Louisville WSOC Kicks Off Fall Calendar -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Head to Miami (OH) for Sunday Exhibition

Louisville women's soccer will get the fall season underway for Cardinal Athletics when they take on the Redhawks of Miami University tomorrow at 2PM. As we discussed last week, there isn't likely to be much in the way of coverage on this game, so we'll have to do our best to pick out what we can from various sources. We'll work to bring you as much on the action as we can.

Let's take a look at tomorrow's game from a historical perspective, though. Louisville, as we've discussed at length, is turning over a new roster (for the most part) as they look to improve upon a 6-8-2 mark from last season. The Cards were one of the teams that, a bit surprisingly, didn't see a major uptick in draws with the rule change. Louisville had a pair of 0-0 draws to close out the non-conference slate (at JMU and home against Indiana), but every game the Cards played in which a goal was scored saw a result, one way or the other. Louisville's 13 goals in the season were front loaded, with eight coming in their first four regular season games. It's tough to pull out draws if you can't score, and the Cards suffered only two of their eight losses by more than two goals. On the flip side, Louisville's three conference wins were all only 1-0 victories.

Enough about that. The Cards and Redhawks didn't play last season. In fact, they've not played since 2017. That 2017 game was part of an ok season that disappointed after a relatively hot start. Louisville went 6-2 in non-conference play, beating IU and UK on the road while losing to Purdue and Marquette at home. The real indicator should have been the 3-2 victory they escaped with in the opener against Boston University. The Cards' woes were compounded by another Boston school when they dropped the conference opener at Boston College. Louisville went just 3-5-2 in conference, missing the ACC tournament with a 2-1 loss at NC State after struggling for a point in a home draw against Wake Forest and stealing a point on the road at UNC in the two games prior. 

Before all of that (except the BU game) Louisville won the game against Miami (OH) 2-0 to take a series lead at 6-5. The Cards first played Miami in 1997, dropping the first game 1-0. The two teams are pretty evenly split, with both teams winning three road games and Louisville holding a 3-2 advantage in victories at home. Both the biggest win (3-0) and the smallest win (3-2) for Louisville have come in Oxford. That said, Louisville also has a 3-0 win (2005) and a 1-0 win (2009) at home. Emina Ekic and Gabby Kouzelos were both in their debut seasons for Louisville in 2017 after Kouzelos redshirted in 2016 and Ekic joined as a true freshman. Ekic had two shots on goal in 48 minutes in the Miami game. Gabi Vincent and Alison Price both played all 90 minutes and scored for Louisville. 

In 2022, Miami slumped a bit early after starting with a 0-0 draw against Austin Peay. They won on the road at Loyola Chicago 1-0 before dropping their next two against Wright State and Purdue. The Redhawks closed out their non-conference slate, though, with three straight wins. Two of those were on the road, with one coming in Louisville against Bellarmine. 

Miami ultimately finished the season 9-5-6, a fair shout better than Louisville. The competition was different, to be sure, but Miami was able to capitalize on the new overtime rule and finish more games tied than behind. Whether you agree with games ending in draws or not, I think we can agree that, since they exist, finishing tied is better than losing. Miami advanced to the MAC tournament after finishing the regular season 8-4-6, but they had to play their first two games on the road. After a 1-0 win against Ohio, they lost their rematch (0-0 tie in the regular season) against Buffalo 1-0. I wouldn't want to play in Buffalo, New York on November 3rd, so more power to them.

Miami Athletics: Makenna Morrison scored five
goals and added an assist as a sophomore in '22.

Despite the number of overall draws, Miami scored 21 goals last year, with 20 coming in the regular season. Only three of their six draws were scoreless, and five of their 20 goals came in games which did not see a winner. Miami also only gave up 14 goals, with 13 coming before the MAC tournament. Although the Redhawks are replacing all 1800 goalkeeper minutes from last season, they return their top five points earners and nine of their twelve points earners overall. The top five accounted for 75% of the team's 58 total points and 11 of their 21 goals. It is safe to say that Louisville's new look defense may have their hands full.

Regardless of tomorrow's outcome, it's exciting to be talking about games for Louisville women's athletics again. The summer, while it can seem so long in the midst of it, really flies by once you reflect on it at the end. We'll see what the women's soccer team can do with their spot at the front of the schedule before other teams get underway shortly after.

No Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

For various reasons (vacation, event travel, work), the majority of the crew is out this week. Let's look at it as the calm before the storm, as it should be our last week off from the show for quite some time as the seasons get underway. We'll be back in your feeds next week, barring something unforeseen.

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

ALYSSA ZALAC TO LOUISVILLE WOMEN'S SOCCER -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 

CARDS WSOC PICK UP GOALKEEPER FROM OLE MISS

One of the things we like to watch closely in these months where there are no games or matches going on is player movement. Especially student-athletes that are joining the Cards. It can be very beneficial to a squad -- imagine WBB without Emily Engstler last season or Softball without Carmyn Greenwood....both transfers-in -- who not only made the Cards better but improved their games and got into the "pros" after their collegiate eligibility was done. 

The Louisville women's soccer squad said "Goodbye" to five year starter Gabby Kouzelos at the end of the 2021 season and a lot of us wondered who would replace the 85-game starter in goal service. I remember thinking that it was going to be strange, .not hearing Gabby's chatter between the poles or not seeing #1 flying through the air to stop goal attempts and deflect shots. 

Besides being a top notch goalie she was also a great and genuine person to have an after-game chat with or just congratulate on the effort. When I'd cover home soccer games, Jared would ask me who I'd want a picture of and I'd always say..."an action shot of Gabby." We've ran plenty of those here at the ol' Cardinal Couple over the past five years, for sure. Your goalkeeper is the defensive captain of a squad and, as it has been said many before..everyone plays defense on the soccer pitch. 

Alyssa Zalac

We also wondered who would replace Gabby. Going in to 2022, there is Olivia Pratapas on the roster and we had heard about freshman Erron Floyd joining the roster in 2022. The news broke yesterday that a third goalkeeper would be joining the Cards WSOC team when it was announced Alyssa Zalac was transferring in from Ole Miss. 

Zalac was listed as a freshman on the 2021 Ole Miss roster but did not see any time at goalkeeper. She is out of Montreal, Canada was named the best goalkeeper in Quebec in 2018. She has extensive experience in playing on Canadian National teams at the U15 and U17 levels, too, and she was also at Vanier College in Montreal but the squad did not compete in the 2020 season because of COVID. 

Impressive words from Louisville head soccer coach Karen Ferguson Dayes about Zalac: 

"We are thrilled to have a goalkeeper of Alyssa's caliber join our goalkeeping corps. She is a very good shot stopper and excellent with her feet. We are excited to have her at Louisville." 

It's hard to say "goodbye" to someone like Gabby and it'll take me a little time to get used to not seeing #1 defending those pipes and shouting out to defenders Anouk Denton and Sarah Hernandez. But, we all look forward to see who emerges as the Cards new "gal between the pipes" for the 2022 season. The battle should be an intense one, just as it was five years ago when Gabby won the job. 

And it's only 60 days until the season starts...

paulie 

Kouzelos Looks for NWSL Call-Up -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

2022 NWSL Draft Takes Place Today at 2PM

I'll bet you didn't expect to see a soccer focused article in the middle of December. However, with the last basketball game coming on Thursday and the next tomorrow, both of those games are out of my purview, and, unfortunately, Louisville isn't in the volleyball championship match for me to preview. If, like me, you had to step away after the heartbreaking Louisville loss, let me inform you that Pitt also lost. So, instead of a potential All-ACC final, it's an All-B1G matchup. Given the details of DBK's new contract, I'm not sure if we want Nebraska to win so that they stay happy with their coach or lose so that he doesn't feel satisfied and want to retire. That match is tonight at 7:30 on ESPN2. (Also, if you're like me and use YouTube TV, you officially can't watch this due to the contract breakdown that pulled ABC and ESPN platforms off of the service effective immediately.)

Anyway, I intended this to be a soccer article, and I've gotten off track. After the NWSL Expansion Draft for the two new teams, Angel City FC and San Diego Wave, took place on Thursday, a flurry of trades happened yesterday to set up the full rookie draft today. Racing Louisville lost one player in the expansion draft, a defender to San Diego, after the Christen Press trade with Angel City prevented the team from LA from selecting any Louisville players. Racing had protected Emina Ekic and Emily Fox, among others, from potential selection by San Diego.

Last night, RLFC announced a trio of trades, with two garnering the most attention as they were effectively one move. The team traded Savannah McCaskill, a fan favorite, for the 6th overall draft pick, which did not make very many people happy. The team will not use that 6th pick this afternoon, though, as they turned around and traded it as well. With that trade, Louisville brings in Jess McDonald, the all-time assist leader in NWSL. McDonald has also won the NWSL championship three times and has a World Cup trophy. The veteran presence will help guide the young team and winning experience is always welcomed.

Racing Louisville will add to their youth today. The addition of the two California teams brought the league to 12 total, so today's draft will feature four rounds and 50 overall picks (there are 14 picks in the second round for whatever reason). Louisville will be busy early as they draft second and fourth. The team will have just one pick in each of the final three rounds, giving them five new players via draft. We'll see if they hang on to those two first round picks or try to leverage them into a known quantity from a different team.

As for why this all ties in to UofL, that's owed to Gabby Kouzelos. The super senior finished her sixth season with the Cards as the all-time leader in minutes played and shutouts earned. Louisville played 36 straight games in which she was in goal every minute, and she became the fifth Louisville goalkeeper to finish with more than 200 career saves. Her final tally of 257 gives her the fourth place ranking in team history. 

Hey look, she already knows how to wear purple!

Kouzelos is the only Louisville player on the NWSL draft eligibility list this season. The list includes 189 players vying for 50 available slots, so quick math tells you there's about a 30% chance she's selected. Of course, the math isn't quite so simple, as the teams will weight field players over goalkeepers due to flexibility. On the Top Drawer Soccer list of the top-30 players available for the draft, only one is a goalkeeper. Eighteen players on the eligibility list have goalkeeper as their sole position, with a handful of others including it in their list of positions. 

Gabby was a wonderful player for UofL in her time on campus. She was an exciting player to watch and a joy to speak to. I think I speak for the whole Cardinal Couple crew when I wish her the best of luck today and moving forward. The NWSL draft starts at 2:30PM and will stream on Paramount+ and CBS Sports HQ. 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

This week's show doesn't get to be quite as joyful as we're finally forced to cover a loss by UofL volleyball. Jeff and Jared were in Columbus for the match, so we'll hear from their first hand experiences. We've also got a pair of Louisville WBB wins over in-state foes to cover, as well as the matchup against UCONN to preview. As always, you can check out the live stream of the show by going to the Cardinal Couple YouTube page and clicking on the live video. Jeff usually creates that about an hour before the show, which officially starts at 11 AM Eastern. If the live time doesn't work for you, there are plenty of playback options, so be sure to check out whichever is best for you!

Cardinal Couple YouTube: Link

Anchor (podcast host): Link

Apple Podcasts: Link

Breaker: Link

Google Podcasts: Link

Overcast (free account required): Link

Pocket Casts (free account and app required): Link

RadioPublic: Link

Spotify: Link

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-

Late Goal Lifts Cards -- FH & Vball Today -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 Happy Friday, everyone! I would say "Cards fans", but also have plenty of great folks who tune in here rooting for Kentucky, Clemson, Georgia Tech, and other schools, so I want to wish everyone a Happy Friday.

As always, it's a busy weekend ahead, giving us no shortage of events to cover here for you.

Late Goal Lifts Cards

Starting off, we visit a game that happened last night and came down to a last minute goal for the win. Anouk Denton's penalty kick goal with 32 seconds remaining lifted Louisville Women's Soccer over Syracuse 2-1 at SU Soccer Stadium.

Case and Paul helped me with plenty of in-game updates as a photo gig and family dinner at the Melting Pot kept me occupied. That's a heck of a restaurant and always a top choice for me for special occasions. I hear Paul may be taking the Cardinal Couple Crew out there for dinner one night. We may end up scrubbing dishes in the back by the end of the night though.

Denton, who scored her first career goal, was chosen to take the one-on-one standoff. A penalty kick, which is typically a guessing game for the goalkeeper, often falls in favor of the player taking the shot and last night was no different. With the freshman staring down the goal, Denton went to the top right corner of the box with the Syracuse keeper leaping in the opposite direction. The goal was set up by an aggressive attack by fellow freshman Julia Simon, who was able to draw a foul within the box.

Prior to that, Louisville held a 1-0 halftime lead. Delaney Snyder received a pass near the top of the box from Simon, Snyder took it to her right and used a little bit of some nifty footwork to gain enough separation to turn and take a shot from the right side at the 13' minute mark.

It took some time for the Orange to find an answer. At the 68' minute mark, Meghan Root capitalized on a fast break to chip in a shot over a charging Gabby Kouzelos. Kouzelos would end the night with five saves for an .875 save percentage.

This was the third straight match that came down to a last second goal over overtime appearance for the Cards. It's safe to say the 'Cardiac Cards' continue to live up to their name.

Louisville returns home to host #1 Florida State at 1:00 p.m., Sunday. Admission is free during the regular season at Dr. Mark and Cindy Lynn Stadium.

Field Hockey and Volleyball Today

#4 Field Hockey hits the road for a pair of ranked opponent road matches. The first of those is tonight at 6:00 p.m., against #17 Duke.

Duke is riding last year's struggles as they enter the game 3-4 overall and 0-1 in conference play. Granted, the losses have come to ranked opponents in Maryland, Northwestern, Rutgers, and Wake Forest (wow, the Big Ten hasn't been nice to Duke), but many of the losses have been blowouts.

Most recently, Duke took down James Madison 3-1. Duke has scored eight goals in seven outings while giving up 15 goals on the year.

Current head coach Pam Bustin corralled Louisville Field Hockey from 1998-2010.

Louisville will then travel to #19 Ohio State on Monday for a rare Monday match. This will be the fifth straight ranked opponent and we will break that one down as the time comes closer.

Volleyball Hosts the Hurricanes

There's a hurricane coming to town tonight. Hopefully it'll be more of a tropical storm as #5 Louisville Volleyball hosts Miami (Fla). Miami is off to a hot 9-1 start to the year with the lone loss coming in five sets to UCF.

Despite six of their matches coming from opponents in Florida, the Hurricanes have yet to face the other big two in FSU and Florida. They lined up a weaker non-conference schedule to help offset matches against Louisville, Pitt, FSU, Georgia Tech, and Notre Dame in conference play. That slate of games can quickly ruin any team's season.

Louisville and Miami have played 13 times with the Cards holding a 10-3 advantage. Louisville took a 3-1 win back in April as part of the combined 2020-2021 COVID-19 season.

Then, on Sunday, Florida State comes to L&N Federal Credit Union Arena. The Seminoles are in the receiving votes category and boast a 7-2 record following an upset victory over in-state rival Florida. This game is set for 1:00 p.m., and Jeff will give you the rundown of this one Sunday morning.

Apparently, it's Florida State hate week as Louisville Football visits Doak Campbell Stadium on Saturday afternoon. Y'all pray for me as being engaged to an FSU grad will be less than pleasant this weekend.

Oh yeah, we have some unofficial events on campus this weekend too. Lacrosse has a handful of fall scrimmages starting early Saturday morning. Alumnae Weekend will welcome Indianapolis, Cincinnati, and Youngstown State to the Louisville Lacrosse Stadium.

Swimming and Diving will occupy Ralph Wright Natatorium today for their annual Red and Black Intersquad Scrimmage today beginning at 3:00 p.m. This is to help get their feet wet (literally and figuratively) before their first official meet next Friday.

We will try to bring you as much in person coverage for as many of these events as we can. Unlike, in the realm of Harry Potter, we can't be in multiple places like Hermione Granger, so having in person coverage at everything isn't always possible and we do try to prioritize in-season sports first.

Happy Friday and Go Cards!
Jared

WSoc Travels to Saint Louis -- Hailey Van Lith -- Jordan McNary -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

We are certainly back in the full swing of a normal(ish) season with fall sports having games left and right with the addition of news from other sports who are not in season.

It makes our job much easier as we don't have to scrounge for content to provide to you. Two things fell into my lap about the time I was leaving work yesterday, adding onto today's content.

Women's Soccer Travels to Saint Louis

We'll start with the in-season sport before heading to some other individual news for current and former players for other sports.

After three straight home games to start the year, women's soccer will have their first road test of the season tonight when they visit Saint Louis. The Cards and Billikens are slated for an 8:00p.m., ET, kickoff and will be shown on ESPN+.

Louisville enters the match with a perfect 3-0 record and is recently off a 3-0 victory over in-state foe Northern Kentucky. The 13 goals in the first three matches of the season matches a program best dating all the way back to the program's inaugural season in 1985.

Offensively, the scoring has been spread out across eight players with Emma Hiscock leading the charge with three. Six of the eight goal scorers are freshmen or sophomores. Seven Cardinals have registered an assist with Brooke Dardano in front with four. Five of the seven players with assists are first-year members for Louisville's team, either as a freshman or by transfer.

The defensive side of things has been a bit shaky with the veteran defense allowing five goals. In their most recent game, the Cards registered a clean sheet while goalkeeper Gabby Kuzelos broke 200 career saves. Three allowed goals against James Madison turned a blowout into a close game. The two goals allowed against Western Michigan weren't as big of a deal due to the offense pouring on goals, but were not great nonetheless.

Saint Louis has struggled early in their 2021 season, losing three straight before breaking the goose egg in the wins column with a 2-0 victory over Illinois State. The A-10 preseason favorites opened the year ranked #21 in the United Soccer Coaches poll before plummeting out of the rankings altogether.

The Billikens had an excellent 2020 season, going 15-1-1 with a perfect 8-0 record in conference play. Their A-10 title earned them a bid to the NCAA Tournament, where they fell to Washington in penalty kicks in the opening round.

The Billikens have two goals on the season, both in their most recent match. Their defense has looked better, allowing four goals on the year, but are fresh off a shutout over the weekend. Three of the four goals allowed have come in the first half.

Abbie Miller, reigning A-10 Mid-fielder of the Year, and Emily Gaebe have been the two goal scorers for the Billikens. A-10 Offensive Player of the Year Hannah Friedrich and Anna Walsh each have an assist. Emily Puricelli has four goals allowed while also recording 18 saves.

The Cards are 3-9 all-time against Saint Louis, but have won three straight dating back to 2010. Prior to the start of the season, before we knew the status of the Louisville offense and looking at the Billikens' 2020 season, this game looked anything but promising. Now, a few games in, Louisville has a strong chance to return home with a win. The offense has been ruthless with their nonstop attack all game against opponents and has provided a cushion to allow a goal or two here and there.

If Louisville can come out attacking early and get on the board before halftime, the aggressive front line should be able to keep Saint Louis on its heels in the second half to relive some pressure from Kouzelos and the back line on defense.

Hailey Van Lith at FIBA 3x3

Louisville women's basketball players love to stay busy and Hailey Van Lith is no exception. The rising sophomore will represent Team USA in the FIBA 3x3 Women's Series in Montreal on Friday and Saturday.

Van Lith will be joined by Jordan Reynolds (Tennessee), Breanna Richardson (Mississippi State), and Camille Zimmerman (Columbia).

Team USA is part of Group A and has Friday action against Germany at 1:50p.m., ET, Austria at 3:00p.m., and Netherland at 5:50p.m. The top team from each group receives a bye and advances to the semifinals on Saturday. The second and third place teams will play in the quarterfinals with the winners advancing to the semifinals.

Jordan McNary Joins Morehead State Staff

Morehead State softball announced yesterday that they would be adding Louisville alumna Jordan McNary to their staff. If you've read us over the years, you're probably aware that she's a favorite of the Cardinal Couple staff and we've enjoyed our interaction with her over the yeaars. 

McNary, who was with the Cards from 2013-2017, was a three-year starter in the outfield. Known for her speed, McNary carried a .318 career batting average while recording 140 hits and crossing home plate a whopping 93 times. We often saw "The Governor" beating out throws down the first base line or winding up on second before the catcher had a chance to throw the ball.

"I am very grateful for this wonderful opportunity, so I would like to thank Coach Jones and everyone here at Morehead State," said McNary. "Once I got on campus, it was beautiful and I immediately felt at home. To coach at this level has been a goal of mine for a very long time. I'm looking forward to working with the MSU student-athletes and staff. This upcoming softball season will be exciting, and I am glad to be a part of the program."

Louisville has played Morehead State in the past, but the 2022 regular season schedule has not been announced, so we are not sure if we will see McNary in town with the Eagles yet.

We wish Jordan a congratulations and the best of luck in her collegiate coaching career!

Happy Thursday and Go Cards!

Jared

Field Hockey Wins -- Women's Soccer Wins -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

It was a busy day on Floyd Street again with both field hockey and women's soccer in action. Also on Floyd Street, but not directly related to a UofL team was Bellarmine field hockey playing a match at Trager Stadium against Ball State. Bellarmine will be using Trager Stadium as their home location this season.

Paulie was out performing as a master chef at a birthday celebration most of the day and that, sadly, kept him and Sonya from campus. He also seemed to master his craft of grilling without catching anything on fire so hit him up for your burger and brats needs. With Paulie out for the day and myself practically living on Floyd Street for the next few weeks it was easier for me to go on and recap both games. He'll take my Tuesday article in exchange.

Field Hockey Shuts Out New Hampshire

There was a Wildcats team on campus yesterday but they weren't from down I-64 and they weren't from East High with their singing and dancing. It was the Wildcats of New Hampshire that visited Trager Stadium to take on Justine Sowry's squad.

The #5 ranked Cardinals cruised to a 3-0 victory to improve to 2-0 on the year. Each goal was scored by a different player in a different quarter.

Late in the second quarter, Alli Bitting inbounded the ball on a penalty corner. Aimee Plumb took a shot that was deflected the goalkeeper, but the ball bounced straight to eye level of Bitting who had an open goal to work with. Like in basketball, this is why you are taught to follow a shot.

After carrying a 1-0 lead into halftime, Louisville scored a second goal from a set piece. The inbounds pass went to Julie Kouijzer, whose shot was more of a pass to Katie Schneider standing at the foot of the goal. Schneider used her stick as a ramp to send the ball into the air and the back of the cage.

The final goal came late in the fourth quarter as an insurance goal more than anything. After a pressing Cardinals attack forward, the ball got knocked around and deflected until the freshman Filippa Niebuhr came face-to-face with the ball and cage for her first score of the year.

Louisville pulled off penalty corners like it was a rabbit in a magic hat, but the keeper for New Hampshire had herself one heck of a day and limited to the scores off the corners to just two. She tallied double-digit saves on the day and kept the Wildcats in the game for much longer than anticipated.

On the defensive end for the Cards, Louisville's Mila de Kuijer had little action in goal. She saw one shot on goal the entire day and easily saved it. Besides that, she was hanging out by the grill with Paulie.

We got a chance to speak with Coach Justine Sowry following the win. You can check out her interview here.

Following our interaction with Coach Sowry, we got a chance to speak with Alli Bitting and get her thoughts on the game. You can check that out here.

Louisville hits the road to Princeton next weekend to take on Penn and Princeton. They'll return home the weekend after.

Women's Soccer Improves to 3-0 with Win

After a short break at home to cool down for me, I went back to campus to Dr Mark and Cindy Lynn Stadium. The weather cooperated a lot better this time than the last go-around.

Louisville was fresh off a somewhat surprising close match against James Madison on Friday and bounced back with a 3-0 victory over instate opponent Northern Kentucky.

Unlike Friday's match, the Cards found a way to maintain position a majority of the night and continued to press forward without ever pulling off the reins.

It was fairly early into the game when Abby Baldridge lined up to send a free kick into the box. The ball connected with the head of fellow freshman Hayley Howard, who knocked the shot in for her first career goal.

Roughly 12 minutes later, Delaney Snyder broke loose from a defender hot on her tail to send a shot across the box and into the left corner of the goal for her second score of the year.

Midway through the second half, Emma Hiscock worked her way around a couple defenders to get a shot past the NKU keeper into the upper part of the goal for her team-leading third of the season.

It was the offense the proved to be the best defense for the Cards as their 18 total shots and eight shots on goal kept the Norse on their heels much of the night. NKU did find a little wiggle room on a couple occasions for a pair of shots on goal, both which were handled cleanly by Gabby Kouzelos.

With her save in the first half, Kouzelos recorded 200 career saves. Another save in the second half put her at 201 and a spot in the top five all-time in program history. After a rough game on Friday, Kouzelos looked back to her normal self in goal and was noticeably more vocal as she corralled her team and back line of defenders into position all night.

Louisville still has some work to do as they were heavy on the fouls on the night and are still figuring out the kinks with working on scoring opportunities, but you run into those issues with a young team that played seven freshmen and five sophomores (18 players saw minutes).

I wasn't able to stick around for postgame on this one but Coach Karen Ferguson-Dayes seemed much more pleased with her team following the match.

The Cards improve to 3-0 on the year and head to Saint Louis on Thursday before returning home Sunday night to take on Western Kentucky.

Happy Monday and Go Cards!

Jared

Red Black Scrimmage -- WSoc Hosts Western Michigan -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

VOLLEYBALL RED VS BLACK SCRIMMAGE 

We are starting to get in the swing of things again with several fall sports having started or are about to start. Volleyball hosted their annual Red Black Scrimmage last night. Worldwide was in attendance last night. With the start of band rehearsals picking back up last night I was not able to make it out to L&N Federal Credit Union Arena.

Some of you may remember that prestigious music conference the group I'm in- the Louisville Winds- performed in up in Chicago back in December 2019. After nearly a year and a half of not playing together, we finally got back to playing again. And we already have been invited to another big music conference at the beginning of next year!

Worldwide had all sorts of positive comments on volleyball last night . One of the promising signs was Ayden Bartlett getting a lot of playing time in the libero spot. Elena Scott and Alexa Hendricks also spent some time in the odd-colored jersey. Tori Dilfer was the clear favorite to be the starting setter again, but Rachel DeMarcus also saw some action in the same position. We did find out that Paige Morningstar is planning to redshirt this season.

Scores of matches are of a secondary nature in Red & Black scrimmages. We do know Aiko Jones' squad won the first set 28-26 per Jeff.

 

CARDS WSOC VS. BRONCOS

Moving onto tonight, we have the first true regular season game of any sport for the 2021-2022 season. Women's soccer hosts Western Michigan at Dr. Mark and Cindy Lynn Stadium at 7:30 p.m. This match can be caught online on ACC Network Extra.

It's hard to preview the first game of the season because there is nothing to scout and base the opposition on. It's even more difficult because of the inconsistencies with last season and the pandemic.

Western Michigan finished last season 6-2-2, all in MAC play. They finished last season winning four straight matches. The Broncos scored 15 goals through 10 games, but did record a strong number of 55 saves.

Like the Cards, the Broncos have an experience goalkeeper in fifth-year senior Maggie Rogers. Rogers had an .861 save percentage last year. Fifth-year forward Bailey Korhorn led the team with five goals last year. Morgan Ottenson and Jenna Blackburn were a big part of the offense each contributed four assists to help power the offense.

Louisville has some experience on their side as well, with veteran keeper Gabby Kouzelos. She has a four-year starting centerback in Sarah Hernandez helping corral the back line. Taylor Kerwin, Maisie Whitsett, and Delaney Snyder have all been a big part of the team in recent years and enter their final year with the program. We did not see Snyder in the 2-0 exhibition win against Ball State last week, no information on her status yet for tonight. 

Snyder is expected to be a big part of the new offense, if she plays, with help from graduate transfer Mikayla Hampton. Ravin Alexander has converted to a forward and showed the impact she can make with her performance against Ball State. The Cards started five freshman n the exhibition we'll see if  that holds tonight. 

Louisville's schedule is rather unforgiving once conference play begins so we hope to see plenty of non-conference wins to slingshot the season out of the starting gate.

Paulie should be there and Sonya will accompany him. She made it out to the scrimmage on Saturday. Worldwide made it out for the scrimmage, and with free admission this year, we hope to see him at a few matches this year. In the past, Case had season tickets to soccer so it's a safe bet he will make it out there from time to time. Daryl will be running the video camera crew at the Bats game so she will not be in attendance. I plan to be back on the field taking pictures.

                                                    *****************************

Jeff Walz has a presser scheduled today at 2 p.m. (on-line) that Paulie and a few of us will monitor and we'll bring you that tomorrow, along with the recap of WSOC.  No earth-shaking news, as far as we know, upcoming from Walz, he hasn't done a presser in awhile and this is just planned as a "catch-up, how we're doing" event. . 

Happy Thursday and Go Cards!

Jared

Locals on the Squads -- MONDAY CARINAL COUPLE

 LOCAL HIGH SCHOOL TALENT ON FALL ROSTERS FOR CARDS 

As we get nearer to the beginning of the University of Louisville women's fall sports schedules, let's take a look at three of the activities we'll follow closely at CARDINAL COUPLE (Women's Soccer, Field Hockey and Volleyball) in terms of local high school athletes who have joined these three rosters. 

Here at CARDINAL COUPLE, we await to see what guidelines and implementations the ACC is going to hand down to UofL as far as how we'll be able to cover activities. Of course, we always love the chance to cover these in-person and live-on-the-spot --- but with the spike in the Delta Variant of the Coronavirus -- we're not sure yet whether we'll be doing that or just following events on our laptops and ACC Network broadcasts..

Either way, we'll do our best to get you the news. 

A Fall Sports Media Day from the past

We also haven't received any notification yet on a potential Fall Sports Media Day date and time for women's athletics. Yearly, this is a great event for us to get interviews, comments and talk to the coaches and student-athletes that'll be doing the work. We hope it'll occur after a pause last year because of the pandemic.  

Today, we'll look at women's soccer.

Either myself or one of our other illustrious writers will cover Field Hockey and Volleyball "locals" as their season get closer to a start.  

WOMEN'S SOCCER

Karen Ferguson Dayes' "Kicking Cards" get it underway first for the fall UofL women's sports squads on August 14th....when Ball State comes to town... so we'll start there.

WSOC has a roster of 26 student-athletes, as of the latest listing, and out of those, there are three "local" Cardinals we'll keep an eye on. 

Cassie Amshoff is no stranger to us or the program. The senior forward from Louisville's Sacred Heart Academy begins her fourth year as a Card. She was an integral part of the squad last season -- starting in nine matches for UofL. Although she did not score a goal in 2020, she was a major part of the offensive attack. As an aside, she was the Kentucky Gatorade Player of the Year in women's soccer in 2017 -- her senior year at SHA. 

Savina Zamborini is a sophomore forward for UofL that played her high school soccer at Louisville Manual High School. As a freshman in 2020, she saw action in 10 games, with three starts. Although she did not score a goal, she did record five shots with three of them "on goal". Savina was named to the United Soccer Coaches All-South Region Team in 2019 -- her senior season at Manual -- and First Team All-State in Kentucky. She scored 40 goals in her final two seasons at Manual.

Incoming freshman Brooke Dardano joins Louisville as a freshman out of South Oldham High School. She's a midfielder and had outstanding campaigns in her final two years out in Crestwood. She tallied 11 goals and 27 assists in her junior season at South Oldham. Here senior season was shortened by the pandemic, but she was still able to get six goals and six assists. Her squad was an impressive 44-12-3 in her final three years. 

As a whole -- the Louisville women's soccer roster enlists 10 incoming freshmen, five sophomores, three juniors and eight seniors. 

One of the major questions for 2021 involve who will take up the scoring mantle now that Emina Ekic has graduated. To be sure, there is a wealth of experience returning that could step up and implement "goals" in Sarah Hernandez, Ravin Alexander, Taylor Kervin, Corienne Dente, Maisie Whitsett, Morgan Bentley, Delaney Snyder and Cassie Amshoff --- all who were on the field at forward or midfield for Louisville last year. The Cards also have transfer Mikayla Hampton on the squad, who comes in from Northwestern as a redshirt senior. And....who knows which freshmen might step up to provide the scoring punch. 

On the defense and back in goalkeep, Gabby Kouzelos returns as one of the best tenders in the ACC. She brings in 69 starts in her four years at UofL and had recorded 73 shutouts in those four years. Opposing ACC Coaches have to be shrugging their shoulders when it comes to figuring out ways to get the ball past "Gabby the Goalie"...

New Cardinals assistant coach Nick Stirrett will most likely have a say when in comes to "balls in the net" At his previous stop (Oregon State) he was part of a staff that saw the Beavers goal-scoring go from six goals in 2018 to 31 in 2019. 

Let's get it started at Lynn -- we can't wait to see what this 2021 version of Louisville women's soccer looks like !! 

Have a marvelous Monday! 

paulie

2021-22 Louisville women's fall sports expectations -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 

SO...WAS IT A GOOD FOURTH? 

Just a brief diversion from today's topic to ask you...did you have a good fourth of July? Many of you may have been involved in social activities over the Fourth of July weekend, and wasn't it good to be able to do that again without the masking, distancing and less than full capacities, if you were? 

I was fortunate to go to an outing over the weekend with my wife where we saw people we hadn't seen in a very long time and to catch up on their lives, their highs and lows, share our experiences and enjoy an old-fashion cookout with fireworks in the evening.  Getting back to it works for now. Let's hope that we continue to slowly break away from the restrictions and limitations that the pandemic wrought upon us.  We are social creatures. It's good to interact. 

I hope you had a good fourth and many of you are most likely enjoying a "holiday Monday" today, getting an extra day away from the daily grind and hub-hub that can regulate our lives.

THE FALL APPROACHES -- WOMENS' SOCCER

It is getting closer, that time when our UofL fall women's sports squads will take to their various venues of competition and test their skills against competition.

Last year was weird with split schedules, limited competition and lack of fan attendance. Let's look at what might happen with Cardinal women's sports squads this fall. Maybe a "way-too-early" prognostication, but let's have some fun with it.

We'll look at women's soccer today. 

Louisville women's soccer has traditionally been the first Cardinal women's sports squad to get underway in the fall, and it'll be a squad that has undergone a few changes -- roster wise and coaching cadre. No worries about the top skipper, Karen Ferguson Dayes is still at the helm and will prowl the sidellnes at Lynn, watching her crew move the ball. She's got one assistant back from last season in Hunter Norton and one new assistant in Nick Stirrett. Stirrett is a "rising young gun" in the women's soccer world, and brings in an impressive resume of previous stops at Oregon State, Illinois and Penn State to the Cardinal camp. 

As far as the roster looks, it's good to have "Gabby the Goalie" (Gabby Kouzelos) back between the poles as goalkeeper and her experience and leadership will be more essential that ever this upcoming season. The line in front of the goalkeeper, the defensive backs, gets Sarah Hernandez back and a host of experienced mid-fielders in Taylor Kerwin, Maisie Whitsett, Jolene Ballard and Morgan Bentley.

When looking at potential lineups,  also consider that the Cards WSOC squad has 10 freshmen coming in and it'll be fun to see which of these rise up to gain playing time

The Kickin' Cards did lose Emina Ekic on attack to graduation and the NWSL, but .do get back Delaney Snyder, Coriene Dente, Ravin Alexander and Cassie Amshoff on the front line. Scoring is where I'd like to see the Cards increase their efficiency in the upcoming season, they tallied 12 goals in 12 games last season while allowing 13.

It'll be interesting to see if the trio of Cardinal coaches can "up" the scoring output. Stirrett did it at Oregon State when he was there, as the Beavers went from six goals to 31 goals from 2018-to 2019. 

I expect the Cards to improve upon last year's 5-7 record. There will be more games, I'm fully expecting, (the schedule hasn't been released yet) and Louisville should hopefully get numerous non-conference chances to work in before taking on an always tough ACC slate. 

We usually let Jared stick his neck out on the chopping block here for his eye-popping season predictions on various sports here at Cardinal Couple and I'm guessing he'll get to that as the season draws closer. With Gabby in place and experience in the other slots, it won't be too much of a trial and error scenario for Louisville Women's Soccer...I fully expect the Cards to rise above.500 in 2021-22 and get some great crowds into Lynn Stadium. 

paulie

UofL News Roundup -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Women's Soccer Welcomes New Assistant Coach

A new face will join Karen Ferguson-Dayes's staff on the sidelines next season as the University announced the hiring of Nick Stirrett. Stirrett comes to UofL from Oregon State, where he spent two seasons. The announcement credits Stirrett with helping increase OSU's scoring output from 6 goals to 31 goals in his first season. That will be a boon to the Cards as they look to replace their losses at the front. However, that may have just been coincidence as he appears to focus primarily on goalkeepers and defense. He was a big help there, as well, as the Beavers' sophomore goalkeeper had the fourth-best season in program history in 2019 with six clean sheets and a 0.980 goals against average.

Prior to Oregon State, Stirrett worked with goalkeepers and coordinated recruiting at the University of Illinois for three years. He was with Penn State for one year in 2015 and arrived there after a two year stint as the head men's coach at the University of Mount Union. Stirrett seems to have brought success along with him wherever he goes. Because his stints are so short, it's hard to tell whether there is correlation there or whether it is just coincidence. As Gabby Kouzelos enters her final season as a Cardinal, though, I'm sure she'd love to have an outstanding statistical season to improve her stock among the NWSL teams watching. The women's soccer season should get underway in a little over a month, so we'll see how the team looks with Stirrett alongside KFD for the remainder of the summer.

UofL Announces NIL Initiatives

The University has been busy in the background, it seems. Though Governor Andy Beshear did not announce his NIL Executive Order until Thursday afternoon (as Jared wrote about yesterday), UofL has already announced a number of items pertaining to NIL that have already been ongoing or are set for the months ahead and fall semester. From the University's release, the following items are in effect or will be in effect going forward:

• Throughout the month of June, student-athletes have been offered educational sessions to help aid them in understanding potential opportunities. Now that the EO is official, the sessions will soon include education on the University's rules and disclosure processes. 
• A pilot NIL law clinic this fall available to all UofL students including athletes needing guidance on their NIL opportunities.
• A sport administration elective class entitled "NIL in College Sports" offered for the 2021 UofL Fall semester.
• NIL, social media, and brand management education modules through UofL's "eLevate" partnership with OpenDorse, plus custom athlete assessments based on a student-athlete's current social media account and habits.  Information on that program announced earlier can be found at this link.
• Life skills programming (speakers, resources) through Athletics' Beyond the Buzzer and Cardinal Select programs.
• One-on-one consultations & continuing NIL education outreach provided to UofL student-athletes and their parents and guardians.
• A plan to partner with The College Licensing Company (CLC) & Game Plan for their "Compass" resources---which include online life skills education modules (including NIL related topics), NIL disclosure and reporting platform, and student-athlete career services.
• Creating a UofL NIL Advisory Board which includes several athletics staff, university staff and faculty members with subject matter expertise on media, marketing, branding, contracts, intellectual property, international student visas and employment, compliance and other areas to serve as an outlet for guidance in the rapidly evolving NIL landscape.
• UofL athletics administration continues to meet with individual teams and student-athletes to learn about their questions, proposed plans, and help them navigate through NIL opportunities

The University also announced that the NIL initiatives will be headed up by associate athletic director Matt Banker. According to the release, UofL is doing all of these items as they have been deemed permissible by the NCAA. "...the NCAA has indicated the following activities have been permitted by institutions without triggering impermissible institutional involvement in a student-athlete's name, image and likeness activity: (1) Providing educational programming on NIL and associated regulations; (2) Assisting in evaluating opportunities; (3) Assistance with compliance and disclosure expectations; and (4) Assistance in the evaluation of professional service providers."

As the University continues to develop its rules, regulations, and processes regarding athletes' use of NIL, we will continue to increase our understanding of how they will affect sports at UofL and how they may impact our coverage of those sports. UofL announced a particular site,   https://gocards.com/sports/nil, that will be a landing spot for all of their news, educational resources, and updates for NIL related matters. We will be monitoring it closely. If you're interested in reading more about the initial steps the University is taking, you can find the full release here.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

As Jared wrote yesterday, there will be more discussion on the NIL matters today on the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour. The crew will be a bit thinner this week, as Daryl and I drop off for various reasons again, but there's still plenty for the three remaining knuckleheads to discuss. They'll follow up all of their prognostications with another summer quiz, so you won't want to miss that. Tune in to the Cardinal Couple YouTube Channel at 11AM for the live show or check out the replay or podcast whenever you can. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

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