Field Hockey, Volleyball Split Upsets -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

It was a night of upsets for Louisville athletics on Friday, with football taking the crown by knocking off #2 Miami in Hard Rock Stadium. Back at home, field hockey defeated Cal, who was ranked 19th. Unfortunately for volleyball, they weren't the underdogs Friday night in L&N Arena. Their upset wasn't huge, as SMU was ranked 8th, but the Cards fell in a 5-set thriller. Louisville women's soccer will look to continue the upset vibe tonight against #3 Virginia.

Field Hockey Beats Cal 3-1

Louisville field hockey flipped the script on how many of their games have played out last night by being the team to take control late. The Cards scored two goals in the fourth quarter to beat #19 Cal and earn their first ACC victory of the season. Last night's win moved Louisville to 1-4 in conference and got them back to .500 overall. Cal fell to 6-6 (2-4).

Louisville had all of the pressure early in this one, earning their first shot just four minutes into the game. The Cards would go on to have four shots in the first quarter and a penalty corner, but they could only put one on target, which was saved. Louisville won the shot battle 11 (6) to 5 (1) overall. Unfortunately for the Cards, Emily Young didn't earn a save, and Cal's only shot on target was a goal. 

Louisville's early pressure didn't pay off in the first quarter but they did find the back of the cage in the second. Izzy Bianco opened the game's scoring with her second goal of the season on a direct shot from a penalty corner. Gracie Potter sent the ball into play and earned the assist. The Cards looked like they'd head into the half with a 1-0 lead, but after holding the advantage for about ten minutes, Cal found a goal with just under a minute and a half remaining before the break. 

The two teams were scoreless again in the third, but this time Cal was able to keep the pressure a bit more balanced. The Golden Bears earned their first penalty corner of the match and prevented Louisville from scoring on two more chances. Both teams finished the third period with a pair of shots, and Louisville put one of those on target for a Cal save. 

In the final quarter, Louisville again applied early pressure. The Cards picked up the first shot of the quarter from open play with just over nine minutes remaining in the game, and it was another goal for Izzy Bianco. This one came off of an assist from Mary Wordelmann. Holding a one-goal lead is dangerous, so Rylie Wollerton wasted no time scoring her ninth goal of the season to give the Cards a 3-1 lead. That goal came just 18 seconds after Bianco's. Louisville had to survive two dangerous situations, one when Annabel Sep was shown a yellow card and Cal earned a penalty, and the other when Cal pulled their goal for the final four minutes. The Cards were content to maintain possession and not give up a potential counter attack, as neither team took a shot in that final four minutes. 

The Cards will get a week off now as they next face Virginia in Trager Stadium on Friday 10/24. 

SMU Beats Cards in Five

Louisville volleyball dropped the first set in last night's top-ten matchup, but they looked on course for a 3-1 victory after a tight third set. The Cards opened up a 14-11 lead in the fourth, but the Mustangs fought back and went on to win the set. Louisville fans were treated to extra volleyball in the fifth, but a three-point run after Louisville held match point doomed the Cards to a 3-2 loss. SMU ultimately won the match 25-22, 19-25, 24-26, 25-21, 19-17. 

Louisville's offense was figured out a bit in that pivotal fourth set, as the Cards had 11 errors, with five of those being blocks. The Cards had a combined 24 of their 30 errors in the three sets that they lost and SMU had 15 total blocks, with another four coming in the shortened fifth set. Whether that was a case of SMU adjusting to Louisville or the Cards just not being as crisp late in the match, it was definitely concerning. Louisville did win the block battle overall, 18-15. 

Another place that the Cards came up a bit short was in serve receive. SMU was extremely aggressive at the line, and it resulted in 16 service errors. It also resulted, though, in 10 aces. Kamden Schrand struggled particularly hard with the SMU serving game as she had five receiving errors. The Cards had just three aces and seven errors. While they were technically +3 in the net serving battle, giving up seven more aces than you hit is difficult to overcome from a momentum standpoint. 

The Cards were led offensively by the usual suspects, though no one for Louisville hit over .240. The Cards were .180 as a team. Payton Petersen led the way in kills with 18 on 47 attempts, but she also had 10 errors. Kalyssa Blackshear had the highest team hitting percentage and was second in kills with 17. She also led the team in attempts with 50. Chloe Chicoine hit .222 with 12 kills and Cara Cresse had 10 kills. SMU clearly keyed on Cresse in their preparations for this match. Louisville's star middle blocker had eight errors. 

Cresse and Hannah Sherman did what they normally do and led the way in blocks, with Blackshear close behind. Cresse had three solos and five block assists, while Sherman had 2/7 and Blackshear had 1/7. The other hitters didn't get involved in the block, but Nayelis Cabello had five block assists. While Schrand was bullied in serve receive, she was all over the floor defensively, as she had 23 digs. Chicoine was forced to defend her position as well, as she finished with 17. 

There's no rest for Louisville this weekend, as SMU's travel partner is Pittsburgh. The Cards will play another top-ten matchup on Sunday when the Panthers come to L&N. Tomorrow's match will begin at 1PM on ESPN. 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

We'll have three again this week as we chat about the week that was. There were some nice wins and some other big games to be played, so be sure to tune in. You can check out the show after it posts around 1PM, and be sure to subscribe so that it comes to your feed automatically. 

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Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Field Hockey Takes on Drexel -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Louisville Faces Drexel at 11AM

In a somewhat unusual scheduling set up, I'm left with a Saturday column with no games to recap. Volleyball had yesterday off, and field hockey's round robin event in Bloomington sees them play today and tomorrow instead of the traditional Friday and Sunday games. The Cards will take on the Dragons of Drexel University today before playing the hosting Hoosiers tomorrow. Today's game will be at 11AM, but no video is listed. 

Louisville and Drexel have met just one other time in history, with the Cards falling 2-1 at the hands of the Dragons in 2011. That one was a home match for Drexel, who were 8-4 at home that year. They struggled on the road, going just 1-4 and finished the season 10-9 overall. The Cards were a similar team that year, also going 10-9 and being much better at home (7-2) than they were on the road (2-6). Louisville's schedule back then was quite similar to this season. They also faced Michigan State, Indiana, Northwestern, Ohio State, California, Wake Forest, and Syracuse. Louisville will be looking for a better outcome against Drexel and on the season overall.

Drexel is coming off of a 3-0 loss to Indiana yesterday. The result moved the Dragons to 1-2 on the young season after they won their opener against Central Michigan and lost to Lafayette in game 2. Drexel has scored two goals and given up six so far this season. If Louisville's offense can do anything like what it did in the first two games, Drexel might see some problems. The start is not what Drexel had in mind. After a 14-5 season last year, a season in which they were undefeated in regular season Colonial Athletic Association play, Drexel would have been looking for a hot start to help avenge the sting of losing in the CAA tournament to Monmouth and missing the NCAA tournament. The Cards should try their best not to be the momentum starter for the Dragons this year. 

So far this season, Louisville's offense goes through Rylie Wollerton. The senior leads the team with five goals through two games and is one of just three players so far to record both a goal and an assist. Lauren Masters is second on the team in points by way of scoring two goals, and Izzy Bianco leads the team in assists with three. Gigi Edwards and Gracie Potter have each scored and assisted once. 

Defensively, the Cards have a full-time warrior in Annabel Sep. Other than Emily Young in the cage, the junior from The Netherlands is the only player to have recorded 120 minutes so far this season. Sep also has a goal on five shots. They must be very well conditioned in Holland, as Trijntje Herfkens has earned the second-highest minutes total among field players with 104. 

Louisville is looking to return to its winning ways. Prior to last season, Louisville had not failed to start the season at 3-0 since 2018. The Cards have had a lot of success under Justine Sowry, and everyone wants to be reassured that last season was a blip. Conference performance has been relatively steady at around .500 since joining the ACC, but last season's 1-7 mark was a black eye. While Drexel isn't the strongest opponent, this is Louisville's first test away from Trager Stadium, so a win today would help build their confidence for a tougher match against Indiana tomorrow. 

Best of luck to the Cards as they continue their season. We'll have results and an IU preview tomorrow. 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

It's three on board again this week with Jared on the road. Paulie, Daryl, and I will recap exciting results for all three fall sports before looking ahead to tougher matches on the horizon. You can check out the show after it posts around 1PM, and be sure to subscribe so that it comes to your feed automatically. 

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Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Cards Field Hockey Lands Three on CSC At-Large Academic All-District Team

 Bianco, Plumb, Osborne named to CSC At-Large Academic All-District Team

The qualifications for making the College Sports Communicators At-Large Academic All-District Team are being at least a sophomore academically and athletically at carry at least a 3.5 cumulative grace point average. The women's at-large team consists of the following sports: beach volleyball, bowling, rowing, fencing, field hockey, golf, gymnastics, ice hockey, lacrosse, rifle, skiing, and water polo. Women's athletics at UofL participates in four of these 12 sports  on the DI level...rowing, lacrosse, golf and field hockey. 

Let's look at the three "stick girls" that were named to the All-District team.

--Izzy Bianco is a senior midfielder out of Berlin, New Jersey. Athletically last season she ranked second on the team with five goals and three assists for 13 points. 

Aimee Plumb

--Aimee Plumb is a redshirt senior midfield/forward from Canterbury, Kent England. It is the fourth consecutive time that Plumb has been on the CSC At-Large Academic All-District Team. She finished her career at UofL as a three-time All-American, and scored four goals her final team. 

--Ashley Osbourne is a graduate senior as well. She was a defender out of Ballard High School in Louisville, KY. She was a starter as a junior and graduate senior, and played six games as a senior before getting injured as missing the rest of the season. 

The Field Hockey Cards went 6-11 overall last season and 1-7 in conference play. The 2025 season starts Friday, August 29th against Michigan State. They'll have two exhibition games prior to that against Bellarmine and at Miami (OH). 

paulie

Cards Get Big ACC Opening Win -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Field Hockey Beats Newcomer Stanford 2-0

Louisville field hockey welcomed Stanford to the league with a nice get-back win for the Cards, who shut out the Cardinal in their first ever ACC conference game. Louisville has had some hiccups this season so far, especially on the defensive end, but this win put them back over .500 at 4-3 and gives them their first back-to-back victories on the year. The shutout was especially welcome after a 4-3 barn burner against Cornell last time out. 

Stanford is on an extended road trip to the eastern time zone, as they came to Louisville for their midweek game as well. The Cardinal took on Bellarmine and won 4-0 to move to 5-1 on the season. This loss drops them to 5-2, and they'll go farther east to take on Virginia before returning to the Pacific coast. Virginia is ranked 3rd in the country, so it won't get any easier for Stanford going forward. The Cardinal had a relatively soft opening schedule, having played no ranked teams until Louisville. Their first loss was a 1-0 home defeat against Northeastern. 

It was a tense opening to the match, as the first quarter was the most offensively productive for both teams, but neither could find the back of the cage. Louisville finished the first with six shots and three penalty corners, but their two shots on frame were saved. Meanwhile, Stanford had three of their five total shots and two of their three shots on target in the first quarter. Brandelynn Heinbaugh was up to the task in the first, earning two saves to keep the match level. She'd earn her third and final save in the second. 

Stanford also had a save in the second quarter but it was followed up by Louisville's second shot of the quarter when Chloe Plumb slammed home the rebound from her own shot. That goal came with less than two minutes to go in the half, and it would ultimately prove to be the game winner. After halftime, Louisville had another productive quarter in the third, earning two penalty corners and a total of four shots. Three of those four were on target, including Izzy Bianco's goal off one of the penalty corners. That goal came halfway through the third, and neither team would score afterwards. 

Stanford had a shot off target in the fourth, but the game was more or less wrapped up by that point. Louisville finished with 12 total shots and put seven of them on frame. A 1/5 conversion rate on penalty corners isn't very good, but they held Stanford to 0/4 on their attempts. Despite the low conversion rate, Louisville was active on their penalty corners. The Cards earned a shot on each, with the first two being blocked, the next two being saved, and the fifth being the goal. Aimee Plumb tried very hard to match her sister in the opening stages of the third quarter, having her penalty corner shot saved, picking up her own rebound, and firing it back toward the cage. Unfortunately, that shot was also saved. 

As I mentioned, Louisville needed this win. They'd been reeling a bit and hadn't seemed quite as sharp as we're accustomed to. They'll head up the road to Ball State for a match tomorrow before returning to Trager and ACC play Friday night when the Boston College Eagles come to town. There's no better time to find your groove than the start of conference play, so let's hope the Cards can extend their streak to three games tomorrow before another tough test Friday. 

Softball Wins a Pair of Fall Ball Games

Louisville softball got their 2025 season off to a decent start last night in their first offseason fall ball scrimmages. The Cards brought in Bellarmine for a double-header at Ulmer and walked away with a pair of wins with a combined 21-5 score line. The first game was a bit tighter than the second, as Louisville earned a 9-4 win, but the 12-1 blowout was pretty encouraging. 

The Cards turned out pretty much the whole roster in the two games, giving Jared plenty of whiplash as he tried (unsuccessfully) to identify the new freshmen. Familiar names found the long ball in the second game, though, as Maddi Grant and Katie Thatcher hit home runs. 

Louisville will be back in action on October 6th against EKU in Richmond. 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

We're without Daryl this week as she tries not to melt like the ice in everyone's drinks at Bourbon and Beyond. Jared is going football tailgaiting with his fmily and then to the  Ga.Tech contest...but we'll have the rest of the crew on hand. We'll talk big wins for field hockey and volleyball for the most part, with various news and notes filling out the show. 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!

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Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Cards Head to Nexus Championship -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Field Hockey to be Represented by 8 at USA NXC

For the third year in a row, Louisville will be represented at the Virginia Beach Regional Training Center in mid-July. The 2024 USA Field Hockey Nexus Championship begins tomorrow, and is a shorter overall window, as it runs only until the 16th. NXC is an opportunity for players on the Team USA radar to come together all in one place to show their best for a chance to be selected to national team camps of all ages and to various levels of the national team squads.

This will be Louisville largest contingent of both active players and overall participation. The Cards will have four returning members and four incoming freshmen attending. Previous highs are three returners and five overall (2022 - three active Cardinals were joined by an incoming freshman and an alumna). After both joining Izzy Bianco in her second year last season, Lauren Masters and Sophia Parker will attend a second time this year. Bianco is not among attendees, as she has established herself with the program by being selected for the Junior Pan-American Championship team earlier this year. Masters and Parker are joined by Tyler Everslage and Rylie Wollerton from the Louisville roster. Also trialing for the senior teams are incoming freshmen Emily Eaton (MF/D - Charlotte, NC) and Megan Mauzy (D - Fisherville, KY). Louisville's last two representatives will be incoming freshmen participating in the U21 NXC. Those players are Alessia Cicuto (GK - Raleigh, NC) and Mary Wordelmann (MF/F - Mickleton, NJ).

We wish the best of luck to all the Cardinals (and all players really) participating for a chance to represent their country in the sport they love.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

I'm out again this week, but the show returns. There will be four on the call, so be sure to tune in to hear more from Daryl after her chat with Coach AB. There will be more news and notes to cover as well, plus a regular helping of the standard nonsense. 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

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Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

FIELD HOCKEY's Izzy Bianco Selected for USA Field Hockey squad. -- wEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

BIANCO MAKES TRAVEL ROSTER FOR PAN AM NATIONALS

izzy Bianco, who will be a junior on the 2024 :Louisville Field Hockey squad, has earned a special honor, in being selected for the 2024 USA U-21 roster. The Cards also landed Lauren Masters and Rylie Wollerton as non-travelling alternates on the squad. 

18 student-athetes were named to the travel roster, and they survived three elections camps and a training camp to make the squad, that will participate in the Junior Pan Am Championships, which will be held June 26-July 12th in Surrey, British Columbia.Canada

The event is a qualifier for 2025 FIH Hockey Junior World Cup.

 

Bianco started in 14 of Louisville's 22 games in 2023 and scored a goal in the Cards 15-7 season.  The Cards advanced to the second round of the ACC Tournament Quarterfinals, where they were eliminated by Duke 0-1 and also made and advsanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament Quarterfinals, where Northwestern knocked them off 2-3. at Northwestern. 

Bianco hails from Berlin, NJ and the midfielder was also a 2022 selection for the US U-21 squad. She led her high school squad to four conference and two back-to-back state titles. She also holds the New Jersey all-time record for assists (Career and single season). 

ACC Field Hockey will get a big boost to the league roster when Cal and Stanford join the league in August.

Our congrats and best wishes to Izzy for being reognized aabd selected as one of the best in college field hockey and we all here at Cardinal COUPLE are confident she'll have  top notch run with USA. 

We will post the result of USA here and will also list the 2024 Louisville field Hockey schedule on the right hand side of the site when it is finalized and released. 

paulie

Cards Pick Up Top-Ten Win -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Field Hockey Knocks Off No. 7 UVA

Louisville field hockey faces a tough schedule every year by virtue of being in the ACC, a league not far removed from having all 7 teams make the NCAA tournament. This is nothing new, and the Cards have been one of the teams making conference play a nightmare for others. Something that comes along with that tough conference schedule, though, is benefit of the doubt that may run out if you aren't consistently winning some of those conference games. Last year the Cards went 1-5 in conference on their way to finishing 12-8 overall. They were still well regarded for the most part, but it's important to show that was a fluke and not a new normal.

Louisville got on their way to proving the doubters wrong yesterday with a 2-0 victory over seventh-ranked Virginia. It was a home match, sure, but it was still a ranked win and a shutout, Louisville's second straight. The Cards used a goal in the second to take momentum into the locker room and scored another in the fourth to ice the game. Defensively, Louisville had Virginia locked down, as the Hoos only managed a pair of shots on goal, both in the fourth quarter. On the whole, Louisville outshot UVA 7-5 and put six of their seven shots on target.

As they did last week, Louisville came out firing, earning a penalty corner in the first five minutes of the game. The ensuing shot was blocked, and neither team would do much for the remainder of the first period, aside from a pair of shots that missed the cage by UVA. The second started as slowly as the first ended, but a substitution bringing Aimee Plumb on halfway through the quarter paid off immediately. Fifteen seconds after the substitution, Louisville earned a penalty corner. Chloe Plumb played the ball in to her older sister, who laid it off for Minna Tremonti to put the Cards up 1-0. Before the end of the half, Aimee Plumb nearly doubled Louisville's advantage, forcing a save by UVA on a shot from open play.

The third quarter was passive once more, with neither team making many inroads into the opposing defense. Louisville finished the quarter with only substitutions on the stat sheet, while UVA had one shot blocked. The Hoos also picked up their first of three yellow cards in that third quarter. In the fourth, things got a bit more frantic. Virginia opened the quarter with possession, pushing hard for the equalizer and forcing Merlijn van der Vegt into action two minutes in. Another yellow card followed shortly after the shot, and Louisville went to work with their advantage. The Cards earned a corner in the 51st minute and saw three consecutive shots saved.

A couple of minutes after that heroic effort, Louisville earned another penalty corner and made sure to put the first shot home. Lara Niebler put the ball in play to Mia Duchars, who sent it to Izzy Bianco. Bianco fired it home to put the Cards up 2-0 and make the remainder of the match much more comfortable. Less than a minute later, UVA tried to cut the deficit back to one, earning a penalty corner and forcing van der Vegt's second save. Despite their 2-0 mountain to climb, Virginia never pulled their goalie, trying to play traditionally to get back into the game. It didn't work, and Louisville moved to 1-1 in conference play.

The Cards needed a win like yesterday's. Before the Miami match, Louisville's only shutout had been in the 1-0 win against Northwestern. After yesterday's game, Louisville has two straight shutouts and have won three straight by multiple goals since losing the conference opener at UNC. Those three multiple goal wins are Louisville's only of that type since the season opening 3-1 win against Northeastern. The Cards now get another weekend at home before a strong late season stretch. Louisville faces Wake Forest next Friday with a chance to beat their ACC record from last season before taking on CMU on the following Sunday. After that, Louisville goes on the road to face IU and Duke before returning home to host Iowa and Syracuse. That's an extremely difficult four-game stretch and another pair of wins ahead of it will do wonders for the team's confidence.

You can hear all about what Coach Justine Sowry had to say after the game and hear from the goal scorers at the links below.

Minna Tremonti and Izzy Bianco Postgame

Justine Sowry Postgame

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

We'll have four in play for today's show, with Daryl riding the wave of the Ohio River Valley fall allergy season. Dr. Paulie has prescribed a handful of Hot Toddies with double bourbon to clear the sinuses so we'll hope to get her back in the game for next week. (Although it might be fun to talk with her today after a few of the "remedies") There's plenty to discuss this week, with Louisville seeing wins from field hockey and volleyball and a top-ten matchup for women's soccer this evening. 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

Google Podcasts: Link

Overcast (free account required): Link

Pocket Casts (free account and app required): Link

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Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

All photos by Jared Anderson

Fall Sports Breakout Candidates -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

One week! Yes, we are officially one week away from the first official regular match of any sport for the 2023-2024. Louisville women's soccer hosts Indiana State at 7:30 pm ET on August 17. We expect all home games to be aired on ACCNX if not on one of the linear channels.

Each team has returners that have already locked in their place as a leader and go-to player, but each season we see other players step up into bigger roles and sometimes have a breakout season. I'll take a stab at guessing who might have a breakout role this team.

There's almost no rules or requirements to make the list other than you can't already be a breakout star for a team For example, Aiko Jones for volleyball and Aimee Plumb are already stars that heavily contribute to their teams. We already have seen what they do and expect that again so it wouldn't be a breakout season.

Field Hockey

Izzy Bianco- Bianco is sophomore this season that saw action in every game last season as a reserve that spent the offseason with the Team USA U21 team. As a midfielder, she might not be one of the top scorers but will play a big factor on the offense. Someone who can help with possession and disrupt the passing lanes in the midfield can make or break a game.

Rylie Wollerton- Wollerton played in every game and scored two goals as a freshman last year. She showed glimpses of how strong she can be on offense and has a good shot at doing that this season. Aimee Plumb and Emilia Kaczmarczyk draw most of the attention on offense, which opens the door for Wollerton to have a sneaky breakout year.

Soccer

Addie Chester- Chester started 12 games and appeared in 15 games in her rookie campaign, but was limited two assists. She plays more of an offensive midfield position and holds the Indiana high school state record for goals scored in a season. For a Louisville team that had major offensive struggles last year, Chester is in prime position for a breakout season.

Lizzie Sexton- Sexton saw 13 starts in 16 appearances last season as a freshman. A true midfielder, Sexton can push forward to take an offensive role, but can easily fall back to support the defense. Her candidacy for a breakout role doesn't rely on how many goals she scored, but how much she can assist a defense that lost both Sarah Hernandez and Anouk Denton in the offseason. 

Volleyball

Charitie Luper- Okay, so Jeff will argue and tell me Luper can't have a breakout season after a strong two seasons at UCLA, but most of the expected primary role players are returning from the last couple years. While Luper had a strong two years at UCLA, she has a chance to take her game to the next level, especially in a position where she could replace Claire Chaussee. Being slightly undersized means nothing with the hops Luper has.

Hannah Sherman- The battle for the middles continues. PK Kong and Cara Cresse battled it out with Amaya Tillman last season. Tillman graduated and Sherman has the chance to jump into the spotlight. Even last season, she wowed the coaches in practice and having a full year under her belt now, the power Sherman provides can make her one of the best offensive middle blockers in the conference.

I haven't gotten a chance to see any live action from any players or sports since last season so there's a lot of assuming on my end here. Let's hope we see some of these players- or other players- have breakout seasons.

Happy Thursday and Go Cards!

Jared

Field Hockey ekes by Bellarmine 2-1 in rain-shortened match -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 CARDS FINISH PRESEASON EXHIBITION SEASON WITH WIN OVER KNIGHTS 2-1

In a rain-shortened Sunday exhibition against Bellarmine, Louisville came from behind to knock off the Knights 2-1 at Trager Stadium. The Cards went deep into the roster in this final exhibition, playing all but four players (holding them out presumably because of injuries?) on an afternoon where weather eventually defeated both squads and the contest was called midway through the final quarter. 

UofL requested that I not use names of any of the student-athletes in the exhibition, which, I understand...due to "peeping eyes". It makes a write up a bit more difficult, but we can't go divulging any Cardinals student-athlete superlative performances to the likes of Bucknell or Penn State or ACC foes, can we now?  (Not that there were a trunkful of those on a day where stats would be a bit misleading to someone if they were reading them with no idea of the final score.) So, I only used the names that were used in the Go Cards write up.

A weather delay (because of lightning in the area) pushed the start time back to 2:05 (from a scheduled 1 p.m. beginning) -- the fans were asked to leave the stadium but started lining up to get back in once the skies cleared. It looked to be about an equal amount of fans for Bellarmine and Louisville in the east-side bleachers at Trager..

 Bellarmine does have nine players on their roster from the Louisville area or Oldham County. 

The Cards had 19 shots in the contest, 12 on goal -- while Bellarmine had just six shots (four in the first quarter) and only two were on goal. But, Bellarmine found success with just five minutes gone in the contest when Anna Crump converted on a penalty corner attempt. Louisville dominated in the penalty corner department, too -- 14 to 2 -- and the Cards did get the tying goal on a penalty corner conversion with 9:45 gone in the contest...freshman Izzy Bianco doing the scoring

The Cards defense stiffened up considerably after the first quarter and a lot of the second quarter action took place with Louisville on attack in Bellarmine territory. The tie score held firm, though, and the squads went to the half knotted at 1-1

After the half. the Cards took eight shots in the third quarter, but none of them scored a goal. To use an old term that a Louisville coach used years ago, we all love shooters but we prefer makers. Bellarmine got just one shot in the entire second half, so one could surmise that the Cards were the dominant offensive threat in the final 30 minutes. Louisville went ahead when Katie Schneider fired, missed, got the rebound and successfully scored on her second attempt. The deciding goal came with about nine minutes left in the fourth quarter. 

Lightning was spotted about a minute later and action was halted again. The fans were asked to go through the same exit drill, except this time they did not return. After waiting a while to see if things would clear, the officials and coaches made a determination that conditions didn't appear to be getting any better and the match was called. 

Bellarmine led Louisville in one category and that was in saves. They recorded 10, while the Cards two goalies that saw action had just one. 

We did not get a post-game interview with Coach Sowry or any of the Cardinals student-athletes after this one. The SID staff seemed anxious to get to another event with one of the other women's squads at the north end of the campus, and there wasn't anyone around to interview, anyway, if we had wanted an interview or two. So, off we went into the rain, which miraculously, began to lighten as we trudged toward the vehicle.  

So, the Cards take off to begin the regular season in University Park, PA next week -- where they'll face Bucknell on Friday and home standing Penn State on Sunday.  

Color me surprised that Louisville managed just two goals on the Knights. Either Bellarmine has gotten worlds better since they joined Division I and the MAC Conference...or this Louisville team isn't very good yet.  It is early, though, and maybe the Cards need a bit more time to jell on their passing and shooting. The Cards roster list looks impressive. Let's hope they play better against someone who isn't in the MAC next week. Identical 2-1 wins in the preseason, one against league favorite and one against lower level predicted Bellarmine. 

We'll see. The season hasn't officially begun and the Cards are young. Stay tuned. 

(PHOTOS BY JARED ANDERSON)

paulie

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Cards Vie to Represent USA -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Field Hockey Sends Four to Nexus Championship

Formerly known as the Young Women's National Championship, the USA Field Senior Nexus Championship is a step on the Olympic Development Pathway Program. The invite list for the event is 144 players long and includes all eligible players from the Rise, U-21, Development, and Senior US Women's National Field Hockey teams as well as other high school, collegiate, and post-grad players that have trialed and trained at one of the USA Field Hockey High Performance Centers this spring.

The Louisville representation for this year's event includes three currently rostered athletes, one being an incoming freshman, and a recent graduate. Carter Ayars won't have known any of the other three, having graduated before they arrived, but it will be the first opportunity that Mia Duchars and Jane Ramsey will get to play with and against Izzy Bianco. The event is to be held in Virginia Beach from July 17 to 22.

Six T&F Athletes Competing to Qualify for Worlds

It shouldn't surprise you to hear that the six Track and Field athletes from Louisville that will compete for spots in the World Athletics Outdoor Championships are names that you've heard a lot recently. Five will be attempting to qualify for the Championship event held on July 15-24 in Eugene, Oregon while one, Ty McPhail, will compete for the U20 event, which will be held in Cali, Colombia on August 1-6. 

Hayward Field at the University of Oregon will host the 2022 event, making it the first time the event has been held on US soil. Hayward Field will also host the Toyota USA Track & Field Outdoor Championship, the qualifying event, on June 23-26. Gabriela Leon, Aliyah Welter, Trey Allen, Sterling Warner-Savage, and Jeremiah Willis make up the UofL contingent at the event. Leon and Welter will both compete in the pole vault. Leon will look to continue her success after winning the national championship and being named the USTFCCCA Southeast Region Outdoor Field Athlete of the Year.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

As Daryl mentioned yesterday, she'll be out today, but we'll have three and a half voices to bring you this week's show. Jeff only represents half a voice today at his own admission due to a bit of "overcelebration." Gravelly voices aside, we'll do our best to keep a good show on deck for everyone. 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!