Kouzelos Named Top 10 Goalkeeper -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 Kouzelos Named Top 10 Goalkeeper

Gabby Kouzelos was named a Top 10 Goalkeeper for the 2020 season by Top Drawer Soccer.  The senior has been the starting goalkeeper for the last three seasons for the Cards.

She is one of three ACC goalkeepers to make the Top 10 list, joining Laurel Ivory from Virginia and Claudia Dickey from North Carolina.

Kouzelos led the Cards to a 13-5-2 record last season that featured a second round appearance in the NCAA Tournament.  She recorded a career-high 51 saves and recording 10 shutouts while posting an incredible 0.87 goals against average- ranking second all-time in program history.

"She may not have the stereotypical goalkeeper frame, but she makes up for any concerns there with good positioning and sharp shot-stopping reflexes.  Unafraid to come off her line and stand up strong, she's one of the more underrated goalkeepers in DI women's soccer.  After the 2019 season she earned All-ACC Second Team honors.  In her three seasons with the Cardinal[s], she's played every single game when healthy." -Top Drawer Soccer.

We at Cardinal Couple are familiar with Gabby.  She's always been a fun interviewee, providing plenty of insight while also being able to handle Paulie's witty humor. Below, a link with "the Gabs" after a win over Clemson. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3v1y5xCaMfs

On the pitch, Kouzelos can often be heard as the loudest voice.  She commands the team with assertion and will often find herself near midfield to help coach on offense.

One of the many reasons we will see a highly successful 2020 season, for the few matches that they can play, is because of Kouzelos' leadership and skills.

WNBA: Mystics Down Dream

A huge night for UofL WBB great Myisha Hines-Allen last night as the Washington Mystics downed two-win Atlanta 98-91.

"Doo-blay" went for 23 points, and was 10-14 from the floor! She also nailed three-three pointers. Myisha came into the game with just six "makes" from beyond the arc for the season. 

Washington led 78-63 going into the fourth quarter and was able to hold off a late Atlanta run to improve to 4-7. The win broke the Mystics seven-game losing streak.

Also huge for the Mystics was rookie Stella Johnson. The Rider U. graduate had 25 points and hit six three-pointers for Washington in the first start of her career. I expect she'probably won herself a starting role with that performance.   

Katy is Here!

The best news in a while for me is Katy's arrival to Louisville.  After 3 1/2 years of long distance dating we finally will be living in the same town.

I'll help her move onto Louisville Presbyterian Seminary's campus bright and early today and will no longer worry about the long trips to Florida State or her home in South Carolina.

Although Katy is a bit camera shy I'm sure I can get her to pop on Skype to say a few words Saturday Saturday morning.

Continue to stay safe and healthy, everyone!

Happy Thursday and Go Cards!

Jared

Just Past Halfway -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Watch out! It's an article by Case, and it's not a Saturday. That's the surprising part. The unsurprising part is that this article is going to be about soccer. With no games last night to recap, I figured I would take today to look at the women's soccer team at the midpoint of the season. There are only 7 of 17 regular season games remaining, so I'm a bit late, but a bit late is better than not at all. Let's get right into it.

The Recap

Louisville sits at 9-1 on the season and at 3-0 in conference. Already, they have matched both win totals from last season. This is impressive. The Cards lost their defensive captain in Inger Katrine-Bjerke and their offensive leader in Alison Price. So many players have stepped into their places seamlessly that it would be like listing the entire starting lineup to do so. That is what has made this Louisville team good so far this year: teamwork. You cannot point at the additional development of any individual player as the cause for this season's success. Everyone from last season (and the freshman) has stepped up in a major way. 

This shows in the stats sheets as well as the overall style of play. Louisville does their best when they string together possession and make the extra pass to open up scoring opportunities. So far this season, Louisville has scored 26 goals. 22 of those goals have been assisted. The Cards are moving the ball well, finding their spots on crosses, and not playing hero ball. For reference, the Cards scored only 27 goals all of last year. The 2017 statistics page is unavailable, so I can't find the exact assist numbers, but to only be behind the goal total by one with seven games remaining is impressive in and of itself. Of course, the 13 goals scored against Wright State and Eastern Kentucky help that number tremendously, but the ability to put up that kind of scoring volume speaks to itself. 

With 7 games to go, Louisville sits at 9 points in conference. They finished last season with 11, 2 points out of a tie for 8th place with Boston College. I say this because there are only 8 teams that make the ACC tournament. Louisville finished 10th in the ACC last year, missing the ACC tournament because of it, and ultimately missing the NCAA tournament due to lack of noteworthy performances down the stretch. The Cards will have plenty of opportunities to show their mettle and prove they are worthy of a tournament bid. TopDrawerSoccer has taken notice, ranking the Cards 25th this week after listing them as "also considered" last week. They also named Brooklynn Rivers the player of the week for last week, as Jared pointed out yesterday. Finding yourself in the rankings is positive, staying there is key.

The Players

I mentioned how everyone has stepped up so far this season, but just saying so doesn't quite do it justice. Over the course of this year, 15 different players have seen their name called for the start. Of the 15, 9 players have started all 10 games. 12 players have seen action in every game, and 7 players have logged more than 800 minutes. Leading in minutes are Sarah Hernandez, a freshman (!!!!) centerback, with 912 and Niamh Nelson, the ever dependable left back, with 911. As best I can tell, those two have been on the field for every minute of every game, and I'm not sure where the discrepancy comes from in their total. Callie McKinney joins the two defenders in the 900 club, and they are the only three players with more minutes than goalkeeper, Gabrielle Kouzelos. The other three over 800 are the other two defenders, Gabrielle Vincent and Arianna Ferraro, and the other central midfielder, Nadege L'Esperance. These players have been putting their soul into this team so far and have not dropped off from a fitness standpoint. What appears to be a lack of depth in the defense may be something to watch, but the dependability of the four back-liners has been astounding.

Offense has been a bit more of a revolving door. No player I would classify as "offensive" has logged more than an hour per game average, including former freshman phenom, Emina Ekic. Ekic has still had a solid season, finding herself in fourth on the team with 6 points, but her shot percentage is way down, and she's not producing at the rate we may have expected. Fortunately, Coach Karen Ferguson-Dayes has recognized that Ekic may not be infallible and has been willing to substitute her, showing a propensity to put what is best for the team on the field at any given moment. I think, in the past, Coach KFD has been more focused on having the most talented players on the field at all times, even when those players are not having their best nights.

Brooklynn Rivers has been as dominant as we could expect, but she has been surprisingly matched by a freshman, Maisie Whitsett. The two are tied atop the team with 18 points, but Rivers has been arguably the MVP, with 4 game winning goals (out of 7) to Whitsett's 3 (out of 8). While Louisville has won 9 games, only 8 of them have been credited with game winning goals, and Rivers and Whitsett account for 7 of those. The two aren't usually on the field at the same time, but I'd be interested to see what a formation change that allows the two of them to play together at the top might bring. Then again, they say "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." It doesn't appear to be "broke" so far.

Pacing the team-based offense I mentioned earlier has been Allison Whitfield, who leads the team with 5 assists. Whitfield has been playing in a much wider role than in the past and has been flourishing. She has enough speed and physicality to get around edge defenders, and Coach KFD trusts her to play on both sides of the field. She's creative with the ball and has exceptional placement with her crosses. Whitfield has been key in breaking down defenses, whether she's creating the final scoring chance or not, and that will need to continue for this team to see additional success late in the season.

The Future

Louisville has 7 conference games remaining before the conference tournament. One win will surpass their total for both overall and conference play last season and beat their points total from last season. Adding a couple of additional results to that next win should secure a spot into the conference tournament for the Cards. Unfortunately, the schedule is no pushover from here on out. Of seven games remaining, four come against teams ranked ahead of Louisville in this week's TDS poll. Louisville is lucky to avoid Boston College and Florida State this season, or the number of ranked teams would only increase. 

The big one-two punch comes in the next two games for Louisville. Saturday, the Cards will be in Chapel Hill to take on the fifth ranked Tar Heels. After that, they'll get less than a week to recover before taking on the third ranked Cavaliers of Virginia in Lynn Stadium. If the Cards can get out of those two games with at least one result, I'll be both shocked and ecstatic. My sights are set on the game following Virginia, against a lowly Miami squad at home on October 7th. The team will be coming off of a fairly short turnaround following the Virginia game, and confidence may be low. As I said, I'd be thrilled with a result from one of the next two matches, but I don't expect one. Miami will be an opportunity for Louisville to turn things around and get their confidence back. They absolutely cannot afford to come out with low confidence, play down to their opponent, and leave points on the table in a home match against a lower opponent. 

After Miami, Louisville heads to North Carolina again for three straight road games against Wake Forest, Duke, and NC State (the latter two of which are currently ranked). This will be a brutal road trip, but the Cards should come out of it with points. Wake is a middling team, and the Cards should be able to hold up against the Blue Devils and Wolfpack. Finally, the Cards return home for senior night against Virginia Tech on October 25th. VT is another middling team in conference, and that will be the final opportunity to pick up points heading into the tournament. Hopefully, Louisville will be jockeying for seeding and not inclusion for the ACC tournament, but we never know how the rest of this season will turn out. 

I'm looking forward to the rest of this season. I think that this Cardinal team is legit, and they have the talent and fortitude to make noise in the ACC regular season, ACC tournament, and potentially even the NCAA tournament. Let me know what you think about the Cards thus far and their potential for the rest of the year in the comments below.

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-

WSOC Shuts Out Notre Dame 2-0 -- A Look at the Weekend -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Women's Soccer Shuts Out Notre Dame

Louisville relied on second half goals by Brooklynn Rivers and Maisie Whitsett to defeat Notre Dame 2-0.  The victory propels the Cards to an 8-1-0 record and a 2-0-0 start in conference play.

The two conference foes, who currently play every other year, have had a history of close matches.  In 2016, the Irish won in double overtime at Lynn Stadium.  In 2014, Notre Dame claimed a 1-0 victory in South Bend.  Back tracking to 2011, the Cards defeated Notre Dame twice- 1-0 in South Bend and 2-1 in the Big East Tournament semifinals.

The Cards had a few opportunities to score in the first half and should have had a one- or two-goal lead, but the shots sailed over the crossbar.  If they were kicking field goals things would have been going great.

In the 60th minute, Mollie Rouse passed off to Allison Whitfield, who set Rivers from just outside the box.  Whitfield's ball crossed the box to the far side where Rivers had a height advantage over the defender to head the ball in.  The goal was the sixth of the season for the junior.

Whitsett added to the lead 18 minutes later.  Emina Ekic passed off to her right after drawing two
defenders her way.  Whitsett was there patiently waiting and had an angle, sending the ball in for her eighth goal of the season.

Goalkeeper Gabby Kouzelos had her hands full with a Notre Dame offense that was desperately trying to get onto the board  Kouzelos had Sports Center worthy saves, fighting to preserve the shutout.  She was credited with five saves on the night, but mixing her way into the defense a lot more than that.  Niamh Nelson helped Kouzelos out on one in the first half.  Kouzelous knocked the ball down on one of her saves but bounced toward a Notre Dame player.  Nelson slid in to kick it away and earn a save for herself.

In the post-game interviews, we got a golf cart drive-by during the Rivers interview and a train offered its congratulations at the end of the Karen Ferguson Dayes clip.



Video Interview with Brooklynn Rivers

POST GAME KAREN FERGUSON DAYES AFTER NOTRE DAME


A Look into the Weekend

--Friday, Sept 21

Women's golf visits Franklin, TN (Callie McKinney's hometown) for the Mason Rudolph Championship.  The Cards will compete with some of the best teams in the country.

Field Hockey visits Wake Forest.  The Cards claimed a victory at Trager last year in shootout fashion and the Demon Deacons are looking for revenge.  Wake Forest heads into the match 3-4 and unranked, but the ACC is too dominant of a conference to base things just off the record.

Volleyball visits NC State.  The Wolfpack has a similar record to the Cards, but could prove to be trouble in Raleigh if Louisville doesn't pick up the pace.  However, this is about where the Cards sat going into conference play last year so don't count them out.

Men's Soccer hosts Pittsburgh.  On paper the Cards should win, but it depends if they play like they did versus Kentucky or if they play like they did versus Duke.

--Saturday, Sept 22

Softball hosts an inter-squad scrimmage in preparation for their upcoming fall schedule.

Football visits Virginia.  This Cardinals team just looks bad and things could get ugly on the road
even against a lesser ACC team.

Women's Golf goes into the second day of the Mason Rudolph Championship.

--Sunday, Sept 23

Women's Golf wraps up play in Tennessee with hopes of another high finish.

Field Hockey visits Appalachian State.  They're 4-4 and barely breaking top 50 in the rpi.  On paper this should be an easy victory for UofL.  Never underestimate an opponent or you will regret it.

Volleyball visits North Carolina.  The Tar Heels are struggling this year, but they've owned the series against Louisville lately.  The Cards got the late season 3-2 thriller at home last year but had lost four straight since joining the ACC before that.

Women's Soccer hosts Syracuse for an early afternoon match.  Syracuse is so far down the list in rpi (223) that you'd need a big fishing pole to reach that far.  This could be a great opportunity to improve to 9-1-0 and start 3-0-0 in the ACC.  A win would almost solidify a top 25 spot in the next coaches poll.

There's not much happening on Floyd Street this weekend other than Lynn Stadium's busy weekend of Thursday, Friday, and Sunday so your best bet to catch any of the Cardinal Couple crew is the Sunday match.


ON A LIGHTER NOTE: 

Get your weekend off to a rousing start by checking out the clip below of Groucho Marx and crew singing the praises of Lydia the Tatooted Lady. 

Be warned, that song WILL stick in your head if you're not careful...the antics are hilarious as well. They don't write 'em like that anymore. 

LYDIA THE TATTOOED LADY

Happy Friday and Go Cards!

- Jared -

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 Split Sunday -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Field Hockey Notches Big Win

PHOTOS BY JARED ANDERSON

The defending national champions, Delaware, came to town this weekend to get a look at the site for this year's tournament. While they were here, they figured they'd play a couple of games, and Louisville made them wish they hadn't. Even without starting goalie, Ayeisha McFerran, Louisville was able to hold the Blue Hens, the team that knocked them (and multiple other ACC teams) out of last year's tournament, to only one goal. The Cards scored three of their own and took down the number three team in the country, setting themselves up for quite a rise in the rankings.

Much like their game against the Hoosiers, this game came down to penalty corners, with all 4 goals in the game coming by way of the set piece. Whena Munn got the scoring started for the Cards, scoring on a corner sixteen minutes in. This one was assisted by Marisa Martin Pellegrina, who once again proved how big of a contributor she can be for this team. Delaware drew level on a penalty corner of their own ten minutes later. The Cards were sharp on the attack today but Coach Sowry did point out in her post game comments that there were still a few glaring errors that they needed to work on and they would review the contest video to correct these.

Refusing to go into the half without the lead, Louisville forced another corner, and Minnie Mink scored her first goal of the season, assisted by Marigrace Ragsdale, with less than a minute and a half left in the first. The two later hooked up again to provide the final goal of the game and make the scoreline 3-1. Once again, Louisville's corner efficiency was the difference. Louisville converted on 75% (3-4) of their penalty corners and held Delaware to a mere 1-7 effort. The teams tied on shots on goal, and Hollyn Barr was up to the task, collecting 7 saves. Yes, she's feeling the lofty expectations of Jared Anderson...but was very excited to meet her game quota today. 

This was a huge win for the Cards, and one that makes a statement this early in the season. Delaware returned a lot of their team from last season's championship squad. Even if it turns out that their win last year was a fluke, they were still good enough to be in a position to win and writers felt they were good enough for their top 5 ranking this season. Don't forget, also, that they mangled IU on Saturday, with a final score of 7-0. Louisville's opening weekend showed a lot of promise. There is still the buzzsaw of the ACC which they'll eventually have to face, and the inevitable rematches come tournament time, but this team is starting to prove that they'll be a force to be reckoned with. They return to play on Friday when they travel to Ohio State.


PAULIE DISCUSSES DELAWARE WIN WITH COACH SOWRY


PAULIE AND MINNIE MINK ON THE WIN OVER BLUE HENS


GAME HIGHLIGHTS

Soccer Drops Rough Game Against Marquette

Louisville's unbeaten start to the season came to an end yesterday at the hands of the team picked to finish 3rd in the Big East. However, we all know that preseason rankings mean nothing, since Louisville defeated the team ranked second (DePaul) earlier this season. For the first time this season, Louisville was held scoreless, with Marquette netting the only two goals of the game in the second half. 

The game was very physical and inconsistently called, much to the ire of the Cardinal faithful. At one point, while Louisville fans expressed their anger after a Cardinal was pulled down in the box during a free kick, a Marquette fan yelled "Welcome to the Big East, Ferguson!" While I understand the sentiment to mean they play physically in the Big East, that doesn't make me want Louisville to play in that league. (By the way, I'd like to extend a huge credit to the traveling contingent of Marquette fans. It sounded like they took a bus down for the game and they were very passionate about their team. They were mostly respectful toward Louisville and cheered loudly for their team rather than against their opponent.) Marquette didn't just play physically, they fouled. A lot. And they got away with it. A lot. That's not to say Louisville didn't as well, but I'll come right out and say that there's no reason Louisville should have finished yesterday's game having been whistled more often than Marquette.

From my vantage point, it became clear that Louisville should have taken advantage of Marquette's aggression. The Golden Eagles liked to tackle on the ground, and they were good at it. However, they telegraphed their slides, and I think the Cards should have been more willing to pull the ball back and take a slide to the feet in order to get the call. Too often, the ball was given away when slowing down could have resulted in a free kick and potentially even a card. Louisville allowed Marquette to play as aggressively as they wanted, and didn't force discipline which might have changed their approach.

After a physical first half in which there were chances on both sides, the teams headed to the locker room scoreless. Louisville had a few real opportunities, but only tested the keeper once that I remember, on a ball to the near post. In hindsight, and I'm sure this was noticed by the shooter as well, a shot at the back post would have been an easy goal, with the keeper already leaning, but it wasn't meant to be. Something that I noticed during the first half was that Marquette appeared to be the better team from my vantage point. They swarmed on defense, which I found strange, but it worked for them. Despite their fouling, some of which was called and some not, they made good tackles. They cut into passing lanes. On offense they were more technical with the ball at their feet and put Louisville on their heels with passes in the offensive third. Louisville still had a chance, don't get me wrong. They weren't completely outmatched, but the little things add up.

Marquette opened the scoring 5 minutes into the second half on a penalty. The Marquette winger had carried Inger Katrine Bjerke down the bench side of the field and attempted to send a cross into the center. The ball struck KB and the side judge immediately began waving his flag. Hand ball in the box: penalty. The event was pretty far away from me and there was no replay, so I didn't get a great look. However, it looked to me as though the ball played the hand (meaning it was a natural position for KB and the ball struck her) which should not have been whistled. In fact, yesterday's referee had waved off multiple similar calls in the game. Nonetheless, Marquette's Ryley Bugay stepped to the spot and Gabby Kouzelos tipped her hand far too early. Bugay had a slow run to the ball and when Kouzelos took her first jump step to her right (probably encroaching), Bugay slotted it easily to Kouzelos' left. Marquette led 1-0. 

Louisville continued their aggressive pressure trying to level the game, and the over aggression led to the second goal. It is easy to imagine the scenario where a ball gets away from the offense and it leads to an easy counter attack. However, what happened yesterday was far more frustrating. Louisville was pushed up on the attack, with the back line probably 15 yards from the midfield stripe in their own half. A ball was sent through the defense which Kouzelos came to send away. I have been frustrated by some of her choices to come out for the ball before, and yesterday helped validate those frustrations. The defense could have probably retreated for this ball, but Kouzelos went herself to send the ball forward. Rather than give it a safe clearance, perhaps due to the aggressive nature of trying to equalize, she attempted to send the ball back up to the offense immediately. It was mishit, and fell straight to the feet of Marquette's Eli Beard. Beard sent the ball towards the net from about 40 yards out and it was a clear goal from the time it left her foot. Kouzelos, who had been about 10-15 yards outside of the box when she hit the ball, was retreating as quickly as she could, but the ball sailed over her head and into the net. Louisville tried valiantly to get one back as the game wore on but were unable to find the net.

While a frustrating loss, Louisville did show promise. They seemed a bit sluggish at times in the first half but were reinvigorated at half time and never gave up when they trailed. They will face stiff competition in the ACC but they showed resilience in this game that I believe will serve them well throughout the season. The Cards are back in action Friday night in the unfriendly confines in Lexington. The game is at 7:30PM and does not currently list any viewing options. There's a lot of season left, and there is plenty of time for Karen Ferguson-Dayes to clean up some of the issues the Cards have had so far.

PAULIE iNTERVIEWS COACH KFD AFTER MARQUETTE WITH A CAMEO TRAIN APPEARANCE

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-