WSOC and FH Notch Key Wins -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Soccer Beats Clemson 1-0

Louisville women's soccer picked up their second straight 1-0 ACC victory last night, this time over the visiting Clemson Tigers. The loss was just Clemson's second of the season and their first in ACC play. The Tigers are now 3-2-5 (0-1-2) on the year. They opened their ACC slate with back-to-back 2-2 draws against #3 Stanford and Cal. Clemson has also drawn against #12 South Carolina and #15 Georgia. It may not seem like it based on their rankings, but this was a very big shutout win for the Cards. 

Even better than a shutout, Louisville held Clemson to zero shots on goal. Louisville's defense was relentless, albeit a little aggressive. The Cards finished with seven fouls compared to just three for the Tigers. Both teams totaled only five shots, but Louisville put three of theirs on target. It was an extremely defensive second half for Louisville, as they managed just one corner and one shot in the second. They did most of their attacking in the first half, including scoring their goal. 

That goal came in the 20th minute by Amelia Swinarski with assists from AG Gibson and Liza Suydam. Swinny continues her emergence as a key member of the Louisville offense and a player that is getting national recognition. Louisville's shift from the 4-5-1 formation most commonly used in recent years to a more balanced 4-3-3 continues to put more attacking players, like AG Gibson, in position to do something with those instincts. The Cards have missed out on scoring opportunities in the past and have lost games like this one due to giving up a single goal and being unable to respond. While the 1-0 victories aren't as thrilling as Louisville being on double-digit watch, they're still wins, and that's all that matters. 

The Cards move to 9-2 on the season and 2-1 in ACC play. Their lone losses came in ranked road matches. It's now very realistic to say that Louisville has a chance to finish the regular season undefeated at home. There are three matches left to play at Lynn Stadium, and one will be much more difficult than the others. The Cards take on Miami next Thursday, then Virginia on October 18th, and finish with SMU on October 30th. A draw still isn't a loss, so the Cards just need a point in each of those matches to accomplish the goal, but wins would be sweet. 

With their ninth win, Louisville guarantees that they will have their most wins since 2019, and they ensure a finish of at least .500. That said, finishing the season at .500 now would be an absolute disaster. Road matches against Notre Dame and Wake Forest will be very difficult, as will the home match against Virginia, but Louisville should consider themselves capable of competing in those games and should feel good about the other matches remaining (Miami, @ BC, @ NC State, SMU). The Cards are currently tied for 2nd in the ACC with ND and Wake all on 6 points, but that will likely shift around after Sunday. Louisville is on bye this weekend and they are among the only teams to have played three ACC matches so far. 

Louisville's next opponent is Miami. The Canes are 6-3-1 overall but 0-2 in ACC play. They opened their ACC season with a 3-1 loss at Wake and then a 1-0 loss at home to Duke. Those results aren't bad, but Miami's other loss came at Appalachian State and their draw was at home against Princeton. They could be frisky, but Louisville will be happy to have this game at home. That match will be Thursday at 7PM. 

Field Hockey Upsets Ohio State 3-2

Louisville field hockey bounced back from a tough weekend last time out by knocking off the 14th-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes late Friday afternoon. The Cards win means that they finished their Big Ten season (haha) 3-2. The losses against Northwestern and Iowa stung, but the Cards can claim victories over three teams (MSU, IU, and OSU) in one of the top field hockey conferences in the country. If Louisville can also finish their conference season over .500, they'll be back in contention for a strong seed in the NCAA tournament. 

In this one, the two teams played a tough scoreless first quarter before exploding on offense in the second. Louisville scored goals just over a minute apart but Ohio State took one back right before the half to keep the Cards in touch. Louisville picked up their third goal halfway through the third quarter and found themselves on defense for the remainder of the match. The Buckeyes went empty net with four minutes remaining and found a goal 30 seconds later. They took another shot right after scoring, but Louisville's defense was able to control the ball for the remaining three-and-a-half minutes to secure the victory. 

Cardinal goals came from Rylie Wollerton (6), Gracie Potter (2), and Gigi Edwards (4). Wollerton's goal was assisted by Trijntje Herfkens and Edwards' came from Wollerton. It was an extremely hectic game for both defenses, with Louisville taking 17 shots (10 on target) and Ohio State taking 15 (8). Six of OSU's shots came in that fourth quarter. Both goalies were very active, and very efficient, as OSU finished with seven saves and Emily Young had six for the Cards. 

Despite 12 total penalty corners taken in the game (7-5 Cards), none of the five goals were directly counted as PC goals and only one of Louisville's really came as a result of the PC. Potter's goal came after she put a corner into play and she took a rebound shot after Annabel Sep had her attempt saved. 

Louisville hits the road today for a match against Saint Joseph's tomorrow afternoon. The Hawks are 4-2 on the season with their two losses coming on the road against #18 Penn State and #10 Maryland. The 15th-ranked squad from Philly has just one home match so far, a 3-0 win over St. Louis yesterday to open conference play. They've also got wins over #11 UConn, New Hampshire, and American, with UConn and American being neutral and New Hampshire being a true road match. 

The Cards will have their hands full with their penultimate non-conference opponent of the season. Louisville moves into conference play after tomorrow's match, but they'll also play Bellarmine on October 7th. Tomorrow's match is at noon and will be available on ESPN+. 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

We're planning a show this week, but it will be a two-man game, with both Jared and Daryl over near UofL's campus. Jared will be at L&N Stadium for a noon kickoff and Daryl will be headed to the Fairgrounds for early sets on the third day of Louder Than Life. Paulie and I will talk some big wins and one disappointing loss. You can 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