Exeter, Ferguson Dayes and Yenney receive soccer honors...Turner gets field hockey award...Cheerleaders now to WVU?

.
FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Soccer picks up four BIG EAST awards

-Field Hockey gathers five awards

-Should they stay or should they go?

Christine Exeter, a sophomore forward for the University of Louisville women's soccer team, has been named the BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Year. She was one of four on the UofL women's soccer team to receive awards at the Thursday night awards banquet in Morgantown, West Virginia.
Karen Ferguson-Dayes was selected as the league's Coach of the Year.

Yenney is just a freshman

Also getting recognition...freshman mid-fielder Erin Yenney...named to the BIG EAST All-Rookie Team and Jennifer Jones, who made the Third Team All BIG EAST.

"I've said this since day one and I'll keep on saying it. she (Exeter) is special. Most, if not all her goals have come in key games and are very significant for us. I'm thrilled for her, but she's so focused and humble that she won't let this honor define her. She will continue to do what she's good at and that's being a great teammate and being a great goal scorer." -Ferguson-Dayes commenting of Exeter's selection.

The Cards face Notre Dame Friday 3 p.m. in Morgantown in the BIG EAST Women's Soccer Tournament semifinals. If victorious, the Cards will play the winner of the Georgetown vs. West Virginia game for the title Sunday.

******************************************************************

Hayley Turner was one of five Cardinals to pick up awards at the BIG EAST Conference Field Hockey Banquet last night in Syracuse, NY. The honors:

Turner leads the
Cards in scoring

-Hayley Turner - senior midfielder - BIG EAST Co-Offensive Player of the Year and All-BIG EAST FIRST TEAM.



Collins is First Team BIG EAST
Way to go Caitlin



-Caitlin Collins - senior midfielder - ALL-BIG EAST FIRST TEAM



-Erin Conrad - junior goalkeeper - ALL-BIG EAST SECOND TEAM

-Dominique Pasqualichio -freshman defender -ALL-BIG EAST SECOND TEAM

-Alyssa Voelmle - freshman defender- ALL-BIG EAST SECOND TEAM

The Cards are in the BIG EAST semifinals and will face top-seeded and #4 Connecticut Friday at 12:30 p.m.

******************************************************************

Something about the BIG EAST just seems to create controversy and wild speculation. We reported, as many other news outlets and internet blogs did, that UofL was leaving their Cheer and Dance squads behind when the football and women's soccer teams travelled to Morgantown this weekend to play.

Looks like the rumor now is that the Cheerleaders might be making the trip. 

Stay tuned, or as we might also suggest, tune in the noon kickoff and see if they are on the sidelines.  

WE love the UofL Cheerleaders. Along with the Dance Squad, they manage to block our view at UofL women's basketball games. Could be worse...

*************************************************************

In case you missed it, the CARDINAL COUPLE Friday Breeders Cup Picks were posted last night. Should be good for a few laughs...

nochoiceisachoice

Volleyball vs. Tennessee tonight in KFC YUM!...Collins, Turner in Senior All-Star game...Two Cards teams travel to West Virginia this weekend

.
WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE:

-Tennessee first of three in YUM! Center for Volleyball

-Collins, Turner selected for NFHCA Senior All-Star game

-I-64 East this weekend for football and women's soccer

The University of Louisville Volleyball team begins a three match home stand
this evening with a 7 p.m. match against Tennessee in the KFC YUM! Center.

Emily Juhl will be
killing it this weekend

The Volley Cards (17-9, 9-1) look to get back on the winning track at home after losing to Pittsburgh in the KFC YUM! back on Oct. 23rd. Tennessee won't be an easy match for Anne Kordes' crew...the #16 Vols are 20-3 on the season and 13-1 in the SEC. The game tonight is a "red out" game...so don the Cardinal Red if you venture downtown tonight.

Lola leads the Cards in
kills this season.

The Cards will return to BIG EAST action on Saturday and Sunday. Syracuse (17-9, 6-4) visits Saturday and the promotion is Youth Day. Sunday brings Marquette to town...the Golden Eagles are a perfect 10-0 in BIG EAST games this year and 20-6 overall. The Sunday game is a Girl Scout Day promotion. Wear a Girl Scout to the game and....never mind.

Can't make the matches? You should check out CardsTV. For a small monthly fee you can follow the action on your computer. For more details, go to http://www.uoflsports.com/ and click on the Multimedia banner.


******************************************************************

Field Hockey's Caitlin Collins and Hayley Turner have been picked for the 2011 NFHCA Division I Senior game which will be held Saturday, Nov 19th. at 3 p.m. at Trager Stadium.  

Caitlin Collins is one of the
dynamic duo at midfield

Collins is a four year starter for the Cards at mid-field and a team co-captain. She was selected for the 2009 All-BIG EAST team and has a career-high three goals this year.



 Turner, also a midfielder, is the Cards leading scorer with 10 goals this year. She's also a four year starter at Louisville and has been selected twice for the All-BIG EAST team. She's in the top five at UofL for career goals (38), career assists (32) and points (108).


Turner leads the Cards in goals.



Louisville (10-8, 3-3) has earned a #4 seed in the upcoming BIG EAST Tournament and will face top seeded and #4 in the nation Connecticut in semifinal action Friday, Nov. 4th. at 12:30 p.m. at Syracuse.

Syracuse and Connecticut have dominated BIG EAST field hockey over the past few years and played for the title in 2010. Connecticut went 6-0 in BIG EAST play this
year and 16-1 overall. The Orange finished 5-1 in the
BIG EAST and have a 16-3 record. Louisville was the only other team to post an above .500 record.

 

******************************************************************
With both Louisville women's soccer and football travelling to Morgantown, WVa. this weekend for games, it's an opportunity for Cardinal sports fans to see Cardinal athletics back to back on the road. Many people we have talked to, though, have serious concerns and doubts about going to West Virginia to watch sporting events Louisville is involved in because of safety issues. We talked to Dan Turner, a long-time Cardinal fan, who we usually run into at away Cardinal athletic events. He is going to watch both the events (soccer Friday and football Saturday)..but with proper caution.

Mountaineers host UofL this weekend.

"I don't wear my red gear in any public venues, like restaurants or gas stations. I'll pack a red shirt in my seat cushion and put it on once I get into the football stadium. I'll remove it before I leave the stadium. I'm 64 years old, got a bad leg and I don't think I could handle myself very well if a few West Virginia fans wanted to pick a fight with me. Never been to a women's soccer game on the road...so I don't know how rowdy West Virginia women's soccer fans get. I've travelled to see the Cards in football and basketball since the early 70's. Some of the Memphis games were pretty rowdy back in the early days and UK fans can get a little loud and critical if they see you in red, but neither school can match the Mountaineers in insults, nastiness and rude behavior. My wife hasn't attended a football game in Morgantown since 2005...that post-game mob scene was enough to scare her off for good. I'll make the drive with a couple of guys that sit near me at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium. One is a ex-Marine and the other has a brown belt in karate. And, they're younger than me. Still, I just want to see two good sporting events this weekend and no pre or post game drama or fights. I hope I get my wish."

I would feel safe travelling to Morgantown
with these guys. Fagettaboutit...

The University of Louisville has concerns...electing not to take the Cheer or Dance teams to Morgantown this weekend.

Check out Charlie Springer's UofL Card Game for an excellent article and some wild comments by Mountaineer fans about the two schools and the dislike for each other. www.uoflcardgame.com

We know there are plenty of hospitable and friendly fans that support and cheer for the Mountaineers. We have met them when they come to Louisville and tailgate at the Parrish House. Unfortunately, the West Virginia "bad apples" really stick out and we are amazed at the lack of effort by the administration and police at WVU to curtail their bad behavior.

God forbid Louisville actually "sweep" this weekend and win both the football and women's soccer games. The Cardinal casualty count could reach the 100's...
.
nochoiceisachoice

Volleyball downs Tenn. Tech...Soccer ties Toledo..Field Hockey falls to Cal.

.
SATURDAY WITH THE COUPLE

-Volleyball Cards sweep Tenn. Tech in first game of the year

-Cards tie Toledo in Soccer

-Cal uses second half to defeat Field Hockey Cards

The old phrase "win, lose or draw" came into play yesterday for three UofL women's sports
teams...Volleyball winning their first match of the season, Soccer earning a tie against Toledo and Field Hockey falling at home to California. Let's look at the events...

The BIG EAST selected Lola Arslanbeckova as the pre-season BIG EAST Player of the Year and she did nothing to dispel that selection last night in Atlanta, leading the Volleyball Cards to a 25-9, 25-20 and 25-7 whitewash of the Golden Eagles. Arslanbeckova got Anne Kordes her first official career win as the UofL head volleyball coach by producing 17 kills.

"We were passing, serving and hitting really well. I also think that Taylor Brauneis did a nice job of spreading the offense around." Kordes commented after the match.

Emily Juhl added 10 kills for Louisville and Gwen Rucker finished with nine. The Cards rolled out to an early 17-5 lead in the first game and won easily. Tennessee Tech hung around for most of the second game until a late 7-2 Louisville run allowed the Cards to take the contest. They pounced on the Golden Eagles in the final game quickly...going up 15-4 and coasting in for the win. Nebraska transfer Kaitlynn James served six straight points in the final game...her first game action in two years.

The Cards play twice on Saturday...Kansas State in the morning and Georgia Tech in the evening.

cardscardscardscardscardscardscardscardscardscardscardscardscardscardscardscardssonjacardscardscardscardscardscardscardscardscardscards

Louisville Soccer drew first blood against Toledo last night but couldn't score again in a 1-1 tie against the Rockets. Sophomore Angelika Uremovich found the back of the net early in the match at the eight minute mark for her second goal of the season. The Rockers countered a few minutes later though when Kristen Lynn slid one by UofL goalkeeper Chloe Kiefer. Both team had chances to score in the second half but neither could produce a goal.

"I thought we started out very flat and reactive and because of that it took a long time to find our rhythm." Louisville head women's soccer coach Karen Ferguson-Dayes commented. "Toledo worked extremely hard and they played very well tonight. We will regroup for Illinois on Sunday and take from this some game lessons we need in order to make us a better team."

Toledo (0-2-1) outshot Louisville (1-0-1) 15-12 in the match. Kiefer had four saves for Louisville...who will host Illinois Sunday. The first 150 students with ID will get a Louisville Louigans T-Shirt and the first 1000 fans get a free Louisville soccer schedule key chain.

cardscardscardscardscardscardscardscardscardscardscardscardscardspaulcardscardscardscardscardscardscardscardscardscardscardscardscardscards


CARDINAL COUPLE favorite Caitlin Collins got her first career goal last night but it wasn't

enough to carry the Field Hockey Cards past California...losing 3-1 to the Bears. Down 1-0, the Cards got on the board at the 12:30 mark when Collins found the net on a penalty corner with an assist from Elizabeth Vance. The first half ended with a 1-1 tie...Louisville out shooting California 14-2 and holding a 9-0 advantage in penalty corners.

Cal pushed ahead 2-1 four minutes into the second half when Erin Magill scored on a penalty corner and the Bears tacked on an insurance goal with two minutes remaining. Louisville was awarded two penalty corner attempts as time expired but could not connect on either. The Cards dominated the stats...with a 18-8 shot advantage and 15-4 in corners. Goalie Erin Conrad had a save in the defeat.

"In the beginning of the game I thought we started well and put them under a lot of pressure. To get that many corners and have that many shots on goal..we wanted a goal or two more than we got. I give a lot of credit to California. They're a good team through the midfield and we had a lot of turnovers, so we have to fix that." Louisville head field hockey coach Justine Sowry remarked.

Michigan State faces California Saturday in Trager Stadium and the Cards will go up against Spartans on Sunday.

Dear Santa

THURSDAY @ CARDINAL COUPLE

.

-OUR WISH LIST for UofL women's sports programs.

.

From the mailbag.

.

Dear Santa:

We know it is kinda late to be getting this list to you. WE at Cardinal Couple have been very good this year, though (just ask us) and our wish list isn't for us, it is for the women's sports programs at the University of Louisville. Please find room for these on your sleigh and 'Ho-Ho The Mistletoe' .

.

-For the Lady Cards basketball team, lots of wins in the BIG EAST and a NCAA Tournament appearance in 2011. We'd like to see Shoni Schimmel continue with the high scoring and Monique Reid perfoming great off the bench. Give Jeff Walz all the recruits he is after, too.

.

-For the volleyball team, the continued improvement of the young players like Emily and Lola and another BIG EAST Tournament title. Toss in a regular season title, too..if there's room. Make it possible for Coach Yelin to hold another trophy or two up in 2011.

.

-For Cardinal Softball, pleasant surprises to replace the seniors, a slugger like Melissa Roth, pitcher like Kristen Wadwell and fleet outfielders and sure-handed infielders. A BIG EAST title would be great and a long run in the NCAA Tournament. Give Sandy Pearsall 4-5 players on the BIG EAST all-conference team and a couple of recruits that will become all-conference.

.

-For Louisville field hockey, a great beginning in the first year for the new coach and wonderful seasons for Caitlin, Haley and Lacey and all the other "flock". Let's add another win over UConn and a chance to play in the Field Hockey Final Four. Make it that Justine Sowry isn't sorry she came to the 'Ville.

.

- For all the other teams, please bring winning seasons, conference titles and post season tournament appearances. A MVP or two would be great and maybe a couple of National titles if you have room? Here's a poem for you, Santa about the other teams...

.

Lacrosse without a single loss

Things keep growing for rowing.

Each golfer with a hole in one offer

Soccer plays when it isn't snowing.

.

Tennis a menace every game, set and match

Swimming skimming every event in the pool.

Track and Field will yield couple of more titles.

And Cross Country continues to rule.

.

Sincerely,

.

CARDINAL COUPLE

.

***********************************************************************************

.

From the Mail Call:

.

Bill the Goat ate almost all the e-mails and letters during the CARDINAL COUPLE Christmas Party...(we forgot to keep an eye on him)...but we did salvage this great e-mail from Louisville Field Hockey junior M/B Caitlin Collins. We had asked her how the players were handling the loss of head coach Pam Bustin to Duke. She replied:

.

Hi, Mr. Sykes!

.

Pam leaving definitely came as a surprise to our team. We were all very sad to hear the news but we were confident that everything was going to be alright. Pam is an incredible coach and every field hockey program wants her! All my teammates and I are very fortunate to have been coached by Pam.

.

Our athletic department took the search for a new coach very seriously. They weren't settling for anyone who wasn't going to commit to our team and the University 100%.

.

We were all very excited to hear about our new coach! We've heard nothing but wonderful things and we all look forward to working with her this spring! We're anxious to get to know the whole staff and work together to achieve nothing but excellence.

.

Also, finding out that Abby (assistant coach Abbie Heird) would be staying at Louisville makes us even more excited. She brings so much to our team and we are fortunate to have her return.

.

Have a great holiday!

Caitlin Collins

.

Looks like "the flock" is in good shape and we know that they'll return next year as one of the teams to beat in BIG EAST play. Justine Sowry has a ton of talent returning. Some good ones coming in. The best facilities in college field hockey. Need we go on?

.

We look forward to the Field Hockey blog this spring from Caitlin and the other women that make UofL Field Hockey the success it is.

.

.