THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE
- Soccer Cards will miss first six games for UofL while at U 20 World Cup.
-Team USA WBB defeats Australia 86-73 to reach finals.
The University of Louisville women's soccer team will start the 2012 season without two of their top players as junior forward Christine Exeter and junior defender Rachel Melhado will play for Canada at the 2012 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in Japan.
16 teams will vye for the title which will consist of group play before the quarterfinals on Aug 30-31st, semi-finals Sept 4th and gold and bronze matches on Sept. 8th. If they finish in the top four, the duo would miss two exhibition games and five regular season matches...including the UK game on Sept. 7th at Cardinal Park.
Exeter led Louisville last season with 14 goals and was the BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Year. She's also a unanimous pre-season pick for 2012 All-BIG EAST.
Louisville opens the season Friday night with an exhibition game against Ohio State. Other games they could potentially miss are:
8/12 Wright State (exhibition)
8/17 at Butler
8/24 Purdue
8/31 SEMO @ Lexington, KY
9/02 UNC Greensboro @ Lexington, KY
9/07 Kentucky
'We are absolutely thrilled for Christine and Rachel as they pursue their dreams of winning a youth world championship. Although we will miss their presence in games and training, we understand the privilege that comes with playing for your country. We know they will represent both UofL and Canada exceptionally well." -- Louisville head coach Karen Ferguson-Dayes.
Imagine Louisville WBB without Shoni and Shawnta Dyer for the first six games. Or Anne Kordes without Lola Arslanbeckova and Gwen Rucker during the early season...if you're looking for comparative player losses. That's a tough road to travel, especially with a young team, as Ferguson-Dayes has.
For the 2012 season, the Cards haveonly three seniors and nine juniors are on the 30-player Louisville roster...six sophomores and twelve freshmen fill out the remaining spots. Louisville could look to Kim Sharo, Angelika Uremovich and newcomer Charlyn Corral to pick up the scoring void for the Cards that the absence of Exeter will create. Emily Cardell, limited to just four games last year because of injuries, could also be a key, early scoring factor for UofL.
Melhado started all 24 games as a defender for Louisville last year. The Cards do return veterans Courtney Holtz and Chelsea Hunter as defenders and goalie Chloe Kiefer will keep the Cards strong at the net when opponents have the ball.
Louisville begins the eleven-game BIG EAST regular season schedule Sept. 14th at Notre Dame.
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| #8 gets eight minutes against the Aussies |
A win today for Olympic USA women's basketball over a tough as advertised Australia squad....86-73 with defense getting the job done in the second half. USA with no answers for Liz Cambage in the first half, 19 points for the 6'8" Tulsa Shock center. USA down 47-43 at the half.
Tina Charles stepping up, taking it "very personal" and fatigue a factor to holding Cambage scoreless in the second half. USA using a 10-3 late third quarter run to lead 65-59 after three quarters, after trailing 56-55 with 3:55 to go in the quarter.
Disappointing use of Angel today...eight minutes, four points...sat the bench the entire fourth quarter...Geno preferring to go with Ashia Jones, Maya Moore, Mary Tyler Moore...anyone he could find instead of the leading scorer in the WNBA. Puzzling, for sure. Predictable, yeah. After all, it is Geno. Probably tough for Jeff Walz, who flew over to catch the semis and final.
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| "Yeah...Angel's still sitting." |
Whoever...the real title was won today, more specifically in the second half of today's game when the 'Dream Team' woke up from their slumber and shut down #2 in the world with defense.
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