ACC Awards -- Looking at Fall Sports Regular Seasons -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Happy Halloween! Today, we look at plenty of tricks and treats going on in the realm of Louisville women's sports.

ACC Awards

Field Hockey Places Three on All-ACC Teams

Louisville field hockey had three players named to the All-ACC Teams. Mia Duchars was named to the All-ACC First Team while Mia Emilia Kaczmarczyk and Julie Kouijzer were named to the All-ACC Second Team. You mean to tell me that players like Aimee Plumb and Merlijn van der Vegt didn't place? Get Out. That seems like a bunch of Hocus Pocus to me.

This is the first all-conference honor for Duchars, who was a crucial part of the defense while also playing a role with transitional offense. Duchars logged four assists and scored the game-winning goal in overtime at Boston College to close out the regular season.

Kaczmarczyk is having her best season of her five-year career with the Cards. The English native also earned her first all-conference honors while recording five goals and having two assists. Opposing defenses would get Goosebumps when Kazzy lined up for a shot.

Kouijzer has been the last line of defense for the Cards for several years, and has helped captain and direct the defense from her position. The defense allowed less than one goal per game this season. The Dutch native was also a force to be reckoned with on penalty corners, with three goals and three assists.

Louisville enters the ACC Tournament as the 3-seed and will face 6-seed Boston College today at 6:00 pm ET in Charlottesville. You can catch it on tv on ACC Network. Louisville has reached the ACC Finals before but has never won the title before. Will this year be The Shining moment for them?

Volleyball with Two Weekly Award Winners

Elle Glock was named ACC Setter of the Week. The redshirt sophomore tallied 64 assists over the weekend for an average of just over 10 assists per set. Her 34 assists and 10 digs against Florida State led to her first double-double of the season.

Elena Scott was named ACC Defensive Player of the Week. The junior libero 20 digs in the sweep over Florida State, her first 20+ dig match of the season. She had 13 more assists in the sweep over Miami. She added 10 assists and a pair of aces over the weekend. Scott is a Hellraiser for opposing offenses, who think they have an easy kill before she comes diving in at the last season with the dig.

The Cards have six regular season games left this season. They visit Georgia Tech this Friday. Ready or Not, the Cards are coming for you, Georgia Tech.

Louisville has advanced to two straight Final Fours and finished last season as National Runner-Up. Will this season be the season that UofL earns The Ring they have been chasing after?

Looking Back on Fall Sports Regular Seasons

Women's Soccer

For Louisville women's soccer, this season was certainly one to make you Scream. The Cards finished 4-9-5 this year with a 3-5-2 mark in conference play. It seemed like it was all a part of a Scary Movie. While it doesn't compare to Louisville men's basketball going 4-28 last season and starting the season on a nine-game losing a streak, a true Nightmare Before Christmas, this season's results don't bode well for a team full of talent.

UofL WSOC lost four games by one goal each. Turn those into draws or turn some of the five draws into wins and this season has a much better result. 9-4-5 looks world's better than 4-9-5. They did record a couple good wins over Pitt and Duke. Perhaps the Cards were in the hands of Malignant after battling several injuries.

We will be Conjuring up good vibes for next season. We do not know of any players that might be transferring out or in for the 2024 season.

After several years of failing to qualify for the NCAA Tournament, the Lynn Stadium offices probably feel like The Little Shop of Horrors as they figure out how to fix that for next year. 

Field Hockey

For the most part, Louisville field hockey had a strong season, going 13-5 on the year. However, a loss to Duke on Friday the 13th sparked a four-game losing streak towards the end of the season that turned a definite NCAA Tournament appearance into one that is a little bit more questionable. I still think their overall record and rpi should be enough to get in regardless of the results from the conference tournament.

So, who did the Cards call during their losing streak? Well, it wasn't the Ghostbusters. Justine Sowry got her team back to focusing on the basics and trying to loosen back up. It definitely felt like there was something Sinister afoot but Louisville bounced back with a win at Boston College to close out the regular season.

They now prepare for the ACC Tournament and hopefully the NCAA Tournament. IT is time to get the postseason started at 6:00 pm today. UofL is coming off a visit to Boston College where they snatched a win from the Jaws of defeat and now will Duel it out again tonight.

Volleyball

The volleyball regular season isn't over quite yet. With six games remaining, the Cards are 20-2 on the year and hold an 11-1 mark in conference play. You can't help but Smile at the 14 sweeps this year for Louisville, including those over rivals Kentucky and Pitt.

Even though Louisville's home arena isn't much bigger than The Cabin in the Woods or The Last House on the Left...the arena is regularly pushing capacity. They did break 12,000 at the KFC Yum! Center earlier this season and have had great numbers in all three appearances downtown. A rocking KFC Yum! Center crowd is enough to Haunt any opposing team's dreams. It is definitely the opposite of A Quiet Place.

Don't Look Now, but the Cards moved up to #3 in the latest AVCA rankings, sitting just behind Nebraska and Wisconsin. Pitt and Georgia Tech also sit in the top 10. The ACC has been Conjuring up strong volleyball programs for the last several years, with much of that credit going to when Louisville and Pitt joined the conference.

This year's Final Four is a bit of a distance for the Cards. No it's not all the way to Halloweentown, but Tampa still takes some time to get to. There is a good chance we see UofL there again this year.

We hope today's Halloween themed Cardinal Couple post wasn't so Sinister that you turned as pale as Casper like you Saw a Poltergeist. You Better Watch Out, as Trick 'r Treat-ers will be battling the cold and knocking on your door looking for the Candyman tonight.

Happy Halloween and Go Cards!

Jared

FH Downs Indiana -- Mia Duchars ACC Honors -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Field Hockey Takes Battle of the Border

Playing in their third game in five games, Louisville field hockey took down Indiana 1-0 in the Battle of the Border. Julie Kouijzer's goal midway through the fourth quarter was all the Cards needed to come away with the win.

After struggling with penalty corners in their last few games, Louisville was able to capitalize on their fifth of the game. Emilia Kaczmarcyzk's shot was rejected, but Kouijzer followed with a rebound shot into an open goal for her second goal this season. UofL finished 1-for-5 on the day.

Merlijn van der Vegt saw her first true action in regulation for the first time in this three-game stretch. The Cards limited Wake Forest and Central Michigan to no corners and no shots on goal. The Hoosiers had one corner, arguably their best scoring opportunity of the game. IU got a clean look from the top of the circle on the corner, but a diving van der Vegt sent the ball away. She recorded three goals on the game.

Louisville outshot Indiana 10-5 with a 7-3 advantage in shots on goal. The Cards also cleaned up their touch fouls, getting called for no fouls and no green cards.

The win moves Louisville to 11-1 on the season, extending their best start in program history. #5 Louisville returns to action later this week when they visit #2 Duke on Friday.

Mia Duchars Earns ACC Honors

For the second straight week, Mia Duchars was named ACC Defensive Player of the Week. The recognition did not include Louisville's game against Indiana yesterday.

Duchars played a major role in Louisville allowing no corners and no shots on goal over the weekend against Wake Forest and Central Michigan. The Cards registered back-to-back shutouts and have shut out five straight opponents.

Happy Wednesday and Go Cards!

Jared

Field Hockey Suffers First Loss -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Louisville Falls to UNC 2-0

Justine Sowry's undefeated Cards hit the road to open their ACC slate yesterday but were unable to pull out another upset away from home against the 2nd-ranked Tarheels. UNC stood at 4-1 entering the match, but their loss was in the second match of the season against No. 1 Iowa. The Cards and Heels have two common opponents, as UNC was the other team in Philly for the ACC/Ivy Crossover. While Louisville one-upped UNC by beating Princeton 2-1in regulation while UNC needed OT for their 2-1 victory, the Tarheels beat Penn 4-0 and Louisville could only win 2-1.

All that said, common opponents don't mean that much when two teams are going to take the field against each other. That's what they did yesterday, with Louisville entering Karen Shelton Stadium to play UNC for the first time (in the modern era) without Karen Shelton at the helm. Before joining the ACC, Louisville had played UNC twice: once in 2002 and for the first time in 1977. The Cards are 5-11 against UNC since 2014, and Louisville has never won back-to-back matchups. To make matters worse, Louisville was 3-3 against UNC in their first six meetings as conference foes.

UNC has Louisville's number on the turf, and they put that on display again yesterday. A goal midway through the first proved to be the difference, while a goal midway through the fourth provided the Tarheels with insurance. This game was not without chances for the Cards. Unlike a few of their previous games, where they were sorely outshot and managed to sneak a win, Louisville looked pretty evenly matched yesterday afternoon. After being blanked on shot attempts in the first quarter, UofL had six shots over the remaining three quarters compared to seven for UNC. The final difference was a 9-6 advantage for UNC as they had two first quarter shots, including the goal. The big difference was in shot quality, as Louisville had just one of their six shots on target, while UNC forced three saves and scored two goals. The Cards did have three shots blocked, but they ultimately forced just one save.

Louisville held an advantage in penalty corners, but while they went 0-5, UNC capitalized on their chances, as their second goal came from one of their three attempts. Louisville's best chance came at the very end of the match, when an empty net gave them a player advantage on a penalty corner. However, even if they had scored, they would have had under a minute to find an equalizer. Aimee Plumb's shot was blocked away, though, and that was the end of that. Plumb took two of Louisville's shots, matching Julie Kouijzer, while Emilia Kaczmarczyk put her only shot attempt on frame. Izzy Bianco had Louisville's other shot, and it was one of the shots that was blocked. 

In addition to the goal, a second of UNC's penalty corners forced a save from Merlijn van der Vegt. Merlijn finished with three saves, playing the "complete" game, but logging only 58:50 of play time after being subbed out for the empty net. It was a relatively clean game, as the teams scattered three green cards, but with none being identified as fouls. It's hard to say much more about this game. Louisville was in it, they had some chances, and the ball just didn't fall their way. Hopefully Louisville doesn't begin to suffer some karmic justice for the luck they've seen early on. Games against UNC are always just weird, so Louisville will look to get back on track in the next one.

The Cards have the second segment of the weekend off this week, and they're back in action on Friday. Louisville returns home on the 22nd to take on JMU, one of two non-conference games they'll get to build confidence before reentering conference play. With a 5PM start, Louder than Life will be well underway by the time the whistle blows, so you may be able to hear some residual music traveling over from the fairgrounds. For some reason, the match is not currently listed as ACC Network Extra, and JMU's schedule identifies it as an ESPN+ game. We'll be sure to keep you updated closer to next week.

Photos by Jared Anderson

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

Jared is on the road for the Louisville football game in Indianapolis, but we'll have at least three in the chair for this week's episode of the show. Daryl is always a wild card, so you'll just have to tune in to find out if you get to learn about her latest golf outing with a Louisville legend. We'll have plenty to talk about on the show, with the big one being Louisville volleyball's win over UK on Wednesday night. 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

RadioPublic: Link

Spotify: Link

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Pre-Season Field Hockey Honors -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

FIELD HOCKEY HONORS

Julie Kouijzer and Aimee Plumb have been named to the 2023 ACC Preseason teams.

Julie Kouijzer (pronounced COW-WISER)

Julie, a fifth-year senior, logged six goals, mostly from set pieces, and helped the defense produce five shutouts last year.

Plumb enters her true senior year after having been one of the top offensive producers over the last couple seasons. She recorded eight goals and seven assists en route to an NFHCA All-American Second Team appearance last year.

(The elder Plumb on the roster -- Aimee)

Louisville was selected to finish fourth in the ACC this year out of seven teams. North Carolina, even with new head coach Erin Matson,  was once again the favorite with 45 votes, but Virginia was hot on their tails with 42 votes. A 1-6 finish in the conference placed the Cards sixth last season. They won the regular season title the year before with a 6-0 mark in conference play.

Justine Sowry just completed her 12th season as head coach and prepares for her baker's dozen year. She's helped lead Louisville to 165 wins, three conference titles, and eight NCAA Tournament appearances. They've made it to the Big Dance four straight years.

With how Louisville looked in their exhibition against Bellarmine last Friday, the defense is as strong as ever, but they have an added touch of what appears to be a more aggressive offense with more weapons.

The Cards open up the regular season this Friday at 5:00 p.m. against Northeastern. Admission is free at Trager Stadium, but prepare for paid parking across the street. Paulie and I both hope to be there for this one.

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

FH ACC Tournament -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Field Hockey ACC Tournament Begins

6-seed and 8th-ranked Louisville field hockey begins their ACC Tournament against 3-seed and 5th-ranked Virginia today. The Cards come into the tournament riding a three-game losing streak that knocked them down to 12-6 on the year and a 1-5 conference mark.

The Cavaliers have a similar overall record at 11-6, but their 3-3 conference record sits a bit higher. The Big Ten was unkind for Virginia, going 3-0 against one of the ACC's top teams. Virginia's other three losses came in conference play to North Carolina, Boston College, and Wake Forest.

The Cards and Cavaliers met in the regular season in Charlottesville to close out September. A pair of first quarter goals powered Virginia to a 2-0 win on their home turf. Daniela Mendez-Trendler, Virginia's second leading scorer, logged both goals in the match.

Laura Janssen has been the top scorer for Virginia, scoring 10 of their 35 goals. Virginia has only allowed 23 goals this season.

In goal, Virginia has split time between Tyler Kennedy (seven appearances) and Jet Trimborn (12 appearances). Kennedy has 26 saves against 11 goals allowed while Trimborn has 26 saves to 12 goals allowed.

Cards goalkeep Sasha Elliott is 14th in the country with 92 saves. Her .800 save percentage ranks fourth while her 23 goals allowed ranks 20th. As a team, Louisville ranks 48th in goals per game at 1.83. Their 33 total goals ranks 44th.

For me, I see this one as a must-win to secure a spot in the NCAA Tournament. Louisville's rpi and number of ranked wins is great, but six losses makes it tough to make an 18-team tournament. The loss to Cornell has been the killer so far. The Cards could still potentially receive an at-large bid with a loss today, but a win or two- or winning the ACC Tournament- just helps their case.

Louisville does have three All-ACC members on their team helping lead the way. Sasha Elliott, Julie Kouijzer, and Aimee Plumb each received the honors, which were announced yesterday. The first two were named to the All-ACC First Team while the latter received All-ACC Second Team honors.

All three, listed as seniors or grad students on the roster were recognized on Senior Day alongside four others. We did hear word of several of those seven with interest in returning next season pending job opportunities, scholarship availability, etc. Elliott is the only one that has used the COVID-19 year, leaving the rest all with at least one year of eligibility.

You can catch the match on ACC Network at 6:00 p.m. The entirety of the ACC Tournament will be aired on ACC Network this year. Duke is the host school.

WBB Luncheon Today

(Louie will be there also)

Cardinals women's basketball fans will gather at the Galt House today for the WBB Tip-Off Luncheon. Always a fun and gala affair, you can expect plenty of video, getting to know the team a little better and Jeff Walz's "State of the Cardinals" address. 

Sonja and Paulie will attend and I'm sure he'll have a report on it in tomorrow's column

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

Volleyball Rolls; Field Hockey Falls -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Get First Sweep in Three Matches

Louisville started the season 12-0 in sets before dropping one to San Diego and then three in the loss to Ohio State. After sweeping Purdue and losing just three sets in two road wins against Kentucky and Stanford, the Cards started conference play with three straight sweeps. Georgia Tech took a set off Louisville in the match on ESPN before the Cards went on the road to get two more sweeps. When they returned home last week, Louisville lost their first set of the season to an unranked opponent when they beat Virginia Tech 3-1. On Sunday, they lost their second set of the season to an unranked opponent when they beat Wake Forest 3-1. 

If you're keeping track, that's three sets lost on the road this season, with two coming against a bitter rival ranked in the top-15 and one coming against a perennial powerhouse ranked in the top-10, and six sets dropped at home, including two to unranked opponents and Louisville's only loss of the match. Louisville started this week's road trip yesterday keeping the statistical oddity alive when they headed to Charlottesville to take on the lowly Cavaliers. The Cards took care of things in a relatively straightforward match 25-18, 25-15, and 25-22. 

Virginia entered the match 9-10 on the season and 1-7 in the ACC, so there wasn't much concern about them knocking off the Cards in a normal match. However, Louisville has Pitt on the horizon, so this was definitely a trap game. The Cards didn't really blink. After getting the 1000th kill of her career against Wake Forest, Claire Chaussee got right back to work by opening the match's scoring. After a few traded points, Louisville went on a 6-0 run led by a five-serve scoring run by Aiko Jones that included three aces. Despite the 9-3 lead Louisville garnered and the 12-5 lead they turned it into, Virginia held on, using runs of their own to close the gap to 15-12 and then to 16-15. Louisville didn't let the set get tied, and a 9-3 run closed the door. 

The first set saw Louisville hit just 0.200 with six errors, but the 0.156 from Virginia, a three-point serving advantage, and two handling errors by Virginia helped keep the Cards out front. Both teams finished with three blocks in the set and ten on the match, so there wasn't much of an advantage there. 

In the second, Louisville jumped out early again, taking 6-2 and 14-6 leads. Just like before, Virginia was able to claw their way back. An 8-3 Virginia run brought the score to 17-14, but that would be about the end of that. If you'll remember, Louisville took the second set 25-15, so you know how this one ends. Amaya Tillman saw what Jones did in the first set and said, "I'll raise you." Her five-serve run saw four aces before Virginia was able to knock her off the line, after which Louisville took two more points to set the final score.

The second set was another six error set for the Cards, but they improved their hitting to 0.241. Amazing what one fewer attempt and one more kill can do for your numbers. Virginia took a step back in this one, despite having just four errors, and hit just 0.148. Louisville limited Virginia's attack opportunities with the aces, but the Hoos also limited their own chances with two more bad sets, and two service errors. The teams again tied on blocks in the set.

Things got just a little weird in the third, which you might expect from a set that nearly requires extra points between a top team in the country and a team that is below 0.500 on the season. Chaussee, who had been quiet after the opening point, won Louisville's first two points of the third to give the Cards a 2-1 lead. It was a short lived lead, though, as a service error gave the point right back. A kill by Tillman preceded a four-point run from the Cavaliers, who jumped out to a 6-3 lead. Unlike the previous two sets, Louisville didn't break out a run or two of their own to reclaim control. Instead, Louisville won a pair before the two teams traded ten straight points. Louisville won another extra point to tie the set at 11, then won three more to take a 14-12 lead. While it seemed like that brief 5-1 run would be enough to propel the Cards to finish out the third set, it wouldn't be quite so simple. Instead, Virginia continued to work hard to spoil the fun, keeping the trading up to eventually tie the set at 19. Another kill by Chaussee, her fourth of the set but just seventh of the match, gave the Cards a 20-19 lead with Aiko Jones stepping to the line. Jones was unable to repeat her previous success and a service error was followed by a block and a kill to give the Hoos a 22-20 lead. Staring down another frustrating dropped set, Louisville tightened their belts. Chaussee snagged a kill to break the Virginia serve, Nena Mbonu got her ninth to tie the set, and the Cards brought it home with two blocks and an ace.

While it certainly could have looked cleaner, Louisville went on the road and returned to their sweeping ways. Both teams hit a match high in the third set, but Louisville once again committed six errors. They finished with 18 on the day compared to just 14 for Virginia, but things mostly evened out with Virginia committing three bad sets and a ball handling error. In a surprising turn of events, Louisville dominated the serving battle, finishing with nine aces while Virginia had just two. Louisville also committed only four service errors while Virginia had five, giving the Cards a net eight point advantage in the category.

It was the Amaya Tillman show last night. After her dominant performances of late, Virginia keyed on Claire Chaussee, and other players stepped up. Tillman led the charge with nine kills (tied for team high), four aces, and seven assisted blocks. She committed just three errors on her way to 0.353 hitting, had no serving errors, and added five digs. Cara Cresse didn't play, giving Phekran Kong all of the time at the other middle spot, and PK took advantage. She finished with nine kills and just one error to lead the team in hitting at 0.571. She was also credited with an assist and three assisted blocks. Nena Mbonu led the outsides, dropping nine kills with four errors on 17 attempts. Chaussee finished with eight kills and Aiko Jones with seven. Raquel Lazaro was all over the court, adding six assisted blocks, six digs, and a kill to her 34 assists. 

One of the big ones is next. Louisville takes on Pitt tomorrow at 1PM. This is Louisville's last listed match on the ESPN platforms, though they do have two more matches scheduled to air on the linear ACC Network channel. It's a busy week for the Cards, who have a Sunday, Wednesday, and Friday to close out October. Pitt is playing their fourth straight home match before heading back on the road, and they swept Miami, Florida State, and Notre Dame in the previous three. At 19-2 (9-0), the Panthers are ranked 8th in the country. They are theoretically behind the Cards in the conference standings on overall winning percentage, but that doesn't mean much. Tomorrow's match is for the outright lead in the ACC. Tune in to ESPNU to see them duke it out.

Field Hockey Loses Late at Syracuse

After the thrilling shootout victory against Duke and the 4-0 romp over Ball State on Senior Day, Louisville field hockey was riding a high heading up to Syracuse in an attempt to close out the season strong. The Cards would need to beat the Orange and Boston College to finish the conference season .500, but it wasn't meant to be. Despite taking the lead in the fourth quarter, Louisville's defense faltered, and Syracuse scored two goals in the final ten minutes to win.

The first quarter of this one was very much a "feel each other out" kind of opener. Both teams substituted frequently, but the only other event in the quarter was a shot by Embry Jane Imorde that was wide of the cage. The teams made a combined sixteen substitutions to try and see what would work best before implementing those plans in the second. The action started quickly, with Syracuse forcing a save on their first shot of the game two minutes into the period. Louisville earned a corner shortly after, forcing Syracuse's first save on a Julie Kouijzer shot. The Cards gave up a penalty corner a minute later, with Sasha Elliott being on-hand to save the shot. She'd get her third save on Syracuse's last shot of the half with four minutes to go. Louisville earned two more shots of their own, with one coming on another corner, but both were wide of the mark. 

The floodgates opened in the second half. Syracuse earned a corner in the first minute, but they were unable to get a shot. Five minutes later, they repeated the effort, this time forcing an Elliott save. Louisville took their turn next, forcing a pair of saves on corner attempts. More substitutions followed before Syracuse got another shot from open play with four minutes left in the quarter. The attempt was saved, but the danger not completely cleared. After a Louisville substitution during a stoppage, Syracuse's Quirine Comans scored her 13th goal of the season, chipping Elliott to give the Orange the lead. Louisville was undeterred, and Katie Schneider responded with her own goal from open play just under two minutes later. Despite all that had happened, the two teams entered the fourth just as they had the third: tied. 

It didn't stay that way for long. Two minutes into the fourth quarter, Louisville earned a penalty corner. The attempted shot by Kelsey McCrudden was blocked, but it was done so illegally, giving Louisville a penalty stroke attempt. Aimee Plumb stepped up to take the attempt for the Cards and converted. Louisville led 2-1. Syracuse went back to work on offense. Three minutes after Louisville took the lead, Syracuse tied it back up. A penalty corner resulted in no shot, but initiated another corner, as they often do. This time, a shot was offered, and Louisville was able to block it away. Unfortunately, "away" meant right to the corner taker, who chipped a defender to tie it up. Their offense didn't stop there. The Orange kept up the pressure, forcing back-to-back saves with six minutes remaining. With four minutes left, they were back in the circle, and Sasha Elliot was again up to the task... almost. Elliott's eighth save of the night was recovered by Comans and fired home for her second goal of the night and 14th on the year. Elliott would be called on again just thirty seconds later before she was pulled with three minutes left to give Louisville an extra attacker. For a moment, it looked as though the Cards might repeat their magic from a week ago, as they earned a corner with thirty seconds left. The corner was for naught, though, with Louisville unable to find a shot. Final score: 3-2.

All season, we've waited for the Louisville offense to show up in conference the way that it does for non-conference games. Entering the night, Louisville had been outscored 8-1 in their four conference games, despite holding an overall 31-14 goal advantage on the season. For the first time all year, Louisville scored more than one goal in a conference game. Unfortunately, they also gave up three goals for just the second time this season. Despite the three goals, Sasha Elliott was fantastic. She had nine saves, as Syracuse's offense was relentless. Louisville was outshot 13-9 and 12 of those 13 were on frame for the Orange. Louisville put just five shots on frame, despite out earning Syracuse on corners 6-5. 

Louisville will look ahead now to Cornell as they travel to Ithaca to take on the "Big Red" on Sunday at 11AM. They'll hope to take down their third Ivy League team of the year before they play their home finale against BC on Friday. The Cards need a strong finish to the season for momentum purposes as much as anything else. The Eagles are 6-9 on the season and 2-3 in the ACC, so a win can give Louisville an improvement in ACC Tournament seeding. Despite being 1-4 in conference, Louisville is still ranked in the top-ten nationally, but they'll likely need to win the last two and get at least one win in the conference tournament to make the NCAA tourney. 

Louisville Live

Lindsay and I celebrated our anniversary last night with an evening at Cooking at Millie's, so I wasn't in attendance at Louisville Live. The rest of the crew was, so I'll let them share their thoughts throughout the week. Jared did send me some photos of the event, though, so have a look and see the excitement the team has for the upcoming season.

Angel was one of last night's honored guests.

Payton Verhulst won the three-point competition

The team reacted accordingly.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

We've got almost a full house this week, as we're all available but Daryl. A tee-time in late October is a rare opportunity, so we won't hold it against her. Hopefully she doesn't have to play through a group of cows like the folks at Cherokee Park did earlier this week. We'll have plenty to discuss, so be sure to tune in. 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

RadioPublic: Link

Spotify: Link

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Field Hockey and Volleyball Take Extra Time to Win -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Field Hockey Notches Season's First ACC Win

It took much longer than anyone expected for Louisville field hockey to get their first win of the season. I mean that both in terms of the season overall and last night's game. The Cards played a thriller against Duke that went all the way into a shootout. Louisville, wearing the pinkout jerseys (black with pink trim) that look so awesome, came from behind late in the game to tie it and force the extra play. While the loss pushed Duke to 1-4 in the ACC and 5-9 overall, the Blue Devils were still ranked 24th in the country coming into this one. That ACC field hockey is tough.

Louisville opened the match with the attack, earning five shots in the first half of the first quarter and taking two penalty corners. Both corners resulted in shots, but neither were on frame as one was blocked and the other missed wide. In between the two corners, Aimee Plumb worked her way into a good offensive position and forced back to back saves from the Duke goalie. The Blue Devils responded at the end of the corner, putting together a string of three shots over the final 93 seconds. Sasha Elliott was on hand for her first two saves of the night and the third was blocked.

The second quarter was more of the same. Louisville had three more penalty corners and four more shots. And yet, only the shot that led to the first penalty corner forced a save. Duke split the Louisville offense this time, instead of alternating completely. They earned a pair of back to back corners but were able to turn those into just one shot, which Elliott saved. After the half, Duke made a change at goalie. Just 89 seconds later, they put the new goalie in the position for a win. The goal came on a tapped in cross that Elliott was just unable to get to. Duke led 1-0. The Blue Devils earned a corner a couple of minutes later but there was nothing doing. Louisville returned the favor with two more penalty corners, but this time they couldn't even get a shot on both. Their only two shots of the quarter were the blocked efforts that initiated the corners. With six minutes left in the third, Duke earned a yellow card, giving Louisville a player advantage. They would go on to earn another with two and a half minutes remaining, giving Louisville plenty of opportunity to equalize, but they went to the fourth still trailing 1-0.

In that fourth quarter, Duke parked the bus. I was unable to watch the game, but given how the previous quarters went, the play-by-play makes it pretty clear what happened. 

45:00 Start of 4th Period

55:25 EMPTY NET at goalie for Louisville

Ten minutes of Duke having no intention of putting the ball into attack for fear that it would spread them too thin and Louisville would be able to get an offensive play. Similarly, Louisville couldn't get an attack going themselves because Duke was just crammed into the defensive third. Five minutes is a long time to play without a goalie, and there is every bit as good of a chance that the score will go to 2-0 as there is that it will go to 1-1. For a long time, it looked like this one was set to finish just as it had been. Louisville was unable to capitalize on a player advantage in the third, so it wasn't looking likely they'd be able to in the fourth. Just as the clock wound down and Duke thought they might escape with a huge road win, Louisville earned a penalty corner with twelve seconds remaining. Aimee Plumb put the ball into play, Kelsey McCrudden set it up, and Julie Kouijzer (who else on a clutch corner, really) fired it home to tie the game. Sasha Elliott returned to her post for the final six seconds, and the game headed to OT.

Louisville worked hard in those ten minutes to win the game outright. As a well conditioned team that likes to run up and down the field, the reduced player count in overtime gives Louisville a lot of space. They ultimately earned three shots in the period, but one was wide and the other two were saved. The second overtime saw a bit of a reversal of fortunes. Duke earned a pair of corners, and, while one was dealt with fairly easily, the other induced two shots. Sasha Elliott was there to save both, including the second from a familiar name on the wrong side of the score sheet. Charlie van Oirschot nearly ended the game for Duke in her first appearance in the play-by-play. It was a surprise to see her be so ineffective after starting and playing nearly the whole game, but there isn't too much to complain about as a Cardinal fan. Thus, the teams headed to the shootout.

Louisville found themselves in a bind quickly, after Izzy Bianco and Mattie Tabor both missed their stroke attempts and Hannah Miller split them with a make. Trailing 1-0 going into the fourth shooter, Louisville needed a stop or it was going to get even tougher. Sasha Elliott came to play for this one, knocking the ball away before the Duke attacker could even take her first shot. Katie Schneider stepped up and made it look easy, giving Elliott the chance to put Louisville back level entering the final two rounds. She did just that. 

Sitting at 1-1 through three rounds, things got weird. Kelsey McCrudden stepped up to take her shot. It was initially blocked, but McCrudden collected the rebound off the stick of the goalie and fired it home. The initial call was that it was a goal, but Duke argued it had been stopped. They had a point, as it had been, but the play hadn't been fully cleared away. The referees went in to review it. After awhile, they came out and said that there was no goal. This displeased Justine Sowry quite a bit, who sent them back in with a talking to. After another lengthy review, the initial review was overturned and the call returned to the one on the field: goal. Elliott stopped the next attempt from Duke without much drama, and Louisville found themselves with the chance to win on a goal or another stop. Emilia Kaczmarczyk was up this time, and she found the back of the cage to give the Cards the win. Or so everyone thought until it was challenged. Again, the referees took two attempts. This time, they upheld the call after the initial challenge, but still went to review again. Unlike the previous review, though, they didn't reverse themselves. The second review called the goal good and Louisville took the victory.

Louisville is back in action hosting Ball State tomorrow at 2PM. In the meantime, check out what Coach Justine Sowry and a couple of players had to say after the exciting win.

COACH JUSTINE SOWRY

EMILIA KACZMARCZYK

SASHA ELLIOTT

Volleyball Takes Care of VT in 4 Sets

The Hokies came in to the L&N Federal Credit Union Arena at 9-8 and just 2-4 in conference play. Everyone may have expected it to be a walk, but Louisville still needed to show up. It was an exciting night in the arena, with the promotions staff putting together a red and black "stripe out". It's a promotion that is growing in popularity, and Louisville got it right by providing the tee shirts rather than hoping people see it and wear the right color. Unlike a solid color out, where 70-80% participation gets the point across, a stripe out with such low participation would look like an oddly coincidental pattern tried to form.

Louisville came out a little flat in this one. After the teams traded the first ten points, VT took three straight to take an 8-5 lead. They weren't done, though, as they took another three after Louisville broke the run to push their lead to 11-6. A bit more back and forth moved the score to 13-8 before the Cards decided to wake up. Three kills from Claire Chaussee, two from Aiko Jones, and a solo block from Amaya Tillman later, Louisville found themselves back in front at 14-13. It was their first lead since 5-4, and it was short lived. VT won the next three points, but the Cards were undeterred. They rattled off four straight to regain the advantage, then took two more to give themselves a bit of a cushion at 20-17. The Hokies fought back, but Louisville had created just enough of a buffer to be comfortable, and they took the first set 25-21.

The second set looked like Louisville had figured it out and things could proceed as intended. After VT took advantage of another slow start to go up 6-4, Louisville broke out to take a 12-8 lead that they turned into a 19-11 advantage. The Cards didn't let up there, though, as they went on to win the set 25-13. After a 0.400 hitting percentage in the first marred by five errors, the Cards improved to 0.429 in the second. The real difference came defensively, as they pushed Virginia Tech down from 0.200 in the first set to just 0.100 in the second. Louisville appeared to be in control as the teams headed to the locker room, but they may have gotten just a tad too comfortable during halftime. 

The third saw the teams trade points early once more, and again VT made an intermediate run. This one put the Hokies ahead 12-9. No worries, right? Louisville had overcome later deficits than that already in this match. Unlike the previous sets, though, the Cards didn't respond with a big run of their own. VT kept turning the crank until Louisville saw themselves down 20-13. The Cards reacted accordingly, but it is always difficult to catch a team when they need fewer points to win a set than you do to tie them. Louisville brought it back to 18-23, but VT put themselves on a 6-point set point advantage. The Cards staved off two, but dropped the third set 25-20.

After losing the set, the urgency seemed to set in a bit. Louisville shouldn't be dropping sets to Virginia Tech, and the Hokies had been a thorn in their side all night. Better to dispatch of them quickly than to make things any more awkward as the evening went on. So the Cards did just that. The final score of the fourth set doesn't quite reflect it, as the Cards won 25-18, but the fourth was never particularly close. Almost every time they increased their lead, it was like setting a ratchet. They went up 5-2, then 8-3, then 12-5, and finally 19-10. Virginia Tech worked to close the gap a bit from there, but it was mostly academic. They won three points to make it 19-13, and then two to make it 20-15, but they wouldn't win their own service from there. After dipping to 0.267 and allowing 0.345 in the third, Louisville turned it back up with a 0.308 hitting percentage and forced seven errors from VT to hold them to just 0.118.

Louisville finished with 17 errors in the match. While the raw number is higher because the set count was greater, the errors per set value was also up last night. Louisville usually averages about three errors per set (typically one rough set and two really good ones). Last night, Louisville was consistent with 5, 3, 4, and 5 errors respectively. They still finished with a hitting percentage nearly double that of their opponent, but it wasn't the cleanest match. The blocking battle helped Louisville in this one, as they won 11-6. Despite a relatively muted serving game themselves, Louisville still won the service battle as well. The Cards were negative, four aces against seven errors, but VT had seven aces and twelve errors, giving Louisville an overall advantage of four in the category.

Offensively, Chaussee, Jones, and Tillman continued to lead the way in DeBeer's absence.  They had 18, 11, and 11 kills respectively, and Jones hit the lowest of the three with still a 0.333. Nena Mbonu joined them in double figures with 10 kills, but her 0.167 left a bit to be desired. Cara Cresse added some offense to her defense with six kills to go along with her single solo and three assisted blocks. Speaking of defense, Claire Chaussee found herself in the full rotation a bit last night, and she made the most of it by turning in a double-double. She added ten digs to her 18 kills and chimed in with a pair of assisted blocks. With two assists as well, she was just an ace away from putting a tally in every positive category. Tillman led the way at the net, adding six assisted blocks to her solo effort. She's a beast.

It's a short turnaround for the Cards, as most weekends are, as their late night Friday turns into a 1PM start on Sunday. Louisville hosts Wake Forest in this one, which will be on ACC Network Extra.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

After being out last week enjoying a birthday brunch with my wife, I'm back in the booth for the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast. We should have a full house this week as the fall seasons wind down and Bats baseball is no longer drawing Daryl's attention. We'll talk about the victorious week that has been for the Cards and preview the upcoming matches. 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

RadioPublic: Link

Spotify: Link

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Louisville Field Hockey over Michigan 2-1 -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 JULIE KOUIJZER SCORES WINNING GOAL OVER #4 MICHIGAN

It was, in the words of Louisville Field Hockey head coach Justine Sowry, a real "rip snorter" Sunday afternoon against the Michigan Wolverines. 

#5 Louisville Field Hockey got a goal from Julie Kouijzer with 4:20 left in the contest to put Louisville ahead for good over the visitors from Ann Arbor. A penalty corner goal, with Aimee Plumb getting her second assist of the match.  The action, though, didn't cease with the Cards score. Michigan attempted five shots on the Louisville defense in the final 150 seconds...but the Cards defense held firm and Cards goalkeeper Sasha Elliott had two of her six saves in that that frantic final 2:30 to preserve Louisville's lead.

 

The contest started out as a strong defensive battle between UofL and UofM. with only three shots in the first quarter -- two from the Cards and one from the Wolverines. Michigan recorded their only save of the match in those first 15 minutes, Michigan starting goalkeeper Anna Spieker deflecting an attempt by Mattie Tabor. 

Michigan turned up an already suffocating defense ever more in the next fifteen minutes. They allowed no Cards shots and got off a couple of shots on their own. Sasha Elliott came up with a huge save with about four and a half minutes left in the half...and the squads went into halftime knotted up in a 0-0 scoreless tie. 

Michigan switched goalkeepers to start the second half, pulling fifth year student-athlete Anna Spieker and inserting sophomore Caylie McMahon. The move seemed a bit odd to me, but I found out later on that it was something that head UM coach Marcia Pankratz has done in the previous four Wolverine contests.  

Coach Sowry realized that Michigan pressed quite well, so she encouraged her squad to up the tempo and continue to keep the Wolverines quiet on offensive, The opposite appeared to happen, though, as Michigan did out-shoot Louisville 4-1 in the third quarter. Elliott had two saves in the quarter, but Michigan did get on the scoreboard first. With 2:17 left in the quarter, the Wolverines received a penalty corner and Nina Apoola attempted a shot that went wide of the goal. Katie Anderson was there for the putback, though, and her reverse shot from the top of the circle was successful. It was 1-0 Michigan. 

It didn't take long for the Cards to respond. They drew a corner attempt less than a minute later and Mia Duchars netted her first goal of the season off Aimee Plumb's assist. 

The quarter ended with the 1-1 tie and the fourth quarter promised to be a very exciting one. 

The teams were feeling the excitement and things were also starting to get a little chippy on the pitch. Katie Schneider drew a green card from the officials a minute into action and Michigan's Rosie Hope got one three minutes later. 

All told, the Cards got four corner opportunities in the fourth quarter and Michigan three. Three of Sasha Elliott's saves came in the fourth quarter and a nervous but excited crowd breathed a collective sigh of relief (if they were wearing red) when the final horn sounded.

 

We have post-game video and comments from Sasha Elliott, Julie Kouijzer and Justine Sowry. Watch for the Michigan coach going ballistic in the background during Julie's chat with us. We apologize for the windy audio that accompanies the video...mother nature, it seems, also wanted to get her two cents in on the UofL win. 

SASHA ELLIOTT

JULIE KOUIJZER

COACH JUSTINE SOWRY

A good win for a Louisville squad that has another tough one coming up on Friday. #2 UNC comes to Trager Stadium for a 3 p.m. match in the ACC opener for the Cards. A squad that had 10 newcomers at the start of the season is showing more familiarity and cohesiveness as the season rolls on. They are jelling and UNC will be a huge test for the Cards. I'm pretty sure Coach Sowry would tell you this one will also be another "rip snorter". 

(PHOTOS TODAY BY JARED ANDERSON)

paulie