WSOC Players Stay Local for Summer -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Four Cards on Racing Louisville USLW Team 

Davy (20) and Huckaby (2)

Racing Louisville announced the roster for their 2025 USL W League season, and four Cardinals will spend their summer playing for the local club. The four Louisville players are among 18 Division I players on the 46-player roster, with 10 of those coming from Power 4 conferences. This season, Cards trading the red and black for lavender are Fina Davy, AG Gibson, Betsy Huckaby, and Grace Maddox. That marks an increase in UofL representation by one, Davy and Maddox join for the first time and Brooke Dardano graduated this past season. 

Other local schools represented include UK (Mallory Glass), EKU (Kaitlyn Rowlett), Breanna Dardano (Xavier; and yes, they're related), and Bellarmine. Callie McKinney's squad ties UofL for the largest non-Racing Academy contingent on the roster with four representatives of their own: Dakota Bramer, Sidney Rigsby, Shelby Smith, and Lucy von Stefenelli. 

Racing got their USL W season started with a bang yesterday evening on a beautiful night down at the Lynn Training Complex, beating the Dayton Dutch Lions by a whopping 9-0 scoreline. The win kicked off a 10-match schedule against local clubs. From now, Racing will play a home-and-away with Kings Hammer FC (Cincinnati/NKY), Lexington SC, Indy Eleven, and Dayton with one extra road game against Kings Hammer. The season is short, as the last game will be played on June 24th. 

Maddox (5), Gibson (24), and Avery Oergel

The UofL representatives on the team had a big game in last night's win, with Grace Maddox getting a start, playing all 90 minutes, and leading the team in scoring with three goals. Fina Davy also played all 90 and scored one goal. AG Gibson started and played 59 minutes, and Betsy Huckaby's 31 minutes make it seem as though Huckaby may have subbed on for Gibson. Neither of the two scored, and assists weren't tracked. 

Regardless of the outcome and the stats, Louisville players getting more touches on the ball, especially with one another, is extremely valuable. One of the biggest issues with the Cards last season was seeming disjointed, especially in the middle and final thirds. Having more opportunities to develop an on-field relationship can only help, considering that the four players on the Racing squad will likely make up the core of Louisville's attack in 2025. 

The team will head to Covington for their next game on Saturday before returning to Louisville against Lexington SC next Wednesday at 6PM. Home games are open to the public and free to attend. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Louisville Players Join USL W League; Golf in NCAAs -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Set to Represent Racing Louisville Once More

Photo by Jared Anderson

We've talked at length about what Louisville City and Racing Louisville have brought and can continue to bring to the Louisville community and to the University of Louisville on the soccer front. Starting last season, we saw that direct impact come to fruition with the introduction of the USL's W-League. The W-League is "pre-professional" but is not completely analogous with the Racing Louisville Academy. Last season, four Cardinals wore purple over the summer. This season, that number falls to three, but the Cards will have their first player coming directly from the Academy. AG Gibson was on last year's W-League team, but 2024 will be her freshman season for Louisville. Also returning are Brooke Dardano and Betsy Huckaby. Savina Zamborini and Autumn Weeks competed last season. 

Racing Louisville and UofL will both miss the services of Ella Sanchez this year. The Ballard phenom that came up through the Academy announced last summer that she would forgo college and the NWSL to sign a professional contract in Mexico. The W-League schedule will consist of 10 games, starting on May 14th and ending on June 30th. Home games will be played at the Lynn Family Sports Vision & Training Center. Louisville will begin and end their season there against Indy Eleven. 

Ryskova T4 After Round 1; Griffiths T51

Photo by University of Louisville Athletics

Hana Ryskova and Carmen Griffiths made it to the NCAA Regionals as individuals this season for Louisville women's golf. While both talked about how exciting it is to have their team on board during Media Day, they weren't quite able to get that same level of advancement this season. Having golfers qualify for the regionals is still quite a feat. Unfortunately, with the way that the NCAA Championship is structured, both golfers are competing for one spot. 

From each regional location (six) the top five teams and the top independent individual will advance to the finals, which are set to be played May 17-22 in Carlsbad, California. After the first round, Ryskova's -2 sees her sitting at T4 overall, but is T2 in the individual standings. Ryskova is tied with Kate Petrova, out of Evansville, and the pair are two strokes back of Notre Dame's Lauren Beaudreau. Those three will tee off together at 10:05 this morning in East Lansing for the second round. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

WSoc Travels to Saint Louis -- Hailey Van Lith -- Jordan McNary -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

We are certainly back in the full swing of a normal(ish) season with fall sports having games left and right with the addition of news from other sports who are not in season.

It makes our job much easier as we don't have to scrounge for content to provide to you. Two things fell into my lap about the time I was leaving work yesterday, adding onto today's content.

Women's Soccer Travels to Saint Louis

We'll start with the in-season sport before heading to some other individual news for current and former players for other sports.

After three straight home games to start the year, women's soccer will have their first road test of the season tonight when they visit Saint Louis. The Cards and Billikens are slated for an 8:00p.m., ET, kickoff and will be shown on ESPN+.

Louisville enters the match with a perfect 3-0 record and is recently off a 3-0 victory over in-state foe Northern Kentucky. The 13 goals in the first three matches of the season matches a program best dating all the way back to the program's inaugural season in 1985.

Offensively, the scoring has been spread out across eight players with Emma Hiscock leading the charge with three. Six of the eight goal scorers are freshmen or sophomores. Seven Cardinals have registered an assist with Brooke Dardano in front with four. Five of the seven players with assists are first-year members for Louisville's team, either as a freshman or by transfer.

The defensive side of things has been a bit shaky with the veteran defense allowing five goals. In their most recent game, the Cards registered a clean sheet while goalkeeper Gabby Kuzelos broke 200 career saves. Three allowed goals against James Madison turned a blowout into a close game. The two goals allowed against Western Michigan weren't as big of a deal due to the offense pouring on goals, but were not great nonetheless.

Saint Louis has struggled early in their 2021 season, losing three straight before breaking the goose egg in the wins column with a 2-0 victory over Illinois State. The A-10 preseason favorites opened the year ranked #21 in the United Soccer Coaches poll before plummeting out of the rankings altogether.

The Billikens had an excellent 2020 season, going 15-1-1 with a perfect 8-0 record in conference play. Their A-10 title earned them a bid to the NCAA Tournament, where they fell to Washington in penalty kicks in the opening round.

The Billikens have two goals on the season, both in their most recent match. Their defense has looked better, allowing four goals on the year, but are fresh off a shutout over the weekend. Three of the four goals allowed have come in the first half.

Abbie Miller, reigning A-10 Mid-fielder of the Year, and Emily Gaebe have been the two goal scorers for the Billikens. A-10 Offensive Player of the Year Hannah Friedrich and Anna Walsh each have an assist. Emily Puricelli has four goals allowed while also recording 18 saves.

The Cards are 3-9 all-time against Saint Louis, but have won three straight dating back to 2010. Prior to the start of the season, before we knew the status of the Louisville offense and looking at the Billikens' 2020 season, this game looked anything but promising. Now, a few games in, Louisville has a strong chance to return home with a win. The offense has been ruthless with their nonstop attack all game against opponents and has provided a cushion to allow a goal or two here and there.

If Louisville can come out attacking early and get on the board before halftime, the aggressive front line should be able to keep Saint Louis on its heels in the second half to relive some pressure from Kouzelos and the back line on defense.

Hailey Van Lith at FIBA 3x3

Louisville women's basketball players love to stay busy and Hailey Van Lith is no exception. The rising sophomore will represent Team USA in the FIBA 3x3 Women's Series in Montreal on Friday and Saturday.

Van Lith will be joined by Jordan Reynolds (Tennessee), Breanna Richardson (Mississippi State), and Camille Zimmerman (Columbia).

Team USA is part of Group A and has Friday action against Germany at 1:50p.m., ET, Austria at 3:00p.m., and Netherland at 5:50p.m. The top team from each group receives a bye and advances to the semifinals on Saturday. The second and third place teams will play in the quarterfinals with the winners advancing to the semifinals.

Jordan McNary Joins Morehead State Staff

Morehead State softball announced yesterday that they would be adding Louisville alumna Jordan McNary to their staff. If you've read us over the years, you're probably aware that she's a favorite of the Cardinal Couple staff and we've enjoyed our interaction with her over the yeaars. 

McNary, who was with the Cards from 2013-2017, was a three-year starter in the outfield. Known for her speed, McNary carried a .318 career batting average while recording 140 hits and crossing home plate a whopping 93 times. We often saw "The Governor" beating out throws down the first base line or winding up on second before the catcher had a chance to throw the ball.

"I am very grateful for this wonderful opportunity, so I would like to thank Coach Jones and everyone here at Morehead State," said McNary. "Once I got on campus, it was beautiful and I immediately felt at home. To coach at this level has been a goal of mine for a very long time. I'm looking forward to working with the MSU student-athletes and staff. This upcoming softball season will be exciting, and I am glad to be a part of the program."

Louisville has played Morehead State in the past, but the 2022 regular season schedule has not been announced, so we are not sure if we will see McNary in town with the Eagles yet.

We wish Jordan a congratulations and the best of luck in her collegiate coaching career!

Happy Thursday and Go Cards!

Jared

Women's Soccer Hosts James Madison -- Softball Addition -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 Women's Soccer Hosts James Madison

Whether you're a fan of soccer, or UofL sports, or dogs, there's plenty of reason to head out to Dr. Mark and Cindy Lynn Stadium tonight as Louisville women's soccer welcomes James Madison. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m., and admission is free.

Louisville is doing a first for soccer by hosting their Paws on the Pitch promotion. Bring your doggies with you and hang out on the north berm, or come on out just to see plenty of pups. Despite the wording of the promotion, dogs will not be allowed on the playing field.

The Cards downed Western Michigan with ease last week, winning 6-2. It improved Louisville's season-opening record to 19-1-2 all time. Freshmen Julia Simon and Nina Nicosia each scored two goals while Brooke Dardano and Emma Hiscock each found the back of the net once.

Can you name these four soccer alums?

Defensively, Louisville was a bit of a surprise by allowing two goals. With plenty of veterans on the back line and in goal, we were hopeful for a shutout. On a normal night, giving up two goals may cost you the match. However, it was the season opener and there were nerves so I expect the defense to look more in sync tonight.

James Madison comes in with a 1-1 record. The Dukes fell in their season opener to VCU 1-0 before blowing out American 4-0. They were picked to finish fifth in the Colonial Athletic Conference.

All four goals on the year have come from different players. Lexi Vanderlinden is credited with two of the four assists. Overall, James Madison has taken 18 shots on goal, proving that their offense is aggressive and not afraid to attack the goal.

In goal, Alexanda Blom has gotten both starts and logged 171:27 minutes. She gave up the lone goal while also recording an impressive nine saves. This is the redshirt sophomore's first season as top keeper for the Dukes after playing a reserve role the past two years.

The Cards and Dukes have only played once before with James Madison taking a 1-0 victory back in 1990. Three of your regular writers on here weren't even born yet... sorry Paulie and Jeff.

Softball Adds Kendall Smith

Coach Holly Aprile seems to have found a trend that is quite popular in college basketball- chasing grad student transfers. For the second straight year, Louisville softball adds a fifth-year senior.

Kendall Smith joins the Cardinal squad from Western Kentucky. Smith, a native of Bowling Green, stayed local to play for the Hilltoppers. Smith helped WKU to a 2021 Conference USA title.

Smith will join the talented group of catchers in Cassady Greenwood and Rebecca Chung. Her bat has proven to be her strength. In her four year career, Smith accumulated 27 home runs, 113 RBIs, and 107 runs scored.

Louisville, who ran into some offensive issues at times last year by stranding base-runners, will rely on Smith's bat to help knock those runs in.

UofL does have plans of a fall schedule, which is normal, but it has not yet been released. These scrimmages are typically against teams in the area to allow the coaches to access the strengths and weaknesses of their team before the season.

Remember that picture of some UofL soccer alums earlier in the article? Here are the four former Cards from left to right: Allison Whitfield, Brooklyn Rivers, Kennadi Carbin, Emina Ekic. How'd you do?

Happy Thursday and Go Cards!
Jared

Locals on the Squads -- MONDAY CARINAL COUPLE

 LOCAL HIGH SCHOOL TALENT ON FALL ROSTERS FOR CARDS 

As we get nearer to the beginning of the University of Louisville women's fall sports schedules, let's take a look at three of the activities we'll follow closely at CARDINAL COUPLE (Women's Soccer, Field Hockey and Volleyball) in terms of local high school athletes who have joined these three rosters. 

Here at CARDINAL COUPLE, we await to see what guidelines and implementations the ACC is going to hand down to UofL as far as how we'll be able to cover activities. Of course, we always love the chance to cover these in-person and live-on-the-spot --- but with the spike in the Delta Variant of the Coronavirus -- we're not sure yet whether we'll be doing that or just following events on our laptops and ACC Network broadcasts..

Either way, we'll do our best to get you the news. 

A Fall Sports Media Day from the past

We also haven't received any notification yet on a potential Fall Sports Media Day date and time for women's athletics. Yearly, this is a great event for us to get interviews, comments and talk to the coaches and student-athletes that'll be doing the work. We hope it'll occur after a pause last year because of the pandemic.  

Today, we'll look at women's soccer.

Either myself or one of our other illustrious writers will cover Field Hockey and Volleyball "locals" as their season get closer to a start.  

WOMEN'S SOCCER

Karen Ferguson Dayes' "Kicking Cards" get it underway first for the fall UofL women's sports squads on August 14th....when Ball State comes to town... so we'll start there.

WSOC has a roster of 26 student-athletes, as of the latest listing, and out of those, there are three "local" Cardinals we'll keep an eye on. 

Cassie Amshoff is no stranger to us or the program. The senior forward from Louisville's Sacred Heart Academy begins her fourth year as a Card. She was an integral part of the squad last season -- starting in nine matches for UofL. Although she did not score a goal in 2020, she was a major part of the offensive attack. As an aside, she was the Kentucky Gatorade Player of the Year in women's soccer in 2017 -- her senior year at SHA. 

Savina Zamborini is a sophomore forward for UofL that played her high school soccer at Louisville Manual High School. As a freshman in 2020, she saw action in 10 games, with three starts. Although she did not score a goal, she did record five shots with three of them "on goal". Savina was named to the United Soccer Coaches All-South Region Team in 2019 -- her senior season at Manual -- and First Team All-State in Kentucky. She scored 40 goals in her final two seasons at Manual.

Incoming freshman Brooke Dardano joins Louisville as a freshman out of South Oldham High School. She's a midfielder and had outstanding campaigns in her final two years out in Crestwood. She tallied 11 goals and 27 assists in her junior season at South Oldham. Here senior season was shortened by the pandemic, but she was still able to get six goals and six assists. Her squad was an impressive 44-12-3 in her final three years. 

As a whole -- the Louisville women's soccer roster enlists 10 incoming freshmen, five sophomores, three juniors and eight seniors. 

One of the major questions for 2021 involve who will take up the scoring mantle now that Emina Ekic has graduated. To be sure, there is a wealth of experience returning that could step up and implement "goals" in Sarah Hernandez, Ravin Alexander, Taylor Kervin, Corienne Dente, Maisie Whitsett, Morgan Bentley, Delaney Snyder and Cassie Amshoff --- all who were on the field at forward or midfield for Louisville last year. The Cards also have transfer Mikayla Hampton on the squad, who comes in from Northwestern as a redshirt senior. And....who knows which freshmen might step up to provide the scoring punch. 

On the defense and back in goalkeep, Gabby Kouzelos returns as one of the best tenders in the ACC. She brings in 69 starts in her four years at UofL and had recorded 73 shutouts in those four years. Opposing ACC Coaches have to be shrugging their shoulders when it comes to figuring out ways to get the ball past "Gabby the Goalie"...

New Cardinals assistant coach Nick Stirrett will most likely have a say when in comes to "balls in the net" At his previous stop (Oregon State) he was part of a staff that saw the Beavers goal-scoring go from six goals in 2018 to 31 in 2019. 

Let's get it started at Lynn -- we can't wait to see what this 2021 version of Louisville women's soccer looks like !! 

Have a marvelous Monday! 

paulie