewhat easier competition on this home stand. 

Detroit Mercy brings in a 1-1 record after opening the season with a 2-1 home win over Valparaiso before losing 4-0 to Michigan in Ann Arbor. The Titans were just 10-8-2 last year, but they went 7-1-2 in conference play. Detroit Mercy's 23 points in Horizon League play saw them finish in third behind Milwaukee's 28 (9-0-1) and Northern Kentucky's 25. The Titans were knocked out of the Horizon League tournament by the Norse in the semifinals by a score of 1-0. 

Louisville has faced Detroit Mercy just once before, and the Cards hold an 0-1 all-time record against the Titans. That lone matchup came in 1994, the first year after Louisville's first winning season and the final year of Louisville women's soccer's time as an independent. The Cards went 7-10-3 in 1994 and lost to Detroit Mercy 3-1 on October 9th of that year. It seems that I brought bad luck to the Cards, as their 11-7 1993 season came right before I was born. Despite back to back .500 seasons in 1995 (9-9) and 1996 (9-9-2), 1993 stood as Louisville's only winning record until Karen Ferguson-Dayes fifth season saw the Cards finish 12-5-3. From 2004 to 2019, Louisville had just four non-winning seasons with losing records in 2009 and 2014 and back-to-back .500 seasons in 2015 and 2016. Covid was rough on the Cards, as Louisville has not finished above .500 since 2019. 

Louisville is off to a good start in their quest to improve on last year's near .500 mark (7-6-5), but they'll need to build a fair amount of confidence heading into conference play. The Cards have won more than four conference games just twice since joining the ACC (2018 and 2019). Tonight's game is a good time to start that confidence building. I'm disappointed to be unable to make it in person, but it should be a fantastic night for soccer, with the forecast showing 78 degrees and partly cloudy at kickoff. If you're able, get out and support the women's team, and get double the action if you head out early for the men's game. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Cards WBB releases non-conference schedule -- Wednesday CARDINAL COUPLE

 UCONN, UK AND SOUTH CAROLINA HIGHLIGHT NON-CONFERENCE SLATE FOR LOUISVILLE WBB 

We know know the 13 non-conference match-ups the University of Louisville WBB squad will play in the 2025-26 schedule. 10 of the 13 non-conference matchups wil be at the FC YUM! Center and UofL will face both teams that played in the NCAA Championship game last year. 

It kicks off against UConn in Ramstein, Germany on Nov. 4th as part of the Peraton Armed Forces Classic. The home opener on Sunday Nov. 12th.when they face  Northern Kentucky. Colorado comes to town next for a Wednesday, Nov. 12th contest.  A week later, Morehead State comes to town. 

The annual UK vs UofL game will be in the KFC YUM! Center on Nov. 22nd. the Cards have won the last four times that the game has been played in the YUM! Center. 

Thanksgiving weekend features multiple contests. Friday Nov. 28th when the Cards hosts Eastern Illinois. A day later, the action moves to Bellarmine, where UofL will meet East Tennessee State. They go back to the KFC YUM! Center Sunday where the Cards will play Bellarmine. 

Thursday Dec. 4th has South Carolina visiting the YUM! The non conference slate then has Louisville facing New Hampshire on Sunday Dec. 7th. Wednesday Dec. 10th when we get a Cardinals vs. Cardinals matchup when Ball State visits. EKU comes in for the final home non-conference match on Wednesday Dec 17th. 

The Cards end the non-conference slate in Brooklyn when they face Tennessee on Saturday Dec 20th.

We will cover and report on all the non-conference games for Louisville WBB..as well as the conference slate and post-season play. 

paulie

VB Alumnae Scrimmage Draws Closer -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Current Cards vs Former Cards Showdown Happening Soon

Charitie Luper

The return of the Alumnae Match for Louisville volleyball has brought much excitement and anticipation. Most years, there are not enough alums available to make this doable, but this year, it sounds like there are enough to produce a good chunk of a team, but they may need some assistance filling out a rotation.

Aiko Jones

Confirmed Alumnae

Elena Scott, defensive specialist/libero, class of 2024

Charitie Luper, outside hitter, class of 2024

Aiko Jones, opposite side hitter, class of 2023

Elena Scott

Rumored Alumnae

Claire Chaussee, outside hitter, class of 2022

Confirmed Unavailable Alumnae

Anna DeBeer, outside hitter, class of 2024 (recovering from injury)

Tori Dilfer Stringer, setter, class of 2021 (pregnant)

Anna Stevenson Hall, middle blocker, class of 2021 (pregnant)

Amaya Tillman, middle blocker, class of 2022 (asst coach for Kentucky)

Ayden Bartlett, defensive specialist, class of 2023 (asst coach for UTSA)

Raquel Lazaro, setter, class of 2023, (playing overseas)

Anna DeBeer

Possible Alumnae But No Confirmation if Available or Not

Sarah Drury Petkovic, Chief of Staff Volleyball, class of 2002 (has not played collegiate or professional volleyball in nearly two decades)

Alexa Hendricks, defensive specialist, class of 2022 (currently traveling internationally)

Sofia Maldonado Diaz, opposite side hitter, class of 2024 (currently traveling internationally)

Ceci Rush, serving specialist, class of 2022 (lives local, unknown if available)

Elle Glock, server, class of 2024 (recently retired from volleyball, unknown if available)

Claire Chaussee

How many more alumnae will we see join the roster for Saturday? While I don't believe it will be a full rotation of players, it is certainly a good thing to have enough alumnae available and interested in playing. While many, many alumnae were extended the invitation to join, each one may have her own reasons why the can or cannot play. We will make sure to have some coverage for the match Saturday.

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

WSoc falls at #17 Vanderbilt 2-0 -- First day of Fall 2025 semester!! -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Good morning readers and 

Happy FIRST DAY of School, UofL :D

The Belknap South dorm room. 
It's 'South' of the walking bridge that comes out of the SAC.

Soccer

Photo: Jared Anderson

The Kicking Cards had a stop in Nashville for a matchup with the #17 Vanderbilt Commodores where they fell 2-0.   They move to 1-1-0 on the season and will head home for a 6 game series before opening up ACC play at FSU.  

Against the 'Dores, the Cards defense gave up two scores early to home squad in the first 19 minutes.   UofL had its best chances in the second half but were not able to convert.  The Vandy goalkeeper recorded 3 saves preventing shot attempts from Cherry, Maddox and Suydam from finding the back of the net.  They had 13 total shots with Emerson Jennings leading with 3 attempts.  Mackenzie Geigle did compete in this one for 31 minutes total but did not make much of an impact offensively.  The Cards had 7 free kicks in the first half and then six in the second half.   

A shot by  Jennings in the 76th minute is above the crossbar might've been the best looking opportunity to find the back of the net but the shot was just too strong and sailed into the stands and pretty much deflated the remaining hopes to come back from this deficit.  

Next up, they'll face Detroit Mercy at Lynn Stadium Thursday at 7:30pm.

As Always
Go Cards! 
~Daryl 

Women's Soccer Continues Road Trip tonight -- SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 KICKIN' CARDS STOP IN NASHVILLE FOR ANOTHER SEC MATCHUP

With the promising season start for Louisville and their win over Auburn at Auburn...the women's soccer team at UofL gets a little closer to home with a stop in Nashville to face Vandy. 

Vandy is ranked #17 in the nation and entertained Austin Peay in their season opener. But, the Governors probably didn't have much entertainment or fun in Music City, as Vandy put up a 7-0 slap down on the visitors from Clarksville. The funny thing about this one is that Vandy dropped two spots in the top 25 poll after the blowout win despite this blow out...going from #15 to #17. 

It was Vandy's highest offensive output since 2019, when they had a 7-0 win over Georgia State. This will be a 7 p.m. match up and streamed on SEC Network Plus again (and not steamed, as the UofL site reports)

 "Excuse me me waiter, but I'd like my win over the Commodores steamed and served with corn and a side salad" 

Vandy is going to be a tougher foe than the Tiger/War Eagle bunch was. 

The two schools last met in 2019 in Louisville where the Cards got a 1-0 win at Lynn. It was Emina Ekic who provided the lone goal on a penalty kick....t the 99:34 mark of the contest. 

One of the big questions will be if we see Mackenzie Geigle take the pitch for the Cards. Louisville defeated Auburn without her but knocking off Vandy with her out of the lineup again could be a lot tougher. The senior is arguably the best player that the Kickin' Cards have and led the squad last year with seven goals and seventeen points. Let's hope we see #3 out there...we haven't seen a report on why she wasn't used in Auburn. 

Hello Hadley

Hadley Snyder stepped up big for the Cards with the goal. The junior who is from Louisville Assumption got the lone goal of the Louisville vs. Auburn game. Snyder was injured in 2022, and played in just four games in 2023. Last year she did play and start in all 18 Cards games.

It'll be another SEC Network Plus game and air at 7 p.m.

CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR PODCAST

Jared, Case and Daryl joined me in yesterday's Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast and we had a great discussion on women's soccer and volleyball. Daryl caught us up on campus going on's and Jared finally overcame his technical difficulties to get into the discussion as well. 

You can hear the rebroadcast at:

Spotify

YouTube

paulie

Volleyball Hosts Red/Black Scrimmage -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Red Defeats Black 3-2

Though I'm not sure a final score truly matters, the Red Squad of the Louisville Cardinals volleyball team defeated the Black Squad in last night's intra-team scrimmage. The annual Red and Black Scrimmage represented the first time for most of CardNation to get their eyes on the 2025 edition of the Cards, their first season under Dan Meske. In addition to the end of the Dani Busboom Kelly era, the Anna DeBeer/Elena Scott reign came to an end at the close of last season as well, so there will be some new names for Louisville fans to become acquainted with. 

One of the players that rotated between the teams was a player that many fans are already well familiar with in Cara Cresse. According to reports from Jared on the floor, Cresse looks like she is already in All-American form, living up to much of the hype that has been thrown her way in the preseason. She had 11 kills and three blocks last night. Cresse will shore up a middle-blocking position that looks to anchor a blocking effort that could, if you believe it, be better than last season. Kalyssa Blackshear will play the second MB position, and she led the black team with 13 kills last night. 

Chloe Chicoine is the other player drawing a lot of attention in preseason, and she also came to play last night. Per Jared, she looked "phenomenal" playing the full rotation, and she amassed nine kills and 15 digs for the red team. Alanna Bankston led the red team with 14 kills and nine digs. Also hitting well for the black team was Payton Petersen, who finished with nine kills and led all players with 19 digs. 

Despite all of that, Jared mentioned that the hitting may be an aspect of Louisville's game that still needs some work. A lot of shots were coming out low, leading to unforced errors in the net and prime blocking material. Perhaps the best indication of that is setter Nayelis Cabello coming up with five blocks. 

Cabello set for the victorious red team last night, and she is part of one of the two major position battles on the floor. Her primary competition for the setter position is transfer Molly Wilson, who led the black team. In addition to the blocks, Cabello finished with two kills, 10 digs, and 38 assists. Wilson had 33 assists and 16 digs. For his part, Jared noted that he believes the edge goes to Cabello due to her ability to chase down errant passes. With two strong options, though, don't be surprised to see a 6-2 employed by Dan Meske. It's not as if he's unfamiliar with it. 

The other position battle is for the newly vacant libero position. While two liberos can be dressed, and Meske may very well choose to do so, it sounds like Kamden Schrand is not particularly interested in sharing the position. The junior had 17 digs last night and Jared notes that her competition (junior Molly Urban and freshman Hannah Kenny) were pretty far back. Kenny is listed as a setter on the roster, so she's an interesting conversion candidate if the defensive skills continue to be a focus. 

All in all, it should be an exciting season regardless, especially as the new players continue to gel with the returners. The next chance to see the Cards in action will be the alumnae match next Saturday. We don't have any confirmed players just yet (rumored are Scott, Claire Chaussee, and Charitie Luper, at least), but we do know some players who won't be playing. DeBeer is continuing to bring her ankle all the way to full for the next professional season, so she's rehabbing in a more controlled environment. Anna Stevenson Hall and Tori Dilfer Stringer are both expecting to be unavailable. Amaya Tillman is an assistant coach at UK, so that would be a competitive advantage issue, and Alexa Hendricks is traveling. Similar to Tillman, Aiko Jones may be precluded from playing due to her role as the Bellarmine head coach, but we'll see on that one. 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

We'll have four on board today, which is good since there is plenty to discuss. We'll talk actual game action, past and future, and any other news and notes from the week that was. Check out the show after it posts around 1PM, and be sure to subscribe so that it comes to your feed automatically. 

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

WSoc 1-0 win over Auburn -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

FRIDAYS WITH DARYL 

Goooood morning readers and welcome the last weekend before the fall semester begins.  Here's some shots from campus move in week.  

Walking down the bridge from the SAC on Belknap

Florals in front of the Academic Building

UofL Bookstore 2025-26 planners

Soccer

Photo: Jared Anderson

Louisville 1 -  Auburn 0

The Cardinals program got the 2025 season started with a victory on the road against the Auburn Tigers 1-0.  

If you tuned in for this one on the SEC Network + you saw that the match experienced technical difficulties for the entirety of it.  It was very difficult to stay tuned in for but I did for about an hour of it before I got a little motion sick..  

Not one minute after I changed the channel, I get a Gooooooooooalll text in the group chat from Jared.   Senior from Louisville, Hadley Snyder found the back of the bottom ride side of the net in the 72 minute of the second half.  Mackenzie Geigle did not appear in the match for an undisclosed reason so it gave some younger players the opportunity to see some playing time.  

Both goalkeepers saw plenty of action but Erynn Floyd had her work cut out for her on the goalkeeping duties with a decent attack from the Auburn offense with 10 shots and 4 on goal.  Two Tigers combined for 5 of the shot attempts. 

The Cardinals will be back in action on Sunday night against Vanderbilt at 7pm.  Hopefully the SECN+ gets some new cables by then....

As Always
Go Cards!
~Daryl 

Soccer Kicks Off Fall Season -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Face Auburn Tonight

At long last, the University of Louisville fall sports will begin regular season action tonight. We'll have to wait a week for the home opener, but Louisville women's soccer will get the season underway tonight in Auburn, Alabama as they take on the Tigers from the SEC. Tonight's matchup will be the second meeting all-time between Louisville and Auburn in women's soccer with the Tigers taking the first match 1-0 on March 20, 2021. Yes, that was a regular season match, despite the date, as the Fall 2020 season was postponed to Spring 2021 due to the covid pandemic. 

Mackenzie Geigle

Auburn finished last season at 27 in the RPI after a second round exit in the NCAA tournament. The Tigers reached a highest ranking of 6th in the Coaches Poll and spent three weeks in the top ten before a bad road loss (4-1 to unranked Texas A&M) knocked them down to 16th. Auburn entered the NCAA tournament on a bit of a skid, going 1-1-3 in their final five conference games to finish 5th in the SEC at 4-2-4 in league play. They responded to that skid by losing in the first round of the SEC tournament to 11-seed LSU 2-1. The Tigers of Auburn had thumped the Tigers of LSU 4-0 just one month prior.

Auburn clunked into the NCAA tournament on a four-match winless streak, where they took on FIU in a first round match at home. The Tigers beat the Panthers 4-1, but their late slide put them in a disadvantageous seeding position. Auburn took on Ohio State in the second round in Winston-Salem and ended their season with a 2-1 loss. 

Auburn faced a rash of departures, mostly due to graduation, and they return just 11 players from last year's team. As a result, the coaches are much less bullish on the squad this season, as they enter the year receiving just nine points worth of votes in the preseason top-25 poll. While it's "just nine points," that is nine points more than Louisville received, so glass houses and all that. Also, of the 11 returners, three of those were in the top five in points scorers for the 2024 team, including Olivia Woodson, who led the team in points (25) and goals (11). Dylan Driver and Shelby Sallee each had 14 points, with Driver second on the team in assists (8) and Sallee tied for second with five goals. 

Erynn Floyd

Auburn did lose all of their goalkeeper minutes from last season and two of the top three minutes earners among field players were graduating defenders. Unfortunately for the Cards, the other two minutes earners in the top four were also defenders who are now seniors. While it will hurt Auburn to have broken up a very seasoned back-five, keeping two senior defenders will give Louisville's new look offense plenty of headaches. The Tigers appear to have an open competition in goal, as they return a redshirt sophomore and a redshirt freshman while also bringing in a transfer redshirt junior and a true freshman. We'll see who gets the nod against the Cards tonight. 

Louisville, to their credit, will have plenty of consistency from their defensive unit as well. The Cards will likely start a defensive unit that returns 5/5 players. Erynn Floyd returns in goal while Karsyn Cherry, Hadley Snyder, Lizzie Sexton, and Brooklyn Lee shore up the defense. Let's not think about next season just yet, as four of those five are seniors. The defensive consistency continues even more if you extend it to the defensive midfielders and Karen Ferguson-Dayes keeps the same philosophy as last year. In that case, Louisville's back seven will remain the same, with Betsy Huckaby and AG Gibson taking the lion's share of the minutes as the back two midfielders in a 4-5-1 formation last season. 

Cherry celebrates with Emma Kate (EK) Schroll

Karsyn Cherry, by the way, received a late preseason honor, as TopDrawerSoccer issued their preseason top-100 players earlier this week. The list excludes incoming freshmen, but there are still thousands of players across D1 women's soccer. TDS ranked Cherry 73rd among them. She was the only Louisville representative, but joins 25 other players from the ACC, including 14 of the top-25 and seven of the top-ten. Cherry is the 17th-ranked player listed as a defender on their roster. She'll shore up the defense for Louisville, and may even play a significant role in the offense once more, as she was second on the team in goals last season with six. 

Louisville will need a strong defense, as they may find themselves in quite a few rock fights this season. The Cards return their leading goal scorer in Mackenzie Geigle, but she had just seven last year. They lost their leading assister in Brooke Dardano and they'll see quite a few changes in the midfield and forward positions. Looking for big steps up from Fina Davy and Amelia Swinarski in their sophomore seasons, the Cards will also depend on Monmouth transfer Liza Suydam to make the offense go. 

All that gets underway this evening at 7:30 PM. The match will be carried on SECN+, which you should have the same access to for streaming as ACC Network Extra. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

2025 Louisville field Hockey Looks to Rebound -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 CARDS LOOK TO IMPROVE UPON 2024 6-11 AND 1-7 RECORD 

It wasn't a stellar season for the 2024 Louisville Field Hockey squad. The 6-11 mark was the worst since pre ACC-days and 0-9 against ranked opponents. 

The squad was ranked seventh in the preseason poll but lost eight of their final nine games and all but one ACC contest...going 1-6 and only defeating Stanford.  

Going into the 2025 senior, they are a program with just four seniors and 13 freshmen or sophomores. There are only three Louisville area players on the squad and five from foreign countries.  

A look at the schedule indicates it starts a bit differently than last year's. They open with two exhibition scrimmages...the first in nine days, hosting Bellarmine. They'll also scrimmage against Miami (OH) University in Oxford, OH. 

The regular season opens against Michigan State on Friday, August 29th at noon. Louisville is 7-9 against the Spartans overall and last played them in 2019, getting a 4-1 win. Ohio University comes in two days later, the Cards are 13-28 against them, but did win 6-0 the last time they played...in 2021. Next the Cards go to Bloomington, to face both Drexel and IU in Saturday and Sunday contests. It was back in 2011 that they last faced Drexel..losing 2-1. Surprisingly, the Cards are 18-7 overall against the Hoosiers and got a 1-0 win  in Bloomington in 2023. 

Northwestern and Iowa visiting Trager after that, on Friday Sep 12th and Sunday Sept 14th.T he Cards are 9-5 overall against the Wildcats but fell to them 2-0 in 2024. Against Iowa, UofL is 9-6 and went on the road to defeat them 2-1 in 2023. That's four Big 10 opponents in the first six games and will give us a clear look on how the squad looks against quality opponents. 

Ohio State comes to town on Sept 19th. (another Big 10 foe) and the Cards will head to Philadelphia two days later to face St. Joseph's. 

ACC conference play begins on Friday Sept 26 for the Cards...going to Stanford and then wait a week before hosting Wake Forest. The Cards will play a rare Tuesday contest, against Bellarmine after that at Trager and then goes to Duke and UNC for their next two...on Oct 10th and 12th. Friday Oct 17th brings California to town and Virginia visits a week later.

A trip to Boston College for the Cards on Oct 26th and then the regular season ends at Syracuse on Nov 1. The ACC Field Hockey Tournament happens at Louisville's Trager Stadium from Nov 4th thru Nov 7th..

Ten home games in all for the Cards and .11 opponents that were ranked in the top 20 last season.

The Cards do return key players Izzy Bianco, Emily Eaton, Lauren Masters, Sophia Parker, Chloe Plumb and Rylie Wollerton.  

I see the Cards going 8-10 in their eighteen games in 2025. Wins over Michigan St. Bellarmine, California, Stanford, Ohio University, Drexel, Syracuse, and Wake Forest.  

Got a different take?   Let us know in the comments.  

paulie

Lacrosse Adds New Assistant Coach -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Riley Ewing Joins Lax Staff

Photo by GoCards

Riley Ewing has joined the Louisville lacrosse staff and will serve as an assistant coach beginning the 2026 season. Ewing spent the last two seasons at George Mason.

During her two seasons as an assistant coach at George Mason, the Pioneers posted strong results. They finished last season near the top in the country in successful draw controls, something Louisville has been looking to improve on. In 2024, George Mason recorded double-digit wins, highlighted by a 6-0 start to the season.

Ewing has also spent some time playing for Team USA. She helped Team USA win gold at the 2024 Women's Box Lacrosse Championships. She scored seven goals and five assists in the championship game.

Photo by Jared

An Ohio State alum, Ewing sits high on the single game, season, and career record books at Ohio State. She will provide much-needed assistance at Louisville, providing a strong focus on draw controls and offense.

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

Cardinal Countdown -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Good Monday morning readers,  

It's officially move in week for students as classes will begin next week.   For me, our team will also be in the process of moving back onto Belknap campus full time by the month of September.  If there's one constant about UofL its that nothing is permanent.  

So the countdown to the Cardinal athletic calendars is winding down to its final digits and the next time you hear from me, we will have a match recorded.   

Soccer

3 Days

Field Hockey

18 Days

Volleyball

18 Days

Golf

 

28 Days 

Basketball

About 85 days 

Lacrosse

About 185 days 

Softball

About 185 days 

As Always, 
Go Cards 
~Daryl 

Preseason Cards Womens Soccer Predictions -- SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 WILL 2025 WSOC CARDS BREAK .500? 

With WSOC at UofL starting in just five days, I figured it might be a good time to look at the schedule and give a prediction on how the squad might do. With last year's squad going 7-6-5, one can only hope that the 2025 squad can improve on that. 

Unfortunately, the rest of the ACC doesn't see the Cards being a league title contender. The Cards were predicted to finish 14th out of the 17 teams in the ACC in a preseason coaches poll.. 

Louisville starts off 2025 with (2) road games against SEC schools. Opening at Auburn won't be an easy task for the Cards and I'm going to predict that they drop this one to the Auburn squad. Next up, a trip to Vandy, a squad that made it to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen last season and upset #1 tanked FSU in the NCAA Tournament.  Unfortunately, I don't see a win in Music City for the Cards in their second match of the season. 

The Cards begin their first home series against Detroit Mercy. Surprisingly, Detroit Mercy is 1-0 all-time against the Cards and is coming off a 10-8-2 season. They did go 7-1-2 in the Horizon League and could come in and give the Cards all they want. But, I look to the Cards to play them well, and this just might be the first "tie" of the season for Karen Ferguson Dayes squad. Wright State is up next for UofL, and it i here where the Cards get their first win of the season. USC Upstate comes in next for a Thursday 3 p.m. match (which is a bit confusing...3 p.m. on a Thursday?) USC Upstate was 10-5-4 last year but I can see Louisville getting the win here. After all, UNC defeated then 8-0 last year in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. 

Coastal Carolina comes to town next and was 8-7-6 last year. I see Louisville picking up their third win of the season in this one. Kent St. comes to town to open Sept. action and I am seeing the Cards getting their fourth win of the season against the Golden Flashes. The streak of home games ends with Dayton coming to visit. Dayton has owned the Cards in the series with a 13-4-1 win record over UofL, and the two teams battled to a scoreless tie in 2025 in Louisville. I'll go out on a limb here and give the Cards a narrow win. 

Conference play begins Sept 11th for the Cards when they visit FSU. The Cards probably won't win this one in Tallahassee and the schedule doesn't get any easier with a visit from Virginia Tech, who finished second in the ACC last year.I see the Cards falling to the Hokies.  Clemson is the next to visit Lynn Stadium and the Tigers come in as a preseason top ten prediction, so the Cards will most likely fall to the Tigers.   

Miami visits Louisville next and the Cards will face a squad that has eight transfers in. It's hard to say just how good the Canes will be, but we should have a fairly good idea in the Cards 12th game of the year. I see Louisville getting their first conference win.

A  three game road trip is next for UofL...starting at Notre Dame. Unfortunately, I see the Cards dropping this one and also the next away game...at Wake Forest. Next is a trip to Boston College. The two schools are basically a "pick 'em" but since BC is hosting, we'll give this one to them. 

Virginia travels to Louisville next and the Cavs are hovering around the top ten ranking in the preseason poll. They should come in and get the win. NCST lines up next for the Cards and Louisville should get this win over the (2024) 4-10-4 Wolfpack in Raleigh. The regular season ends the day before Halloween when SMU comes to call on the Cards. I do see the Cards ending the season with a win, and a 8-9-1 record overall. 

Got a different take? Weigh in at the comments section.

CCHRP

It was Paulie, Case and Jared on the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast Saturday and the guys discussed a lot of soccer, volleyball and a bit of golf. Give a listen at the link below:

Catdinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast 8/9/25

paulie 

More Volleyball Updates -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Ranked 4th by AVCA

Last week I wrote about the love the Cards received from the ACC voters in the preseason polls, so this week I get to talk about the same recognition from the AVCA. The 2025 preseason poll was announced earlier this week, and the national runners up find themselves ranked 4th. Former head coach Dani Busboom Kelly returns to the top of the rankings with her new team as the Nebraska Cornhuskers narrowly edged out the defending NCAA Champions, Penn State. 

Nebraska received 40 first place votes compared to 21 for Penn State, but the Huskers only had 1,490 points
while Penn State had 1,459. Functionally, that means that almost everyone that picked Nebraska to be 1st picked PSU second, while voters who gave the Nittany Lions the nod saw teams like Pittsburgh as the potential second-best program. Pitt, by the way, was the top-ranked ACC program in a preseason poll that includes four ACC teams in the top 10. Pitt was the clear third choice, receiving 1,338 points. That put them on an island well behind PSU for second and almost 100 points ahead of the Cards (1,240) for third. The other ACC teams in the top ten were, unsurprisingly, Stanford (6) and SMU (10).

Texas came in fifth, just behind Louisville with 1,223 points, and led the way for the three-team SEC contingent in the top ten. Kentucky was seventh and Texas A&M ninth. The final spot in the top ten went to Wisconsin, adding a third Big Ten team and boxing the Big 12 out completely. Arizona State was the highest ranked Big 12 program in 13th. 

While the ACC had the largest number of teams in the top ten, the voters found the league to be very top-heavy. Only one other team made the top 25, with Georgia Tech coming in at 22. North Carolina was functionally 28th, as the third team receiving votes. The SEC matched the ACC's five teams, though they nearly had a sixth with Tennessee the first team out. The Big Ten swept with seven teams in the Top 25. 

Coaching Changes Announced

The preseason polls weren't the only big news of the week, as Dan Meske announced some late changes to his coaching staff with the season just around the corner. The first of those was titling Sarah Petkovic as the Chief of Staff. Petkovic has been the Director of Operations for the Cards for 14 years and is entering this season in that role with a third head coach. The title change appears to be more of a sign of respect for the value that Petkovic brings to the program than a general change in job duties. Her role will be to "focus on the development of current student-athletes, including personal and player development as well as leadership skills", to "strengthen the profile of of Cardinal volleyball by collaborating with [local] coaches, alumni, and the local and national volleyball community", and to "manage the program's revenue share, helm alumni and donor relations for the program, [and] assume the role of general manager."

That's a mouthful of a job description, but it boils down to adding the general manager and financial sharing aspect, which is new to programs across the country in the changing college athletics landscape, to the existing duties of the Director of Ops. Petkovic's origin story is pretty fascinating. The Louisville native walked on for the Cards after graduating from PRP where she lettered in volleyball, basketball, and track. She was a defensive specialist for Louisville until shifting to the libero position when it was created. Petkovic earned a scholarship for her final two seasons for the Cards and set records for digs in a single season with 534 and digs in a single match with 39. In 2002, she was a member of the All-Midwest Region team and First Team All-C-USA. After graduating, she spent five years as a member of the United States National Team. So yeah... not bad for a local kid who walked on.

The other coaching announcement was the return of Tori Dilfer Stringer to Louisville. Dilfer Stringer will serve as the team's "offensive consultant" which I suppose is a way of saying "offensive coordinator" for a sport that doesn't necessarily "call plays". Tori brings quite the pedigree to the coaching staff herself, as she wraps up playing professionally after most recently playing for the Columbus Fury in the PVF. Tori also represented the USNT for two years. After transferring to Louisville from TCU as a junior, she immediately made an impact. She was twice named the ACC Setter of the Year and First Team All-ACC and she became the first Cardinal to be named to the All-American First Team. Yeah, that last one surprised me too. The honor in 2021 also came after she helped Louisville go undefeated in the regular season and reach its first ever national semifinal. 

Congratulations to both Sarah and Tori on the announcements of their new roles!

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

We're back this week with four in the (virtual) studio. We'll talk about all the recent news as well as games actually around the corner. It should be a lively show, so come and join us! Check out the show after it posts around 1PM, and be sure to subscribe so that it comes to your feed automatically. 

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Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

WGolf starts fall season in one month -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

FRIDAYS WITH DARYL 

Good morning everybody,

We are one month from the UofL WGolf season starting and I must admit, I have been craving a round of golf lately but the heat and just trying to take it easy in the month of July has kept me away from the course.  I actually haven't played since Memorial Weekend, which is way too long ago.   I do believe the annual press box scramble should've been held this past Monday out at the UofL golf course.... Cardinal Couple's invite must've gotten lost in the mail....   

UofL Health Science Campus 

WGolf

Head coach Whitney Young announced the 2025-26 UofL women's golf schedule Wednesday afternoon. The slate will include 9 regular season tournaments over the fall and spring seasons. In the spring season, the Cardinals will host the 9th annual Moon Golf Tournament in Melbourne, Florida.

The fall season begins in Texas for the Cardinals as they travel to Corinth, Texas to take part in the Sam Golden Invitational. The 2 day event is hosted by North Texas and will be held September 8-9.  

Later in September, hosted by Vanderbilt, the Cards head down I-65 for the Mason Rudolph Invitational. Held in Franklin, Tennessee the 3 day tournament will be held from September 19-21.

Up next for UofL is a trip to Arkansas for the Blessings Collegiate Invitational. The event will be held from September 29 - October 1 and it will be the fourth time in the last five seasons that the Cardinals will compete in the event. The Cardinals placed 6th overall in 2021, 9th in 2022 and 8th last season at the Blessings.

Next for Louisville, the final 2 tournaments of the fall season will take place in North Carolina. First up is the Pirate Collegiate Classic, hosted by East Carolina in Greenville and it will take place from October 6-7. The final fall tournament will be the Ruth's Chris Tar Heel Invitational, hosted by North Carolina, from October 17-19. It will be the third time in the last four seasons the Cardinals will compete in the event. In the fall of 2022, Louisville finished 4th out of 14 teams in the tournament.

We will cover the spring portion of the schedule after the new year :D

As Always, 
Go Cards 

~Daryl