Field Hockey Represented at the Hockey 5s Pan American Cups -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Photo from GoCards

We're back to the start of the workweek for many. This workweek does include softball College World Series continuing, which features Oklahoma vs Stanford and Florida State vs Tennessee today. The "if needed" games will also be played today for that grouping. The ACC continues to have representation with the Seminoles still in the hunt.

But, let's move over to some UofL sports and the news from Louisville field hockey. Alumna Carter Ayars and current assistant coach Will Holt will be involved with the upcoming Hockey 5s Pan American Cups. 

Photo of Ayars from 2019

Ayars played for the Cards from 2016-2019 and was part of three NCAA Tournaments including Louisville's Elite Eight appearance in 2019. She will compete as a member of Team USA women's team. Ayars scored a pair of second half goals in Team USA's dominating 8-0 victory over Costa Rica last night.

The USWNT continues play with a pair of matches today- 2:40 p.m. ET against Guatemala and 6:40 p.m. ET against Paraguay. Both Guatemala and Paraguay won their opening games yesterday. They will wrap up play against Panama on Tuesday before having a rest day on Wednesday. If the USWNT qualifies for the single elimination tournament, it will begin on Thursday.

Holt spent many years as a player on the USMNT, but has changed roles to an assistant coach. On the Louisville side, Holt has been both a volunteer coach and an assistant coach. He was most recently apart of the 2022 NCAA Tournament team with the Cards. The USMNT began play with a 4-2 victory against Jamaica.

Team USA will continue play today with a single match at 5:20 p.m. ET against Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico won their opening game yesterday. They will wrap up play on Tuesday against Panama and have a rest day on Wednesday. If the USMNT qualifies for the single elimination tournament, it will begin on Thursday.

Note: Team USA has their digital media (pictures and videos) locked down pretty tight with copyright laws so we can't share their actual content here. 

Paulie took a few days off from the site but has mentioned he plans to be active on here again within the next few days.

Happy Monday and Go Cards!

Jared

Cards Vie to Represent USA -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Field Hockey Sends Four to Nexus Championship

Formerly known as the Young Women's National Championship, the USA Field Senior Nexus Championship is a step on the Olympic Development Pathway Program. The invite list for the event is 144 players long and includes all eligible players from the Rise, U-21, Development, and Senior US Women's National Field Hockey teams as well as other high school, collegiate, and post-grad players that have trialed and trained at one of the USA Field Hockey High Performance Centers this spring.

The Louisville representation for this year's event includes three currently rostered athletes, one being an incoming freshman, and a recent graduate. Carter Ayars won't have known any of the other three, having graduated before they arrived, but it will be the first opportunity that Mia Duchars and Jane Ramsey will get to play with and against Izzy Bianco. The event is to be held in Virginia Beach from July 17 to 22.

Six T&F Athletes Competing to Qualify for Worlds

It shouldn't surprise you to hear that the six Track and Field athletes from Louisville that will compete for spots in the World Athletics Outdoor Championships are names that you've heard a lot recently. Five will be attempting to qualify for the Championship event held on July 15-24 in Eugene, Oregon while one, Ty McPhail, will compete for the U20 event, which will be held in Cali, Colombia on August 1-6. 

Hayward Field at the University of Oregon will host the 2022 event, making it the first time the event has been held on US soil. Hayward Field will also host the Toyota USA Track & Field Outdoor Championship, the qualifying event, on June 23-26. Gabriela Leon, Aliyah Welter, Trey Allen, Sterling Warner-Savage, and Jeremiah Willis make up the UofL contingent at the event. Leon and Welter will both compete in the pole vault. Leon will look to continue her success after winning the national championship and being named the USTFCCCA Southeast Region Outdoor Field Athlete of the Year.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

As Daryl mentioned yesterday, she'll be out today, but we'll have three and a half voices to bring you this week's show. Jeff only represents half a voice today at his own admission due to a bit of "overcelebration." Gravelly voices aside, we'll do our best to keep a good show on deck for everyone. As always, you can check out the live stream of the show by going to the Cardinal Couple YouTube page and clicking on the live video. Jeff usually creates that about an hour before the show, which officially starts at 11 AM Eastern. If the live time doesn't work for you, there are plenty of playback options, so be sure to check out whichever is best for you!

Cardinal Couple YouTube: Link

Anchor (podcast host): Link

Apple Podcasts: Link

Breaker: Link

Google Podcasts: Link

Overcast (free account required): Link

Pocket Casts (free account and app required): Link

RadioPublic: Link

Spotify: Link

Until next time, Go Cards!

McFerran to Olympics -- YMNC -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 McFerran to Compete in 2020 Olympics

Anyone familiar with the Louisville field hockey program from recent years will recognize the name Ayeisha McFerran. McFerran was the program's first four-time All-American. The goalkeeper  graduated from UofL ranking near the top in wins, shutouts, and goals against average.

McFerran was selected to be a part of the 16-person field hockey roster for Ireland.  The Louisville alum has been a member of the Irish National Team, but this is the first time the INT has qualified to compete in the Olympics.

McFerran is the first former UofL field hockey player to compete in the Olympics on a field hockey roster. Cardinal alum Jessica Javelet competed in the 2016 Olympics, but with the US Rugby Team.

As someone who loves sports and loves the Olympics, I wish I could take off work for those few weeks and watch the events around the clock. But work and sleep and life say otherwise, but I will certainly find time to tune into watch Ireland compete and cheer on Ayeisha McFerran.

Four Cards Participate in YMNC

Sticking to the topic of field hockey, we turn our attention to the USA Field Hockey 2021 Young Women's National Championship, which was held at Virginia Beach June 15-20.

Katie Schneider, Sofia Pendolino, Mia Duchars, and Carter Ayars all competed in the event on different teams.

Schneider's squad, the Courage, took the gold with a 3-0 record and winning the title game 3-1. Duchars was on the Freedom, who fell in the title game and took the silver.

Ayars' squad, the Spirit, finished fifth while Pendolino's team, the Patriots, placed 10th. A total of 10 teams consisting of 16 players each competed.

Only one person from the state of Kentucky was on any of the rosters. 16-year-old and rising junior Mia Schoenbeck from Christian Academy of Louisville played on the Patriots. Schoenbeck is currently uncommitted and MAX Field Hockey ranks her as one of the best in her class around the country. She is sure to be on Justine Sowry's radar.

On a Personal Note

Digging into my personal life some, Katy and I are back to wedding planning, which is mostly me saying "Sure, whatever you want." I learned that trick already. We're still a couple years out from our date range, but we are all ears if anyone has any tips for wedding planning, especially since we both live in Louisville and we are looking at venues in Fort Mill, South Carolina.

Happy Thursday and Go Cards!

Jared

More on Volleyball, Louisville FH update -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

More on Volleyball and Their Opponent

Can the Cards steal a couple
in Austin? 

Louisville Volleyball prepares for its fifth Sweet Sixteen appearance in program history, meaning we
will see a fifth black banner raised in L&N Federal Credit Union Arena next fall.

The Cards late regular season woes came following an injury to the lone senior in Melanie McHenry.  She has been and will remain out for the rest of the tournament so the Cards will look to continue their postseason success without her.  The good news?  Assuming we lose no one to the transfer portal we will see the exact same team next year and they will have some much needed tournament experience.

The Cards prepare to face Texas in the Sweet Sixteen on Friday at 4:00 p.m., ET.  If you're in attendance you'll be looking at 3:00 p.m., local time in Austin.

The last time Louisville faced Texas in the NCAA Tournament the team in Orange came out  on top 3-0.  The most recent meeting between the two was in October 2012, where the Cards fell at home 3-2.  The Cards are 0-3 all-time against Texas.

What about Texas?

Paulie gave you a brief rundown of the Longhorns yesterday, especially regarding their height.  They have nine players standing between 6'1 and 6'5.  The Cards do have eight players 6'1 or above, but seven of those eight stand no taller than the 6'2 mark.

Texas comes in as the 2-seed.  Baylor is the lone team seeded higher.  The Longhorns went 21-3 in the regular season.  Like the ACC, the Big 12 did not play a conference tournament.  The three losses came to now 3-seed Stanford (3-2), Rice (3-2), and now 1-seed Baylor (3-2).  All three losses came on the road and to NCAA Tournament teams.

The 21 wins feature plenty of high caliber teams.  They have wins over Baylor, Iowa State (2x), Texas A&M, Oklahoma (2x), BYU, and Minnesota.  They surrendered just seven sets in their 21 regular season wins.

In the NCAA Tournament, Texas defeated Albany 3-0 in the first round and had a tough fight against
UC Santa Barbara 3-2 in the second round.

Postseason is where the Longhorns thrive.  They have been to the NCAA Tournament 35 times where they are 97-33 all-time and have never lost in the opening round.  Texas has been to 31 Sweet Sixteens and have made that trip in 15 of the last 16 years, joining Penn State as the only two schools to accomplish that feat.

The Longhorns have two national championships in 1988 and 2012.  The 2012 championship happened down at the KFC Yum! Center where the Longhorns downed Oregon in straight sets.  The Oregon band in the semifinals and finals was none other than your Cardinal Pride Pep Band, hired by Oregon to save travel expenses.

We suspected such nonsense existed and we now have proof

Note: I am 0-2 in national championships in the band.  The 2012 volleyball championship and the 2013 women's basketball championship in New Orleans.

You may hear a familiar tune from the Texas band.  One of their fight songs, "The eyes of Texas", is played to the tune of "I've Been Working on the Railroad".

"The Eyes of Texas are upon you,
All the livelong day.
The eyes of Texas are upon you,
You cannot get away."

Sounds a little stalkerish to me so I prefer my "Fight, UofL!" and "All Hail UofL!"

...for we are with you UofL!


Three All-Americans for Field Hockey


Meche Pastor, Alli Bitting and Carter Ayars received All-American status and I can't think of three more deserving than them for the prestigious honor.

Pastor and Bitting return for next season, Ayars has graduated. Louisville Field Hockey went 16-6 in 2019, a new record for wins in a season, and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Field Hockey Tournament, before that heart-breaking loss to Boston College.

Meche, the wizard with the ball, from Buenos Aires was a first team selection. Alli was named to the second team and Carter the third team. They were three of the 48 named to the All-American list and it is the second year the Cards have had three on the All-American squad.

Justine Sowry on the players and the season:

"This was a historic year for our program, as we hosted a round of the NCAA Tournament and then advanced to the Elite Eight for the first time. The success was a culmination of the team's collective effort and to have Carter, Alli and Meche recognized for their roles they played in our achievements is absolutely amazing. I am so proud to have been part of this season."

And, it was an amazing season. The Cards return a ton of talent and should, once again, be a prime contender to challenge for the ACC title. The task for them, as well as the rest of the ACC Field Hockey DI contingent, is to find a way to beat UNC. The Heels are back-to-back NCAA Champions and haven't lost a match in two years.



Happy Thursday and Go Cards!

Jared

Triumph at Trager, Success in Simpsonville and Beating at Blacksburg -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

# 5 FIELD HOCKEY WINS IN OVERTIME OVER #6 IOWA 3-2

it wasn't one for the faint-hearted Sunday on Floyd Street. 

Louisville Field Hockey managed a miracle goal off a penalty corner with no time remaining in regulation to tie the contest and force an overtime against the Hawkeyes. 

And, then, the winner with four seconds left in overtime. 

Trailing 2-1, a desperation play of sorts...the Cards on a final, last chance attempt to score. They got the corner awarded when an Iowa player deliberately knocked a pass intended for Margot Lawn out of bounds. 

By the rules of Field Hockey, a penalty corner is awarded when a defensive player intentionally hits a ball over the back line, so Louisville was awarded the corner and went into the corner formation. Bethany Russ's shot was stopped after the set but the deflection went to Carter Ayars, hanging out at the corner of the right goalpost. She tapped the orb back in over Iowa goalkeeper Leslie Speight's out-stretched stick for the tying goal. 

Overtime. 

The Hawkeyes almost ended it early in the overtime session when a shot bounced off the post and failed to get into the goal.  Seconds later, a diving stop, out of the circle area, by UofL goalkeeper Hollyn Barr stopped another Iowa drive. 

The Cards mounted another last-chance attempt to score with 15 seconds left in the O.T.

An Ayars pass connected with Alli Bitting who advanced the ball for a shot-on-goal. Her attempt was deflected by an Iowa defender, but Madison Walsh was in position to take the deflection and fire it into the net for the winning goal. Four seconds remained on the clock, but it was over because of the sudden death format of Field Hockey overtimes and the Cards had improved to 13-2 on the season. 

Right place, right time. The right tap in the right place. 

A good day for The Flock on Floyd.


THEY SAID IT

Our Jared Anderson was there post-game to catch comments from Coach Sowry, Carter Ayars and Madison Walsh.

He even managed to get in a few questions for the players. 

JUSTINE SOWRY POST GAME IOWA

MADISON WALSH POST GAME IOWA

The interview with Carter Ayars was split into two parts because she was needed for a team photo. 



CARTER AYARS POST IOWA -- PART I

CARTER AYARS POST IOWA -- PART II


(PHOTOS BY JARED ANDERSON) 


LOUISVILLE WOMEN'S GOLF WINS CARDINAL CUP

Led by Lauren Hartlage's record-tying, program low, seven-under-par 65 the Cards won the Cardinal Cup-- the final campaign in their Fall schedule.

Louisville shot 868 for the three days out at the University of Louisville Golf Club, including a final day of 280, which propelled them from second place to first over Kentucky by eight strokes. 

Hartlage finished the event tied for sixth place with a 216. 

Mairead Martin had a great weekend for UofL, ending up in second place with a 210 over the 54 holes. Hana Ryskova tied for third at 213.

From head coach Whitney Wade Young: 

"It was an unbelievable day. The team really came together. Everyone contributed this week and especially today. They just kept fighting and making birdies. To be able to have my first team victory as a head coach here at the Cardinal Cup...I could not ask for anything more". 

Cardinal women's golf resumes in February when they travel to Melbourne, FL to host the Moon Golf Invitational . 



VOLLEYBALL FALLS IN FOUR AT VIRGINIA TECH. 

Not the best day for the #23 ranked Cardinal Volleyball squad in a four-set loss to Virginia Tech at Blacksburg on Sunday.

The Cards did prevail in the opening set 25-19, hitting .400. A 7-2 run late was the key in the UofL set win. Claire Chaussee had four kills, 

Things took a turn for the worse after that. 

The hitting dropped to .163 in set two and the Hokies used a 7-1 run early to take a lead they would not relinquish. Tied at 22-22, VT got a service ace, a kill and benefited from a Cardinal ball-handling error to come out on top 25-22.

More of the same in set three...VT's 6-0 run early led to a 25-21 win. Louisville hit just .119 for the third set and witnessed a 4-1 VT run late to swing the match in favor of the home squad. 

The Cards put up a brief effort in the fourth set, managing an 8-8 tie early. VT responded with  6-2 run, though to take a 14-10 lead and went on to win 25-17. Louisville hit .181 for the match and was hampered by six service errors.

The Cards were without Melanie McHenry, who suffered a season-ending knee injury at Notre Dame earlier in the week. Aiko Jones had 19 kills for UofL but the visitors fall to 14-4 on the season and suffer their first ACC loss. 


Check today's comments section for a probable and more detailed observation from our Volleyball guru at Cardinal Couple -- Jeff McAdams.  


Have a magical Monday! 

paulie
xxxxx

VB Survives in Five, WBB #1 in ACC, Field Hockey Players Honored -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

VOLLEYBALL RALLIES TO DOWN DOMERS

I suppose this is what you should expect when the Irish and Cardinals get together in Volleyball. A five-set match. One team looking out-of-sync and lost early and then roaring back to take control. Toss in an injury, a key contribution off the bench and Katie George and you have a brief synopsis of what happened in South Bend last night. Both games in 2017 and in 2018 went five sets. It has become the new "expected" when these two get together. A hard-fought, come-from behind and entertaining Cardinal "W"...22-25, 22-25, 25-17, 25-22 and 15-10. 

Both teams came into the match with equal 13-3 and 6-0 in the ACC records. The Cards edging their way into the top 25 and Notre Dame getting votes but not quite there yet. It was Notre Dame, though, who looked like the top 25 squad in the first two sets. Just when it looked like things couldn't get any worse for UofL in the second set when Melanie McHenry...who is "Ms. Everything" for the Cardinals...came down wrong on her left knee at the conclusion of a play and crumpled to the floor in a great deal of pain. Her scream audible on TV. A silent arena. Laying prone and curled up on the court for quite some time while being examined. She was carried off by the UofL staff. What next, you ask? 

What happened after that was nothing short of remarkable. Smiling, encouraging her teammates as she was removed from the floor, McHenry was believing in her team to finish the task.  UofL got a new light in their eyes, a reason-to-rally and, although the set was lost -- you could tell that the Cards were going to halftime with renewed fire and focus.

 "Play well for Mel" is as good as any description for what happened after the break. 

We won't go into a lot of detail on those first two sets. The Cards trailed early in the first, did rally back to get within one at 22-21 but the Irish "hit squad" of freshman Caroline Meuth and sophomore Charley Niego rallied the Irish to the win. 25-22 Leprechaun lovers. 

Second set brought more of the same for the lackluster Cards. Playing from behind most of the way, once again, Louisville rallied to get with that "same one" again at 22-21. Once again, the Irish controlled the end of the set, allowing just one Cardinal point and it was 25-22 again...."Touchdown Jesus" had his arms up outside on campus for a reason.

The adjustments UofL made at the half were superb. Shannon Shields took over at setter. Louisville went with a back line of Aiko Jones, Claire Chaussee and Amaya Tillman.  And, the Cards responded like Secretariat rolling down the stretch with the finish line in sight. 

Bursting out to a 12-4 lead in set three, they forced the UND time out. Ineffective. Louisville pushed that advantage to 21-8 and were looking like the Louisville Volleyball we've come to know and love. Amber Stivrins, Anna Stevenson and Aiko Jones...the "A-Team" was on the job and the Irish were reeling. Notre Dame, to their credit, made a late run to cut the Cardinal advantage to 23-17 but it ended two plays later an a 25-17 win was in the UofL ledger. 

In set four, we saw more Cardinal authority. A 12-4 start. Amber and Aiko were still hot and UofL led 22-16 before the Irish held on at set point twice before the Cards were able to close it on a Jones spike. 25-22 the final and bonus ball awaited. 

A 4-0 early run gave the Cards a 8-4 lead in the fifth. They pushed that to 11-7 and forced a Irish time out, which seemed to temporarily help the beleaguered, baffled and bushed UND squad. They cut the margin to two at 12-10. Then, a couple of UND errors and a Amaya kill ended it.  15-10. Cards take game, set and match. 

Louisville showed a ton of fight, spirit and "never-say-die" attitude last night. McHenry had returned to the sidelines to sit behind the bench, with her knee heavily wrapped, to cheer on her "sisters-in-slams". No official statement yet on her status, just a "knee injury" is all we know. Sure looked like an ACL, though, after watching the replays. 

On a lighter note...Katie George, Cardinal great from a few years back and former beauty queen, did the analysis work on the ACC Network broadcast last night. A stellar performance from her as well, combining solid technical knowledge and explanations of the action. George hardly masking her love for the Cards and tossing her quirky and funny descriptions and sayings out like the way she used to set up players on the court. 

She had that poor boy doing the broadcast with her baffled and dazed. We think she should be on the "A" team for ACC Network Volleyball broadcast coverage. 

Good to have ya back, K.G. !! Keep 'em coming. 


WBB #1 in ACC Preseason Polls

Louisville women's basketball squad has been selected to finish first in the ACC in preseason polls from the conference's coaches and the ACC Blue Ribbon Panel. 

The Cards gathered 13 of the 15 first place votes from the coaches (NC St. receiving two) and 34 of the 49 first place votes from the Blue Ribbon Panel. The Wolfpack garnered eight first place votes in "the B.R.P" version and Florida State plus Notre Dame also received first place votes. 

Once again, Cardinal Couple was not contacted to participate in the Blue Ribbon Panel, most likely because we prefer Yuenging, Budweiser and other select, crafted beverages. 

Louisville also landed two players on the Preseason All-ACC team with junior Dana Evans and sophomore Elizabeth Balogun. Miami's Elizabeth Balogun was selected preseason player-of-the-year. Freshman guard Nyah Green was named to the Newcomers Watch List for the 2019-20 season. 

No surprises in any of this, except for the exclusion of Jazmine Jones on the ACC team. That's a mistake that'll come back to haunt more than a few pundits and teams this season.

Let's face it, Walz's squad is loaded for bear, equipped with plenty of ammunition and could probably enter two teams in ACC play this year and finish first and second in the conference. 

19 days until UofL starts the season against WKU in the KFC YUM! Center. 



FIELD HOCKEY'S AYARS, RUSS HONORED

Louisville Field Hockey seniors Carter Ayars and Bethany Russ have been named to the Victory Sports Tours/National Field Hockey Coaches Association's Senior Game.

38 seniors will participate in the contest, which is planned for November 22 following the conclusion of the NCAA DI semifinal game at Wake Forest. 

Ayars has been brilliant as a defender and penalty corner specialist for Louisville this season and her whole career at Louisville. She gathered ACC Player of the Week, NFHCA All-West Region team selection and USA Field Hockey Under 21 team honors during her time as a CARDINAL. 

Russ, an attack specialist, leads UofL with nine goals this season. She's also been a NFHCA All-West Region selection and All-ACC pick during her time under head coach Justine Sowry. She also leads the ACC with shot attempts (70). 

# 5 ranked UofL (11-2) wraps up their current home stand with Longwood on Saturday at noon (unfortunate time selection on that one) and #6 Iowa Sunday at 1 p.m. 

Have a terrific Thursday ! 

paulie
xxxxx

Field Hockey beats Mich St. -- Women's Golf tees it up today -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

CARDS 4 - MICHIGAN STATE 1

A three-goal second half propelled #12 Louisville Field Hockey past Spartie yesterday in East Lansing. 

The Cards began the scoring very early in the match -- 35 seconds into action. Madison Walsh set up freshman Mattie Tabor and it was 1-0 before most people had a chance to sit down from the playing of the National Anthem. It would be the only Cardinal goal of the first two quarters, though....MSU countered about ten minutes later to tie it. 

Louisville was getting plenty of shots off in the first half (an 11-3) advantage, but...Spartan goalkeeper Jade Arundell was managing to keep the Cards at bay. 

The Cards came out fresh and confident after the half those and, once again, showed the quick strike capabilities with their second goal of the game just 3:35 into third quarter action. Margot Lawn recovered a missed attempt by Walsh and guided it back into the net. It was great to see "Lawn back on the pitch", after taking a deflected ball to the face in the Cards game against Kent State last Wednesday and having to leave the contest. 

The third quarter was quite the one-sided affair. Louisville held a 10-1 shot edge in those 15 minutes and found further success when they were awarded a penalty corner and Meche Pastor unleashed a rocket netward that was blocked but successfully rebounded by Carter Ayars and sent past the pipes. Ayars' second goal of the season made it 3-1 UofL with three minutes left in the third.

The Cards capped off the scoring with 15 seconds left in the game when Pastor sent a stroke soaring past the outstretched Arundell for the 4-1 final margin.

A huge 24-4 shots attempted margin favoring UofL. A 14-2 blowout with shots on goal by the Cards. Give MSU goalkeep Arundell credit, this could have been a lot worse for the Big 10 school...she had 10 saves.

Back between the pipes for Louisville, Hollyn Barr got the start and played all 60 minutes. Not much action for the red-shirt junior...just two shots on goal in 60 minutes. Sam Minrath did not see playing time guarding the net in this one...for those of you following the "tale of two goalies" scenario on the squad. 

A quick turn-around awaits our "flock"...they take the field again this morning at 11 a.m. against UC Davis in East Lansing. These California Aggies have been in East Lansing since Wednesday and played twice...losing to MSU 2-1 and beating Ball State 2-1. 

No TV for this one but you can follow along at Sidearm stats for updates or follow Field Hockey on Twitter at @ulfieldhockey 


WOMEN'S GOLF OPENS IN MINNESOTA

The Lauren Hartlage reign of terror begins with UofL women's golf in Minnesota for a two-day event at Prestwick Golf Club in Woodbury Minnesota.

The event is the Minnesota Invitational and the Cards will face 13 other teams, including intra-state rival UK, plus, Miami (FL), and Virginia Tech from the ACC. 

Starting five-some for the Cards is Hartlage, Mairead Martin, Hana Ryskova, Margot Bechadergue and Delaney Shah. Playing as an individual (and, don't we all at times?) is Lauren Thibodeau. Ryskova is a freshman from the Czech Republic. 

36 holes today and 18 tomorrow for the Cards chip-and-putt crew. It's the affable Whitney Wade Young' first outing as the Cards head coach. 

You can follow the action at golfstat.com

Have a marvelous Monday! 




paulie
xxxxx

A Look Ahead at Field Hockey -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

A Brief Preview of Field Hockey

If the title looks familiar to you, let me say thank you for frequenting Cardinal Couple. Last week, I wrote a short piece about the upcoming women's soccer season. I called it a preview, but it ultimately became just some opinions about how the team might perform with the changes that have been made to the roster. With a lot of news about field hockey on and off the site this week, I figured it would be a good time to do the same thing for the field hockey team that I did last week for women's soccer. Admittedly, I know quite a bit less about field hockey than I do about soccer, but I have followed the team with interest since coming on as a writer at Cardinal Couple.

First, a quick look at some more honors that came in for UofL field hockey players. Four players on the team have been tabbed as potential future USA players, as Taylor Stone, Katie Walsh, Carter Ayers, and Meghan Schneider have been invited to Olympic Development camps. They'll join Ayeisha McFerran as players hoping to represent their country (McFerran is already on the World Cup roster for Ireland). I mentioned it last week, but these opportunities to train with the best players in your age group in the entire nation are incredibly helpful in the development of skills and understanding of the game. UofL Coach Justine Sowry is an incredible coach and teaches her players all kinds of things, but she would likely be the first to tell you that having additional training from other sources is nothing but helpful in situations such as these. Congratulations and good luck to these players.

Last year's season ended with a first round knockout in the NCAA tournament. After an overall 12-6 regular season record and a deep conference tournament run, it would not be unfair to say that a first round exit was a bit disappointing. However, the loss came at the hands of a good Northwestern team, and Louisville showed fight, losing only in overtime. Louisville's performance in conference last season (4-2 and a run to the semifinal game) is a much better indicator of their future success this season, as the ACC is widely considered the best field hockey conference by far. Louisville will hope to build on the experiences and success that they had last season going into a new year, in which much of last year's team returns.

Let's first look at the schedule. Outside of the conference matchups, which we already know will be rematches, Louisville plays seven games against non-conference opponents that they played last regular season. This includes rematches with Ohio State, Michigan, and Northwestern, who accounted for 4 of the 8 Louisville losses last season, and a game that counts against Miami (OH), with whom the Cards played only an exhibition last season. Following the alumnae game on August 18th, Louisville will dive straight into the meat of their schedule starting the very next day. They'll open the season with Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio State (all rematches), a breather game against UMass Lowell (which will need to be taken as seriously as any other game), and then a rematch against a Delaware team on the road that won the national championship two years ago (Card won last season 3-1 at home). If the Cards aren't awake to start this season, they could find themselves in an early hole. If they're chomping at the bit, ready to improve on their last year, though, they could open the season 5-0 with some impressive wins already under their belts.

Louisville will play a total of 19 regular season games, including the standard 6 against conference opponents. This schedule appears to be every bit as beefy as last season, if not more. Coach Sowry will need to get her team ready from the very beginning, as there is no time to ease into the schedule. Fortunately, she has a team of very experienced players that should be ready to answer the call. Of 16 players on the current roster (which does not include incoming freshman), 9 are juniors and seniors. These include the previously mentioned McFerran, Stone, Ayars, and Walsh, and adds in the influential Whena Munn and backup goalie (who was huge early last season) Hollyn Barr. The Cards did see four major losses last year with Abby Grimes, Marigrace Ragsdale, and Nicole Woods graduating and Minout Mink returning home after deciding the international life was not for her. Though the players filling these gaps have plenty of their own experience, we won't truly know the impact of these losses until the season is underway in earnest. All four players played in 22 of 22 games last season with Grimes, Ragsdale, and Woods all starting at least 21. The four players were all in the top 6 in team goals, and Mink was the team's leading goal scorer. These players will be missed to be sure, but only time will tell exactly how much.

Fortunately, the team stands to weather the departures. Every returning player on the roster saw at least 100 minutes last season, so the experience and knowledge of Coach Sowry's system is there. For better or worse, that majority of the schedule comes against teams that these players have faced before, so there is familiarity in the opponent as well. While the opponents know just as much about the Cards, there is benefit to newer players being comfortable with an opponent while trying to cement their roles. Louisville could have some bumps this season, but I would be shocked to see less than a .500 conference season and a .600 season overall. Those numbers may not be enough to get into the NCAA tournament, but those are only floor numbers for me. I believe that with the experience that this team returns, the ceiling is much higher. It all starts at the alumnae game on August 18th. We'll find out then.

The Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

Once again, Jared has chosen his job over his hobby and will abandon us at the station for his job at the bank. What a jerk, amirite? In all honesty, we look forward to Jared's return to the studio for the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour. Until then, we'll press on without him. Paulie, Jeff, and I will return to the studio on Mellwood and may or may not be joined by a special guest (Paulie really doesn't keep me as in the loop as you might think). Tune in to WCHQ FM at 11 AM for the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour on any platform that you listen to radio. WCHQ is available at 100.9 FM when in the signal range, but can be listened to anywhere on the WCHQ app or wchqfm.com and you can watch the show on Facebook Live on the WCHQ FM Facebook page.

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-