Softball Streak Continues -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Beat GT in Game 1

Louisville softball extended their season-high winning streak to eight games yesterday with a victory over Georgia Tech in the first game of their weekend series. The streak began with a win in the final game of the Clemson series, and last night's win over GT is Louisville's first ACC game since that Clemson win. The victory moved the Cards to 4-3 in conference, so a series win would keep Louisville over .500. A sweep would be even better. 

Alyssa Zabala started the game for the Cards and pitched well to open. Louisville supported her by taking the lead in the second on a Jordan Williams triple and extended that lead in the third with hits from Easton Lotus and Camryn Lookadoo. Lotus, by the way, has moved to the second spot in the lineup. That allows Louisville to take more advantage of Chelsea Mack's speed in the leadoff with Lotus's consistency helping bring her home. Zabala gave up a home run in the top of the fourth, but the Cards still held a 3-1 advantage after being unable to score in the bottom half. 

Zabala opened the fifth inning with a ground out, but then struggled to find the strike zone. She walked the next two batters on full counts, and a single loaded the bases. Anna Wise came in to replace her and things got weird. An infield single scored one run, and everyone advanced an extra base (including another run) on what was scored a fielding error by Bri Despines. A ground out scored a third run and Louisville's lead was gone. Another grounder was scored a fielding error by Lookadoo at first base and another unearned run scored. A fly out mercifully ended the inning, but Louisville's 3-1 lead had turned into a 5-3 deficit. 

Never fear, though, fans: Louisville responded. Riley Janda opened the inning with a walk, and Mack laid down a bunt single before Lotus was hit by a pitch to load the bases. GT made a pitching change, and Bri Despines welcomed the new pitcher by coaxing a four-pitch walk. Lookadoo also walked and the game was tied. A strikeout and a flyout that was too shallow to sacrifice made it look as though Louisville would strand the bases loaded, but Williams came up with her second triple of the game to clear the bases. A grounder ended the inning, but Louisville led 8-5. 

GT put two runners on in the sixth and one in the seventh, but Wise was able to keep any others from crossing the plate so 8-5 was the final score. Louisville and GT will continue the series today in chilly Louisville, with first pitch scheduled for 1PM. Today's game will stream on ACC Network Extra.

Floyd Signs with Racing

A second member of Karen Ferguson-Dayes's final senior class has signed an NWSL contract. After wearing purple for many matches in her University of Louisville career, goalkeeper Erynn Floyd will stick with the color and the city as she signed her first professional contract with Racing Louisville FC. The deal is for the remainder of the 2026 season (which just started) and carries a mutual option for 2027. I'm a bit surprised that Louisville didn't offer a longer deal, or that Floyd didn't sign such a deal elsewhere, but she'll be able to learn a ton behind Jordyn Bloomer, who stands out as one of the top keepers in the league. 

It's a bit of a crowded keeper room in Louisville, with Floyd becoming the fifth on the roster. In addition to Bloomer, she joins Olivia Sekany (Washington 2020), Cristina Roque (FSU 2024), and Maddie Prohaska (Auburn 2025). With a lot of youth (even Bloomer is only 28), there is still a lot of opportunity to find a full-time spot on the roster. This is a great opportunity for Erynn and we wish her the best in the beginning of her career. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

UofL Tops UK in NCAA First Round -- SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Beat Cats in PK Thriller

Could it have been any more dramatic? That's how Coach Karen Ferguson Dayes opened her postgame remarks yesterday evening, and the answer, quite frankly, was no. Louisville and Kentucky played a heart-in-throat match that needed not only extra time, but extra penalty kicks as well. In the end, Louisville prevailed in the eighth round of the shootout to take down their rival and advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. 

In yesterday's column, I wrote about a schedule quirk that gave UK an extra draw instead of a loss for their shootout loss against Georgia in the SEC Tournament. During the actual match yesterday, I learned that it wasn't a quirk: it's how the NCAA scores a penalty shootout. Both teams are granted a draw on their records and then whichever team comes out on top after penalties "advances" to the next stage of play. I mean... sure. But if that's the case, why make the overtimes golden goal? It matters not. What matters is that Louisville officially finished the season unbeaten at home, as they'll hit the road for any games they have remaining. 

Yesterday's match was everything you might have expected from a heated rivalry such as the Battle of the Bluegrass. With football last night, there were plenty of available fans, and the crowd size actually grew once people came over from downtown when the basketball game ended (more on that later). The official attendance was listed as 1,106, and I was somewhat pleasantly surprised that it seemed like no more than a third of the crowd were UK fans. Chants went back and forth, but most of both fan bases were well-behaved. At least as well-behaved as the teams, that is. 

The game ended with a whopping 36 fouls, and those were only the ones that were called. There were six total yellow cards (three for each team) and a couple of fouls could have seen yellows if the referee wasn't generous with players that already had one. There was a Louisville bloody nose that resulted in no foul and a yellow issued to the Kentucky bench (unrelated). Yesterday's match had it all. But even after all that, it wasn't a particularly ugly game. Emotions were high, and the players played hard and got a bit chippy, but the fouls were fairly evenly split (UK 20 - 16 UofL) and both teams were (largely) playing the ball throughout the day. 

Louisville opened the game very tight. They were playing at home in front of a big crowd, against their arch-rivals who were an underdog. UK had nothing to lose. While Louisville managed to get the first shot and forced a save, UK took a decent amount of control after that. Louisville maintained possession for 54% of the first half, but most of it was not held in a particularly attacking manner. The Cats ultimately took five shots in the first half, putting just one on target, but it was their second shot that nearly broke things open. A cross came in for a header in the center of the goal that had Erynn Floyd beaten. Fortunately for the Cards, the ball couldn't beat the bar. It hit the front-bottom of the crossbar and kicked down and out of the goal. The ball fell down to UK but a second attempt was blocked away. The entire stadium stopped holding its collective breath. 

UK would take three corners in that first half, more than Louisville would take in the entire game (two in the second). UK finished with eight corners, which had the Cards under quite a bit of pressure considering they scored their goal off of a corner in the second half. Louisville's offense was able to find shots in the first, taking four and forcing two saves, but they weren't particularly threatening. Louisville would have dearly liked to have scored before the end of the first half, but UK took advantage of the opportunity to play a new 45-minute game early. Just two minutes into the second half, the Cats earned a corner that found Thalia Morisi unmarked in the six-yard box. As a former keeper, allow me to let you in on a little secret: you don't want someone unmarked in the six-yard box on a corner. Morisi found the ball with her head and Floyd had little chance. UK led 1-0. 

Another note KFD made in her postgame interview (I won't spoil the whole thing, I promise), was that she specifically told the team at the half that she hoped it wouldn't take a goal to wake them up. Welp... Now was the time to wake up. To the Cards' credit, they did. Louisville's offense sprang into action after the goal and continued to hound the Cats. They took two shots and forced a save before the 60 minute mark. Both of their corners came in succession, but neither earned a shot. Then UK nearly doubled their advantage. Another corner managed to get to the feet of Catherine Rapp who forced an incredible save by Floyd to keep the deficit at just one. That was UK's third shot of the half, and they would earn just two more, with only one forcing a simple save from Floyd. 

Louisville seemed to press a bit with trying to find a goal, but they were able to find some good attempts at goal. The Cards finally broke through in the 79th minute as a ball clattered around near the top of the box. Amelia Swinarski managed to get control with just enough space to slide one through the surrounding defenders. The ball stayed low and Khadijah Cisse couldn't track it. She was unable to attempt a save as the ball rolled into the bottom-right corner. Cards had leveled it and it was game on for the final ten minutes. UK very nearly ripped Louisville's hearts out by scoring immediately after the equalizer, but the shot went high. The Cards had five shots over the final ten minutes and forced three saves, but we headed to overtime. 

Collegiate soccer dropped regular season overtime a couple of seasons ago, but it remains in the postseason. The teams play two (if necessary) ten-minute periods of golden goal overtime. If neither team has scored, it's on to penalties. Both teams were very tight in that first overtime period, with neither wanting to extend too much and give their opponent a counter-attack opportunity. The only shot came with just ten seconds left, when Rapp found herself open near the top of the box, but it was right up the middle and Floyd was able to fall on it to run the clock out. 

The second OT period was a bit more free. UK had a shot advantage, but all three of their attempts came in a single possession as shots were blocked away. They took three shots in a span of 24 seconds. None forced a save, and the third was off target out of bounds. Louisville took two shots in the period, including their attempt at a late game winner, which saw Swinarski test Cisse in basically the same way as the other period ended with seven seconds remaining. The clock hit 0:00 and it was time for penalties. 

By the way, penalties are often referred to as PKs. You probably already knew that, but remember how I said more on that basketball game ending earlier? Well, PK wanted to watch some PKs. Pat Kelsey was there to support the Cards after the men's basketball game ended, and it's impossible to not be a fan of the guy. He's so into the university and the athletic department as a whole and he feels like a fan of his own school. He was right behind the goal, getting into it with the rest of the crowd to try to distract UK shooters. 

But the stage was set. Penalties are the ultimate showdown. It's a mental battle just as much as a physical one. If you keep your tendency as a shooter, the keeper might know where you're going and pick up the save. If you try too hard to make a difficult shot, you might miss. If the keeper guesses wrong, it's almost automatic. The ball is placed twelve yards from the goal and it's away we go. 

UK had the opening shot and they opened the door for Louisville immediately with a miss. Karsyn Cherry stepped up and slotted home her shot to take the lead. UK scored their second and Amelia Swinarski kept the Cards ahead 2-1. UK scored their third, but Louisville was still in a good position. AG Gibson's shot was saved and it was 2-2 after three rounds. UK's fourth shot was off the mark and everyone waited to see who Erynn Floyd was delivering the ball to to take Louisville's fourth shot. After a few seconds of head-scratching, we realized it was herself. 

(Side note: this is an interesting move. In a professional game, this is bold but not crazy. If the shootout continued, the keepers would need to take a shot eventually anyway, and this would mean Louisville's had already gone and they'd have a shooter vs a keeper round. However, collegiate rules mean you only assign ten kickers. If the shootout continues beyond ten rounds, you just go back to the top. That means Floyd just was in the top ten (or top five, even) shooters for this Louisville team. It's not insane. Keepers are usually decent at penalties since they have to be very familiar with the ins-and-outs of the process.)

Unfortunately, Floyd's shot was high of the bar. UK sunk their fifth shot and the mood flipped immediately. After a chance to go up 3-2 after four, Louisville now trailed 3-2 down to their final shooter. Fina Davy nailed it and kept the Cards alive. After five rounds, it meant sudden victory. If anyone led after each round, it was game over. Floyd opened sudden victory with a save, but Liza Suydam was saved as well. 

Once you're in this part of the penalty order, the pressure on every taker ramps up. You weren't expected to be taking your shot and now the fate of the game could rest on your shoulders. In the case of the team shooting second, that was literally true. With each shot, you're either going to win it with a make or lose it with a miss. UK scored with their seventh taker and Grace Maddox calmly kept Louisville alive. In round eight, Erynn Floyd snagged her second penalty save of the sudden victory period, setting up her fellow senior. Mackenzie Geigle set the crowd alight with a goal and ran straight into her keeper's arms. Could it have been any more dramatic?

Louisville moves on to face 3-seed Kansas in Durham on Thursday afternoon. The match will be on ESPN+ at 4PM. The Cards' victory meant the ACC went 9-0 in the opening round. Incredible. I'm still riding high on yesterday's win. Check out the interviews below and join in on the elation. 

POSTGAME WITH MACKENZIE GEIGLE

POSTGAME WITH ERYNN FLOYD

POSTGAME WITH KFD 

Until next time, GO CARDS!!!

Case

Volleyball Survives Friday Night Frights -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Volleyball Sweeps Cal

Louisville volleyball was the last team to get underway for the Cards last night, but they were only one of the three to come away with a win. The only drama in the 3-0 victory came in the second set when the question was just how badly would Louisville win the set. Sandwiched between a pair of 25-16 wins, the Cards beat the brakes off the Bears in the second with a 25-5 victory. 

Cal is... not very good. They hit for 0.000 on the match, and Louisville only finished with eight total blocks. The Bears hit 22 total errors, although they did have fewer service errors that the Cards (3-5). Both teams had two aces. Louisville's offense was fairly efficient in their own right, finishing with a .384 hitting percentage. The Cards had eight total errors and five of those were blocks by Cal. Only hitting the ball out of the court on your own three times is pretty good. 

Chloe Chicoine led the way for Louisville with 13 kills and no errors. Kalyssa Blackshear also hit for no errors as she finished with eight kills. Payton Petersen had eight kills as well, but she was more covered by Cal and had four errors. Cara Cresse was first in efficiency among hitters as she finished with a .538 percentage and had nine kills.

Louisville's defense was all over the place as Petersen and Hannah Kenny led in digs with ten apiece and three players (Chicoine, Kamden Schrand, and Nayelis Cabello) finished with eight. Cresse led the team with four block assists and Cabello tied Hannah Sherman for second with two assists and one solo block. 

This one was never really in doubt, but it serves as a good preparation match on the west coast for Louisville. The Cards have a big test coming up tomorrow when they take on Stanford. The Cardinal are ranked 3rd in the country and have won 20 straight matches at Maples Pavilion. Notre Dame gave them a ride in the second set last night when they pushed it to extra points, but Stanford came out ahead in that one and finished with a 25-22, 26-24, 25-14 sweep. Tomorrow's match is on ESPN at 5PM. 

Overturned Goal Sinks Field Hockey

Louisville field hockey tried to give Justine Sowry a good birthday present yesterday against Wake Forest, but they weren't able to overcome a tough call in the fourth quarter. The 18th-ranked Cards fell to 5-5 (0-2) on the season with a 2-0 loss to #7 Wake Forest. 

Louisville struggled offensively early in the match, with Wake suffocating them every time they received the ball. That pressure paid off for the Demon Deacons in the second quarter, when they used a turnover to work forward and score the first goal of the match. That goal came about halfway through the second quarter, and both teams continued to keep the opponent at bay afterwards.

Louisville's offense finally showed up in the fourth quarter. After failing to record a shot for the first three periods, the Cards put up five in the fourth. Early on, they appeared to equalize, but the goal was overturned on replay review. Instead of a 1-1 match in which they had some momentum, Louisville found themselves still trailing and a bit deflated. Wake ultimately earned the first penalty corner of the game for either team and scored to double Louisville's deficit. The Cards weren't able to find the back of the cage and the final score was 2-0. 

Each team finished with five total shots and three on target. That's an unfortunate stat when you consider how good Emily Young has been this season. Louisville has to avoid giving up clean looks to the opponent and they have to be able to score more effectively. 

Nevertheless, the Cards are back in action Tuesday at Trager Stadium. Louisville will play their last non-conference match of the regular season when they take on Bellarmine at 5PM. 

Soccer Falls Short in Second Half

Louisville women's soccer had the toughest draw of the evening for the three sports, as they faced a road game against the second-ranked team in the country. For the first 45 minutes, Louisville looked every bit as if they could pull off a big upset. Adjustments at halftime for Notre Dame found the mark, though, and back-to-back goals early in the second set the final score. 

Louisville came out on a mission in the first half, and their tenacity got them an early lead. Notre Dame had the first shot inside the first minute, but Louisville settled in and held them at bay until their second shot in the ninth. Erynn Floyd picked up her first save of the match on that one and Notre Dame was offsides a minute later. Then it was Louisville's turn to play offense. Over the next eight minutes, they had three corner kicks and eight total shots. The eighth shot finally found the mark. Following a corner, Ella Bard had an attempt that was blocked and came to Hadley Snyder's feet. Snyder settled and sent it into the back of the net for her second goal of the season. 

Notre Dame didn't allow Louisville to celebrate for long, as the Irish equalized just seven minutes later on strong team play. What was extra unfortunate for the Cards is that their early goal seemed to wake up the Notre Dame midfield and defense. Over that eight minute stretch, Louisville had three corners and eight shots with two on target. Over the final 72 minutes of the match, Louisville had no corners and just three shots with one on target. 

Don't get me wrong: Notre Dame is very good, but man that is a disappointing final stat line after a frenzied start. Notre Dame, on the other hand, was relentless in the second half. The Irish had Floyd under constant pressure as they took five corner kicks, earned 13 shots, and put eight shots on target. Erynn Floyd finished the match with seven saves, but you can't blame someone for yielding a couple of goals when they're getting that much work from a top offense like Notre Dame. 

At the end of the day, this is another two-goal road loss for the Cards. Is that frustrating? Yeah, a bit, but if your only three losses so far have all come by just two goals on the road to teams in the top-25, that's not terrible. Louisville's next opponent won't be any easier, though. The Cards take on Wake Forest on Thursday in Winston-Salem. While the Demon Deacons will lose some of the shine from their #12 ranking after their last match, a shocking 2-1 loss to NC State will have them fired up to get revenge on the Cards. Wake is 9-2-2 (3-1-1) with a 3-2 victory over Duke on the resume. 

No CCRHP This Week

With a couple of hosts out and about and other obligations keeping me away, we'll take this week off from the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast. We'll look to return next week to bring you the joy and excitement of Louisville women's athletics.

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

WSOC Hosts Home Opener -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Bring in Detroit Mercy

After an unceremonious end to their season-opening road trip, Louisville women's soccer opens their slate at Dr. Mark and Cindy Lynn Stadium tonight on what is the first day of regular season action on campus. Karen Ferguson-Dayes's squad isn't the first team to compete on campus today, nor are they the first team to compete in Lynn. The men's soccer team will open its home schedule this evening as well, as the two teams take part in a double header. Tonight marks the only soccer double header of the season, making next Thursday's 3PM kickoff for the women a bit of a head scratcher. At any rate, the men will get things started against Southern Indiana at 5PM with the women to follow against Detroit Mercy. The scheduled start time for the women's game is 7:30, and the match will be available on ACC Network Extra. 

The Cards are coming off of a 1-1 SEC road trip following a 1-0 win at Auburn and a 2-0 loss at Vanderbilt. Louisville may have preferred those results come in the opposite order for multiple reasons. The first of those is that Vandy was the 17th-ranked team in the country when the two teams met and the second is for momentum. The great vibes created by the win they toughed out in Alabama were a bit deflated by their mild dismantling in the first half in Nashville. Louisville could be buoyed by their second half performance where, although they weren't able to find the net, they outshot Vandy 10-4 (3-0 on frame).

I think what I would expect most from tonight's match is for the defense to be lockdown. Both goals on Sunday were the direct result of defensive errors. On the first, a high defensive line was beaten by a breakaway on a good through ball. While the high line can create offsides and keep the ball forward for offensive chances, that opening goal displayed the potential pitfalls. If you lose track of a player, especially a speedy one, you can give away one-on-one opportunities. (Personally, I would have played the situation a bit more aggressively in goal and challenged the ball harder at the top of the box, but Erynn Floyd chose to test the freshman forward and forced her to make a clean shot. Either option was fine. One-on-ones are difficult and usually favor the attacker.) 

Speaking of one-on-one chances, the second goal came on the most advantageous of those: the penalty kick. A clumsy tackle in the box led to a penalty, even after video review, and penalties have about an 85-90% success rate. I absolutely see the case for a penalty in that instance, but I wouldn't have minded the commentating crew at least acknowledging the case against it. Olivia Stafford was never going to get to the ball after her heavy touch toward the end line, and Hadley Snyder's stab at the ball didn't create the contact with Stafford; Stafford started to chase the ball and crashed into Snyder's leg. Like I said, it was clumsy, and since it happened in the box, the only option is to not call a foul at all, which wouldn't have gotten much applause from the home crowd. So it goes. 

Louisville's defense cleaned it up in the second half, allowing four shots for the second straight half but keeping Vandy from putting the ball on frame. I think the Cards will look to keep their second clean sheet of the season, and I suspect the defense would like to keep Detroit Mercy from taking any shots at all if they can. 

Offensively, I'll be looking for a bit more consistency from the attack. So far, KFD has been much more fluid with the lineup in the front, partially to keep fresh legs in the tough conditions of the first two games. Amelia Swinarski (118) and Liza Suydam (114) lead the way in offensive minutes for the Cards. It will be interesting to see if Mackenzie Geigle is back to full strength or not. We never got a full report on what kept Gigs out of game one, but she did return against Vandy with limited minutes (31). Nicole Jodoin has been a presence as a freshman, starting both games so far and helping the offense move along. We'll see if she can continue to break out against the run of somewhat easier competition on this home stand. 

Detroit Mercy brings in a 1-1 record after opening the season with a 2-1 home win over Valparaiso before losing 4-0 to Michigan in Ann Arbor. The Titans were just 10-8-2 last year, but they went 7-1-2 in conference play. Detroit Mercy's 23 points in Horizon League play saw them finish in third behind Milwaukee's 28 (9-0-1) and Northern Kentucky's 25. The Titans were knocked out of the Horizon League tournament by the Norse in the semifinals by a score of 1-0. 

Louisville has faced Detroit Mercy just once before, and the Cards hold an 0-1 all-time record against the Titans. That lone matchup came in 1994, the first year after Louisville's first winning season and the final year of Louisville women's soccer's time as an independent. The Cards went 7-10-3 in 1994 and lost to Detroit Mercy 3-1 on October 9th of that year. It seems that I brought bad luck to the Cards, as their 11-7 1993 season came right before I was born. Despite back to back .500 seasons in 1995 (9-9) and 1996 (9-9-2), 1993 stood as Louisville's only winning record until Karen Ferguson-Dayes fifth season saw the Cards finish 12-5-3. From 2004 to 2019, Louisville had just four non-winning seasons with losing records in 2009 and 2014 and back-to-back .500 seasons in 2015 and 2016. Covid was rough on the Cards, as Louisville has not finished above .500 since 2019. 

Louisville is off to a good start in their quest to improve on last year's near .500 mark (7-6-5), but they'll need to build a fair amount of confidence heading into conference play. The Cards have won more than four conference games just twice since joining the ACC (2018 and 2019). Tonight's game is a good time to start that confidence building. I'm disappointed to be unable to make it in person, but it should be a fantastic night for soccer, with the forecast showing 78 degrees and partly cloudy at kickoff. If you're able, get out and support the women's team, and get double the action if you head out early for the men's game. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

More Summer Soccer -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

19 Total Cards with Summer Clubs

Last week I wrote about the University of Louisville women's soccer players that had stayed with the hometown Racing Louisville development team for their summer play. In the process, I inadvertently left off a number of Cardinals that will be participating with other teams, including many remaining local. In all, 19 players are suiting up for clubs this summer to keep touches on the ball, which is 83% of the players currently listed on UofL's roster for the 2025 season. Not too shabby. 

First, another Louisville player was added to the Racing roster. Nicole Jodoin, an incoming freshman forward from West Boylston, Massachusetts, will join Fina Davy, AG Gibson, Betsy Huckaby, and Grace Maddox in a very attack heavy representation. 

Floyd (30) and 2024 graduate Ava Nielsen

The next largest contingent of Cardinals headed east on I-64 to play for Lexington SC. While Racing's squad sports mostly offensive players from Louisville, Lexington sees most of the starting defense held together. Erynn Floyd, Louisville starting goalkeeper, is joined by three of her starting backline: Karsyn Cherry, Lizzie Sexton, and Hadley Snyder. That group will play Racing twice this season, with the first of those matches coming last night. After a 9-0 victory to start the season, Louisville played Kings Hammer FC to a 3-3 draw before a 0-0 draw last night against Lexington. A good showing for Louisville's defenders, while hopefully not too concerning for the attackers. 

Another player that will see her teammates on the opposing side of the pitch is Emersen Jennings, who is suiting up for Indy Eleven. The rising senior forward is from Noblesville, so, like Huckaby and Gibson, she's playing for her hometown club. Jennings is one of eight players that is a sole Louisville representative on her squad. Mackenzie Geigle (F-Sr) is another of those players, as she will once again represent her local team with the NC Courage's development program. 

Maya Maxwell (8), Jennings (27), and Gigs (3)

Most Cardinals are remaining local, to be fair. Emma Kate Schroll (MF-Sr), a Dacula, Georgia native, is playing for United FA, a Georgia academy team tied to the Arsenal Football Development program. Likewise, Amelia Swinarski (MF-So), from Madison, Ohio, is playing for Internationals SC in northeast Ohio. Also competing this summer are Brooklynn Lee (D-So; FC Olympia), Liza Suydam (MF-Jr[transfer]; PA Classics), Kailey Kimball (GK-Sr; Oakland Soul), and Brielle Baker (GK-Fr; Paisley Athletic). The only two other Cards who aren't alone in summer player are rising freshmen Karina (F/MF) and Kiley (D) Peat. The twins are from Wilmington, North Carolina and are playing for Port City in their hometown. 

Good luck to all of the Kickin' Cards this summer as we look forward to the 2025 season, which will get underway in just under three months. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Soccer Roster Takes Shape -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Return 14 from Last Season

Louisville women's soccer fans will have their work cut out for them this season when it comes to learning new faces and names. That's because the roster of 27 players includes just 14 returners from last season and sports 13 newcomers. The Cards are looking to recover after a string of tough years, and they've turned to the transfer portal in addition to the recruiting class to make that happen. Like softball last season, there were some surprising departures by players that were expected to be key contributors going forward. Louisville will have their work cut out for them to get on the same page, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. Today is about starting that familiarization process. 

Departures

It wouldn't be fair to roll right into the new roster without covering who we lost. The roster was 26 last year, so that means an even dozen players won't don the red and black be Cardinals play for Louisville this year. Addie Chester, Louisville's top points earner last season, will continue her career at Ball State, indicating that it probably wasn't the aesthetic of UofL that she wasn't vibing with. 

In addition to Chester, Louisville looks to replace all but four players that tallied a goal or an assist for the squad last season. Emma Hiscock, Ravin Alexander, Lucy Roberts, Savina Zamborini, and Autumn Weeks all graduated. Fiona Gaiꞵer has returned to Europe to pursue her professional career, and Hayley Howard joined Chester in choosing to transfer. Like Chester (Muncie, IN), Howard (Brentwood, TN) returned closer to home(ish) by opting to play for the Tennessee Volunteers. 

Howard (1372) tallied the most minutes of any Cardinal not named Erynn Floyd (1575), and Chester (1152) was eclipsed by only Karsyn Cherry (1334) and Betsy Huckaby (1297). Seeing only a few minutes and joining the departures list were a pair of transfer goalkeepers. After being named as the best club goalkeeper in Quebec in 2018, Alyssa Zalac will move on to her 3rd school having not played any competitive minutes since 2019. After Vanier College's 2020 season was canceled due to Covid, Zalac redshirted at Ole Miss before transferring to Louisville and sitting for two seasons. Malene Nielsen decided that her year of backing up Floyd, which saw her earn just one half of play time, was not in her best interest and left Louisville after one season. 

Louisville also graduated Morgan Bentley and Maddy Ellsworth. Ellsworth was a transfer from Oregon State who started at right back and played 1031 minutes. Bentley was a four-year Cardinal who started in 11/12 games as a freshman before seeing her minutes decline. She played 336 minutes over 14 games last year with one start. 

Returners

While there are a lot of losses, especially on offense, Louisville does return 40% of their minutes from last season. That said, if goalkeeper minutes are excluded, that number falls to 33%. They bring back 64 field-player starts out of a possible 180. A fair amount of turnover was inevitable; Louisville was not a young team last year. They bring back just three sophomores from last year's team (there are six on the roster, but we'll get to the others later). I've mentioned Betsy Huckaby as a major contributor, and she's joined by Molly Cochran and Viktoria Wik. 

The rising junior class is large. Headlined by Floyd and Cherry, the class includes Mackenzie Geigle, Maya Maxwell, Lizzie Sexton, Hadley Snyder, Emma Kate Schroll, and Emersen Jennings. The Cards return just three players set to graduate this season: Amber Jackson, Ava Nielsen, and Brooke Dardano. 

The Transfers

Joining those last three on Senior Day will be just one senior transfer, Jolie St. Louis. JSL comes to the Cards from UAB after spending one season with the Blazers. Hailing from Atlanta, the forward started her career at Seattle. (Let me chime in here to say that the roster and player pages no longer include positions. I have no idea why. It's irritating, but we endeavor ever onward.) St. Louis also represented Trinidad and Tobago at the 2022 World Cup Qualifiers, playing in three matches and starting one. She led UAB in goals and points last year, scoring five goals in 748 minutes over 13 games. She played in 23 matches over two seasons at Seattle. 

Replacing the outgoing goalkeepers is Kailey Kimball. Kimball is a junior from Danville, California who played two seasons at Purdue. Kimball saw 810 minutes over 10 games as a freshman but struggled to find her footing. She allowed 21 goals over those games, giving up a score in all but one appearance (45 minutes in what was ultimately a 3-0 loss to Northwestern). Seemingly losing the position battle, Kimball played in three games in 2023, allowing one goal in 144 minutes (ironically, against Northwestern). She had a complete game clean sheet on the road at Maryland that finished in a 0-0 tie. 

The other three transfers are all sophomores. Berkley Patterson is a midfielder from Austin, Texas who comes to Louisville from Texas Tech. She played 148 minutes over six games and had two shots. She earned just five minutes in conference play, coming on in a 3-0 win over Cincinnati. While Patterson seems to be leaving home, the other two sophomore transfers went to school far from their hometowns and will stay rather far from them.

Gianna Angelillo is fairly familiar with Louisville, having played 37 minutes against them last season. The midfielder from Glastonbury, Connecticut started her career at Miami. She played 432 minutes over 11 games, earning three starts. She scored one goal on five shots, netting the game-winner against Syracuse. 

Ella Kane is also probably familiar with Louisville, although the Cards and Cats didn't play last season. Kane, from Macomb, Michigan, played 13 games for UK last year, primarily in reserve situations. Kane had 197 minutes and scored her only goal in her longest outing: 33 minutes against Belmont. If you exclude games in which she played fewer than 5 minutes, her average goes from 15.1 minutes per game to 24.1, a fairly large jump. She played 20 minutes against Florida, her largest showing in conference play. 

The Freshmen

That leaves just one group. If you're keeping track at home, 14 returners plus five transfers means that we have eight freshmen rounding out the 27-player roster. It feels like deja vu all over again to be talking about these freshmen, which tells me I'm pretty sure I've covered them before. We'll do a quick refresher in number order. Fun fact, Louisville's jersey numbers are nearly a clean count. The Cards wear 1-30 with 16, 19, and 29 excluded. (Ava Nielsen wore 29 as a freshman before switching to 13. I'm not sure why, since 13 was available at the time.) The freshmen this year are numbers 5, 6, 10, 11, 12, 17, 20, and 24.

Grace Maddox is a defender from Statham, Georgia. Despite playing defense, she broke the school record for goals when she scored 29 as a freshman. She was a captain for six years with her club team. 

Piper Davidson comes from a town Cards fans might have heard of before: Wenatchee, Washington. The forward/midfielder scored 62 goals and had 46 assists in her high school career. She was all-conference with her club team. Funnily, Davidson wore #4 in promo photos before changing to #6 to yield the number to Jolie St. Louis. 

Lauryn Contini will inherit the mantle of the #10. The midfielder from New Philadelphia, Ohio was the 2023 district player of the year and was voted as Ohio's second best girls soccer player of the year. Contini won the Golden Boot in Ohio in 2022, scoring 55 goals in her junior campaign. 

Amelia Swinarski is another Ohioan, hailing from Madison. Swinarski is a midfielder that scored 30 goals and had 23 assists in her two years playing at Madison High School and was twice named first team All-Conference. 

Avery Oergel is a defender from Fulton, Maryland. As a lefty, it will be interesting to see whether she plays her dominant foot to the inside of the field or if Lizzie Sexton swaps sides. Oergel traditionally plays left back and her speed is an asset. She was a two-time first team All-Conference selection in the North Atlantic Conference of ECNL.

Brooklyn Lee and Davidson will have to remind each other of the Pacific Northwest. Lee, from Tacoma, will give Coach Karen Ferguson-Dayes options for who to pair alongside Karsyn Cherry in the middle of the defense. Lee scored 20 goals and had nine assists from the back as a senior. She and Maddox could also be options to take over in the defensive midfield, replacing Howard and allowing Huckaby to move forward.

Fina Davy amassed a hefty number of accolades at Olentangy Berlin High School in Delaware, Ohio. The forward/midfielder holds the school record for career goals, career hat tricks, and season assists. As a senior, she was first team All-Conference after a 20 goal, 18 assist year. 

Last, but certainly not least, comes the Louisvillian: AG Gibson. Gibson played high school ball for Assumption where she was twice named first team All-State and 7th Region Player of the Year. She clubs with Racing Louisville. Throughout her career at Assumption, the midfielder tallied 56 goals and 53 assists. AG fulfills a lifelong dream of playing for Louisville and we'll do our best to avoid comparisons to another highly touted Louisville native who played a commanding midfield position. 

The season is just a month away, and I'm looking forward to seeing the new look squad in action. Join me and the rest of the crew at Lynn for the season opener against Bellarmine on August 15th at 7:30. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

WSoc Plays Even with Ranked Virginia -- Volleyball Welcomes Stanford -- SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Women's Soccer Draws with #20 Virginia

The Louisville bench celebrates a goal

Happy Sunday, Cards fans! While most of the attention was turned towards a certain game in Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis (a Louisville team won that game) we turned our attention to a Louisville game happening on campus. Louisville women's soccer welcomed #20 Virginia to Dr Mark and Cindy Lynn Stadium. The Cards and Cavaliers played to a 1-1 draw.

Paulie, Sonya, Case and his wife Lindsay, and I were in attendance. They were present for the entire match while I arrived for the second half. Photographing two sports in two different states in the span of a few hours proved to be pretty exhausting and I needed a quick break before heading over to Lynn Stadium. 

Autumn Weeks heads the ball

Lucy Roberts recorded her first goal as a Cardinal and seventh of her career early into the second half before Virginia answered with 10 minutes remaining into the match. Virginia had allowed just two goals on the season coming into the match so a Louisville team that has struggled on offense being able to score is huge.

The first half proved to be fairly quiet. Virginia had an opportunity midway through the half on a good ball into the box that found its way close to the far post, but Erynn Floyd was able to handle the shot for one of her four saves.

Lucy Roberts scores for Louisville

Louisville had a solid look right before the half on a corner with a few seconds left. The ball was served into the box and ended up at the feet of Karsyn Cherry, who quickly took the shot. Virginia got the save right as the clock hit zero to go into the half.

Early in the second half, Louisville pressured the Virginia back line both on offense and defense. The Cards earned a free kick right in front of their own bench. Addie Chester took the kick and sent it to the middle of the box where Fiona Gaißer received the pass and set the ball up at the near post for Lucy Roberts. Roberts sent the shot across the goal to the opposite corner for the Louisville lead.

Erynn Floyd records a save

Over time, Virginia began taking control of possession and spent a good chunk of the time pressing forward. Lizzie Sexton went down with a lower body injury that appeared to be serious based on her struggles at walking off the field following the match. The Wahoos capitalized on the Cards losing one of the their top defenders and quickly pressed on that side. UVA relied on quick passes to move the ball from the near side to the middle of the box and got the shot to the far post away from Erynn Floyd for the equalizer.

UVA seemed to have momentum over the final few minutes but the UofL defense stood firm and refused to surrender a second goal.

Louisville's record now stands at 1-4-4. They host Pitt this Thursday at 8:00 pm.

Volleyball Welcomes Stanford to KFC Yum! Center

Phekran "PK" Kong with a block

As you may have noticed, Jeff and I traded writes this week. He took over Thursday to provide an excellent recap of Louisville volleyball sweeping rival Kentucky. It also gave me a chance to edit those game photos and get to bed a little before midnight. In return, I get to preview another ranked volleyball match today at the KFC Yum! Center.

Louisville plays host to #5 Stanford at 1:00 pm today. This one is slated for ESPN2.

The Cardinal (no S, get it right ESPN) come into the match with a 6-2 record. They fell to #4 Nebraska in four sets earlier this week. Their other loss came to a top-10 Florida team, but Stanford does have wins against ranked opponents in Texas, Ohio State, and Minnesota.

Kamden Schrand celebrates a point

Kendall Kipp (opposite) and Elia Rubin (outside hitter) have carried a good chunk of the attacking with the duo averaging 3.79 and 3.37 kills per set, respectively. Caitie Baird is another outside hitter with strong numbers with 3.29 kills per set. Of course, setter Kami Miner and libero Elena Oglivie have been having All Pac-12 Team seasons so far. The battle of the Elena liberos (Scott for Louisville and Oglivie for Stanford) should be a fun one to watch.

The silent killer for Stanford appears to be its serving, averaging just shy of two aces per set. It's a high risk high reward for the Cardinal, as they also have tallied 110 service errors this season.

The Cardinals and Cardinal have played just once before, with UofL getting the win at the Maples Pavilion last year. We will have multiple Cardinal Couple representatives at today's match.

Where is Field Hockey?

The end of the rainbow is at Trager Stadium

You might be asking why we aren't previewing a Louisville field hockey match today. The answer is simple: off day. After a 6-1 start to the season, the Cards have a well-deserved off day. They've already logged three ranked wins with two of them coming on the road. Most recently, Louisville fell on the road to #2 North Carolina 2-0 but this is still one of the best starts in program history for the Cards. They return home on Friday to host James Madison at 5:00 pm.

Happy Sunday and Go Cards!

Jared

Cards Score First Home Goal; Fall 2-1 -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Illinois Outlasts Women's Soccer

For about 80 minutes, it looked as though Louisville was on for another repeat of the prior three home games of the season. The Cards were threatening on goal, they outshot their opponents, and they were staring down their fourth shutout (not in the good way) of their five-game old season. Savina Zamborini, who has taken 11 of Louisville's shots (tied for second with Ravin Alexander, behind Addie Chester with 13) this season, finally found the breakthrough for the Cards at home. Ironically, the goal was the type of shot that goes in when a team seemingly can't be stopped, not when they seemingly can't buy a goal with all of Ft. Knox's gold. 

Unfortunately for Louisville, Zamborini's late second half miracle was not enough to pull the game level. Louisville trailed 2-0 at the time, and, although they continued the pressure for the remaining seven minutes and change remaining, they couldn't find an equalizer. 

The Cards fell behind in this one relatively early. Illinois took the lead in the 11th minute of the game with good combination play to take advantage of a Louisville defense that was caught slightly out of position. (Side note: this goal was the result of the type of plays Louisville tries to run and just misfires on so frequently. With more time together, they're sure to start connecting, but they're running out of time for that to matter faster than we expected.) One of the negatives of playing a wide four in the back with the wingbacks extending forward is that it's very easy for them to find themselves overextended. Such was the case on the game's opening goal, as a winning run by the Illinois left wing forced Louisville into a recovery formation. 

This is more or less what the defensive shape looks like by design.

Once we get here, we have a problem. 

Swinging your defenders across the field only works if the back line moves as if it's connected, and it also only works if you can maintain at least an even matchup on numbers. The defense doesn't need to be at an advantage to stop goals, but it can't be at a disadvantage. As it was, Karsyn Cherry stepped farther out to defend the ball, replacing the beaten wingback, and Autumn Weeks slid over to replace her. Louisville effectively went from a 4-back formation with Cherry and Weeks as right and left center backs to a 3-back formation with Cherry on the outside. I'm getting very in the weeds on how and why this worked for Illinois but it's important because it's informative for Louisville's offensive and defensive performance (and communication). 

This is our solution. Simple enough.

Louisville, unfortunately, had a minor breakdown after that. Remember how I said that the team needs to maintain at least neutrality on numbers? That isn't just players in the defensive third. If a defender is out in space and not marking someone, they may as well not be there (more on defenders who may as well not be there later...). Anyway, the Cards found themselves with a hole in their recovery formation. The opposite wingback didn't close in quite quickly enough, and one of the center defensive mids wasn't able to (or thought the left back would) cover the third attacker. 

Oh no it's a problem again.

As a result, Illinois makes two passes (it's the second pass that gets you), and has an open player on the back side. You may often hear players or coaches or fans yelling "backside". It frequently refers to a player to the right of the player in yellow, completely hidden from the defense because they all have their backs turned. In this case, the highlighted player is not quite on the back side of the goalkeeper (Floyd is definitely aware of her), but without a defender able to make a play (remember Cherry and Weeks are accounted for with their marks), she's on the back side enough. Floyd, as anyone would expect, has to react to the ball right in front of her when it's centered, or else that player will just have an easier shot, and she has no help once the second pass finds the open player in the box. 1-0 Illinois.

Like I said, this is informative to how Louisville is communicating as a team up and down the field. We've seen them unable to make this play work, despite having the set up and even a numbers advantage to do so. Either the second pass isn't made, or it is made and the recipient isn't there, or the first pass is never made, or there are four people where one should be. Pick your poison and Louisville has found it under the kitchen sink this season. Defensively, there's no excuse for the unmarked player at that spot at that stage in the game. Even on a counter attack, Louisville had numbers back and that rotation should be automatic. If you get beat because of a surprise winger on the complete opposite side of the field, so be it, but you can't be late to the center of the box. 

Enough on that. I won't draw any more pretty pictures. The Cards continued to receive and withstand pressure, with Floyd picking up two saves in a five-minute span midway through the half. After that, Louisville took some control of their own. From the 26th minute on, Louisville took seven shots to Illinois' zero for the remainder of the half. Their best chance came when Betsy Huckaby got a hold of a rebound about 14 yards out. The stats don't show it, but it pretty much should have been a goal. A slight deflection gave the ball just enough lift to find the crossbar and clatter out of danger. 

The second half opened with hearts in mouths on both ends. Both teams forced a save in the first three minutes, with the ball spending seemingly just as much time on either end early. Louisville was the team to find the advantage though, and they seemed to capitalize on it when Hayley Howard sent a ball across the face of goal after some chaos on a corner kick. The Illini saved the ball off the line with a combined effort of two defenders, but not without a fair amount of shouting and arm raising by Cardinals on and off the pitch. As Howards shot floated toward the line, the first Illinois defender (keeper was out of position: corner chaos, it happens) threw her knee up to block the ball down so she could boot it away. She was a touch slow, though, and the ball instead clipped off her thigh, keeping its momentum toward the goal line and going up instead of down. Conveniently, another part of the defender's body got in the way, knocking it down so it could be cleared away by the second defender.

Yes, I'm talking about her hand. As the center referee signaled that he would go to VAR, a replay appeared to show that Louisville would be taking a penalty, and the only question would be whether Illinois would be finish the game down a player (intentional handball and DOGSO [Denial of an Obvious Goal-Scoring Opportunity] are both yellow card offenses and two yellows make a red). Instead, after multiple TV replays verified that everyone correctly saw what happened the first time, the referee determined that it was not a handball, no penalty or card was awarded, and the ball was out of play for a throw-in. There are a number of justifications a referee may have for not awarding a handball. I've already done my deep dive today, so I will spare you the details. In my (and Casey Whitfield and Jeff Greer and other viewers) opinion, the referee got it flat wrong.

Either way, Louisville still trailed 1-0, and the game went on. Such is life for Louisville soccer so far this season. The issue came when Louisville completely lost focus as a result of the situation. Illinois grabbed the momentum by the horns and took off. Meanwhile, the Cards tilted like a pinball machine. Three minutes after the VAR opportunity, Illinois doubled their advantage when Lucy Roberts decided for Erynn Floyd that Floyd should come out for a contested ball in the box. I may have some bias here, but that's... um... not Roberts' call. Instead of contesting the attack and forcing an awkward shot, a misplay, or a retreat, Roberts elected to peel off the ball to screen the attacker when it was still beyond the penalty marker and out to the side of center. That's a fine decision when you're chasing a ball that is sent forward and trying to outrun an offensive player. You and the keeper agree, the keeper starts coming out, and you screen off the attacker to keep your goalie clean. 

What you shouldn't do, though, is jockey for position with an attacker into the box, see your keeper making no play on the ball, and choose to peel off and screen for a keeper pickup. Keepers are good sprinters for the most part. It's usually all we do so we get good at it. From the position they were in, though, Roberts set herself up for a Herculean effort in screening an attacker for as long as she would need to without fouling and giving up a free penalty. As you might expect from the number of words I'm giving this, she was unsuccessful. The attacker got free, beat Floyd to the ball, and slotted it home. 

A minute and a half later Floyd had to make a leaping save to flip the ball over the bar to prevent Illinois from extending their lead to three. Two more saves were split by an Autumn Weeks yellow card that was lucky not to be a red and Louisville was up against the ropes. They bounced back. In the 76th, Louisville worked forward and earned a corner. A couple of minutes later, a ball fell to an open Emma Kate Schroll about 10 yards out and she lifted her head just enough to get the ball up and onto the bar. I don't want to dump on someone for being upset when they hit the woodwork, but the time to lament that miss is when the ball is out of play or the game is over, not when it bounces back down into an attacking position. Mackenzie Geigle collected the rebound and fired it toward goal. Illinois' keeper could only block the ball away to a void just inside the six yard box. That void should have been full of one (1) EK Schroll who could immediately make up for her miss. Instead, she was still standing where she took the shot when the ball found its way free and she couldn't outrun a defender to it before it was cleared away.

Louisville maintained pressure but didn't really threaten much offensively over the last 12 minutes of the game. That feels incredibly odd to say, considering the Cards scored their first home goal of the season in those 12 minutes, but they really weren't threatening. Louisville earned one corner in the 80th, but other than that, Zamborini's goal was their only real effort into the box. I genuinely don't want to take anything away from Savina, because she goes out there and gives it her all for the Cards game in and game out, but she took half a chance as she went down with her cleat stuck under her and the keeper misread her position. Instead of calmly stepping back and reaching up to catch the ball, the keeper felt a goal line that wasn't there on her heels. She bounced a couple of times to prep herself, then leaped back to pop the ball over the crossbar. The primary issue with that tactic was that she was about two yards from the endline. I'm not really sure she would have gotten the ball over anyway, given that she flubbed the swat a bit, but from her position, the ball was much more likely to be hitting the underside of the top of the net instead of going over the bar. 

I don't want to end on that note, though, so I'll get one more bit of praise in for the goal scorer: while it looked a bit goofy both live and in the replay, it was an impressive effort by Zamborini to get the ball on frame with a bit of pace. We have given Louisville players a bit of a hard time for seemingly kicking it right at the keeper when they get it on frame, but tonight was a bit of a lesson in why you don't try to get too fine with it. Two could have been goals found the crossbar instead and a shot that would be saved 9 (or more) times out of ten found the back of the net. Put shots on goal and good things will happen.

The Cards ultimately weren't able to get their first win tonight, but they showed a fair bit more promise at stages. There is still a lot of ground to gain and not a lot of time to do it, but there are definitely things that the coaches can point out on film in the positive and not just the negative from this game. Coach KFD clearly hasn't been slow to make her opinion of a player's performance known to them, either, as the Cards started their fourth different lineup in the last four games. The bench also went 8 deep, with players finding themselves back off the field in short order if they weren't getting it done. There are plenty of different (and correct) philosophies to sub patterns and using them as a motivator. While it's unclear if this one will work, Coach is showing she isn't afraid to find out. Louisville is back in action on Sunday against Central Michigan. The Chips come into Lynn Stadium at 7:30PM, and you can catch the game on ACCNX if you can't make it out.

(photos by Jared Anderson)

Volleyball and Field Hockey Hit the Road

If you're still with me, I appreciate you, and I'll keep it short and sweet from here on out.

Field hockey is in Philadelphia for the ACC/Ivy League Crossover (we really don't have to name every interconference event like this, folks). The Cards will take on No. 10 Princeton at 11 AM today on ESPN+ and the 9th-ranked squad will take on the hosts, Penn, on Sunday at 1:30PM. That game will also be on ESPN+. After a nail biter in the road win at Northwestern, Louisville could continue to build their strong early resume with a pair of nice wins this weekend.

Volleyball kicks off their road schedule with the Missouri Classic. Louisville will play South Dakota today at 2PM before taking on NKU tomorrow at noon and facing the hosts at 3:30 on Sunday. All times are Eastern, and but the Go Cards site isn't currently listing any video availability. If you're looking to make the drive to Mizzou, I can assure you that the drive is just as boring as normal and that Labor Day travelers combined with construction lane closures will probably slow you down quite a bit (I just drove to STL and back this week for work). We'll have all the updates for you here on the site as always.

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case