Cards field hockey rocks Radford 7-1

Monday Cardinal Couple covers:

- #12 Field Hockey rolls at home

-Women's soccer loses on the road

-Rowing competes in Lemonhead Regatta

-The Hammond question

A busy Sunday for women's sports at UofL. Let's get to the action and results...

Nicole Youman continued with the hot stick...scoring three goals and adding two assists at Trager Stadium against Radford. The Flock (7-1) used a big second half to defeat the Highlanders (6-1) by six in front of a nice crowd on the Belknap campus.

Radford hit the scoreboard first when Lara Canker popped back a blocked shot by Cards goalie Erin Conrad less than two minutes into the contest. Louisville countered near the 30 minute mark when Youman set up Simone Attles for a score on Jennifer Wisniewski. The score remained tied for the rest of the first session.

Louisville struck early and often in the final stanza. Youman got the scoring started with a penetrate and shot at the 1:24 mark to put the Cards ahead for good. A couple of minutes later, Youman added her second goal...recovering her blocked shot on Wisniewski and finding the net for a 3-1 Cardinal advantage. Youman picked up her second assist minutes later, finding Haley Jurich on the right side...who planted one deep in the net to make it 4-1.

The Cards continued the scoring fiesta when reserve Heather Stevens drove thru the circle and slapped one in for a 5-1 advantage. Youman picked up her third score less than a minute later, guiding the ball in at the 50:16 mark to put the Cards up by five. Freshman Elizabeth Vance recovered a missed Karah Nall attempt and closed out the scoring for the game.

Louisville out shot the Highlander 21-4 and returns to action at #8 Syracuse...who defeated Rutgers yesterday...Saturday, September 25th.

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Soccer lost their first game of the year in Champaign, Illnois...falling to the Illini 3-0. The Cards (7-1) were guilty of 11 whistles in the contest and #21 Illinois outshot Louisville 8-2 on shots on goal.

#16 Louisville hung tough most of the first half but surrendered the only tally of the half when Taylor Vancil just missed blocking a Megan Pawloski kick to the right corner.

Illinois (7-1-1) increased the margin in the final half thanks to a Julie Ewing feed to a wide open Shayla Mutz who took it past Conrad for a 2-0 lead. The Cards surrendered the final goal of the game late in the contest to Marissa Holden's boot past Conrad.

Karen Ferguson-Dayes brings the Cards back home for a Friday match against DePaul. Game time is set for 4 p.m. at Cardinal Park.

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Cardinal Rowing opened the fall season in Bloomington in the Lemonhead Regata on Lake Lemon. (Wonder what color the water was?) The Cards fared well in the dual meet, gathering a win and a tie against the Hoosiers.

In the first race, the Cardinal "A" team defeated the IU "A" crew by three seconds over the three mile course. This one was for crews of four. IU's "B" squad nipped the Cardinal "B" bunch for third.

The Cards and Hoosiers "A" squads battled to a tie in the second event each hitting the line in 17:04 over the distance for crews of eight. Louisville's "B" squad finished third.

Louisville hosts the Red and Black Day next...at the Cardinal Boathouse off River Road on Saturday, October 16th.

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To answer the many e-mails we've gotten about Kentucky girls' basketball star Sara Hammond and her college choice...we can tell you that she's made no decision between UofL and UConn the last time we heard...around 8 a.m. Monday morning...but it's rumored she could announce as early as tomorrow.

We'll keep you posted on any breaking news we hear. Keep those fingers crossed.

Women's Soccer blanks UK 2-0

YOUR FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE PRESENTS:

-Women's soccer wins Battle of the Bluegrass

-Weekend sports for the women

-The "meaning" of CARDS

Before an overflow crowd of 2000+ in Cardinal Park Thursday night, the University of Louisville women's soccer team improved their record to 5-0 with a 2-0 shutout of Kentucky. Taylor Vancil, UofL goalie (pictured left) was spectacular in the win...getting her third shutout of the season and keeping the Cats out of the net.

The rowdy Cardinal crowd in attendance, mostly dressed in red, saw a defensive struggle in the first half. Vancil defensed the Cardinal goal brilliantly in the first half and had two spectacular stops on shots on goal later in action by Wildcats Caitlin Landis and Kelsey Hunyadi. The shot block on Hunyadi's attempt was particularly impressive...Vancil made a diving deflection on a ball seemingly headed to the net.

The Cardinals took the lead in the 69th minute of play when Caitlin Rehder capitalized on a loose ball near the UK goal and booted it past UK goalie Sydney Hiance. UofL added an insurance goal late in the contest when Angelika Uremovich tracked down a deflection by Hiance and tapped it into the net for the final score of the contest. Uremovich leads the Cards in goals scored this season with four.

The game was also televised on the Fox Soccer Channel, so people across the nation got a chance to see the dramatically improved UofL women's soccer team and how well the Cardinal faithful turn out for soccer matches. A great recruiting tool for Coach Karen Ferguson-Dayes.

Louisville hits the road next for a Sunday game at St. Louis.

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Besides soccer Sunday, women's sports at UofL has the Field hockey team hosting California at 1 p.m. in Trager Stadium. TEAM CARDINAL is 3-2 on the year, but has faced 5 top 20 opponents so far in the young season. This is the second of 4 straight home games for Pam Bustin's stick swingers.

Louisville volleyball travels to Wright State for a 7 p.m. matchup tonite in Dayton. OH. The Volley Cards are 4-2 on the season and get a week off after the Wright State game before hosting 4 straight in Cardinal Arena. Purdue is the first invader next Friday and action starts at 7 p.m.

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We all know that CARDS is a word we use to describe our sports teams at the University of Louisville...but here's a different and very appropriate breakdown of the word, offered by UofL head football coach Charlie Strong.

C= Commitment

A=Attitude

R=Respect

D=Discipline

S=Sacrifice

Next time you yell out "Go CARDS!" at your favorite UofL sporting event, remember that for University of Louisville athletes and many fans...the words have a deeper meaning than just a cheer. We applaud Coach Strong on his philosophy of hard word, dedication and player development. Just one example of the commitment that all student athletes at UofL carry with them each day in the classrooms and on the fields.

Saturday in Cardinal Park

Saturday night at Cardinal Park featured both the women's field hockey and soccer teams in exhibition action. Haley Jurich (pictured to the right) had 3 goals in the 8-1 win for Pam Bustin's squad against the alumnae. Caitlin Rehder (pictured to the left) scored the UofL women's soccer teams' only goal in a 2-1 loss to Tennessee.

The field hockey Cards scored 4 goals in each half in a highly competitive game against the alumnae. Nicole Youman added 2 scores for Louisville. Over 40 alumnae turned out for the event. Field hockey continues the preseason schedule next Saturday...with a 1 p.m. scrimmage at Trager Field against Kent State.

On the soccer field, Louisville rallied back from a 2-0 deficit to get within 1 against the Vols and had several late scoring chances but couldn't find the net.

Louisville head coach Karen Ferguson-Dayes take on the exhibition:

"Obviously, you never like to lose and this game exposed some weaknesses where we must get better, but we're certainly an improved team. I liked out heart as the game moved forward and we're absolutely moving in the right direction."

The Louisville women's soccer season gets its official start Friday, August 20th at 7 p.m. when the Cards host Eastern Kentucky.

(Thanks to UofL Sports.com for the photos and recap)

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The Atlanta Dream ended a four game losing streak and clinched a WNBA playoff berth with a dominating 98-74 win over the Chicago Sky yesterday in the Windy City. This one was over at the half...as Atlanta outscored the Sky 31-11 in the second quarter and took a 57-32 lead into the locker room.

Five Dream players hit for double figures in the contest. Erika DeSouza led the way with 17 points. Iziane Castro Maquez added 15, Angel Mccoughtry 13 and Alison Bales and Armintie Price with 10 each. The Dream hosts Chicago and Washington to end the regular season next week.

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Big fun at the CARDINAL DOMINANCE pre-season tailgate party yesterday. Over 40 people showed up to engage in conversation, delicious food and games. Despite the heavy rainfall that roared thru the Louisville area around 5 p.m., the attendees were still able to enjoy a deluxe cookout...with Cardinal Dominance founder Shannon Ruffra and your own Paul Sykes manning the grill and several hours of fun bean bag (cornhole) tossing.

Paul and Eddie won the championship division of the cornhole event, upsetting the highly favored Shannon and party host Terry Jackson. Terry's posted some great photos and video of the gala affair over at:

www.cardinaldominance.ning.com

Yeah, I'm the guy in the Jim Beam t-shirt and the lovely and talented Sonja thrilled the crowd by ripping her shorts wide open early in the afternoon when attempting to climb a fence. (don't ask...). It was a great time and we got to meet a bunch of knowledgeable and fun Cardinal Football fans. A special thanks to "Ter" who hosted the event and all those who braved the weather and showed up.

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Manual High School won the Gold Division of the Chase Marketing/Shively Sporting Goods Jefferson County Public Schools Volleyball Championships with over Eastern 25-18, 27-29, 25-14. Mechael Guess led the Crimsons with 14 kills.

In the Silver Division, Fern Creek swept Seneca in the the match 25-16, 25-21. Moore took the honors in the Bronze Division...besting Central 25-22, 25-21.

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Nice work from BIG TALL PAUL in the 8th race at Ellis Park yesterday...wiring the field to win at odds of 11-1. He covered the one mile turf in 1:38.19 and set up a sweet exacta for $624.60 on the $2 payout.

Lady Cards Soccer promotes Singer to associate coach

We brought you the story several days ago about Kim Sharo signing with UofL to play soccer. The key component in getting her to the Lady Cards soccer team, Kyle Singer, has been elevated to associate coach by University of Louisville head womens' Karen Ferguson-Dayes.

Singer has been an assistant coach for the Cards for three years. He has a long history of playing and coaching soccer, getting his collegiate start as a goalkeeper at the University of Virginia. After three years with the Cavs, Singer transferred to Boston College and took over goalkeeping duties there. the Eagles advanced to the Elite Eight in 2002 and Singer was selected BIG EAST goalkeeper of the year, honorable mention All-American, and First team All-BIG EAST. After graduation, he was drafted by the New England Revolution in the 2002 MLS Super Draft and spent three seasons playing professionally.

Coaching was the next step and Singer served as an assistant at Northeastern, Boston College and Minnesota before coming to Louisville.

Singer gives credit to the braintrust at UofL for his promotion and growth:

"I am extremely grateful to both Karen and Tom Jurich for providing me with this opportunity. The support for both me and my family from UofL over the last three years has been amazing. I believe that the soccer program at UofL is capable of achieving great things in the coming years. I look forward to continuing to help provide our players with opportunities to be successful on the field, in the classroom and in life beyond their college years."

It looks like Dayes has kicked one into the back of the net with the hire and promotion of Singer. Let's hope he can help get the Soccer Cards back to a better than .500 record on the field. Let's also hope he doesn't introduce those annoying horns we had to endure during World Cup action to the Belknap Campus.

Women's soccer kicks off the 2010 season in one month with an exhibition game against Tennessee on Saturday, August 14th at 7 p.m. at Cardinal Park. Admission is free and a soccer clinic will be provided by members of the UofL team from 5-6 p.m. The regular season gets underway Friday, August 2oth at 7 p.m. against Eastern Kentucky at Cardinal Park.

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CARDINAL COUPLE has joined forces with CARDINAL DOMINANCE to provide coverage of women's sports at the University of Louisville. We previously co-sponsored the combined message board for both sites with them but have decided to simplified and strengthen. Not that we want you to desert and abandon our site here...but Shannon's blog over at CARDINAL DOMINANCE is well worth a look and browse session if you enjoy college sports. We have it linked up on our home page.

CARDINAL DOMINANCE is one of the first websites that we here at CARDINAL COUPLE submitted articles and comments to before the creation of CARDINAL COUPLE. Shannon's coverage of baseball, basketball and football at the University of Louisville is top notch and he has several very good and knowledgable regular contributors over there that also provide readers with information that is essential if you want to be "in the know" about Louisville athletics.

It was Shannon and Terry that carried the banner for UofL baseball this past season, providing the most complete and comprehensive coverage of Dan McDonnell's team on the internet. They also are pretty good with the camera as well and you'll enjoy the huge photo galleries over there. Never take on those boys in a game of cornhole, either...they're sharks.

Their football coverage is already well into full swing and they'll be your eyes and ears at Charlie Strong's fall practices.

We will be posting there and hope you'll take the time to check out DOMINANCE. You won't be sorry. www.cardinaldominance.ning.com