Cards Reopen Lynn with Win -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Louisville Downs Cincinnati in Final Tune-up 2-0

On a beautiful almost fall-like evening, Louisville women's soccer welcomed the Cincinnati Bearcats to Dr. Mark and Cindy Lynn Stadium to reopen the field for the 2022 season. The crowd was lively with the weather nearly perfect, which made it feel more like a regular season match than the first home exhibition. Admission was free (and will be all season), which certainly helps bring the fans out. What will also help bring the fans out is winning games, which Louisville did last night.

While it was just an exhibition, and rumors about Cincinnati's first exhibition were not flattering, Louisville is working to rebuild a very different team this season. The Cards lost Gabby Kouzelos to graduation, as well as some other stalwart players, and they lost some of their expected future talent to transfer. As a result, Coach Karen Ferguson-Dayes started three freshman in last night's lineup. It was actually four freshman starters, but I've excluded the goalkeeper because Louisville has three of them and all are freshmen or RS freshmen. Olivia Pratapas, the only returning player in pink, was not dressed last night. Other starting freshmen were Addie Chester, Karsyn Cherry, and Lizzy Sexton. 

Let's go ahead and get into the lineup and the formation, because it wasn't exactly what I expected. For the first time since maybe the departure of Niemh Nelson, the Cards have returned to a traditional 4-4-2 look. It has worked well for Louisville over the years, but the personnel just hasn't been there to continue it recently. At least for last night, it appears to be back on the menu. Hopefully the team can continue to solidify that shape, as it is a very flexible formation given the talent in certain positions. Recently the Cards have employed a 5-3-2 and have gone so far as to make that a 5-4-1 in extremely defensive games. I'm not a fan of parking the bus when the game hasn't even started, so hopefully the removal of overtime--which effectively removes the opportunity to "steal" a win--will help Louisville play more traditionally and consistently regardless of opponent.

A few players moved around given the formation change, including Maisie Whitsett. If you'll recall the conversation last week, I suspected we'd see the super senior alongside her classmate in the middle of the defensive line. No, says KFD, as she has moved back to her original position at the front of the formation, taking one of the forward roles. In her place next to Sarah Hernandez was freshman Karsyn Cherry. Cherry played well in the position and, while she gave up a run or two due to mistakes, was part of the line that held Cincinnati to just one shot in the game while playing all 90 minutes. She also picked up Louisville's second goal on a corner kick set piece. In the outside full back positions we saw the expected in Ravin Alexander and the slightly unexpected in Anouk Denton. Denton is listed as a defender, so it's not completely out of nowhere (Alexander is a forward), but we expected to see her as more of a defensive midfielder. However, since there is no true DM role in a 4-4-2, she took the fullback spot. As we saw last night, Alexander and Denton have free rein on outside runs if they're there, so her offensive opportunities aren't completely lost.

Addie Chester started up front with Whitsett, and her role is already quite significant. Chester took corners from both sides of the field and was active throughout the offense. She created Louisville's second goal with a well placed deep corner and was all over the field during her 53 minutes across both halves. Whitsett was also very comfortable in her return to the front, leading the team with three shots, two on frame, and scoring the team's first goal. She picked up two fouls, but it was a relatively chippy game, and fouls at the front aren't a huge concern to me. One was in a collision with the Cincinnati goalkeeper while contesting for the ball, so that one hardly counts. Whitsett's goal was very nice, recovered from a rebounded save after a Chester breakaway and shot, and she provided good front line defense given her recent position on the team. 

Three other newcomers started for the Cards: Lizzie Sexton, Patricia Ward, and Erynn Floyd. Sexton was quiet, playing all 90 minutes in one of the central midfield positions, but she did finish with a shot on frame. Both center midfielders played all 90 minutes actually, with Savina Zamborini stepping into that role as well. They had identical stat lines with one shot, on frame, and no fouls. Patricia Ward started in one of the wing positions opposite Morgan Bentley and gave Louisville good opportunities around the outside. I expected to see a bit more long passes to the corners with the speed Louisville had on the wings with Ward, Bentley, and freshman Emerson Jennings subbing on, but perhaps that will come. 

Erynn Floyd got the start in goal, though it is tough to say whether that was a position won or a coin flip given the way the game played out. Neither Floyd nor Alyssa Zalac (who played the entirety of the second half) were credited with a save as Cincinnati's only shot was off frame. Both played the fifth defender position well enough, providing outlets for the defense when necessary and claiming balls that they needed to. Zalac was put in a couple of more disadvantageous positions with some of the back passes, but nothing was too threatening. I'll be interested to see that positional battle play out. One quirk of the goalkeeping was noticeable with Floyd's goal kicks. When she lined the ball up, Louisville played it almost as a set piece, bunching the entire field into a zone to receive the ball. I didn't love it, as it could have easily opened the Cards up to a break, but it worked out fine. I didn't notice it so much in the second half, but Zalac took many fewer goal kicks.

The only major minutes player that I have yet to mention is Corinne Dente. She came on at the front and played for a total of 47 minutes in relief of Whitsett and Chester. Her day was quiet--one shot and a foul--but you'll take quiet when you are returning from injury. Having Dente back in the lineup could prove to be very significant for the Cards this year. Also seeing time were another trio of freshmen in Maya Maxwell, Mackenzie Geigle, and Hadley Snyder. Maxwell and Geigle were part of the rotating cast at the front of the lineup, while Snyder gave Alexander an early curtain call for the last ten minutes. 

Now that I've spent the entirety of the recap talking about the players, how about a quick look at the game? It was a fairly comfortable win for the Cards, though perhaps one in which they would have liked to have scored more goals. Credit goes to the Bearcats goalkeeper, Anna Rexford, who finished the night with seven saves. Though she gave up two goals, Rexford made more than one stop that elicited a "nice save" mumble from me, and the Cards could easily have scored two or three more without those efforts. The save figures also fail to capture broken up crosses and corners, of which Rexford had plenty. Given the foul that nearly brought out the trainer early in the first half, it was an impressive performance. 

As I mentioned earlier, Louisville scored two goals, one by Whitsett and one by Cherry, and they were never truly threatened. The goals came across the halves, as Louisville's offensive production was fairly evenly split, and Cincinnati wasn't able to pressure the Cards effectively while the game was tied. Louisville finished with 11 shots and nine corner kicks while Cincinnati had just one apiece. The midfield play for Louisville was quite strong, as Louisville held 62% of the overall possession. 

An exhibition is not gospel, but this one had a lot of encouraging points. I wasn't sure quite what to expect when I entered the gates last night, but I was pretty happy with what I saw on the field, and quite happy with the result. Sure, there are things to clean up, but an exhibition against a local rival is a great place to have those errors magnified, and Louisville was able to put together a complete game. While I'll unfortunately miss the regular season opener next Thursday, I'll be excited to see how the Cards perform against UIC.

Paulie and Jared caught up with Coach KFD after the match and she was quite pleased with the result and the performance. You can hear her full interview below and subscribe to the Cardinal Couple YouTube channel to get interviews like this as soon as they're posted.

LINK;

Postgame with KFD

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

Unplanned! We all wore black and represented our roles

except for Paulie who stood as the true neutral as always.

For the first time since the days at the radio station on Mellwood the entire Cardinal Couple crew got together at last night's game. It's unconfirmed, but it may be the first time the entire gang has been in a Louisville venue during a sporting event at the same time (I'll admit to being the reason for that as I don't get out to a lot of WBB games). It was fun to catch up, and we'll do it again today when we're all in for today's podcast. Gee, I wonder what we'll talk about. 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

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!

Case

All photos in today's article by Jared Anderson.

Season Review: Soccer -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 Season Review: Soccer

We find ourselves back to reviewing UofL sports seasons. Today, we will take a look at women's soccer, another team that split their season between the fall and spring.

A solid start to the season quickly turned sour and the spring ended about as disappointing as possible with the final two matches of the season cancelled.

The fall season consisted of eight regular season matches against ACC opponents and then the ACC tournament. The spring season was set to be a non-conference schedule.

Louisville opened the season with a 3-0 win at Miami with Emina Ekic and Delaney Snyder doing all the scoring against the Hurricanes. The Cards remained in the Sunshine State where they fell to eventual National Runner-Up Florida State.

The Cards game home for a two-game homestand. UofL defeated Syracuse 3-0 as the Ekic-Snyder duo contributed to a majority of the scoring once again with Jessica De Filippo scoring the other goal. Boston College visited Dr Mark and Cindy Lynn Stadium next with the Cards taking the win 2-0. Ekic scored her fifth goal on the year and Taylor Kerwin recorded her first with the assist credited to both Ekic and Snyder.

Another road trip was next for Karen Ferguson Dayes' squad. It started with a 2-0 loss to Final Four contender Virginia, who did all their damage in the first half. They then went across the state to down Virginia Tech 1-0 with Morgan Bentley getting her first goal on the season.

Louisville came home to wrap up the regular season with a pair of matches. Notre Dame would take the first match 1-0. The regular season finale saw Louisville host Final Four contender North Carolina. It was Ekic who would put the Cards up early in the second half in the pouring down rain before the Tar Heels with three goals over the next 30 minutes to get the win.

At 4-4, Louisville earned the #6-seed in the ACC Tournament and saw a rematch with the Wahoos. Diana Ordonez would post a hat trick as Virginia would cruise to a 4-1 win. You can take a guess on who scored the Cards' goal- her seventh and final of the season.

We saw the spring season begin in early March with the Cards hosting Dayton and winning 1-0 on a Maisie Whitsett goal. Auburn came to town next and would go on to take a 1-0 in sudden death double overtime.

What would eventually be the final match of the season, Louisville traveled to Bowling Green. WKU relied on a goal 93 seconds into the match to get the win.

Matches scheduled against Tennessee and Wake Forest would get cancelled due to various reasons.

Louisville would end the year with a 5-7 record and a 4-4 mark in the ACC. One year after an impressive 13-5-2 mark, Louisville showed signs of struggling and a frustrating ending.

The Cards would end up getting outscored by just one, 13-12 on the year. Ekic led the way with seven goals and three assists. Snyder would be one of five Cards to score one goal this season but led the team with four assists.

Only three of the six scorers are set to return next season. Taylor Kerwin graduated after the spring semester. Jessica De Filippo transferred out after the fall season. Emina Ekic entered the NWSL Draft after the fall season and was drafted in the first round by Racing Louisville FC, where she has put on a show. Louisville is bleeding profusely on offense for next year. You cannot replace Ekic with any single player. Snyder looks to take the lead but needs a second and third scorer. Corinne Dente was a hopeful candidate but is still in recovery mode from a torn ACL. We may see Whitsett convert back to a forward or possibly Emma Hiscock steps up after a promising freshman outing.

Defensively, Sarah Hernandez is set to return as a centerback and power the back line. Gabby Kouzelos is expected to return for another season in goal. Kouzelos recorded 53 saves on 66 attempts for an incredible .803 save percentage. Louisville is set on defense for the fall 2021 season.

We quickly approach a holiday weekend with Memorial Day on Monday. Daryl returns back to her Friday column tomorrow and we should be back on our Cardinal Couple Radio Hour this Saturday.

Happy Thursday and Go Cards!

Jared

Cards Sweep Friday -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Soccer Rebounds from UNC Loss, Beats 'Cuse 3-0

After suffering their first loss of the season last Saturday night, the Louisville women's soccer team hit the road for the first time since the opening game of the season. This weekend, the Cards headed to the northeast to take on Syracuse and Boston College to open their conference road schedule. The Cards faced their first hiccup before ever stepping foot on the field in Syracuse. Thursday evening, prior to the scheduled 6PM kick, an e-mail was sent out explaining that the team was suffering from a team-wide illness and that the game would be postponed to Friday morning. Though Syracuse has struggled this year, a team full of players recovering from food poisoning (the presumed culprit) did not inspire a ton of confidence for a strong effort.

Louisville proved me wrong. The Cards rolled out the primary starting lineup, showing that even if everyone wasn't fully recovered, thy were certainly going to go for it. Delaney Snyder got Louisville into business with their first goal less than two minutes into the game. Louisville had taken control of the game early, already earning a free kick deep in the offensive third, but the goal came on a bit of buildup play, with a through ball finding Snyder just barely onside (she looked off to me but the camera angle wasn't good). Snyder dribbled across the top of the box and deftly sent a ground ball into the opposite side of the net. Cards led 1-0.

Later in the half, it was a pair of subs that played add on. Louisville subbed quite a bit yesterday, perhaps showing that not everyone was fully recovered from their illness the night before. In this moment, it was Maisie Whitsett and Corinne Dente doing work for the Cards. In a similar situation to Snyder's goal, Dente found herself getting behind on a through ball from Whitsett. Just like Snyder, she settled herself and found the back of the net. It was Dente's first career collegiate goal (news flash to the Syracuse announcers and the women's soccer twitter, a freshman's first goal of the season is going to be their first career goal), and I get the feeling it won't be the last.

Louisville's final goal came much later in the second half, as Emina Ekic was determined to restart her points streak. Prior to the North Carolina game, Ekic had scored a point in every game except for the Ohio State game. That's a pretty impressive streak, and as long as she is finding ways to affect the offense, Louisville will continue to earn opportunities. Ekic's goal in this one was unstoppable, as her 76th minute shot rose to the upper left corner and was completely out of reach. Ekic's ability to score, assist, and draw fouls is what makes her a Hermann Award watch list player and it's what drives this team. It may be a little early to look at that award list, but with just a month left in the regular season, it will be time for the list to shrink soon. Ekic affects the game in so many ways, including those that show up on the stat sheet, but for those recordable stats, Emina's best is probably points per game. With five goals and four assists through nine games, Ekic currently sits tied for 67th at 1.56 points per game. That mark happens to be tied for fifth in the conference. Ekic is not likely to appear at the top of the list nationally, but she's only a few points behind the top points earner in arguably the top conference in the country. She's doing alright.

Louisville is back in action with what is a quicker turnaround than normal due to the schedule shift. The Cards will take on Boston College tomorrow at noon in Chestnut Hill. The game, like most, will be available on ACC Network Extra. Tune in to see if the Cards can continue to get back to their winning ways and earn their way back to the top half of the conference table. The Cards and Eagles are currently tied at 3 points, with BC sitting at 8-1-1 on the season compared to Louisville's 8-1-0. It should be a good match.

Field Hockey is Huge After Half Against BC

Continuing their trend of playing teams right around the same time as soccer, Louisville field hockey was in Massachusetts yesterday to take on the Eagles of Boston College. The Cards currently find themselves ranked sixth, and since they were playing in a conference game, you can be sure they were in a ranked matchup. This time around, Boston College is ranked 17th, right on the fringe of what might make the tournament this season. In a road match against a tough team, Louisville showed a bit of fight, despite going down early.

The Cards actually made two comebacks in this game, trailing 1-0 for nearly 25 minutes and then 2-1 for just over two minutes. The two teams scored four combined goals in the third quarter in under five minutes, in what was a wild swing for the fans in the stadium. Louisville's goals came from Bethany Russ, already her 8th this year, Margot Lawn (3), and Madison Walsh (4). All three were goals scored by taking advantage of big opportunities. Russ scored on a reserve shot after her shot was illegally blocked. Lawn did what makes everyone happy by converting a corner. Her shot was technically not on the corner, but was a rebound after the initial corner attack. However, since it was all one play, I'm counting it. Finally, Walsh's goal was an open play goal, as she knocked in a goal after her shot was originally saved. 

All three Louisville goals show different skill sets and different abilities to get on goal. A diverse scoring offense is key to not getting stymied by a strong team that can limit specific areas. Also important was the mental fortitude shown by Louisville to come back twice as I mentioned earlier. The Cards didn't give up throughout the first half, and put their halftime coaching to the test by getting a quick goal. After conceding quickly to trail again, a weaker team might get a bit deflated. Louisville instead scored a pair of goals in a pair of minutes to flip the script. 

Louisville's defense should also get a shout. Giving up two goals is not great, but when your team scores three, your only job is to give up fewer than three. Remember that this was a road game against a good team, and one of the goals came on a corner which are always challenging to defend. Perhaps surprisingly, Hollyn Barr went the distance in goal for the Cards, earning one save to go with her two goals allowed. If this was the test to see if she would be taking a stranglehold on the goalkeeping position, I can't say she locked it down. We'll see if Sam Minrath sees her way back into the net soon.

Louisville remains on the road for their next match and, like women's soccer, they'll stay in the northeast. Field hockey will take on the Providence Friars tomorrow at 1PM. This one won't be on ACCNX, but there is a watch link listed that takes you to a video player. Not sure if it's free or paid, but be sure to tune in to watch another good Louisville team.

Volleyball Goes Five in Win Over NC State

For the second match in a row, the Louisville volleyball team needed a fifth set to secure a win, as they did so last night in L&N Federal Credit Union Arena over the Wolfpack of NC State. Like field hockey, volleyball earned their win with multiple comebacks, losing the first and third sets and getting strong victories in the second and fourth to force a decider. 

After starting pretty hot, Louisville's hitting actually trailed off consistently through the third, fourth, and fifth sets. Fortunately for the Cards, so did NC State's. Louisville finished the match with a respectable, but not lovable, 0.254 hitting percentage compared to the Wolfpack's 0.150. The Cards earned more aces (5-4) and dominated in blocks, outblocking the Wolfpack 15-6. Anna Stevenson led the way on blocks, with 2 solo and 5 assisted. Emily Scott had a solo and five assists as well, and even Tori Dilfer got in on the block party with 5 assisted blocks. Dilfer also earned a career high in assists as she picked up 54 of the team's 61 assists in the match.

Leading the way offensively was a familiar name, as Melanie McHenry crushed 29 kills on 61 attempts with just 8 errors for a cool 0.344. I'm thinking she's back. Aiko Jones and Emily Scott effectively tied McHenry as they picked up a combined 29 kills with 7 errors on 68 attempts with 0.308 and 0.345 hitting percentages, respectively. 

Though perhaps not the cleanest win for the Cards against a struggling NC State team that is now 5-8 on the season, no one can complain about a victory in the conference opener. Louisville will have their hands full as they try to keep pace with Pittsburgh and Florida State in the title race, and every win counts. The Cards will be back in action, just like everyone else, tomorrow at 1PM against North Carolina. This match is at home, so if you can make it out, head on over to the Arena Formerly Known as Cardinal. As a home match, it will also be available on ACC Network Extra. 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

We're back in the studio once more for the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour this week. Jared is banking and Daryl wants to get to Louder than Life when the gates open, so Paulie, Jeff, and I will man the mics. Jeff may be there in name only, though, as he fights voice issues, and I'll try not to sound like a frog after the first night of LtL yesterday. We'll have plenty of game action throughout the week to talk about as well as important women's basketball news to cover. Tune in to WCHQ FM at 11 AM to listen along. WCHQ is available at 100.9FM, the WCHQ App, wchqfm.com, or on Facebook Live.

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-