LOUISVILLE WOMEN'S SOCCER HOSTS MOREHEAD ST TONIGHT...MORE WBB NEWS -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Thursday, October 1, 2015

KICKIN' OUT OF CONFERENCE TONIGHT.

The Louisville women's soccer squad takes a brief break from ACC play this evening with a 7 p.m. start against Morehead State in Lynn Stadium.

For the Cards (4-5-1, 1-2-0) it's a chance to work on a few items that might be beneficial when they return to ACC play and also a revenge game. Louisville traveled to the Morehead campus last year and suffered a surprising 2-0 loss to the Eagles. 

The Cards do lead the series 11-1 and hold a 6-0 record against MSU in home competition.  

Louisville will look for a way to ramp up the scoring output in tonight's contest. Through ten games, the Cards have scored just 10 goals...while averaging 6.3 shots on goal per contest. Casey Whitfield and Alison Price lead the eight Cardinals who have scored this season with two goals each. 


The defense has been solid for UofL...allowing just 11 goals this season and limiting opponents to 5.5 shots on goal per contest.Taylor Bucklin and Paige Brownhave been splitting time in between the pipes...Bucklin defending the net in the Cards latest match...a 1-0 loss to Pitt on Sunday.

Morehead (4-6-1) is led by freshman Dani Wilson and her five goals and four assists this year. Goalie Katilynn Murphy has been solid in front of the net with a 1.59 goals against average stat and a .811 save percentage. 

Tickets on sale at the Lynn Stadium box office. The first 200 fans to enter will receive a UofL seat cushion. 

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ESPN PICKS UP 4 MORE WBB CONTESTS

For those of you unable to attend UofL WBB home games...there is good news about more on-line chances to watch the Cards.

ESPN has announced that they'll show the home games against California (11/15), Virginia Tech (1/7), Clemson (1/20) and Virginia (2/18) on ESPN3.

This bumps the total to 15 games that will be airing to a national audience for the 2015-16 UofL WBB season. It also means that all of UofL's home games will be available either on TV or on line. 

46 days until the Cal game. 

paulie
xxxxx

Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Kelsi Worrell nominated for USA Swimming Award -- Wednesday Cardinal Coupe

Louisville junior Kelsi Worrell has been nominated for Breakout Performer of the Year as USA Swimming announces the 2015 Golden Goggles Awards, which are presented by the USA Swimming Foundation every year to celebrate the top swimmers and coaches' achievements over the last year.
 
There are eight categories: Breakout Performer of the Year, Coach of the Year, Perseverance Award, Relay Performance of the Year, Male Performance of the Year, Female Performance of the Year, Male Athlete of the Year, and Female Athlete of the Year.
 
Worrell is up for the 2015 Breakout Performer Of The Year award which is given to the athlete whose performance(s) stand out in relation to other years, with special emphasis given to the 2015 FINA World Championships.
 
The three nominees for the Breakout Performer of the Year award are Katie Meili, Jordan Wilimovsky, and Kelsi Worrell.  
 
Worrell's signature race, the 100-butterfly has put her atop

the podium at the NCAA, Pan American Games and Phillips 66 National Championships. Worrell won an NCAA title and set an American record in the 100y fly for the University of Louisville in March, becoming the first woman to break the 50-second mark. In her first international meet at Pan American Games in Toronto, she set a Games record and notched the third-fastest time in the world in 2015 with a 57.24 effort in the 100-meter fly prelims. She went on to win gold in the event and added two relay medals. At the National Championships, Worrell carried her momentum with a victory in the 100m fly at the Phillips 66 National Championships.
 
Online fan voting is now open and will continue through Friday, Nov. 13. A percentage of the fan vote will count towards the final ballot. Beginning later this week USA Swimming will highlight Golden Goggle Awards categories weekly on usaswimming.org and across its social media channels in the lead-up to the Nov. 22 event.

 Vote here:http://usaswimming.org/DesktopDefault.aspx?TabId=2104&Alias=Rainbow&Lang=en


( A special thanks to Nancy Worley for the information on this!) 

paulie
xxxxx

Louisville Softball begins fall schedule with (2) wins...Beat the Paulie...Radio Today-- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

2016 SOFTBALL WILL BE A MIX OF THE OLD AND NEW

Sandy Pearsall's Louisville softball squad is getting in a few fall exhibition games before they start their season in the spring of 2016. 

On Sunday, the Cards entertained Bellarmine in "The Battle of Eastern Parkway" and took a double-header against the Knights 8-5, 6-2. Red-shirt sophomoreNicole Pufahl provided the big hit in the first game...her three run homer in the seventh inning proved the distance. In the Cards second win, Pearsall turned freshmen pitchers Kaylea Horn(Richland, KY) and Jordan Hensley (Ashland, KY) loose on the Knights to get the win. 

Cardinal "pitch and hit" fans will remember about half the current roster from last season and there are some big names back to play in Ulmer.

Maryssa Becker would have to top that list of stars back on Floyd Street. The junior pitcher from Oregon was the Cards ace last season and we don't see that changing. Pufahl hit for power at times for UofL last season and should provide the same "boom factor" this year. Senior infielder Brittany Sims is also very capable of parking Spaldings out on Brandeis Street and can cover several infield positions as needed. 

Madi Norman was a very effective pitcher at times for the 2015 Cards and returns to fill that role again. Everyone's favorite "slap" hitter...the speedy Jordan McNary will be a familiar site sprinting down the first base line again for Louisville. Senior 3rd baseman Hailey Smith proved to be a steady performer and the "hot corner" and also provided the Cards with an offensive punch in 2015. 

Tierra Sanabria saw plenty of action at first base for UofL last year and Alison "Mike" Szydlowski handled catching duties with aplomb last year. Add letter-winners Ashley Nikolao, Morgan Meyer, Morgan Hart and Sidney Melton into the mix and Pearsall has a solid nucleus of experience to work with.

The Cards graduated shortstop Whitney Arion, outfielder Kelsi Jones, DH Brittany Duncan and the pride of New Egypt, New Jersey...Kayla Soles. ( Kayla has sent "new pride" however...in the form of her little sister Jamie Soles...who joins the Louisville roster this year).

Names missing from last year's roster are Shelby McCombs, Kristina Dillard, Bridgette Flaherty, Paige Alford, Hannah Tow, Sydney Benz and Autumn McDuffie. Maybe I missed something here...did selected players in the Classes of 2013 and 2014 go on some sort of strike or something? McCombs is at Ohio State now, Flaherty enrolled at Georgia State, Dillard to Maryland and Tow at Missouri. Not sure about Benz, McDuffie or Alford. 

Five freshmen and six transfers also join the roster...and they played significant roles in the double-header sweep of the Knights Sunday. 

All in all, a roster comprised of 12 girls from in-state, three seniors, six juniors, eight sophomores and five freshman. The contingent looks to better last year's 30-19 overall record and 16-7 fourth place ACC finish. The Cards went to the Columbia, MO regional in NCAA Tournament play in 2015. 

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BEAT THE PAULIE

The question is...can you? 


Each week, Paulie will try to successfully predict the outcome of four or five UofL women's athletic contests. If you can "beat the Paulie" on his picks...we'll enter you for the chance to win a $25 gift card for Panera or Cracker Barrel (your choice!) . Last week's inaugural run found Paulie going 3-1 and no one could top him.

You can leave your picks in the comments section or send them to cardinalcouple@twc.com via e-mail.

Why not beat Paulie each week and get several entries to win the gift card? Here's the Paulie Picks for week ending Sunday Oct 4th.

MAKE SURE YOUR PICKS ARE IN BY 6 P.M THURSDAY OF THIS WEEK!! 

1) Louisville vs. Syracuse (Volleyball). I'll go with the Cards here in a tough match. Former UofL coach Yelin returns.

2) Louisville @ DUKE  (Field Hockey) . Taking the Dookies here in another battle of present and past Lou FH skippers.

3) Louisville @ UMASS (Field Hockey). Cards win at Justine Sowry's former head coaching gig. 

4) Louisville  vs. Morehe (Women's Soccer). Cards get revenge in Lynn for last year's loss

5) Louisville @ Syracuse  (Women's Soccer). tough call here but I'll pick Syracuse on their home turf. 

REMEMBER, PICKS NEED TO BE IN BY 6 PM THURSDAY

paulie
xxxxx

Cards softball to get ESPN broadcasts -- Wednesday Cardinal Couple

Pearsall's Pride to get 11 ESPN slots

New conference, new opportunities...


The University of Louisville softball team will make 11 appearances on ESPN3 or ESPNU this spring...all ACC games...as they roll into their first season of ACC Conference play. 

Kayla Soles and crew will be on the "U" twice...back to back on April 12th and 13th...when Florida State visits Ulmer Stadium for 7 p.m. games.


ESPN 'tres' will show games against visiting North Carolina on March 21st (both games) and March 22nd. When UofL goes to Blacksburg to do the Hokie dance, the April 3rd. contest and doubleheader on April 4th. will be shown. The "let's play two" battle against Boston College on April 25th. and single game on the 26th. can be viewed on the laptop. 

All home Cardinal softball games will also be available on Cards TV through GoCards.com

We're getting closer to the season starting...the Cards travel to Los Wages  Las Vegas to hit and run against UC Davis, UNLV, CS Bakersfield, #15/16 Minnesota and #13/11 Washington from Feb. 6th-8th. It'll be a great early season test for the UofL squad that has had significant departures in Taner Fowler, Katie Keller, Hannah Kiyohara, Caralisa Connell and others due to graduation.

Pearsall returns starters Soles, Brittany Duncan, Whitney Arion, Kelsi Jones and pitcher Maryssa Becker from last year's squad the won the AAC Conference Tournament and played in the NCAA Regionals.

In 2014, Louisville posted a 36-22 overall record, claimed the 2014 American Athletic Conference Championship and capped the season with the program's 11th straight NCAA appearance
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The Cardinals return six starters and 13 letter winners from the 2014 team including NFCA All-Central Regional selection Maryssa Becker and all-conference team members Whitney Arion and Kayla Soles. Nine newcomers will also take the field for the Cards in their inaugural ACC season
.

Sandy Pearsall enters her 16th season as UofL's head coach. After building the program from scratch in 2000, Pearsall has guided the Cardinals to six conference championships. Under her watch, Louisville has made 11 consecutive NCAA regional appearances and served as a host site in 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2013.  

WBB with 2:30 tip against Valpo -- Sunday Cardinal Couple

#12 CARDS HOPE TO CRUSH THE CRUSADERS ON ROAD

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SCORE FINAL: LOUISVILLE 86-VALPO 59. Cards led by 31 in the first half before coasting in with the win. We'll have all the details in the Monday edition of CARDINAL COUPLE ! 

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Louisville WBB takes their second road trip of the season to face Valparaiso today at 2:30 p.m. EST in the ARC (Athletics Recreation Center). It's the first ranked opponent the Crusaders have faced in three years at home. 

Valpo (3-2) comes into the game after a 100-65 drubbing by Arkon. Their wins have come against Butler, Northern Illinois and Tennessee Tech...the Crusaders lost to Indiana 81-49. 

The Horizon League members are led by freshman Dani Franklin who averages 13.2 a game. The other double figure scorer is Abby Dean with 10.8 a contest. The Crusaders shoot 70% from the foul stripe and have a 44% success mark from beyond the arc...averaging 22 threes per event. 

Valpo was picked to finish eighth in the Horizon League and

have faced Louisville once before...falling to the Cards 96-40 in the KFC YUM! Center on Dec. 8th, 2012. Sara Hammond had 14 in that one...one of five Cards in double figures. 

Three UofL players (Mariya Moore, Bria Smith and Jude Schimmel) have more steals than the entire Crusaders squad and the freshman duo of Moore (15.3) and Myshia Hines-Allen (14.2) lead the Cards in scoring. 

Louisville will look to do what has worked in the last six games...create the turnovers and score in the paint. They'll look to duplicate their successes at the shutdown of of an opponent in the first twenty minutes. UofL is allowing an average of just 22 first half points this season for their foes. 

Valpo is 2-0 at home this year. After five games, they have scored 349 points..the exact same amount they have given up to their opponents. 

This one is scheduled for ESPN 3 coverage and if you want to sneak a peek at a future Cards foe....Notre Dame goes against Kansas @ 1 p.m. 

Valpo was 6-25 overall and 3-13 in the Horizon last season. They don't exactly strike fear into your friends here at CARDINAL COUPLE. We'll up the ante here and be satisfied with a 30+ point win and 70% + free throw shooting. If Akron can put up 100 on them...shouldn't we expect the Cards could do the same? 

Valpo is another creme puff on the November dessert cart

What chu talkin bout,Willis...Valpo gonna beat the Cards? 

the WBB squad has been feasting on. It gets much more real in December. 

We'll have a full report here on the festivities shortly after the game...

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Bobby mixes it up with a UK staffer. 

Congrats to Louisville Football for their win in the annual Battle of the Bluegrass vs. Kentucky. 

Kyle Bolin....who knew? 

This one got off to a raucous start when the UK players came onto the field and stomped the Cardinal Bird logo.

Don't stomp on our bird.  

Charlie Springer does a great write up at the link below:

CARDS 44- CATS 40

paulie
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