Softball -- Coach Mitchell -- Podcast -- Sunday Cardinal Couple

Manatee Squeezed

The Manatee Squeeze team, with Cardinals Jordyn Wolfe and Paige Schindler sit in 2nd place in the league after a loss, yesterday, to the Bradenton Slice.  FGCL Myakka City RiverMocs are currently the league leaders with a record of 8-1-0 with the Squeeze just behind at 6-2-0.  The Slice are down a couple of more sports with a "just below water" 4-5-0 record.

The Slice used a four run 4th inning to break the game open. A grand slam home run did the trick.  The Squeeze would get one back in the 6th but it wouldn't be enough.

Jordan Wolfe had a double in three at-bats. Her fourth of the season. Paige Schindler did not appear in the circle to pitch...she did throw Thursday and Friday, so was probably scheduled for a rest. 

Sunday is a day off in the FGCL, but the teams will be back in action tomorrow.

Matthew Mitchell Undergoes Brain Surgery

Matthew Mitchell, generally well known around these pages for being the head coach of UofL
Women's Basketball arch rival Kentucky, underwent brain surgery yesterday to address a faint but persistent headache resulting from a subdural hematoma.  He is expected to fully recover.

Mitchell fell and experienced a concussion back in March, and then a couple of weeks ago he started experiencing headaches.

A subdural hematoma is a bleeding from blood vessels between the brain and skull.  The bleeding results in a pooling of blood the puts pressure on the brain matter and can, if not addressed, result in serious complications.

Of course the UofL vs UK rivalry is a big deal, and Mitchell is on "the other side" of it from our perspective, but of course we do wish the best for Mitchell and hope for a full recovery for him.  We look forward to seeing him with a perplexed look on his face on the sidelines, not because of any brain injury, but because the UofL squad shuts down Rhyne Howard again and he doesn't know how to deal with it.

NWSL Returns to Action

The connection to UofL women's sports is thin, but it's good to see the NWSL back on the pitch in Utah.  Yesterday kicked off the league's Challenge Cup with two matches.  Both matches, yesterday, were won with a 2-1 margin.  The first, between the North Carolina Courage, and Portland Thorns FC saw the Courage come out on top.  The second match, between the Chicago Red Stars and the Washington Spirit, saw the Spirit get the win.  Cincinnati native and World Cup star Rose Lavelle got the first goal for the Spirit.

The big headlines from the NWSL kickoff came from before the first ball was put into play.  During the playing of the National Anthem for the first match, all of the starters for the Courage and Thorns donned Black Lives Matters t-shirts and took a knee to protest against racism and police brutality.  Notably, when famed soccer commentator and former national team player Alexi Lalas criticized the players on Twitter, the NWSL account itself came to their defense, saying, "If this is your takeaway from the organized action by our players, you clearly haven’t been listening, Alexi."

Lalas had suggested that taking a knee is now the the norm and that actually standing for the anthem would now take courage.  His tweet was subsequently deleted.

The next games in the NWSL are Thursday.  The Utah Royals will be in action at 12:30 pm.  The Royals have UofL alumna Gabrielle "Gabby" Vincent on their squad.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

Four in action yesterday for the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour.  Jared, Case, Paulie, and myself were all online.

We covered UofL Volleyball scheduling and how social distancing might work in L&N Federal Credit Union Arena.

We spent some time talking about the FGCL and our players' role there.  And finally we had the traditional summer quiz.

Once again, Jared proved his mastery over us in the quiz. Yesterday's theme was "Kentucky Proud" ... and was based around UofL women's athletic coaches and players from the commonwealth of Kentucky.  Take it yourself and see if you can top Jared's score of 100. 

Check it out below

Sunday Cardinal Couple -- Good and Bad Saturday

Some Good News to Start...

While most of the UofL women's sports results weren't the desired outcome yesterday, we did get a piece of good news, so we'll start there.

Gabrielle Vincent, defender extraordinaire, and an absolute delight to interview as well, was added to the Utah Royals FC roster when it was unveiled this week.  Gabrielle was a major part of UofL's stout defensive efforts over the past couple of years, and was frequently available for questions from the media at Fall Sports Media Days and other times.  Royals FC is definitely getting a good one in Gabrielle, not only a quality defender, but also a personable and upbeat teammate to build a good team culture on.

Boston College Evens Series

A back and forth affair in Brighton, MA, but the Boston College Eagles eventually came away victorious, 8-4.  Most of the offensive execution returned to the top part of the line-up.

The offense got started early with lead-off hitter Celene Funke getting a hit, and in a stat that will
surprise absolutely no one who has paid attention to the team this year, stole second.  She finished the circuit on Sidney Melton's single.  Unfortunately, the offense got started early for Boston College as well as they answered with 2 runs in the bottom of the 1st.

The bottom of the line-up didn't go unrepresented in the offense, albeit in less conventional style, with Taylor Roby getting a single, Caitlin Ferguson getting plunked, followed by Kyra Snyder and Maddy Newman drawing walks to plate Jordyn Wolfe who had entered to pinch run for Roby.

With the score evened at 2 after 3 1/2 innings, BC put up 4 to retake the lead and extend it to 6-2.  They added a couple more in the 5th to reach their tally of 8 for the game.

The Cards would rally some, but it wasn't enough.  Sidney Melton doubled, and Megan Hensley took one beyond the fence to bring Melton home, with the pair bringing the score to the 8-2 final.

The Cards and Eagles will decide the series today with a noon start, with ACC Network Extra being listed for video.

Lacrosse Takes an L

We knew the Lacrosse game against Virginia would be a challenge, and while the Cards came out on
the losing side, this was an effort that can be respected against a quality Top 10 opponent.  UVA came away with the 16-12 victory.

UVA got off to a quick start with the first draw control and a score just 10 seconds into the game, but the Cards didn't give up.  They battled and kept the game close at 4-3 halfway through the first half.  UVA went on a run, but UofL didn't fold, scoring two goals just before halftime bringing the halftime tally to 9-5.

The Cards kept that momentum going opening the 2nd half, scoring another pair to draw within two at 9-7.  UVA answered with a pair of their own to stretch the lead to 11-7.  Most of the 2nd half was alternative scores, although UVA did sneak in a 3-0 run in the midst of it.  UofL would score a final 2 in the last minute of play to draw the score to 16-12, but it just wasn't enough.

The Blalock sisters both contributed, with 4 goals for Sarah, and 1 for Caroline.  Tessa Chad and Alex McNicholas both got a pair, and single goals were also contributed by Kayla Marshall, Ally Hall, and Shayla Scanlan.

The Cards Lacrosse Squad will wrap up the season Saturday, the 20th at Boston College with a noon first draw.  No video is listed for this one.
The ACCNE will probably pick it up, one would guess.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

After a near-crisis with the computer that supplies our intro and exit music, walk up music, and various sound effects, the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour made it to air sonically intact yesterday.

You can check out the fun, as usual, on Facebook Live at:

https://www.facebook.com/WCHQfm/videos/1139417329575277/

Jared was off banking, we were all scrambling for parking along the no-parking-for-Thunder Mellwood, and great fun was had regardless of all of that.

Check it out!

-- 

JMcA

ACC Accolades for Women's Soccer -- Softball Commits -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Women's Soccer Places Three on All-Atlantic Teams

Louisville women's soccer had three Cardinals announced to the All-Atlantic teams.  Emina Ekic, Gabrielle Vincent, and Brooklynn Rivers were named to the First, Second, and Third teams, respectively.

Ekic, a sophomore from duPont Manual, makes her second appearance in the ACC Awards history book after earning Freshman of the Year last year.  After coming off an ACL injury, Ekic finished 2018 with seven goals and five assists, including five goals in the final six matches.

Vincent earned her first ACC honors.  The senior started at centerback her entire career at UofL and has been one of the pillars for the team the past few seasons.  The Louisville defense recorded seven shutouts this year.  Vincent was a captain the past two years.

Rivers earned her first ACC honors after leading the team in scoring.  The junior scored eight goals and dished out seven assists. Her four game-winning goals were first on the team.

Softball Receives Five Commits for 2019-2020 Season

Five prospective recruits signed their letters of intent yesterday for Louisville softball.  The group
consists mainly of infielders and pitchers.

Lexi Carver is a catcher and infielder from Spencer, IN.  Carver has been one of the top hitters in the state and is also listed in Extra Inning Softball's (EIS) 2019 Elite 100 and Flo Softball's Hot (FSH) 100.

Taja Felder is a pitcher and utility player from Fresno, CA.  Felder is reigning Offensive Player of the Year for Three Rivers Athletic Association (TRAC).

Payton Hudson is a pitcher and utility player from McMinnville, OR.  Hudson is a three-time Greater Valley all-league selection and was Greater Valley Pitcher of the Year in 2017.

Elana Ornelas is an infielder and outfielder from from Oldham County High School in Lagrange, KY.  Ornelas is currently District 29 MVP and recently played in the Kentucky East-West all-star game.

Jenni Servi is an infielder from Monterey CA.  Servi is listed in EIS Topp 200 players.  Servi is also the daughter of former assistant coach Amy ReCouper-Servi.

Brohm Watch

The rest of Louisville sports media is zoned in on "Brohm Watch" This phenomena is a rare occurring state of being transfixed on following a particular entity that might be taking over a 2-10 Football team.  We realize as (mostly) literate, comprehending people, you probably have your own "take" on the phenomena.

We are a women's sports site the vast majority of the time. So, our "take" is not nearly as relevant nor controversial as many of the "experts" out there. We do, however, like to see our reader base happy about things.

 It would appear that the vast majority of you out there would like to see the Louisville Trinity grad bring his family, brothers and Honda Accord home to the "Ville" and start the reclamation project of making a now woeful pigskin program meaningful again. Such a task will take time. After all, the Allied Forces didn't make it back to France a couple of days after the retreat from Dunkirk. It took strategy, planning and rebuilding.

Make it so, then, Vince and Louisville Athletic Board. As Vito Corleone said in the movie THE GODFATHER: "Make him an offer he can't refuse". 


Other News

Congratulations to Chris Mack and the Louisville men's basketball team on defeating No. 9 Michigan
State in overtime last night.  The win secures Louisville's undefeated November record in the KFC Yum! Center. Our apologies to the Indiana and Duke MBB fans who were waiting in agony to see this thriller end so they could watch their tussle on ESPN.  Several women's basketball players were present to cheer the men on after the men had done the same for the women on Monday night.  I'll be back in action and joining Paulie at the women's game Thursday night.

 I mean, who would turn down free dinner?


Donation Month

As we draw near the end of November this is my last article talking about Donation Month 2018.

 Although I do not know the numbers I do know that this year was on the good side of the pendulum. Still time for you to jump in the Couple pool.

Thank you to all who have donated and helped keep Cardinal Couple alive and well.  We appreciate everything you do to help supply us with the resources to bring you the latest and best coverage in all Louisville women's sports.  YOU are Cardinal Couple. WE never forget that.

Happy Wednesday and Go Cards!

- Jared -

SCOTT TEETER INTERVIEW...WSOC PREPARES FOR NOTRE DAME -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

INTERVIEW WITH LOUISVILLE LACROSSE HEAD COACH SCOTT TEETER

Wednesday morning brought the opportunity to talk with Louisville Lacrosse coach Scott Teeter in his office at the "Little YUM" -- the facility that houses the basketball teams at UofL and Lacrosse. It's always quite fun talking with Coach Teeter, he brings a great perspective to anything he discusses and I also wanted to get an update on his and Jen's one-month old son Lucas. 

Lacrosse S.I.D. Nick Evans sat in on the interview as well...you gotta love Nick...his personality and the work he does for Louisville athletics. We also got guest appearances (walk on roles) who brought valuable information from assistant coach Renee Poulott and the effervescent Director of Operations for Lacrosse Patty Norton. We had five in the office at one time, enough to go over and scrimmage women's basketball next door. 

OK, that probably wouldn't have gone so well...so, on to the interview. 

As the interview rolls, listen for the following points: 

-- How are the Teeter's doing with the birth of Lucas? 

-- How are things looking with fall lacrosse so far? 

-- How was Coach Teeter's experience coaching the Boston Storm? 

-- Who will the Cards play in the fall and how many are at home? 

-- Why "satellite" clinics?  Scott explains the process and reasoning.

-- What's the word on freshman Shay Clevenger? 

-- Scott's overview of the 2019 roster and depth.  

-- Scott vs. Ken Lolla ?? 

A great visit yesterday with the Louisville Lacrosse head coach Scott Teeter and a chance to catch up on the fall work they do. You can see Louisville Lacrosse, as Coach mentioned, on September 30th. at the Louisville Lacrosse Stadium, when they take on Marquette (10 a.m.) and Butler (1:30 p.m.). It's also Alumnae Weekend for Lacrosse, so don't miss this great opportunity to see Louisville LAX this fall! 

A special thanks to Nick Evans for setting up the interview and to Coach Teeter, who reminded me I gave him Mendelssohn in the Kentucky Derby. 


LINK TO COACH'S INTERVIEW:  INTERVIEW WITH SCOTT TEETER



WSOC PLAYS NOTRE DAME TONIGHT

University of Louisville women's soccer puts their perfect ACC record on the line tonight against visiting Notre Dame in Lynn Stadium. The 7 p.m. match pits the 7-1 (1-0) Cards against a 4-4 Irish squad that was ranked in the top 25 early in the season but has since dropped out of that category. 

The media had the chance to talk to Coach Karen Ferguson Dayes and Louisville middle defender Gabrielle Vincent yesterday, so I headed over there after my interview with Scott Teeter. Links for those two WSOC interviews below: 


We also got an unexpected musical interlude during the Karen Ferguson Dayes interview. Ah, those tricky interns.... 

A special thanks to Coach for doing this, Gabrielle for participating and WSOC SID Kim Pemberton for setting the opportunity up: 

Go. Cards. Beat. Irish.

INTERVIEW WITH GABRIELLE VINCENT

INTERVIEW WITH KAREN FERGUSON DAYES


Have a tremendous Thursday and please come out and support UofL Women's Soccer tonight at Lynn Stadium against Notre Dame! 

paulie
xxxxx

Soccer Shutout - SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Louisville Women Get Underway

The UofL women's soccer team got their competition underway yesterday with a scrimmage against Morehead State.

I wasn't able to make it to the game due to previous engagements, but Paulie, and Jared were in attendance.  Perhaps we can get their impressions added in the comments.

Information is scarce on this one as stat sheets and post-game recaps don't get put out by sports information for women's soccer exhibitions.  We do know that Louisville came away victorious with 4 goals and a clean sheet against the Eagles.

Odds are that "Gabby Squared", Gabby Vincent, and Gabby Kouzelos, were instrumental on defense,
Vincent as center back, and Kouzelos in goal.

No word on how much time on the turf Emina Ekic got as she continue to recover from a knee injury last year.

The season (and stats sheets!) officially gets underway Thursday at 7:30 with the Wright State Wolves come to play in Lynn.

( A great job last night on the photos by Jared Anderson! Thank you! )

England U-20 World Cup Advances

Louisville is still down a high impact mid-fielder, with Mollie Rouse still off in France playing for the English U-20 team in the U-20 World Cup.

Late breaking news on this one as England routed Mexico 6-1 to secure the top spot in the group with 7 points for the quarter-finals.  North Korea finished out the group stage with 6.

Rouse and the Brits will play next on the 17th in the first round of the knockout stage, which means that Rouse will certainly miss the UofL match against Wright State.  If England advances, the next game will be on the 20th, meaning UofL would be without her services for the Xavier match on the 19th.  Winning that would put England into the finals which will be contested on August 24th.  That would prevent Mollie from playing in the Dayton match on the 23rd, and could jeopardize her appearance for the Michigan match on the 26th.

We wish the best to Rouse and the English side in the World Cup, but we'll also be glad to have her back in "The 'Ville" playing for the Red and Black, instead of the Red and White of England.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

Worldwide and Case try to get some sense out of
Paulie

The knuckleheads were a man down yesterday as well, Jared off turning 20s into 2 dollar bills.  Most of the show was a recap of the Fall Sports Media Day from Thursday.  We didn't get to hear all of the audio from the event, check out Friday's article for links to all of it, and we didn't get to hear from Taylor Stone, and Katie Walsh at all (my apologies to the two of them) due to me not having sufficient knowledge on how to pause and resume clips.  It's a learning process, folks.

In any case, we interspersed a bit of commentary and analysis with Paulie, Case, and I with the bulk of the audio.  We heard from the three major women's team sports of the fall, with Field Hockey (Coach Justine Sowry, Taylor Stone, and Katie Walsh), Volleyball (Coach Dani Busboom Kelly, Wilma Rivera, Jasmine Bennett, and Molly Sauer), and Soccer (Coach Karen Ferguson-Dayes, Emina Ekic, Gabrielle Vincent, and Gabby Kouzelos).

Check out the replay at:

https://www.facebook.com/WCHQfm/videos/2158687654154506/

I did spend a few minutes after the show to learn how to pause and resume clips, so we'll be able to better break up and comment on audio in future episodes.

-- 

JMcA

Almost a Friday Sweep -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Soccer Falls to Purdue, 3-2

There is a lot to talk about, so I'll get the game I attended, and the negativity for the day, out of the way early. I was fully prepared to start today's article talking about how bad the women's soccer team looked last night. However, after their first goal, I realized that the scoreline was affecting how I had viewed the game. Yes, Louisville's normally stout defense was extremely porous.

Picture courtesy of JC1

In fact, Louisville is lucky to have only been scored on three times, as Purdue had other chances missed wildly in pure scoring opportunities. On offense, for the majority of the game, it appeared that Louisville was just inept. They dribbled too long and sent long passes to nowhere, but those have been issues for this team all season, and they've worked through them to find the back of the net and win in 5 out of their 7 games so far. Louisville was mostly just unlucky on offense. Their first goal came with less than four minutes remaining in the game, thus preventing them from being shut out for only the second time this season.

First, the really bad. Louisville's defense gave every other team on the schedule a blueprint of how to beat what was previously a very strong defense. Louisville allowed Purdue's redshirt senior captain, Maddy Williams, to roam on the back line. Williams made them pay, putting up a hat trick in the first 48 minutes of the game. All three of her goals came in about the same manner. A ball was sent forward. Williams, standing alone on the back line, would turn and sprint.

With no one to slow her down, she could effectively get a one on one with the keeper, even with central defenders closing on her. I'm still not sure how the first goal got under a charging and sliding Gabrielle Kouzelos, but it did, and Williams jumped over Kouzelos to give chase to the ball and score on the empty net. The second goal looked the exact same from a lead-up perspective, but Williams was a bit farther to her right of the goal, and was able to go back post on Kouzelos, putting the ball into the side netting. Purdue led 2-0 and we went to halftime. Louisville had to be retrieved from the locker room as they were inside well after the halftime clock hit zero. As they rehuddled after coming out of the locker room, the four starting defenders came sprinting out of the locker room, clearly having had their own meeting.

Picture courtesy of JC 1

For what it's worth, they played a little better in the second half, but not much. Purdue only had two shots in the second half, but the first was Williams' third goal. This one was tough to watch. The ball was crossed to Purdue's left side of the field into the box. Gabby Vincent took an unfortunate angle on the ball and misjudged it. It sailed over her head and landed at Williams' feet. Except it didn't. For a senior captain and starting forward, Williams looked extremely uncomfortable with her left foot. She brought the cross down with the outside of her right foot, had to steady herself, and then shoot from just outside the 6 yard box. Kouzelos, perhaps a bit gunshy or not quite in the right head space after the first half, had plenty of time to charge the cross and break up the play, with Williams taking so long. Instead, she was parked on her line, beginning to advance only just before the shot came. Purdue led 3-0. The Boilermakers offense let up in intensity a bit after that goal.

Leading 3-0 in the second half against a team that hasn't really threatened much during the game allows you some leeway. However, if Purdue could exploit Louisville's center defenders like they did last night, much better teams in the ACC can, too. Louisville has to put a body on people floating in the back line. If they're left unmarked, the ball will go over your head, and they'll sprint to it for a one-on-one chance. Having forwards like that checked can slow them down just enough to allow your keeper to make a play or another defender to get back. Hopefully, this is something that is adjusted even before next week's game against Gardner-Webb.

Had the offense not scored once or twice, I may have not realized that I was being unfairly hard on them in my mind before the game ended. There were a few times that I felt they weren't making the most of their opportunities. I think some players, and I won't name names, may find themselves on the bench a bit more after last night's performance. I realized late, though, that Louisville had been extremely unlucky on offense. They had a stretch of four corner kicks in a row in the first half, two of which went off the goalie's hands. Louisville was just unable to finish. The ball always found itself kicked or headed directly into a Purdue player or it scooted all the way through the box, untouched by either player.

With ten minutes left in the game, a crossing ball slipped through the Purdue defense and was just out of reach for a sliding Cardinal to put it in the back of the wide open net. That was the moment I realized that it just wasn't Louisville's night. Louisville scored it's first goal on the exact same play, this time with Mollie Rouse finishing the cross from Alison Price for her first goal of the season and Louisville career. Later, Brooklynn Rivers scored her second goal of the season off of a cross. There were only 24 seconds remaining. Louisville was unable to find it's third goal in the last 3:54. If things had gone just a bit differently throughout the game, I may be writing about a win. If Louisville scores first off of one of its opportunities, or goes into the half 2-1 instead of 2-0, maybe they can string together a win.

Last night just wasn't Louisville's night. Coach KFD mentioned in her postgame interview that Louisville was just "out of sorts" from the opening whistle and gave credit to Purdue for taking advantage of Louisville's miscues. Hopefully this game will stand out as an aberration and not become the norm. I'll wrap things up with a roster thought. I respect Gabrielle Kouzelos in goal. She has made a few great saves for Louisville this year and helped tremendously in their wins


However, I have seen her make some rough mistakes. She's made them multiple times over multiple games. Last night, she had what appeared to be a heated discussion with senior captain and center defender Inger Katrine-Bjerke. She gets in her own head sometimes, which as a keeper, is extremely bad. I'd really like to see Tori Gabor given an opportunity to show what she has in goal Gabor was the heir apparent to the position this year with the loss of Taylor Bucklin, but Kouzelos won the spot. I think it's important to remember that every position should be up for competition every week. Louisville is back in action against Gardner-Webb in Lynn Stadium next Thursday at 5:30 PM.

Field Hockey Beats American

On the surface, a 2-1 neutral site win over a team named "American" doesn't seem all that great, but the major players in field hockey aren't always what you might expect. The University of Delaware, probably most known for producing Joe Flacco, are the reigning champions. Louisville vs American was a top-20 matchup, and it came in a stadium much closer to the opponent than Louisville. A 2-1 win will do for yesterday, and it would do again against Maryland tomorrow.

All of the goals in this one came in the first half. Louisville opened the scoring on a breakaway with Nicole Woods scoring her fourth of the season. Marisa Martin Pelegrina scored her third of the year off of a penalty rebound to stretch the Louisville lead. American was able to pull one back off of a penalty corner put past Hollyn Barr to make it 2-1. The two teams played the next 55 minutes scoreless. Both teams went 1-1 on corner conversions in the first half and 0-2 in the second. American was only able to get one other shot on goal in the entire game, giving Barr her only save. Louisville kept American's goalkeeper a bit busier, but was unable to find the back of the goal again. Ayeisha McFerran, presumably still nursing her injury, was held off in this one, and Barr played all 70 minutes. With the way Barr has performed this year, it will be interesting to see what Coach Sowry decides to do when McFerran is 100%.

Will the Cards split starts or will an All-American find she's lost her job just by pure happenstance of
being injured? If it's the latter, I assume Barr would be on a short leash come conference play. A poor game could find her losing the starting spot quite quickly. We shall see. Louisville takes on this weekend's host, Maryland, tomorrow morning at 11:30AM. The game will be available on Big Ten Network Plus, which means you can get it, but it's pay blocked. Maryland is ranked 11th in the country.

Volleyball Wins 2 in a Matter of Hours

There wasn't much rest for Coach DBK's team last night after a 3 game sweep of the previously unbeaten UC Irvine, as the Cards jumped right back into action against Weber State. They went on to win that one in 4 games, though they were given a bit more of a run for their money in the second matchup of the evening. Playing two last night will be good for the Cards, who will get a bit of time to freshen up before having to take on the host, UNLV, today at 5PM Louisville time. At worst, Louisville leaves the weekend with an even 4-4 record, but most would hope, and maybe even expect, that they come home two games above .500 for the first time this season.

We'll have plenty more to say about volleyball today on the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour and Jeff will go more in depth tomorrow, but some of the big stats from last night: Melanie McHenry finished the two matches with 26 kills and Tess Clark with 23. Yes, please. The team finished with 18 blocks, but were outblocked by Weber State 12-10. Wilma Rivera assisted on 24 of 35 kills in the first match and 52(!!!) of 63 kills in the second. Wow. Molly Sauer did her thing, and led the team in digs with 26 between the two matches. Through all of that, the statistic that stands out the most to me comes from the first game of the first match. UC Irvine hit -0.071% (woof) and Louisville hit .500. Somehow, the final game score was 25-20. That UC Irvine was able to score that many with that hitting discrepancy blows my mind. Anyway, here's hoping the wide-netters can continue those winning ways today.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

We're back with a full studio today on WCHQ FM. We'll be live on air at 11AM and you can listen in on 100.9 if you're in the signal area or online at crescenthillradio.com or on the WCHQ app. With fall sports in full swing, we'll have plenty to talk about. The Cardinal Couple Radio Hour will take you all the way up until football kicks off at noon against UNC today so tune in and hang out with us!

Paulie, Jeff, Jared and yours truly. Paulie calls it the "A" team. I'm wondering which one of us is "Mr. T"?

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-

Cards Eclipse Redhawks -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Karen Ferguson-Dayes Earns 150th Win

After a closely fought victory over the Terriers of Boston University on Friday, Louisville's Women's soccer team settled in yesterday for their second victory in three days. This one wasn't quite as much of a nail biter as the Cards scored two goals to Miami's zero. It was the 150th career win for head coach Karen Ferguson-Dayes. Many have their own opinions about the skipper of the Louisville women's soccer team, but I would argue she is working diligently to produce a fine on-field product in a tough sport to recruit and perform well without conference continuity. The ACC is a tough place to play and Louisville will likely take a few lumps this year. However, this team has looked decent in its first two games this season and will look to iron out the creases as they get closer to conference play. Having the mental toughness to finish in close games, even if they shouldn't be close, will help this team a lot this season.

In her post-game interview, Coach K expressed that she was not pleased with the first half, despite the Cards leading 1-0 after an Allison to Alison connection in the 29th minute. Both teams finished the first 45 with three shots, even with Louisville holding a possession advantage. Whether or not this is carry over from the purposeless passing issues from the last game, I couldn't say, as I was unable to take this one in myself. However, whatever was said in the locker room at halftime seemed to have a marked effect on the team, with Louisville winning the second half shots battle 13-4. Louisville continued to hold the ball in the attacking end of the field, earning 11 corner kicks to Miami's 1. Increased chances are bound to lead to increased goals eventually, which was the case when Kennadi Carbin was brought down in the box in the 74th minute, and Gabi Vincent was able to convert the penalty. This came just after Miami's best opportunity of the day to equalize on a free kick was kept out by Gabrielle Kouzelos in the Louisville goal. 

Louisville moves to 2-0-0 this season, which puts them only 10 wins away from my regular season goal. The Cards have two more games this year, against Southeast Missouri State and Gardner-Webb, which I believe they absolutely cannot afford to lose (not just for my 12 win goal but also for their confidence and tournament hopes). The rest of the schedule is made up by tough non-conference adversaries and the brutal ACC schedule. Louisville has shown that it can be diverse on offense--all 5 goals this year have come from the foot of a different player--and stingy on defense--earning their first clean sheet yesterday afternoon. Their first big test of the season will come this Thursday when they travel to Bloomington to take on Indiana University. The game begins at 7:30PM, and the Louisville site does not currently list any viewing options.

Post game interviews with Paulie below. New video guy...he actually showed both Paulie's face briefly and the legendary Tascam DM-50 audio recorder during the interview. I hope he still has a job this morning. They also featured the Gator golf cart audio -- but no planes, trains or sirens. As usual, they deleted some of Paulie's stuff.

POST GAME KAREN FERGUSON DAYES

POST GAME GABI VINCENT

Keep Your Eyes Safe

Today is the day of the Great American Eclipse, as the shadow of the moon will go coast-to-coast just like Russ Smith. It will be an awesome experience as millions of Americans gather along the path of totality to see midday turn to dusk in an instant. No matter where you intend to be while you view the eclipse, make sure to take care of yourself. Direct viewing of the sun can lead to permanent retinal damage. Even while wearing approved safety lenses, do not make a habit of staring directly at the sun during the eclipse. If you are in the path of totality, be sure to perform proper research about when it is safe to remove your glasses and when you must replace them before totality ends. If you do not have safety lenses, there are many other ways to safely experience the eclipse which do not include risking your eyesight because "a little look won't hurt." It will. You cannot even feel the rays burning your retinas until it is too late. Additionally, the forecast around the Kentucky area shows potential cloud cover. You would not stare at the sun through light clouds on a normal day, and those clouds will not protect your eyes today. Be smart, be safe, and enjoy what may be a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-

Late Edition - Fall Sports Media Day -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Paulie and I have just finished up approximately an hour and a half of interviews and remarks from various members of UofL fall sports programs.  An event now three years strong that always makes for a pleasant day and a chance to catch up with Volleyball, Field Hockey, Women's Soccer, and an addition this year, Cross Country.

The remarks got started with the four coaches making opening remarks.  Dale Cowper lead the pack with remarks about the chance to host the NCAA Championships at E.P. Tom Sawyer Park.  He mentioned that they have re-arranged the course at the park this year, and expects the event to be better than ever.  In perhaps a little bit of one-upmanship, Justine Sowry went next and spoke about how strong the ACC is as a Field Hockey conference (a refrain repeated numerous times, with reason, here on Cardinal Couple), and mentioned that they get to host both the ACC Championships, as well as the NCAA championships.  Karen Ferguson-Dayes came next, talking up the experience of the senior class, as showing some excitement in the attackers, who were mostly freshmen last year, coming back with another year of experience under their belts.  Dani Busboom Kelly spoke about the move of all of the Volleyball facilities to Cardinal Arena, and how it is now a dedicated facility.  She also spoke of how much of a difference the renovation of Cardinal Arena has made and how great it is to be on-campus where they hope to get more student support, and to have a "Volleyball Compound" where they don't have to share court time and access to other facilities with other programs.

In questions from the media, we heard of the challenges that both Sowry and Ferguson-Dayes have with some number of their players not yet returning from International play over the summer.  Busboom Kelly was asked about being picked "sixth or seventh" in the conference (actually eighth) and what that meant to the team, responding that they expected to finish better than anyone expects in conference, showing some confidence that it would be better than sixth as the question alluded to.  Asked about her favorite part of the newly renovated Cardinal Arena, she said that it was the balcony seating in the end-zones, as that should be expected to up the energy level of the crowd.  She did mention that it limits their ability, due to the closeness of all of the seating to the Volleyball court, of chasing down shanked balls, so it ups the importance of digging and passing cleanly, and overall ball control.

Asked about stand-outs that maybe aren't so well known so far in practice, Busboom Kelly mentioned Wilma Rivera, a transfer setter from Penn State who will be competing for playing time with last year's main setter, Kali Eaken.  Also, freshman DS/Libero Alexis Hamilton got a shout-out for her outstanding play so far.  Karen Ferguson-Dayes mentioned some names we already know, in Inger Katrine-Bjerke, and Gabbie Vincent, both Cardinal Couple favorites from interviews in past years, she named a couple of other names, that I didn't catch (listen to the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour tomorrow to hopefully hear more of them), as well as Brooklynn Rivers.  Sowry mentioned Meg Schneider and Mercedes Pastor, both freshmen, as having contributed well so far in practice.  She also mentioned Hollyn Barr, the backup goalkeeper, as having been playing extremely well, and that she would likely be starting in the cage for the first few games due to unavailability of Ayeisha McFerran.  She also spoke of the depth of the roster, and mentioned the likelihood of going 17 deep, which is unsurprising given her penchant for rapid-fire substitutions.

After the session with the coaches broke up, the media moved into the next room to speak with representatives of the various teams.  We first got the opportunity to speak with Tess Clark and Molly Sauer, of the volleyball team.  They re-iterated coach Busboom Kelly's thoughts of Wilma Rivera and Alexis Hamilton being the stand-out newcomers to the team.  Tess confirmed that she will be playing as a left side hitter, and does have some passing and digging duties.  She mentioned that Sauer helped her out a lot by taking a lot of the passes from her.

Moving on, we spoke with Inger Katrine-Bjerke and Gabbie Vincent from the Soccer team.  Paulie asked about KB's trip to China, then her further globetrotting back home to visit with family in Norway before returning to Louisville.  They talked about the importance for the backs in the game of Soccer, how they were most responsible for communication on the pitch, and how they had the best vantage point to see the whole field of play and thus were in the best position to communicate what needed to be done.

Finally, visiting with Marigrace Ragsdale, Abby Grimes, and Taylor Stone on the Field Hockey team, we heard about their excitement for hosting both the ACC and NCAA Tournaments at Trager.  We also learned that Marigrace and Abby, both being from St. Louis, have played field hockey together since they were twelve.  We learned how the recruiting process worked to get both of them to Louisville (Abby committed first, Marigrace later asked if it was ok if she also came to play with her at Louisville, an exuberant affirmative being the answer to that.)

Paulie will have much of the audio from these interviews tomorrow on The Cardinal Couple Radio Hour, so be sure to tune in at 11am on Crescent Hill Radio, 100.9 on the FM dial in the central area of Louisville, to hear the recorded audio.  On the plus side, you won't have to listen to us knuckleheads nearly as much as most weeks.

-- JMcA

Harper joins USA U23 squad...WSOC around the corner -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

LINNAE HARPER ADDED TO USA U23 SQUAD

Just in the few times I was able to watch Ohio State guard Linnae Harper perform in the USA U23 trials...I thought she had the stuff to be one of the 12 to make the roster. That happened for her yesterday...as South Carolina center A'ja Wilson is now sidelined with a groin strain and Harper gets added to the roster for the practice sessions and upcoming trip to Japan.

We all remember Linnae...right?  She began her career at UK and was instrumental in helping the Cats beat the Cards in her freshman and sophomore years. Things didn't quite work out for her in Lexington...so the Chicago, IL native decided to move north and join the Ohio State Buckeyes after the 2014-15 season...one of the schools that was in her top five consideration list in high school. She took to Buckeye ball quite well in 2016-17 and was named the Big 10 Sixth Player of the Year in the 2016-17 season as a junior after sitting out 2015-16 under NCAA transfer rules. 

She joins Buckeye teammate Kelsey Mitchell on the squad and also brings an extensive USA and international basketball resume to the roster. She was on the 2011, 2012 and 2013 FIBA World Championship teams playing for the U16, U17 and U19 USA teams. She was on the 2015 USA Pan American team and also played on the 2016 FIBA USA 3X3 squad.

Maybe a bit interesting that the committee replaces height (in Wilson) with guard play (Harper)...but certainly the experience factor Harper has in International play should be beneficial for the team. Erin Boley, at 6'2" impressed me during the medal round games and she can also step out and hit the three. Naturally, I would have loved to see Myisha Hines-Allen get the call...but I'll trust the deciders' judgement here.

With the addition of Harper, three teams now have two players on the roster....UCLA (Monique Billings and Jordin Canada) and Tennessee (Jamie Nared and Mercedes Russell) and Ohio State. Louisville's Asia Durr is also on the squad that includes ACC and Notre Dame's Arike Ogunbowale, Ariel Atkins, Kalani Brown, Sabrina Ionescu and Brittany McPhee. 

USA U23 continues their practice sessions under Jeff Walz in preparation for their August 12th. opener in Tokyo. 

FINALLY, THE COMPETITION IS HERE

We get to see some actual competition in women's fall sports this week...with Louisville women's soccer starting the action off tomorrow with an exhibition game at Ohio State and then returning home to face DePaul on Saturday in another exhibition contest. The DePaul game is part of a double-header at Lynn Stadium...the girls will go first with a 5 p.m. start and the #9 ranked men's team takes on Lipscomb around 7:30 p.m. 

We'll get our first look at some very talented freshmen that have joined Coach Karen Ferguson Dayes roster...including a couple with International backgrounds in Nadage L'Esperance (Canada) and Mollie Rouse (England). There's also some local flair on the roster...with Emina Ekic DuPont Manual) and transfer Kennadi Carbin (2015 Kentucky Player of the Year).

The Kickin' Cards return a wealth of experience on the attack with standouts from last year. Nine of the Cards top 10 scorers return and Ferguson-Dayes will have plenty of options in Shelby Cohen, Daryl Bell, Brooklyn Rivers, Gabby Vincent, Sarah Feola, Alison Price, Kaela Dickerman, Allison Whitfield, Niahm Nelson and Callie McKinney.

Senior Inger Katrine Bjerke returns to lead a defense that allowed just 1.11 goals last season. She'll get help from Arianna Ferraro and Bailey Florek in front of the goal. With the graduation of goalkeeper Taylor Bucklin...we've heard the competition between Gabrielle Kouzelos, Tori Gabor and Lana Batson has been intense for the net-keeping spot.  

Admission is free for the exhibition games at Lynn and season tickets get you into both men's and women's soccer....so why not grab a few for the family and enjoy the action on the pitch? 



paulie
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