#12 Field Hockey wins at Miami (OH)...C.B. back in college coaching ranks...Evans down to three -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

SECOND HALF SURGE SENDS FLOCK PAST REDHAWKS

Freshman Minout Mink lifted Louisville out of a scoreless battle with Miami (OH) yesterday and Lotta Kahlert added an insurance goal with 13 minutes to play as the #12 Louisville Field Hockey team improved to 2-0 with a win on the road yesterday against the MAC foes. Miami drops to 1-2 on the season.

It was a tale of two halves, according to UofL head coach Justine Sowry: 

"Miami is a very good team and they dictated play in the first half. We were undisciplined in executing our game plan and became internal. Our second half was much different and we started to control the tempo by putting them under pressure and keeping better possession of the ball...the positive is that we finished the game well against a very good opponent." 

After a strong defensive first half by both squads, the Cards capitalized on a penalty corner just four minutes into second half action. Mink fired a shot past Miami goalkeeper Alyssa Xavier to break the drought...the UofL freshman from Haaksbergen, Netherlands getting her third goal on the season. 

Imagine that, a goalie named Xavier playing for Miami...

Louisville stayed with the international connection at the 57:18 mark when Kahlert, a senior from Hamburg, Germany received a feed from Nicole Woods (out of Beverly, MA) and got her first goal of the season. The Cards had nine shots in the final half, up from their five in the first 35 minutes. 



The Flock continued their strong defensive start to the season...they held I.U. to one goal earlier in the week in a 5-1 romp...Cardinal goalkeeper Ayeisha McFerran, a sophomore from Larne, Northern Ireland. had one save in the contest and the Cards held the RedHawks to just four shots in 70 minutes.

Next up, Brown comes to Louisville for a Saturday, 11 a.m. match. We hope they bring some other colors with them, as well...

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CANDYCE BINGHAM RETURNS TO COLLEGE COACHING

Everybody remembers C.B., right? Part of the squad that took Louisville to their first-ever Final Four WBB appearance. "Mom" to the squad (while Angel was "the crazy aunt...). The force inside. 

She's back! After a year at Manual High School, her alma mater, where she helped lead the Crimsons to the 7th Region title and Sweet Sixteen berth...Candyce Bingham has been named as an women's basketball assistant coach at Bellarmine University.

Head coach Chancellor Dugan couldn't be more excited: 

" Candyce brings experience to us with playing in the national championship, coaching in the national championship, playing overseas and her Division I coaching experience. Her wealth of knowledge will be valuable for us." 





For Bingham, the yellow brick road stops on Newburg Road. 

" I think everybody at some point wants to get back home. Louisville is definitely home for me. It's exciting to have family and friends here who are able to come to the games and be supportive. Family means a lot to me." 


Dugan can relate to that. A Louisville Sacred Heart graduate, she spent four years at EKU as a player and eight years as a coach at USI (Southern Indiana). That parlayed into 13 years as the head coach at FAU (Florida Atlantic University). When the chance came to return to Louisville, though, Dugan jumped at the chance to take over the Knights program. 




Bingham is replacing Crystal Kelly, another Sacred Heart grad who had a fantastic college career at WKU and three WNBA years, who accepted an assistant coaching job at Tennessee Tech in May. 

Shannon Litton, who coached with Dugan at USI and attented Morehead St. remains on staff. Dugan has built a coaching staff that is well-qualified to take the Knights back for another GLVC title and berth in the NCAA Division II Tournament. 

With Bingham on the bench, Coach Dugan just might be tempted to call her name and send her into the fray. In any event, the wealth of coaching experience will be a boon to Bellarmine in the upcoming season. The Knights return a strong roster that includes nine players from the Louisville metro area. 

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EVANS DOWN TO THREE

2017 WBB prospect Dana Evans is down to three in her college choices and Louisville has made the list!

Along with Purdue and Tennessee, the Cards are in the final process in her decision-making. Evans, out of West Side High School in Gary, IN. is the #2 ranked guard in the 2017 class...according to ESPN. 

She made her official visit to the Belknap Campus on Saturday and announced her final three via Twitter yesterday. 

Jeff Walz just keeps rolling them in...

paulie
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Options, combinations...and domination for Louisville Field Hockey -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

CARDS WIN (pick your score) OVER OHIO

Louisville Field Hockey got the 2016 season off to a roaring start yesterday with a...(1) 7-0...(2) 8-0 or...(3) 12-2 win over the Bobcats of Ohio University at Trager Field. Ah, the complexities of preseason final score determination. 

Exhibition stuff. A lot of factors. The Cards won the 70 minute battle 7-0. They played a seven vs. seven overtime simulation. The Cards won that 1-0. Then, a goalkeeper shootout that UofL won 4-2. And, while the win was nice...head coach Justine Sowry wasn't as concerned with that as much as how the multiple combinations and options she inserted in the match and put together performed on the field during the contest. 

They all looked pretty good from the press box at Trager. 

The charm of Cardinal Couple player interviews continues...with Lotta Kahlert, Nicole Woods and Erin McCrudden scoring five of the eight goals in the 80 minute time-frame. They also had three of the four successful one-on-one goalkeeper scores. We spoke with all three at the Fall women's sports media day. May the force continue to be wih them 

And, after a slow, scoreless start for the squads over the first 22 minutes or so...it was UofL domination. The Cards had four new players to the program in the starting lineup. Three were freshmen, three were internationals. 

Combinations take time. A 2-0 halftime didn't seem to be a true indicator of the first 35 minutes....Louisville had a 11-1 shots lead and 8-1 shots on goal edge.
   

By the time it ended, Louisville had a 24-4 shot edge. A 15-3 shots on goal advantage. Goalkeeper Ayeshia McFerran had time enough to count cars rolling down Warnock Street behind her and categorize them by color if she had wanted to. They don't keep a time possession stat in Field Hockey. That's probably good news for Ohio...who possessed the ball about as much as a turtle outruns Usain Bolt. Things were a little slow down at the south end of the stadium in the first half and by the walking track in the final 35.

The catch of it is that Ohio is not that bad of a team. They'll probably contend for the MAC Conference title this season. They have three Louisville high school players on the roster in Sophia Cristofoli (Sacred Heart), Amy Edgerton (Mercy) and Hannah Kingsbury (Manual). Assistant coach Rachel McCarthy played for UofL. That may have been the reason the Ohio U. fan base equaled Louisville's in numbers yesterday

Things get a bit tougher eight days from now when the Cards travel to Bloomington to face IU in the season opener.

Hopefully, there won't be any need for seven-on-seven silliness or one-on-one with a goalkeeper...

We got interviews with head coach Justine Sowry and mid-fielder Lotta Kahlert after the match and will play them on THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR Saturday. I resisted using the phrase 'a whole lotta Lotta going on'. It's a long season. 

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WSOC FACES IU TODAY IN BLOOMINGTON

Speaking of IU, Bloomington and women's athletics...Karen Ferguson-Dayes' takes the Louisville women's soccer team to the Hoosier campus for a 7 p.m. match tonight that will open the regular season for the Kickin' Cards. 

Louisville went 1-1 in the exhibition season...falling in the final seconds at DePaul 1-0 and shutting out Morehead State 5-0 Saturday at Lynn Stadium.

15 newcomers fill the Cards lineup as they face an IU squad picked to finish 12th in the Big 10 (how is that possible?) 

We wish Gabrielle Vincent, Inger Katine-Bjerke and Taylor Bucklin...as well as the rest of the squad...the best of luck against IU. 

Gotta keep that "interview-with-Cardinal-Couple-and-play-well" streak alive. Since these three are defenders--we expect we'll give a shout-out for a shut-out.

This one can be heard on the radio I'm being told. 

LINK: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/Indiana/#

An interesting concept. Are you listening Louisville AM sports radio? 

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LOUISVILLE WOMEN'S SOCCER WANTS YOU!

A great list of promos below to get you into Lynn Stadium this fall to watch the Kickin' Cards. 

paulie
xxxxx 

Another Fall Sport hits the pitch -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

FIELD HOCKEY FACES OHIO U TODAY AT TRAGER IN EXHIBITION MATCH

They call the field of competition the "pitch" in Field Hockey and several other sports and the UofL Field Hockey team takes to the pitch today at 1 p.m. to face the Ohio Bobcats in an exhibition match at Trager Stadium. 

This year's version of the Flock includes 15 returnees, seven of which started last season for head coach Justine Sowry. Irish goalkeeper Ayeisha McFerran, Erin McCrudden, Nicole Woods, Lotta Kahlert and Louisville Assumption's Hailey Netherton will blend their talents in with a very impressive freshman class that includes players from New Zealand (Whena Munn), The Netherlands (Minout Mink) Australia (Bethany Russ) and a highly regarded fifth year senior in Lizzie Gittens...from Southhampton, England. All eight newcomers are capable of competing for starting positions and playing time. The class may be Sowry's best in her six years as the Cards head skipper. 

Ohio U. comes to Louisville after a 8-10 2015 season and did not face the Cards in 2015. Louisville did down them 2-0 in 2015 in Athens, OH. For you mascot enthusiasts...theirs is Rufus the Bobcat...who gained notoriety back in 2010 when he took down Brutus Buckeye several times before the start of the Ohio U v Ohio St. football game (see clip below) in a classic battle of predator vs. nut. It's doubtful he makes the trip, though, to battle Louie. 

LINK: RUFUS BATTERS BRUTUS

The Cards went 13-7 in 2015 and made their second straight NCAA appearance...getting bumped from the tournament by UConn 3-0. The Cards finished #12 in the finals polls. Two ACC schools...Syracuse and North Carolina...played for the NCAA Championship...the Orange getting their first title ever.  

The weather looks great for today's match against the Bobcats. Time to take a half day and catch the action on Warnock!    

paulie
xxxxx

Cards shutouts on Sunday -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Another Sunday, another 1 p.m. start for two UofL women's sports programs. Another couple of victories. An intense 90 minutes follows below...

FIELD HOCKEY BLANKS NORTHEASTERN

Lotta Kahlert provided the scoring punch and the Stick Cards defense held firm in a 1-0 out-of-conference win against Northeastern.



Louisville (10-5) found the net seven minutes into the contest when Megan Anstotz sent a cross into the circle for Kahlert. The Hamburg, Germany native sent the ball past Huskies goalie Becky Garner for the lead and only goal of the contest.

Northeastern (4-11) didn't play like  sub .500 squad in a mid-major conference...out-shooting the Cards 11-8 in the 70 minutes and and receiving six corners to Louisville's two.

Ayeshia McFerran picks up her seventh shutout of the season. Louisville is undefeated in non-conference play. 

The Cards start a three-game homestand Sunday, Oct 25th. when Central Michigan visits Trager for a 1 p.m. start. 

VOLLEYBALL DOWNS DUKE IN THREE

Make it the eighth win in a row for the Wide Net Cards (helping my "steamed" colleague Worldwide fulfill his prophecy that they would win eight straight)...which coincides with their 8-0 record in the ACC. 

The Cards win the annual Dig Pink match in straight sets 25-23, 25-21, 25-22 against a strong and physical Duke squad that drops to 8-10 overall and 3-5 in-conference. 

Freshman Aniah Philo bolstered her chances to receive ACC Volleyball Freshman of the Week with 11 kills and 11 digs.



Janelle Jenkins nearly duplicated Philo's feat with nine kills and nine digs and Gabbie Wiley came off the bench with a powerful serving display...getting three aces for Anne Kordes' set and spike squad. 

Louisville Volleyball stays in the KFC YUM! Center for their next match...welcoming Notre Dame to downtown Louisville for a Wednesday 7 p.m. contest. 

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DON'T MISS OUR OTHER ARTICLE!!!

Jeff "Worldwide" McAdams has also written a very good article for today's CARDINAL COUPLE and we highly recommend you give it a read. 

paulie
xxxxx 

CC Podcast - Field Hockey vs Cal -- Sunday Cardinal Couple

We're going to try a new thing here on Cardinal Couple...a podcast format of update.  This won't take the place of the daily articles posted, but hopefully will be relatively quick and short audio updates.  You should see an embedded audio player just above this message if you are reading it on the website that you can use to play this podcast directly in your browser.

Don't expect a podcast entry for every UofL Women's sporting event, of course as these take a bit more work to put together and post, but I hope to be able to do them fairly frequently and bring a new dimension of reporting on our favorite topics here at Cardinal Couple.

This is an update about the Field Hockey game this afternoon against the Cal Bears.

Let me know in the comments what you think of this sort of update.  Thanks!

jmca

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THE LATEST CARDINAL COUPLE BROADCAST IS UP AND RUNNING ON THE ARCHIVES OF CRESCENT HILL RADIO. GO TO THE SITE AND HAVE A LISTEN!



https://soundcloud.com/chradio/cardinal-couple-101814



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As mentioned in the podcast the Stick Cards roared back after a disappointing loss in field hockey on Friday to shut out the Cal squad 4-0.  Louisville got the only goal they would actually need with nine minutes gone in the game when Mallory Mason connected on a penalty corner.

She's done that more times this season than I've been to Arby's and the 1-0 lead held to halftime.

The Cards burst out with a rush in the second half...getting a Alyssa Voelmle score in the first two minutes and Lotta Kahlert connecting less than a minute later.

The Bears never did come out of hibernation ( maybe they needed Ditka) and freshman Stephanie Byrne got her third goal of the year with about a minute to go to make it 4-0.

The 11-4 Cards will head to Athens, OH on Tuesday for a match against Ohio University.

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Women's golf got a big boost from the "Katie's" yesterday and climbed to the top of the ladder in the

Mercedes-Benz Tournament in Knoxville. (We wonder if they use Mercedes Benz's instead of golf carts in this one).

Katie Petrino and Katie Mitchell both fired one under par 71's yesterday and Louisville lead the tournament by 4 strokes over Kent State. Emily Haas continued her good golf with a 72, Molly Spanik finished with a 73 and Laura Restrepo carded a 75.

The tournament ends today with a final 18 holes. Go get 'em Chip and Putt Cards!

paulie
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Not in our house -- Louisville Field Hockey boots Wolverines 2-1 in double overtime. Monday Cardinal Couple

LOTTA KAHLERT GETS GAME WINNER IN 2-1 CARDS WIN

The #12th ranked Louisville Field Hockey squad pushed their record to 10-2 and won their 16 straight game in Trager Stadium Sunday with a double-overtime 2-1 win over Michigan.

Shannon Sloss broke free from the UM defense two minutes into the second overtime and found Kahlert open on the left side of the Michigan cage. Kahlert took the pass and slapped it past the Michigan goalie for her fifth goal of the season and the game winner. 

This one was a defense battle for the first 35

minutes...each squad getting off only three shots each and no scores. The Wolverines came out after the break and found the net six minutes into the final half. That 1-0 lead held for UM until the Cards capitalized on a corner play with less than five minutes left in regulation. Mallory Mason tracked down a missed Chile Garcia shot on goal and flipped it into the net to tie it up. 

The squads battled through a scoreless extra session before Kahlert provided the game winner in the second extra session. 

Coach Sowry discusses the win:

" Michigan is a very good team and they are well coached. It was a battle. They play a great style of hockey. We were tired from the last game (Duke). I'm definitely not questioning our character or how tough we are from a mental standpoint...but we have to be smarter with the ball. At the end of the day our team showed a lot of character and it was a great play by Shannon and Lotta."

The Cards take to the road for their next game...an ACC battle against Syracuse on Saturday.

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Our latest CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO broadcast is up and running on the SoundCloud. We discuss Field Hockey, Volleyball, Soccer, Women's Basketball and Jeff takes the WorldWide quiz. Don Paulie stops in as well. Jolly good fun awaits you. Link below:

CARDINAL COUPLE OCT 4th BROADCAST 

paulie
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