Saturday Cardinal Couple -- Soccer, Volleyball post wins Friday

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SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

- Soccer downs Purdue 4-3 in double overtime

-Field Hockey falls to Northeastern  3-2

-Volleyball over WKU 3-1

A busy day for Cardinal women's sports Friday as three Cardinal squads were in action...all starting action within 90 minutes of each other. Here's the reports. 

Katie Walz boots home game winner over Purdue. 

A nice crowd of over 900 on hand for the soccer Cards win over Purdue...a hard-earned victory that went to double-overtime before Katie Walz took a Charlyn Corral pass and drove it into the net from 25 yards out for the win.

Louisville struck early in the contest, getting a goal from Angelika Uremovich just five minutes into the game. That lead held for 15 minutes until Purdue showed a brief spurt of offensive prowess and got two goals from Jordan Pawlik in the span of 45 second to take a 2-1 lead. Casey Whitfield found the net for UofL with just six minutes left in first half play to tie it 2-2. 

That's how the first half ended...Louisville narrowly outshooting the Boilermakers 7-6 and Chloe Kiefer with one save. 

The second half prove to be a defensive battle until Purdue captialized on a loose ball and found the net with just 7 1/2 minutes remaining in regulation. Angelika Uremovich countered for the Cards, though...taking a Charlyn Corral pass and sliding one by Purdue goalkeeper Clara Kridler to tie it with 4 1/2 minutes left in regulation. Neither team could score in the final 270 seconds and the teams went to extra time at 3-3. 

The first overtime saw both teams with chances to score but neither could capitalized in the 10 minute additional session. 

Louisville came out quickly in overtime two, though...Walz driving a shot from the right side of the field into the right corner of the net for the game winner.

Louisville outshot Purdue 14 to 3 in the second half and 4-0 in the overtime sessions. The Cards go to 2-0 on the season with the win.

Action was stopped for about 10 minutes in the second half when a power outage cause the stadium lights to go out. Attempts to play with an optic-yellow ball went on for a few minutes but play was halted again until replacement hamsters for the Cardinal Park generator could be located and purchased. 

Field Hockey falls short against Northeastern

It was a battle of top 25 teams in Trager Stadium in the first game of the Sherrill Brakemeier Classic but Louisville couldn't score in the second half against Northeastern and fell 3-2 in front of about 500 fans. 

Northeastern registered on the board first when Crystal Poland tapped in a penalty corner shot twenty minutes into the game but Louisville countered three minutes later when Haley Jurich tied the contest on an unassisted goal. The Cards forged ahead 2-1 when Amber Thomas took a corner pass from Alyssa Voelmle and found the net with just 100 seconds left in the first half...but Northeastern tied it on another score by Poland with only four seconds remaining in the half. 

The heat (93 degrees at game time) took a toll on both squads in the second half...Louisville playing solid defense but unable to find the net. Lindsey Bennett put in the game winner for Northeastern with sixteen minutes left in the game. 

Louisville returns to action on Sunday at 11 a.m. against the loser of the Northwestern vs. Miami (OH) game...which will be played Saturday at Trager. 

A birthday celebration, cake, naming of the locker room and video were part of the pre, post and halftime game activities for the 90th. birthday of Mrs. Brakemeier...a four-sport star for the Cards back in the 1940's. 

She was a complete doll in the press box, handing out candy to the media and marveling at the speed and quickness of today's field hockey. Happy Birthday, Mrs. B!

Volleyball defeats WKU 3-1 in Active Ankle Challenge. 

Gwen Rucker led Louisville with 16 kills and nine blocks against the Hilltoppers and Louisville downed WKU 25-20, 25-17, 26-28, 25-12 Friday night before a crowd of 2800+ in the KFC YUM! Center. 

Louisville had their hands full with the visitors in the first set, finally gaining a 15-14 lead and going on a 10-6 run to secure the first win. Lola Arslanbekova smashed five kills to lead the Cards to the victory.

The Cards jumped out to an 8-4 lead in the second set but WKU climbed within one at 11-10 before a 7-2 UofL run gave the Cards a six point advantage they would build on to go 2-0 on the evening. Rucker recorded seven kills in the set.

The third set was an exciting affair, WKU leading 17-14 late in the action...Louisville getting to set point with a 24-22 lead but watching the Hilltoppers go on a 6-2 run to get the the win. 

Louisville dominated action in the final set, and led 20-8 before coasting in for the win. 

Action resumes today with Louisville facing Morehead State at 11 a.m. and then #3 Penn State at 7:30 p.m.

Earlier in the day, Penn State swept Morehead 3-0.

We'll have reports on both UofL games in the Sunday edition of Cardinal Couple and a closer look at last night's Cardinal win later today. 
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