Cards Advance to FH Finals -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 Louisville Scores Early and Often in Semifinal

The Cards put any fears of their offense being MIA to bed yesterday when they scored five goals on Virginia to win 5-2, a match of the score between the two teams earlier this season. So much for my prediction that Louisville would rather play Wake Forest due to Virginia's additional motivation against the Cards. The win was a big one for Louisville, following the disappointing defeat against Syracuse to wrap up the regular season.

Louisville opened the scoring right off the bat with an Aimee Plumb goal less than two minutes into the match. The goal came on live play and is the first item listed in the game's play-by-play breakdown. Just after the opening goal, Madison Walsh attempted to double the Cards' advantage but her shot went just wide. The two teams went on to trade substitutions for the next six minutes with no terribly threatening action on either side before Virginia's Adele Iacobucci got free and tied the match at 1-1 with six minutes remaining in the first quarter. Virginia would go on to get two more shots in the first, with one requiring Hollyn Barr to make the first save of the game for either team, but the whistle blew with the score remaining 1-1.

The second period saw Louisville control the ball for the majority of the action, but it also saw them miss out on three penalty corner chances. The first two chances came back-to-back four minutes into the quarter. Alli Bitting set up Mercedes Pastor, but Pastor's shot was blocked out for another corner. The next set piece saw the same attack, with Meche's second attempt going wide of the goal. For the next eight minutes, neither team could get anything going in attack before Louisville earned their third penalty corner of the period. Again, Alli Bitting took the pass in, but it was Aimee Plumb on the receiving end this time. Plumb lined up her second shot on goal of the afternoon, but it was saved. The two teams headed to the locker rooms still tied at 1-1, and the game began to look like it could go either way.

That all changed with whatever Coach Sowry said in her halftime speech. The Cards came out on the front foot in the third quarter and didn't let up. Two and a half minutes in, Louisville earned their fourth penalty corner of the game. This one saw Madison Walsh with the in-pass to Julie Kouijzer, who continued it along to Katie Schneider. Schneider's shot found the back of the cage. 2-1 Cards. Less than two minutes later, Madison Walsh got the chance to add to the Louisville lead and took it with a shot into the corner. 3-1 Cards. After another four minutes of relentless attack, Louisville earned another penalty corner. Emilia Kaczmarczyk's shot was blocked, but Virginia was unable to clear. Alli Bitting got ahold of the ball and found Margot Lawn, who knocked in her fourth goal of the year and Louisville's fourth of the game. After that, Virginia made a keeper substitution, but the damage had been done. Immediately after entering, though, Henrikson got the opportunity to prove her mettle and saved a Meche Pastor shot. Louisville finished the quarter with a 4-1 lead.

The Cards picked up in the fourth where they left off in the third. Just a minute and a half in, Charlie van Oirschot snagged her third goal of the season and put this one all the way out of reach. Taylor Henrikson was able to pick up two more saves, including one on a Louisville corner attempt, but Virginia's offense couldn't make up the difference. The Cavaliers were able to claw one goal back after cleaning up a Hollyn Barr save on a corner attempt, but making it 5-2 with three minutes left is hardly the most inspiring goal. Louisville would go on wrap up the victory and advance to tomorrow's final. 

The Cards will now get the chance for some payback against UNC. Sure, Louisville took the victory earlier this season, snapping UNC's massive winning streak, and that was a huge win. However, this would be Louisville's chance to win their first conference tournament since winning the MAC in 2004 (hat tip to Kelly Dickey). Also, per that Kelly Dickey tweet, a win would give the Louisville athletic program just its third ACC tournament win since joining the conference (2018 men's soccer and women's basketball). Even more than that, Louisville is playing in a mirrored situation to 2017. In that season, the Cards hosted the ACC tournament and advanced to the finals to take on top-seeded UNC. They lost 1-0. This year, Louisville is the top seed and UNC host the tournament. Turnabout's fair play. Tomorrow's match will get underway at noon and will air on the ACC Network proper. Check out Coach Justine Sowry's postgame interview from yesterday by clicking the link below.

Coach Justine Sowry's Postgame Interview

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

We're without Jared this week, but Paulie, Jeff, and I will still be bringing you the joy and excitement of Louisville women's athletics on the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast. As the regular season wrapped up last week, there aren't too many games to review, but that won't slow us down. With a big win yesterday, plus games to preview and more news throughout the week, we'll have plenty to discuss. Tune in to the Cardinal Couple YouTube Channel at 11AM for the live show, or check out the podcast following the conclusion of the live episode. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-

Cardinal Teams Split Friday Results — SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 Field Hockey Remains Undefeated

Taking on Virginia in their second to last regular season ACC match, Louisville was looking for a win to remain undefeated and hold on to their number one seed. The Cards went into Charlottesville and handled their business, taking down the Cavaliers in the first of their two games by a final score of 5-2. By my math, that locks up the number one seed for the Cards, as the worst they could now finish in the conference is tied with North Carolina, a team they beat earlier this year and should hold the tie-breaker over. Coach Justine Sowry, of course, will be looking to keep her team’s momentum up and follow through with an undefeated regular season.

Louisville scored early and often in the match yesterday, putting up two goals in the first quarter with the opening goal coming from a Meche Pastor penalty stroke 8 minutes into the game. Louisville would go on to score in every quarter but the second. The Cards’ second goal also came against the run of play, as a penalty corner was converted by Aimee Plumb. It was officially assisted by Meche Pastor, putting her in a class near Emina Eric in terms of goals responsible for. Louisville would finish the game with 9 penalty corner attempts, but the second goal of the game was the Cards’ only conversion. We often talk about missed opportunities on corners, as it can be tough to score otherwise, but Louisville had no troubles yesterday despite the corner issues. 

After UVA clawed one back in the second quarter, the offenses died down briefly for the final ten minutes of the half. Louisville took a 2-1 lead into the half and had to be feeling confident. While confident about your chances at 2-1, you can hardly afford to sit  back and coast to the finish. Fortunately, that’s not what the Cards had in mind. Meche made sure Louisville stayed in control early by scoring just a minute and a half into the third quarter. This one came in live play with the ball being deflected off of a defender before finding the back of the cage.  The Hoos would manage to bring it back to a one score game just a few minutes later but Louisville still wasn’t done. With under a minute remaining in the third quarter, Madison Walsh took advantage of a mess in front of the Virginia goal and tucked the ball away with just 34 seconds remaining in the quarter.

The final quarter saw strong defensive play from the Cards as Virginia tried to get back into it. After ten minutes of no further scoring, Louisville put a bow on the match in the form of a Margot Lawn goal assisted by Embry Jane Imorde. The final goal put the Cards up by three with fewer than four minutes remaining and that was that. Louisville has just two games remaining on the regular season schedule before the ACC tournament gets underway and they’ll play one of those two today. As Jeff and I both mentioned on the show last week, it may not be the worst thing in the world for Louisville to take a close loss prior to the tournament in order to relieve some pressure. The best game to lose would seem to be today’s rematch against Virginia as it will not count as a conference game. Of course, if Louisville isn’t feeling the pressure of an undefeated season, they’re more than welcome to just keep winning. Today’s match is at 2PM and will be aired on the ACC Network Extra. 

Volleyball Loses Winning Streak at Pitt

Despite the struggles that Pitt volleyball has been facing this season, Louisville’s woes against the Panthers persisted in the Fitzgerald Field House last night. The Cards were ultimately swept in this one, but were out scored by a total of only 8 points. Louisville played pretty well, actually finishing with fewer errors than Pitt, but the offense just couldn’t find the gaps with their attack attempts. 

The Cards had 14 blocks compared to just 7 for Pitt and only allowed the Panthers to snag 7 aces to their own 3 while the two teams matched service errors at five. Unfortunately for Louisville, every Pitt advantage seemed to come at exactly the wrong time. While seemingly everyone in red got involved in the block party, the offense was quite spread out as well. Aiko Jones, Claire Chaussee, and Anna DeBeer  all finished with seven kills while Amaya Tillman added six and Anna Stevenson five more. Similarly, Pitt had an extremely balanced offense, and their hitters finished with more total attempts and kills. So it goes.

There isn’t a whole lot more to say about a match like this. Statistically, Louisville was right in it, and if you review just the numbers, it seems unlikely that they would lose in straight sets. But that’s what happened. 26-24, 25-21, and 25-23 shows just how close this match was. Louisville’s best chance at a comeback came in the third set when they managed to take a 19-18 lead, but they just couldn’t hold on. 

The final moves Louisville to 4-2 and Pitt to 4-3. To maintain a lead on the Panthers in the standings, Louisville will have to get revenge tomorrow in the final match of the fall season. Neither team can catch Notre Dame in pod play, but as the fall schedule will just carry over to the spring, the Cards will need to take advantage of their last chance to play one of their rivals, as they spring season will not see any of these teams matched up against one another again. The final match gets underway tomorrow at 3:30PM and should be available on the ACC Network Extra.

No Cardinal Couple Radio Hour This Week

Due to the Noon kickoff for Louisville football pulling Paulie away, Jared working his day away at the money management center, and Jeff and I finding our own messes to get into, we’ll be taking this week off at the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour. We’ll have plenty more to get into when we’re back online next weekend so be sure to stay tuned to the site and to the podcast feed. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-

Big Win for FH; Volleyball Returns -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 Field Hockey Upsets UNC

For the first time in nearly three years, UNC Field Hockey has been beaten. The last loss for the Tarheels came in the NCAA semifinals in 2017, the same year that Louisville last beat them (though the Heels got revenge in the ACC championship). Louisville came into this one an underdog, as anyone does when they go up against a two-time defending champion that is on a 47-game winning streak, but they came out on top, and now sit 3-0 (2-0) on this shortened season.

Unlike the first two games against Duke, in which Louisville took until the final minute of the first half to score, the Cards set the tone early against UNC. In the first quarter, Louisville earned a penalty corner which saw Mercedes Pastor score her third goal of the season, assisted by Alli Bitting and Meghan Schneider. Late in the first half, in the final minute in fact (funny how the Cards like scoring then), Louisville doubled their lead. Again, Meche was involved, as she assisted Margot Lawn on a goal from open play. It was Lawn's first goal of the season, but not her last of the game.

The second half saw play tighten between the two when UNC pulled a goal back in the third quarter. Five minutes after the half, UNC's Erin Matson found space in the circle and put a reverse shot past Hollyn Barr. Based on the nearly 1-on-1 nature and the placement of the shot, Barr had little to no chance. Up until that point, Louisville had been fairly dominant defensively, and they were for nearly the whole game. The Cards led in both shots and corners, so it was good to see them take advantage of the strong offensive game they were having and put balls in the back of the cage. There is nothing more frustrating than beating your opponent on the offensive end but being unlucky and losing a close match. Fortunately, Louisville was playing from ahead, which allows you to play a bit looser, especially against a Goliath like UNC.

In the fourth quarter, with UNC pressuring significantly, Louisville was unable to capitalize on back to back corners. In the first, Alli Bitting was the recipient of her own corner after a scrum in the circle, but her shot went just wide off of the post. After those two corners, the Cards were on the back foot for much of the final period. UNC refused to go down quietly, and they were willing to be aggressive. The Heels went so far as to pull their goalie with more than seven minutes remaining in the game. With that extra field player, they were able to keep Louisville from getting on the break and kept the ball in the Louisville half for much of the remainder of the game. As time wound down, it looked like Louisville might be able to pull it off with some great defensive play to prevent UNC from scoring with their advantage. As the seconds clicked toward zero, the Cards found their way on a quick break, and Margot Lawn found herself standing alone in the UNC circle. Louisville went up 3-1 with 6 second remaining and that was that. After the game, Paulie sat down for a postgame interview with Coach Sowry, which you can watch here.

After all we talked about in the preseason about the challenging field hockey conference schedule and Louisville's lack of non-conference games to get warmed up, the Cards have come out on fire. With already 9 goals scored in three matches and a 2-0 conference record after facing Duke and North Carolina, Louisville is in a bit of a driver's seat. While every conference match is a tough one, Louisville has now knocked off two of their biggest problems to open the season. The Cards will get a chance at revenge over Boston College, who knocked them out of the NCAA tournament last year, tomorrow when the Eagles come to town. Louisville won the regular season matchup in Chestnut Hill last year 3-2. If the Cards can get a victory tomorrow, they'll be sitting with a worst possible record of .500 in conference. That's a pretty nice place to be when you're only playing conference games against the toughest conference in the country. Tomorrow's game gets underway at 1:30 PM, and it will be available on ACC Network. Paulie will cover that one while I head over to Lynn to watch soccer take on BC as well. I wonder if they traveled together.

Volleyball Gets Back on Track with Sweep

Since it is apparently Louisville vs BC weekend, Cardinal Volleyball is taking on the Eagles as well. Louisville traveled north yesterday, without starting setter Tori Dilfer, for a two game set against Boston College. The Cards were just 0-1 on the year, having taken the loss to Notre Dame and then postponing the second match, but had still found themselves ranked 11th in the coaches poll. In the matchup against BC, Louisville showed why voters had so much faith in them.

As I mentioned they were playing without normal starting setter, as Tori Dilfer did not travel with the team (draw your own conclusions), but that didn't slow down the Louisville attack. Rachael Demarcus stepped in to fill the void and assisted on 29 of Louisville's 34 kills. The Cards managed to hit a crisp .474 on the night with Demarcus in relief, and it seems clear that there may be a setter battle for Coach Busboom-Kelly now. 

While Boston College not being particularly strong at the net (just two blocks) may have helped Louisville's attack efficiency, the Cards were also doing a great job finding open space with their shots. With only 7 errors on the night, Louisville managed to have a third set with none, hitting .667 in the 25-9 trouncing. Freshman Anna DeBeer had 8 kills in 12 attempts with no errors, Claire Chaussee went 11/18 with just one error, and Aiko Jones, who is typically keyed on, managed 8/16 with just three errors. The Cards were hot yesterday and we'll see if they can keep it up today.

Despite the strong offensive showing, Louisville still has work to do on the serve. The Cards had just four aces compared to six errors. Serving issues were part of the reason they lost to Notre Dame last week, and they need to find a way to get that to a positive ratio. Giving away points is not a great key to success. Fortunately, it didn't matter in the match last night, but it would be good to see improvement against the outmatch Eagles in tonight's match. Louisville and Boston College will get underway at 7:30PM, with the match listed as an ACC Network Extra production once more.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

We're back on our regular schedule this morning, with no Saturday home game to get us off track. We've got plenty of results to talk about, with Louisville women's soccer joining in on the big wins this week. We'll also talk about other news around campus as well as the WNBA Finals getting underway. Tune in to the Cardinal Couple YouTube for this week's live show at 11AM or stay tuned for the podcast to come to your phone following the recording. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-

Another Undefeated Friday -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

For the second week in a row, I'm bringing you a column talking about three wins for Louisville women's athletics teams. Two of the three are the same, and soccer did still win their Thursday game, but this week we've added swimming and diving to the list. Let's get into yesterday's goings-on. 

Field Hockey Downs Wake Forest 3-0

For the second night in a row, a Louisville team on Floyd Street defeated Wake Forest to move to 9-1 on the season. Thursday, it was the women's soccer team in a comeback victory that Jared wrote about yesterday. Last night, it was the field hockey team handling the Demon Deacons with little opposition. The final score doesn't show a huge domination, though 3-0 is a strong victory, but the game stats indicate a lopsided game.

Louisville finished yesterday with only two more total shots than Wake, with that battle ending 8-6, but the Cards amassed 6 shots on goal while the Deacs could muster none at all. Even after earning four penalty corners, Wake was unable to pressure Hollyn Barr, who played the whole game and finished with no stats. Louisville scored in the first, third, and fourth quarters to keep up consistent pressure and converted on one of their three penalty corners. Barr's full game is her second in a row, perhaps indicating that Coach Sowry has made a decision about the position going forward. With Minrath on the bench, the team still has a solid option in the event that things go sideways, but Barr appears to have snagged the starting spot for the time being.

Yesterday's first goal came off of a penalty. With just two minutes left in the first quarter, Carter Ayers took the ball downfield and ended up earning a corner. She and Meghan Schneider would start the play and ultimately set up Mercedes Pastor to score her fourth goal of the season. The teams held onto the 1-0 score for about 19 minutes, going through the rest of the first, the entire second, and just the start of the third without any other goals. Madison Walsh changed that when she picked up her fifth goal of the year by tapping in a deep pass from Margot Lawn about a minute and a half into the second half. Three minutes into the final quarter, Walsh picked up a brace when she scored another tap in, this time from Bethany Russ.

All in all, Louisville had a stranglehold over Wake for the majority of the game and made sure to put away their chances. Scoring on 38% of your total shots and 50% of your shots on goal is a pretty efficient day. With Louisville's high volume offense, converting at that rate is going to continue to win a lot of games. Sprinkling in a defense that is capable of shutouts never hurts either. Louisville is back in action on Sunday when Penn State comes to town at Noon. That match will be available on ACC Network Extra.

Check out Paulie's interviews with Coach Sowry and Madison Walsh below. Videos of the interviews are available at gocards.com.

Coach Sowry Recaps the Win

Madison Walsh Talks About Her Double

 Volleyball Makes Short Work of Georgia Tech with Sweep

After pretty much dominating the first two sets, Louisville weathered a comedy of errors that took the third set to extra points before claiming victory over the Yellowjackets of Georgia Tech. After only a pair of errors total in the first two sets, Louisville committed 10 in the final set and hit negative in the third en route to a 27-25 set win. The Cards were saved only by even worse hitting by the Techies who committed 13 errors and also hit negative in that final set. Despite that final set, Louisville still managed to finish with .278 hitting for the night, showing just how strong those first two sets - .433 and .484, respectively - really were.

Louisville finished the match winning in every major category. The Cards won blocks 11-4, aces 4-2, had fewer service errors at 7-8, and fewer overall errors at 12-25. The teams finished tied at 39 kills, but the efficiency of Louisville's hitting was ultimately the difference. As was typical, Anna Stevenson was a brick wall, assisting on 5 Louisville blocks, and Emily Scott and Nena Mbonu got in on the block party as well by snagging a combined two solo and five block assists. Alexis Hamilton reliably led the team in digs, but also added a pair of unlikely receiving errors. Hot on her tail in digs were Melanie McHenry and Aiko Jones with 8.

Offensively, McHenry didn't have the best night, hitting only .125 on 24 attempts, earning 6 kills. Stevenson also finished with 6 kills on 20 attempts. Mbonu was second on the team last night with 8 kills on 18 attempts, a bit of a breakout night for her. Tori Dilfer continued to hold down her starting setter position, earning 30 of the Louisville's 34 assists on the night. The star of the night was undeniably Aiko Jones. Jones had the previously mentioned 8 digs, added 3 block assists and a solo block, and hit a whopping 13 kills with no errors on 18 attempts. She also chipped in with one of the four remaining assists for an all around outstanding night. Only one blemish came out of her night, and it has been one that has haunted for much of the season. Jones finished with 4 service errors and no aces. Despite that, I think when a player is pretty much unstoppable above the net, you'll live with some serves to Nowheresville.

Louisville's win pushes them to 10-3 on the season and 3-0 in conference. The Cards will have one more match at home against Clemson on Sunday at 1 before they hit the road for a massive four game road trip. Louisville will face Duke, Wake, Notre Dame, and Virginia Tech over that stretch before coming home for a big pair of matches against Virginia and Pitt. It's a bit early to be predicting such things, but the Pitt match 7 opponents away could be huge for the conference championship race. Louisville will need to show a bit more consistency and close out against weaker opponents to stay on track this season, but an ugly third set victory last night is still a victory. Cards and Tigers will get underway tomorrow at 1PM in L&N Federal Credit Union Arena and the match will be available on ACC Network Extra.

Swimming and Diving Opens Third Straight Season with Win

Louisville swimming and diving hosted Xavier in a one-on-one meet yesterday and both the men's and women's sides easily claimed victory. The women earned more than three times as many points as the Musketeers and won every race en route to a 194-62 victory. The Cards are beginning their first season without a "superstar" swimmer on the women's side since before Kelsi Worrell arrived, but there are plenty of swimmers ready to take up the mantle. In addition to every winner in the pool, Molly Fears showed yesterday that she still intends to be a champion from the board. She won the dives from both the 1 and 3 meter boards yesterday. Listing every winner for the Louisville swimmers would take quite some time, so let me just say that you should check out the overall results and see how balanced the winners for the Cards were yesterday. 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

Due to the early start time for football, we will be without Jared and Paulie in the studio today, but Jeff and I will be joined by Daryl Foust to help keep us on track for the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour. We've got plenty of wins (our favorite thing to talk about) to discuss so we'll break down the weeks in soccer, volleyball, and field hockey before looking ahead to the upcoming weeks and a bit about the upcoming basketball season. Tune in at 11AM on WCHQ FM for the show. WCHQ is available at 100.9 FM, the WCHQ App, wchqfm.com, or on Facebook Live.

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-

Cards Sweep Friday -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Soccer Rebounds from UNC Loss, Beats 'Cuse 3-0

After suffering their first loss of the season last Saturday night, the Louisville women's soccer team hit the road for the first time since the opening game of the season. This weekend, the Cards headed to the northeast to take on Syracuse and Boston College to open their conference road schedule. The Cards faced their first hiccup before ever stepping foot on the field in Syracuse. Thursday evening, prior to the scheduled 6PM kick, an e-mail was sent out explaining that the team was suffering from a team-wide illness and that the game would be postponed to Friday morning. Though Syracuse has struggled this year, a team full of players recovering from food poisoning (the presumed culprit) did not inspire a ton of confidence for a strong effort.

Louisville proved me wrong. The Cards rolled out the primary starting lineup, showing that even if everyone wasn't fully recovered, thy were certainly going to go for it. Delaney Snyder got Louisville into business with their first goal less than two minutes into the game. Louisville had taken control of the game early, already earning a free kick deep in the offensive third, but the goal came on a bit of buildup play, with a through ball finding Snyder just barely onside (she looked off to me but the camera angle wasn't good). Snyder dribbled across the top of the box and deftly sent a ground ball into the opposite side of the net. Cards led 1-0.

Later in the half, it was a pair of subs that played add on. Louisville subbed quite a bit yesterday, perhaps showing that not everyone was fully recovered from their illness the night before. In this moment, it was Maisie Whitsett and Corinne Dente doing work for the Cards. In a similar situation to Snyder's goal, Dente found herself getting behind on a through ball from Whitsett. Just like Snyder, she settled herself and found the back of the net. It was Dente's first career collegiate goal (news flash to the Syracuse announcers and the women's soccer twitter, a freshman's first goal of the season is going to be their first career goal), and I get the feeling it won't be the last.

Louisville's final goal came much later in the second half, as Emina Ekic was determined to restart her points streak. Prior to the North Carolina game, Ekic had scored a point in every game except for the Ohio State game. That's a pretty impressive streak, and as long as she is finding ways to affect the offense, Louisville will continue to earn opportunities. Ekic's goal in this one was unstoppable, as her 76th minute shot rose to the upper left corner and was completely out of reach. Ekic's ability to score, assist, and draw fouls is what makes her a Hermann Award watch list player and it's what drives this team. It may be a little early to look at that award list, but with just a month left in the regular season, it will be time for the list to shrink soon. Ekic affects the game in so many ways, including those that show up on the stat sheet, but for those recordable stats, Emina's best is probably points per game. With five goals and four assists through nine games, Ekic currently sits tied for 67th at 1.56 points per game. That mark happens to be tied for fifth in the conference. Ekic is not likely to appear at the top of the list nationally, but she's only a few points behind the top points earner in arguably the top conference in the country. She's doing alright.

Louisville is back in action with what is a quicker turnaround than normal due to the schedule shift. The Cards will take on Boston College tomorrow at noon in Chestnut Hill. The game, like most, will be available on ACC Network Extra. Tune in to see if the Cards can continue to get back to their winning ways and earn their way back to the top half of the conference table. The Cards and Eagles are currently tied at 3 points, with BC sitting at 8-1-1 on the season compared to Louisville's 8-1-0. It should be a good match.

Field Hockey is Huge After Half Against BC

Continuing their trend of playing teams right around the same time as soccer, Louisville field hockey was in Massachusetts yesterday to take on the Eagles of Boston College. The Cards currently find themselves ranked sixth, and since they were playing in a conference game, you can be sure they were in a ranked matchup. This time around, Boston College is ranked 17th, right on the fringe of what might make the tournament this season. In a road match against a tough team, Louisville showed a bit of fight, despite going down early.

The Cards actually made two comebacks in this game, trailing 1-0 for nearly 25 minutes and then 2-1 for just over two minutes. The two teams scored four combined goals in the third quarter in under five minutes, in what was a wild swing for the fans in the stadium. Louisville's goals came from Bethany Russ, already her 8th this year, Margot Lawn (3), and Madison Walsh (4). All three were goals scored by taking advantage of big opportunities. Russ scored on a reserve shot after her shot was illegally blocked. Lawn did what makes everyone happy by converting a corner. Her shot was technically not on the corner, but was a rebound after the initial corner attack. However, since it was all one play, I'm counting it. Finally, Walsh's goal was an open play goal, as she knocked in a goal after her shot was originally saved. 

All three Louisville goals show different skill sets and different abilities to get on goal. A diverse scoring offense is key to not getting stymied by a strong team that can limit specific areas. Also important was the mental fortitude shown by Louisville to come back twice as I mentioned earlier. The Cards didn't give up throughout the first half, and put their halftime coaching to the test by getting a quick goal. After conceding quickly to trail again, a weaker team might get a bit deflated. Louisville instead scored a pair of goals in a pair of minutes to flip the script. 

Louisville's defense should also get a shout. Giving up two goals is not great, but when your team scores three, your only job is to give up fewer than three. Remember that this was a road game against a good team, and one of the goals came on a corner which are always challenging to defend. Perhaps surprisingly, Hollyn Barr went the distance in goal for the Cards, earning one save to go with her two goals allowed. If this was the test to see if she would be taking a stranglehold on the goalkeeping position, I can't say she locked it down. We'll see if Sam Minrath sees her way back into the net soon.

Louisville remains on the road for their next match and, like women's soccer, they'll stay in the northeast. Field hockey will take on the Providence Friars tomorrow at 1PM. This one won't be on ACCNX, but there is a watch link listed that takes you to a video player. Not sure if it's free or paid, but be sure to tune in to watch another good Louisville team.

Volleyball Goes Five in Win Over NC State

For the second match in a row, the Louisville volleyball team needed a fifth set to secure a win, as they did so last night in L&N Federal Credit Union Arena over the Wolfpack of NC State. Like field hockey, volleyball earned their win with multiple comebacks, losing the first and third sets and getting strong victories in the second and fourth to force a decider. 

After starting pretty hot, Louisville's hitting actually trailed off consistently through the third, fourth, and fifth sets. Fortunately for the Cards, so did NC State's. Louisville finished the match with a respectable, but not lovable, 0.254 hitting percentage compared to the Wolfpack's 0.150. The Cards earned more aces (5-4) and dominated in blocks, outblocking the Wolfpack 15-6. Anna Stevenson led the way on blocks, with 2 solo and 5 assisted. Emily Scott had a solo and five assists as well, and even Tori Dilfer got in on the block party with 5 assisted blocks. Dilfer also earned a career high in assists as she picked up 54 of the team's 61 assists in the match.

Leading the way offensively was a familiar name, as Melanie McHenry crushed 29 kills on 61 attempts with just 8 errors for a cool 0.344. I'm thinking she's back. Aiko Jones and Emily Scott effectively tied McHenry as they picked up a combined 29 kills with 7 errors on 68 attempts with 0.308 and 0.345 hitting percentages, respectively. 

Though perhaps not the cleanest win for the Cards against a struggling NC State team that is now 5-8 on the season, no one can complain about a victory in the conference opener. Louisville will have their hands full as they try to keep pace with Pittsburgh and Florida State in the title race, and every win counts. The Cards will be back in action, just like everyone else, tomorrow at 1PM against North Carolina. This match is at home, so if you can make it out, head on over to the Arena Formerly Known as Cardinal. As a home match, it will also be available on ACC Network Extra. 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

We're back in the studio once more for the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour this week. Jared is banking and Daryl wants to get to Louder than Life when the gates open, so Paulie, Jeff, and I will man the mics. Jeff may be there in name only, though, as he fights voice issues, and I'll try not to sound like a frog after the first night of LtL yesterday. We'll have plenty of game action throughout the week to talk about as well as important women's basketball news to cover. Tune in to WCHQ FM at 11 AM to listen along. WCHQ is available at 100.9FM, the WCHQ App, wchqfm.com, or on Facebook Live.

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-

Still stopping -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

MCFERRAN MAKING THE PLAYS IN IRELAND

So, what does the best goalkeeper in women's Field Hockey do once she's graduated from college? I'll not put the answer in the form of a quiz question...too easy for you. 

She continues to protect the pipes in her home country with the National team. 

Ayeshia McFerran is the starting goalkeeper for the Irish Women's Field Hockey Senior National team. The squad recently competed in the FIH series finals...with implications for the 2020 Olympics... and came in second, losing to Korea 3-1 in the championship game. 

With the second place finish, though, the squad has successfully qualified for the main qualifiers in August. The Irish won three matches in Pool A, including a 4-0 blanking of the Czechs on Friday, to lead to the finals and are ranked eighth in the world currently. 

McFerran discusses the loss and the great goal ahead at the link below: 

LINK:  Ayeshia McFerran


McFerran recently graduated from the University of Louisville, getting her degree in Exercise Science. She was part of Cardinal Field Hockey squads that went 55-27 over the past four years. She was also a four-year NFHCA All-American, the only Cardinal to ever achieve that honor for four years.  

Despite the graduation of McFerran, the UofL Field Hockey squad looks to be a formidable foe for their ACC opponents and beyond in 2019. 10 current, future or former Cardinal are playing in the USA Young Women's National Field Hockey Championships that end tomorrow in Lancaster, PA. 

Returnees Carter Ayars, Hollyn Barr, Alli Bitting, Erica Cooper, Isabella Leeker, Sam Minrath, Meghan Schneider and Katie Schneider...2016 graduate Erin McCrudden and incoming freshman Margot Lawn (Archbishop Spalding High School, MD) are part of the 144-player, eight team championship that began Friday. The Cardinal contingent isn't all on the same squad, they're evenly divided among five of the eight teams. 

2019 Cardinal commit Margot Lawn (left)

On the 2019 recruits...Lawn is a consensus top 10 player in the 2019 class. India Reed, another 2019 Louisville commit, is from Louisville Manual High School and considered to be in the top 25 of the 2019 High School rankings. 

The Cards also return their leading scorer in Bethany Russ, who is from Australia...and Mercedes Pastor, third leading scorer, who hails from Buenos Aires, Argentina. Whena Munn goes into her senior season and the New Zealand native has participated in all of the Cards 63 games over the past three years...starting in 16 of them. 

Here's a great article on Ayeshia that looks at her past and what's ahead: 

LINK: Ayeshia takes her own path

Who will replace McFerran as the Cardinal goalkeeper in 2019? 

Most feel the battle is between redshirt junior Barr and redshirt freshman Minrath. Barr started five games in 2017 while McFerran was fulfilling Irish National team obligations and Minrath lead Christian Academy to the Kentucky State Championship title as a senior in 2017. Both were on the 2018 roster, Barr played in one contest. 

The Cards will have their work cut out for them in the always-formidable ACC, where North Carolina reigns as the National Champions and Duke was ranked in the top three in 2018. The Cards have 11 home matches this season and start the 2019 campaign with four straight home contests, plus the alumnae, at Trager Stadium. 

Head coach Justine Sowry will miss McFerran, plus graduated seniors  Taylor Stone and Katie Walsh...but Cards return their top three scorers from last season plus experience and depth on the defensive end.  

For Field Hockey news, be sure to check back here at Cardinal Couple...the Cards first action is in 68 days, on Aug 24th. against the Alumnae. 

paulie
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