HAPPY LABOR DAY and...A Successful Sunday -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

TAKE THE DAY OFF...YOU'VE EARNED IT! 

Labor Day, by definition...falls on the first Monday of September and is a creation labor of the labor movement...dedicated to the social and economic achievements of the American workers. A yearly national tribute to the advancement of the workers whose strength, achievements and successes of our labor force that has made our nation so powerful and strong. It's also a great time to get together with family, friends or fellow laborers and take the day off...attending picnics and enjoying fellowship.   

We at CARDINAL COUPLE wish you a happy Labor Day and get out the grill and cooler!  


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FIELD HOCKEY DOWNS THE SPIDERS 5-1

Louisville Field Hockey earned their day of rest today by shutting down the Richmond Spiders Sunday afternoon in Trager Stadium 5-1. Louisville struggled a bit with the "web-dwellers" for the first ten minutes before senior Lotta Kahlert took the ball inside the circle and fired a shot past Richmond goalkeeper Amanda Hoyt for the first score of the contest. 

Richmond wasn't ready to concede just then, though, and evened the contest up three minutes later on a breakaway...Hannah Thompson on a one-on-one knocking one past Cardinal net-defender Ayeshia McFerran. The teams failed to score again, although the Cards were getting plenty of chances, until UofL freshman Minout Mink took a great feed from Shannon Sloss and buried it with only 67 seconds left in the first half...to give Louisville the 2-1 lead at the intermission. 

Kahlert gave the Cards a bit of breathing room at the 43:33 mark...driving a shot off the goalie's pads to increase the Cardinal lead to 3-1. Four minutes later...it was time for the Stephanie Byrne show. She got her first score unassisted in the front of the cage and also provided the Cards final score of the contest when Whena Munn delivered her a nice setup with 6:37 left in the game. CARDS WIN! CARDS WIN! 5-1.

McFerran was rock solid between the pipes...maybe a little more action than she has been used to this season...but had five saves in her 70 minutes of play. Louisville dominated the shooting stats...17 to 6 on total shots and 10 to 6 with shots on goal.

Louisville goes to 4-0 with the win and hits the road again next week...with a Friday afternoon match at Central Michigan and a stop at Michigan State on Sunday. 

LINK: Paulie's Stephanie Byrne Interview:  STEPHANIE BYRNE

LINK: Paulie's Justine Sowry interview:   JUSTINE SOWRY



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WSOC HALTS HARVARD 3-1

Sunday night brought the Harvard Crimsons to Lynn Stadium to face Karen Ferguson Dayes' Louisville women's soccer squad and the Cards emerged victorious 3-1 in what was absolutely perfect weather.

There has been a trend off and on this season of one player getting multiple goals in a contest and it was freshman Brooklynn Rivers turn to join that club...getting Louisville's first two scores last night. 

Havard tried a little trickery to begin the match...attempting a midfield shot at the very start of the game...fortunately the ball hit the top bar and goalie Taylor Bucklin was able to collect it before any damage could be done. 

Rivers countered three minutes later with a score...off a sweet feed from Sarah Feola (who hasn't left for the Canadian National tryouts yet) and Rivers...a Ft. Thomas, KY (Highland H.S.) resident collected her second tally ten minutes later when Jill Vetere fed her on a breakaway. 

A Harvard score made it 2-1 but...the Cards added the insurance goal to end the first half scoring when another freshman in Arianna Ferarro pounded the net from yet another Vetere set-up. 

A defensive struggle ensued over the final 45 minutes of the action...Louisville ending with a 13 to 8 shot advantage and 7-2 shot on goal edge. 

Louisville (4-1-1) stays home again for their next two...hosting Ball State in a Cardinals vs. Cardinals matchup Friday night and Belmont Sunday. Post-games quotes interviews below. 


LINK:  Post-game Coach KFD   KAREN FERGUSON DAYES

LINK:  Post-game Jill Vetere    JILL VETERE


paulie
xxxxx

WSOC gets third shutout in a row with 4-0 win over Toledo -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

WOMEN'S SOCCER OFF TO BEST START SINCE 2012

Confidence.

It was the rapid reply from Coach Karen Ferguson Dayes during our post-game interview when I asked her what the squad could gather out of this 4-0 win over Toldeo...and as they prepare for Kentucky on Friday night at Lynn Stadium. 





Confidence.

The attitude junior mid-fielder/attacker Alison Price exuded when she talked about the difference between this year's squad and the 2015 version. Confidence and comfortability in her teammates. 

Louisville women's field hockey gathered their third straight 4-0 victory of the season in front of a sweltering crowd at Lynn Stadium Sunday and wasted no time in taking the lead. I barely had time to sit down after the National Anthem (yes, I did remove my cap and mouth the words) when the Cards took the opening offensive sequence and got a score from freshman Sarah Feola off a nice cross set up by Brooklynn Rivers just 21 seconds into the contest. 

It is easy to be confident when your team is doing most of the scoring and the opponent struggles just to get off shots against you. All told, in four regular season matches and two exhibition contests...Louisville has allowed two goals. 

What is just as impressive and confidence-building is that the Cards have scored 13 goals in building their 3-0-1 record. In 16 games last year, they totaled 15 goals. 

Louisville pushed yesterday's match to a 3-0 halftime advantage...getting a score from Price 20 minutes in when she schooled the goalie on a one-on-one maneuver and a late score with 71 ticks left in the first half from senior Caroline Kimble on a "bloop" kick over Toledo goalkeeper
Katie Wilson's head following a deflection by Rivers. 

Heat, substitutions (the Cards played 11 non-starters throughout the second half) and maybe a bit of fatigue from playing their second game in less than 48 hours limited Louisville to one goal in the final 45 minutes. It was a beauty though...sophomore Jill Vetere getting loose on a cross and firing one off the left post that bounced in.


What was just as impressive was Vetere's post-score celebration...where she took down Price with a full leap/jump/sack that Cards' football defensive coordinator Todd Grantham would have been proud of. 

The Cards held a 22-7 shot advantage and 11-2 shots on goal edge. Taylor Bucklin had both the Louisville saves...in her first strenuous athletic efforts since she was asked to pass the fried chicken at the 4th of July picnic. Tory Gabor spent the final 22 minutes between the posts for the Cards...a goalie Coach KFD is very impressed with and the probable successor to Bucklin when she graduates. 

All told, the Cards had four different scorers from four different classes (freshman, sophomore, junior and senior). They are off to their best start since they opened 6-0 back in 2012. That team went 10-4-4 and had their win streak stopped by UK. Guess who is next on the 2016 schedule for the Kickin' Cards? Yup, the Big Blue.

Confidence. 

It's a wonderful thing to establish early in a season with a roster that is so young (11 freshmen and 5 sophomores) but also blessed with three returning starters on defense and the incredible Bucklin between the pipes. 

"Whaddya mean you haven't got our UK versus UofL tickets yet?"

Yesterday, another home game, another shutout win and another four goals scored. Another confidence builder. Friday is when confidence will meet competition in a crucial contest concerning two camps that are colliding at a critical confluence in their seasons. 

The Cats are 0-2-2 to start the year. Yesterday's match in Lexington against Northwestern ended in a cancellation after 45 minutes of play due to rough weather. I heard reports of torrential rain. August weather. Always unpredictable once you get past the heat guarantee.

We hope Kentucky doesn't come to town and rain on Louisville women's soccer parade. The Cats might be a little confident...and rightfully so, since they've won the last five matchups against the Cards and have posted shutouts in the last four. 

Time to shine, Louisville. Celebrate this last one a bit longer and then get ready for the Battle of the Bluegrass. 

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Catch my post-game interviews with Coach KFD and Alison Price at the two links below. I even snuck my head and cap into camera view at the start of these. 

Confidence...it even extends to the senile old guy doing the post-game chats.

POST GAME WITH KAREN FERGUSON DAYES

POST GAME WITH ALISON PRICE




paulie
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Field Hockey, WSOC record shutouts on Sunday -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Sunday women's sports for UofL produced two shutouts...the Field Hockey team downing the Chippewas from Central Michigan 3-0 and Women's Soccer taking to the road to get a 1-0 blanking of North Carolina State. 

DEFENSE RULES THE DAY IN TRAGER

The Cards couldn't have been too anxious about 1-15 Central Michigan coming for a Sunday visit...but the guests gave Louisville a tough battle in the first half of this non-conference contest...keeping Louisville off the board in a scoreless first half.

Not that the Cards didn't have a wealth of opportunities to put numbers in place of zeros on the scoreboard....Louisville outshot CMU 13-0 and had a 8-1 edge on corners in the first 35 minutes...but the Chippewa defense was holding.

Whatever Coach Justine Sowry said or stratagized during the break had an effect. Louisville scored just five minutes into final half action when Tess Hannah took a Chile Garcia inbounds on a penalty corner and the freshman connected to give UofL a 1-0 lead. 

Louisville kept the offense pressure up and it paid off again with 18 minutes remaining in play. Another penalty corner that had Hannah providing the inbounds set to sophomore Nicole Woods...who placed her seventh goal of the year into the net to put Louisville up by two.

The UofL defense continued to stymie the visitors. Louisville added a third score with 2:07 left on another penalty corner...Erin McCrudden knocking home a feed from Garcia. 

UofL (11-5) had 26 shots in the contest, compared to CMU's two. Goalie Ayeisha McFerran gets her eight shutout of the season while recording two saves. The Cards had 21 corner opportunities...the Chippewas two. 

Next up is Spartie...Michigan State comes to town for a Friday, Oct 30th. match that'll begin at 1 p.m.

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KICKIN' CARDS SHUT OUT THE WOLFPACK

Faced with the prospect of being on the road, being mathematically eliminated from the ACC Tournament and needing two wins to end the season to keep any NCAA Tournament hopes alive...Louisville women's soccer responded with a 1-0 win over North Carolina State Sunday in Raleigh, NC. 

Freshman Jill Vetere provided the lone score in the ACC contest...following up on a Rachel Avant shot attempt and sending in into the net from about 20 yards out in the 26th. minute of the first half. 

Louisville kept the offensive pressure up to start the second half and had several shot attempts go wide...the defense kept NC State at bay the final 45 minutes and the Cards take a hard-fought win on the road to improve to 8-7-2 and 4-4-1 in the ACC. 

Taylor Bucklin picked up five saves in the match and gets her fifth shutout of the season. The Cards won the statistics battle with 12 shots to NC State's 10 and a 4-2 corner kick advantage. 

Karen Ferguson-Dayes squad finishes the regular season on Halloween night in Winston-Salem, NC for a 7 p.m. match against Wake Forest. Louisville is in eighth place in the ACC...which is considered the strongest conference in women's soccer...and a win against cellar-dweller Wake Forest might be the difference between getting an NCAA at-large bid or ending their season. 

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GOLF TIED FOR FOURTH AFTER DAY ONE

The University of Louisville women's golf team is tied for fourth in the standings after the first day of competition at the Palmetto Intercollegiate in Kiawah Island, S.C.

The Cardinals compiled a 2-over-par 290 through 18 holes of play despite a slow start on the front nine and trail the overall leader Campbell by four strokes. All teams return to the Turtle Point Golf Course for the second round today at 8:30 a.m. ET, teeing off on hole No. 1.

Seniors Laura Restrepo and Katie Mitchell carried Louisville on Sunday, and both are tied for 11th on the individual leaderboard after carding a 1-under-par 71. Both finished their first nine holes at 1-under-par and capped the day with three birdies apiece. It is Restrepo's third round even or below par this year and the fourth for Mitchell.

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2016 FUNDRAISING DRIVE

Covering UofL women's sports gives CARDINAL COUPLE the opportunity to witness a lot of great athletic events and also be witness to a lot of community out-reach programs that women's sports at UofL are involved in. Breast Cancer Awareness, Juvenile Diabetes, Military Appreciation...just a few of the many ways that Cardinal Athletics helps deserving and charitable organizations. 

Our commitment to covering these squads who give back to the community is a labor of love and commitment as well. CARDINAL COUPLE is a non-profit L.L.C. that is staffed and ran by volunteers. We don't charge our readers for any of our content, there are no "premium" or "exclusive" levels or "pay per view" options. 

Any monies we raise that don't go into our operations are passed on to these sports programs and also the charitable organizations they support. In 2015, Cardinal Couple has been able to donate $500 to sports programs at UofL and also fund charitable causes in our community. 

Please help us help these deserving and worthy organizations again in 2016. Sponsorships of any kind can be mailed to:

CARDINAL COUPLE LLC
PO BOX 91521
LOUISVILLE, KY  40291

or...via PayPal

Donate to Cardinal Couple via PayPal

 

Thank you for your consideration.

paulie
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