Thursday Cardinal Couple -- Exeter, Melhado to play for Team Canada U 20

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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. 

Exeter ( Pickering H.S./Pickering Ont.) and Melhado (Turner Fenlon H.S./Brampton, Ont.) will leave with their teammates Wednesday for the cup battles...which are scheduled Aug. 19-Sept. 8 in five cities across 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 have
only 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. 

"Yeah...Angel's still sitting." 

Diana Taurasi, saddled with foul trouble late, led UConn (oops!) USA with 14, Charles with 14 also and Sue Bird added 13. UConn gets the gold, silver and bronze. 

UConn  USA faces the winner of Russia v. France for the gold on Saturday.

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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Friday Cardinal Couple -- Women's Soccer looks to repeat last year's success

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FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE


- Women's soccer geared for another successful season. 


- This, that and the other...

The historic season for University of Louisville women's soccer last year culminated with advancement to the 3rd round of the NCAA tournament with wins over Dayton and Memphis. A close 2-0 loss to Final Four participant Florida State ended the Cards championship season...a season that saw them go 14-7-3 and finish second in the BIG EAST Conference Tournament, losing to champion West Virginia at Morgantown in the Mountaineers' final BIG EAST appearance.


The good news for head coach Karen Ferguson-Dayes is that she has her two leading scorers from last year returning in Christine Exeter and Angelika Uremovich and her starting goalie...Chloe Kiefer. 

The Cards were 8-1-2 in the BIG EAST and forward Exeter was selected to the NSCAA All-American team. She scored 14 goals for Louisville and was also named BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Year.  

She'll have both Uremovich and Kim Sharo back to help her produce points for the Cards and 12 freshmen join the team this season...plus transfer and international sensation Charlyn Corral, who played for Mexico's 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup team. 

The action begins with a pair of exhibition games at Cardinal Park starting next Friday. Louisville will face the Ohio State Buckeyes on Aug. 10th. and Wright State on Sunday, Aug 12th. The regular season kicks off on Friday, August 17th. when Louisville travels to play at Butler. 


The Cards will have ten home games at Cardinal Park, including a Sept. 7th. match against Kentucky. Louisville will be looking for revenge this season...losing to UK 2-0 last year in Lexington. 


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I don't do laundry (Sonja's request) so I can't duplicate Sandy's Laundry Day but here's a few UofL women's sports related tidbits. 


-- China Dow, Christian Academy's stellar point guard has verballed to MTSU (Middle Tenn. State U.). According to her coach, Don Rice...it came down to UK or the Blue Raiders. She's one that has improved greatly over the last year and we'll be watching her career in Murfreesboro. 


-- Melissa Starck Bean has accepted Anne Kordes' offer to be an assistant volleyball coach at UofL. If the name sounds familiar, she played her high school volleyball at Assumption, was an assistant at UofL for Leonid Yelin from 2005-09 and most recently assistant club director at KIVA (Kentucky Indiana Volleyball Academy). Welcome back, Melissa! 


-- Amanda Zahui, the Swedish basketballer who considered Louisville WBB before verballing to Minnesota, will be ineligible this season because of academic certification woes. Sounds like a juco stint to us. 


-- Angel McCoughtry and the USA Olympic Women's Basketball team face the Czech Republic today at 5:15 p.m. You can catch it on the NBC Sports Network. We'll have a recap in Saturday's CARDINAL COUPLE. 


-- Jeff Walz does a Q and A with Jody Demling over at Cardinal Authority. We like the changes that have occurred over at the Scout site since J.D. replaced Mike Hughes and you can access the site over on the left side of our site under Sites We Recommend. 


Have a great Friday and L1C4, baby! 


-Paul

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Women's soccer receives awards...We heard it thru the grapevine...UK for real this year?

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FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE:

-Exeter 1st team, Hunter 2nd team NSCAA All-Region

-Two Lady Cards recruits coming for a visit

-Lady Kats defeat DUKE in Rupp

Exeter led Louisville in
scoring for 2010 and 2011.

Two players on the University of Louisville women's soccer team have received prestigious awards...being selected to the NSCAA All-Region teams for 2011. Scorer Christine Exeter was named to the 1st team and defender Chelsea Hunter has been selected for the second team.

Exeter, who will be a junior next season, was the Cards leading scorer and All-BIG EAST Conference selection. She may well be on her way to re-writing all the records for scoring at the University of Louisville and helped power the girls to a #24 season ending ranking this year and trip to NCAA Women's Soccer's Sweet Sixteen.

Hunter's defense helped
Louisville reach the
NCAA Sweet Sixteen.

Hunter made the second squad and is a remarkable "comeback story". After seeing limited action her first two years at Louisville, she had to sit out 2010 with an injury. The time off gave her the chance to re-focus and strengthen her defending capabilities and she returned this year as part of a strong Cardinal defensive line. 

Soccer is alive and well at UofL...for both the men's and women's squads...and plans to build a new, 5000 seat soccer stadium on campus are well under way with two sites being surveyed and reviewed for possible location.

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Rumors and tweets out there in cyberspace are indicating that two of the most sought after girls' high school players in the class of 2013 are headed to Louisville for a visit over the President's Day weekend. Mercedes Russell and Stephanie Mavunga will be in town for a visit to watch the Lady Cards play Notre Dame and check out the Louisville campus.

Russell is a dominant post player.

Russell, from Springfield, Oregon is considered by many the top recruit in the 2013 class. She is a paint monster and is drawing interest from Connecticut, Tennessee and all the women's college basketball "bigs". Russell teamed with Mavunga to lead the USA U 16 team to the gold this year in Mexico and has made a prior visit to the UofL campus to see what Walz and the Cards have to offer.

Mavunga is a high profile scorer

Mavunga hails from Brownsburg, IN...a suburb of Indianapolis, and is widely recognized as the best player in Indiana girls high school hoops. She's another dominater in the paint and packs gymnasiums wherever she goes with fans wishing to see her play. 

Although 2235 miles separate the two talented players, they've become fast friends and could probably show up on some campus as a package deal to play their four years of college hoops.

Always good to recruit and gather skilled post players with the ability to score. Here's hoping the girls have a great time on their visit in February and enjoy the state-of-the-art KFC-YUM! Center...

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After Kentucky defeated Louisville by 20 points on Sunday, there was some discussion that Louisville's women pretty much destroyed themselves with lack of effort and weak rebounding. Was Kentucky really that good a team? Would the Lady Wildcats suffer a drop off in their next game...against #6 Duke in Rupp Arena?

Last night, in front of 14,508 fans in Rupp, UK defeated the Blue Devils 72-65. The Cats trailed by eight late in the first half but made a serious run at Duke, had a 31-30 lead with a minute left in the first half but went into the locker room down 34-31. UK grabbed the lead early in the final half and got back-to-back threes from Bria Goss and Adia Mathies with five minutes remaining to go up by ten and hold off the visitors to win by seven.

Mathies followed the strong
effort vs. Louisville with 23
against Duke last night.

Mathies led UK with 23 points, Goss added 19 and freshman Azia Bishop...who had only 11 points coming into the contest, erupted for 12 points and 10 rebounds in the UK win.

UK may just be the real thing. We'll watch how they do in South Bend against the Notre Dame Lady Irish this month...but, last night, UK showed that the Louisville win was no fluke and that Matthew Mitchell just might have a bona-fide contender for the Final Four in Denver.

Meanwhile, Louisville looks to shake off the dismal performance against UK on Saturday when (0-7) Gardner Webb comes to visit. Louisville dropped to #15 in the NCAA rankings after the loss in Lexington.

The Cards shouldn't have much trouble against Gardner Webb tomorrow...we'll have a breakdown of the visitors tomorrow and a full recap of action after the game for you here at CARDINAL COUPLE.

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Women's Soccer to host first round NCAA game...Watson weighs in on re-alignment

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TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE:

-Cards to face Dayton in NCAA Tournament

-Re-Alignment? How about a rotation and balance, too?

-"Bubbles" chooses Pittsburgh

The University of Louisville women's soccer team has received an at-large bid to the 2011 NCAA Women's Soccer Tournament. The Cards will host a first round game against Dayton Saturday night at Cardinal Park. Game time is 7 p.m.

Flyers will try to contain
BIG EAST Offensive Player
of the Year Christine Exeter.

It's the first time Louisville has hosted an NCAA Women's Soccer match and third appearance all-time for the squad. They made back-to-back appearances in 2006-2007.

Dayton will be the first opponent. They enter the NCAA Championships with a 19-3 record. The Flyers recently won their third straight Atlantic 10 tournament title and are on a seven game winning streak. The Cards and Flyers have met eleven previous times...Dayton a perfect 11-0 against Louisville. Winner gets the winner of the #4 seed Memphis vs. Tennessee-Martin match. Louisville and Dayton have not met in women's soccer since 2002.

Difficult, but certainly not impossible for the Cards. Louisville was on a eight game winning streak before running into a strong WVU squad in the BIG EAST Championships on Sunday. 

Tickets are $7 for adults, $5 for students and $4 for seniors, kids and groups of 10 or more. Group purchases must be made in advance and tickets are available starting today at 9 a.m. through the UofL ticket office. The timing works for the 7 p.m. game. The football Cardinals play at noon against Pittsburgh...so bring a little extra tailgating provisions and hang out a few hours before heading over to Cardinal Park. 

Also in Louisville's region are the Kentucky Wildcats and West Virginia.   

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(David Watson is a special contributor to CARDINAL COUPLE. Today, he shares some thoughts on conference re-alignment)

I have to wonder. How many lawyers does it take to play the game of football? WVU is litigating against the BIG EAST. In turn, the BIG EAST is suing WVU. Pittsburgh and Syracuse have their attorneys standing at the ready, awaiting the outcome of the previously mentioned lawsuits. And, very few of these barristers probably ever suited up in the pads and helmets and tried to take out a running back. Billable hours might be two of the most important words in college football these days - replacing punt coverage and cover two.  

Re-alignment. Have you seen some of the scenarios for the "new and improved" BIG EAST? Hardly 'east' anymore, with the discussion centering around Boise State, BYU, Houston, SMU, Air Force and San Diego State. Toss in the Navy (for tactical support), Central Florida (for Disney World) and maybe Temple (for Rocky references). Simmer for three years and serve with a television contract garnish and sour grapes.

I don't like the idea of sending Cincinnati and Louisville to play in a western version of the BIG EAST. If the idea is to expand to 12 teams, create a playoff scenario and hang on to BCS Qualifier status - fine. Take your BYU, SMU, SDSU, BSU, AFU, Houston and your little dog TOTO too and create your wild, wild west division. And order me a bowl of alphabet soup. Keep Louisville and Cincinnati with Rutgers, Connecticut, South Florida and add a UCF and Navy if you must. And I'll buy a vowel for early departures prices, Pat. Turn over another letter, or conference member, Vanna.

Re-align if you will, but make sure you balance the vehicle properly, rotate the conference tires and remove the floor mats when you're done. Warranty? I don't think so. This clunker might not make it out of the parking lot.  

Would this group travel to Boise to watch football?

Here's one to leave you with. Pittsburgh enters Louisville's Papa John's Cardinal Stadium this Saturday while in the process of leaving the BIG EAST. Syracuse, another leaving school, tried that and lost. West Virginia, a third leaving school, even hosted the conference-remaining Cardinals and lost. I see a trend here. Tom Jurich should only schedule football games against previous BIG EAST members. Boston College, Miami and Virginia Tech fit here. So does Temple. Or, leave the BIG EAST and join the ACC. We're not in Kansas anymore, T.J. Were we ever?
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(Or how about members of the previous Cardinal affiliation with C-USA, David? A schedule of Memphis, ECU, Southern Miss, Tulane and Marshall...nope, forget it.)

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6'11" junior Marvadene "Bubbles" Anderson has verballed to Pittsburgh, following a weekend visit to the Pitt campus. Pitt associate coach Patty Coyle is the twin sister of "Bubbles" high school coach at Rutgers Prep in Piscataway, New Jersey...Mary Coyle Klinger.

Bubbles with a teammate.

Gotta wonder on how Rutgers lost out on this backyard prospect? If they were interested at all.

As a coach once wisely stated:

"You can't teach height." 



How do you guard a 6'11" teenage girl?
Put her in heels...



With Pittsburgh departing the BIG EAST, it's doubtful the Lady Cards will get a chance to try and defend the amazon. I'm guessing Cierra, Shawnta and Sherrone wouldn't back down from her, though. And, it's just a verbal commitment from a junior. As we well know, in the world of college basketball recruiting, things can and do change. If "Bubbles" turns into a Brittany Griner, superstar type...We expect that that Anderson phone will still keep ringing...

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iftheobjectiveistodraintheswampthenitisagoodideatodoanalligatorremovalfirst.

Fields a possible 2012 recruit...Volleyball sweeps Marquette...Soccer falls to WVU

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MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Jenny reports on Nirra Fields

-Volleyball sweeps Golden Eagles

-Women's soccer drops 2-0 decision to WVU

(Cardinal Couple's Jenny O' Bryan fills us in on Nirra Fields)

As a fan who follows recruiting news, sure...I have heard of her. Hoopgurlz ranked her 11th in the country in the class of 2012 and third at guard. She is a 5-star guard, who hails from Quebec. She has international experience playing for the Canadian U16, U17 and U19 teams.

Most recently, she was noted as the "hottest recruit out of Ohio", when she was playing at South Euclid Regina High School in the Cleveland suburbs. The school recently shut down and Nirra found herself moving across the country with her guardian and LA Lakers coach Mike Brown to California and Mater Dei High School. Mater Dei is in Santa Ana, California...where 2011 top recruit and UConn Husky Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis attended school and 2012 #6 recruit Jordan Adams (committed-USC) is a senior. Mater Dei has won the girl's national championship title the past two years. Some big time ballers come out of Mater Dei.

Definitely heard of Nirra Fields. 

I have not, though, heard her name mentioned in the same sentence as UofL women's basketball until this past week. That's right! Louisville is one of her top five schools. She, at some point this fall, might make an official visit to Louisville. An official visit is paid for by the school and can only be taken in the fall of an athlete's senior year. An athlete can take as many as five official visits. An official visit obviously means there is interest by both the school and the athlete.

Fields a Bria Smith clone?

I am very pleasantly surprised by the recent revelation that Louisville is in the running for this superb athlete. Surprised...not because Coach Walz is attracting the attention of top caliber athletes...but surprised because I thought 2012 recruiting was over for Louisville.

Google Nirra Fields. You'll find a wealth of information.

Nirra is defined by Hoopgurlz as an explosive, first step player. Great on-the-ball defender. Penetrates and attacks the basket. Sound familiar? (A Bria Smith likeness is what I am thinking.) Her quickness allows her to get by any defender and she has the bounce to elevate over long defenders. It is noted her areas to work on are staying on defense when who she's guarding doesn't have the ball and increasing the range of her shot. She is a dribble drive, penetrating type of shooter. Think (again) Bria Smith. Charmaine Tay. Sounds exactly like the kind of kid that fits into a Jeff Walz system.

Nirra is deciding between Louisville, Oklahoma, Kentucky, UCLA and Miami (FLA). With the early signing period starting on Nov. 9th. and ending on Nov. 16th....and Nirra stating she will sign in the early period, looks like it won't be long until we know about her future plans.


(Great report by Jenny! Get this one on campus and in the jersey, Coach Walz! )


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Cardinal Volleyball got 18 kills from Lola Arslanbekova yesterday in the KFC YUM! Center...leading Louisville to a 25-22, 25-19, 25-18 of previously conference unbeaten Marquette. Also credit the hard work of Taylor Brauneis with 33 assists and 13 digs for the Cards.

"I know it doesn't show up on the stats so much but Taylor Brauneis' defense helped us tremendously. We worked so hard this week and it was great to see her execute. She had at least two momentum changers when they were closing in on us." -Anne Kordes, UofL head volleyball coach.

Brauneis steps up big for Cards!

The Cards jumped out early in game one and led 5-1. That became 11-7 and eventually 21-15 before Marquette rallied to make it 22-19. The Cards got big kills from Brooke Mattingly and Lola to finish off the Golden Eagles and win the first by three.

Louisville once again jumped out to the early lead in game two but Marquette rallied to lead 8-7. Louisville re-focused and ran off the next eight points to put it out of reach, though. The Cards led 20-13 before taking the second game by six points.

After the break, Louisville roared out to a 10-4 early advantage and the Golden Eagles never seriously challenged after that...the Cards winning by seven.

With the win, Louisville goes to the top of the BIG EAST standings at 11-1 and 19-7 overall. Marquette is now 10-2. The Cards take to the road for the final two games of the regular season...needing one to clinch the regular season title. They face Villanova Friday and Georgetown Sunday.

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WVU holds Exeter scoreless

Tough match on the pitch for Louisville women's soccer yesterday, losing to the WVU Mountaineers in the final game of the BIG EAST Tournament 2-0. Cards had several chances to net points, especially late in the second half, but couldn't penetrate the strong goal play of WVU's defense. Blake Miller and Frances Silva scored for the Eers...who get the automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. It's the third year in a row WVU has taken the title.

Key to the WVU win was shutting down BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Year...Louisville's Christine Exeter.  

The field of 64 for the NCAA Tournament will be announced Monday at 4:30 p.m. Most figure Louisville should make the tournament easily...with a strong showing in the BIG EAST regular season and by advancing to the finals of the conference tournament.

Congratulations to Christine Exeter, Katie McDonald, Jennifer Jones and Chelsea Hunter....named to the BIG EAST All-Tournament team. Exeter and Hunter are sophomores...McDonald and Jones seniors. Looks like Karen Ferguson-Dayes has plenty coming back for next year and don't count the Cards out in the NCAA Tournament.
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waxingnebulouswhiledancingmadlybackwardonaseaofair.

Soccer beats Irish in semis...Field Hockey falls to UConn...Saturday Breeders Cup picks

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SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE:

-Women's Soccer reaches finals with win over Notre Dame

-Field Hockey gives UConn a battle but loses

-Saturday Breeders Cup Picks

The University of Louisville women's soccer team will play for the BIG EAST Tournament title Sunday. A huge win yesterday over rival Notre Dame...the Cards taking down the Irish 2-1.

The Cards opened the scoring when Christine Exeter took a pass from Jordan Pawlik and drove one into the net after just three minutes of play in the first half. Louisville would strike again just eight minutes later...Kaitie McDonald using her head - literally - to knock in a kick from Jennifer Jones.

Kiefer had seven saves
against Notre Dame

That 2-0 lead held for the first half and the Cards defense proved up to the task in the second half...holding the Irish to just one goal and getting the win.

Chloe Kiefer performed well in the net for UofL...getting seven saves. The Irish outshot Louisville 19-11 and held an 11-3 advantage in corner kicks. Louisville led in the category that mattered most, though...with two goals.

The Cards advance to the championship game and will play West Virginia at noon Sunday. The Mountaineers drubbed Georgetown 5-1 in the other semifinal game yesterday. It'll be the first meeting of the year for the two. Louisville lost to WVU in 2010 in Morgantown 2-1. The Cards are 0-4-1 all-time against West Virginia. Louisville is on a eight game win streak currently and will give the Mountaineers all they want Sunday.

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Field Hockey jumped out to a early 2-0 lead against Connecticut yesterday in the semifinals of the BIG EAST Field Hockey Championships but couldn't make it stand...losing 3-2 to the Huskies in Syracuse. The Cards fired early against UConn...Hayley Turner taking a Mallory Mason pass to the net just 2 minutes into the contest. UofL would find pay dirt again just eight minutes later when Erin Schneidtmiller fed Elizabeth Vance by the left post...Vance scoring and giving the Cards a surprising two goal advantage over the #4 Huskies.

Erin Conrad will be
back next year to
tend goal for UofL

UConn regrouped, though, and came back quickly to cut it to 2-1 just two minutes later. That's the way they went into the half...Erin Conrad making several key saves as the clock neared zero.

The Huskies tied it up seven minutes into the second half and the game evolved into a defensive struggle until Cara Silverman smacked home the game winner for Connecticut with just ten minutes left in the action. Louisville was outshot 14-2 in the game...Conrad with nine saves for the Cards. 

Louisville ends the regular season with a 10-9 record and will now wait to see if they receive an at-large bid to participate in the NCAA Tournament.

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We had an excellent day with the six Breeders Cup races at Churchill Downs...having winners in five of the races. Sonja correctly predicted that PERFECT SHIRL would shock the field and she did...at 27-1 odds. Perhaps the most impressive race of the day was MY MISS AUERLIA just destroying the field when the Juvenile Fillies hit the stretch. Look out for her as a 3 year old...the Oaks or even the Kentucky Derby not out of reach for this Steve Asmussen trained gal. OK, enough bragging...there are nine Breeders Cup races for this Saturday and we're going to try and give you some good winners.

Remember, our selections are for entertainment purposes only. If you followed along with Sonja yesterday...you were massively entertained. We put $2 across the board on all three of our picks per race yesterday. $18 a race wagered and for the six races, we each bet a total of $108 for the day. Here's how we did:

Sonja...four winners and total money returned $134 Profit: $26
Paul.....four winners and total money returned $89   Loss: $19

Paul: "Don't wear the crown too tightly, girl...because I'm gonna snatch it right off your head on Saturday."

Sonja: "It's lonely here at the top...prom wave to poor, pitiful Paul below."

Here's today's offerings:

BREEDERS CUP MARATHON

Paul                                                   Sonja

Baryshnikov                                        Bird Run
Bird Run                                             Giant Oak
Au Miner                                             Cease

JUVENILE TURF

Paul                                                   Sonja

Majestic City                                       Finale
Casper Nets                                        Majestic City
Finale                                                Lucky Chappy

SPRINT

Paul                                                   Sonja

Big Drama                                           Big Drama
Aikenite                                              Giant Ryan
Jackson Bend                                       Force Freeze

TURF SPRINT

Paul                                                   Sonja

Caracortado                                         Regally Ready
Chamberlain Bridge                               Country Day
Hoofit                                                 Perfect Officer

DIRT MILE

Paul                                                    Sonja

Shackelford                                           Trappe Shot (best bet of the day)
Trappe Shot                                          Wilburn
Wilburn                                                Caleb's Posse

TURF

Paul                                                    Sonja

Sarafina                                               Sarafina
Stately Victor                                        Await the Dawn
Await the Dawn                                     Sea Moon

JUVENILE

Paul                                                     Sonja

Hansen (best bet of the day)                   Union Rags
Union Rags                                            Hansen
Dullahan                                               Drill

MILE

Paul                                                     Sonja

Goldikova                                              Gio Ponti
Court Vision                                           Goldikova
Gio Ponti                                               Courageous Cat

CLASSIC

Paul                                                     Sonja

Uncle Mo                                               Ice Box
Drosselmeyer                                         Harve de Grace 
Game on Dude                                       Uncle Mo


(For what it's worth, we both also like Buckleupbuttercup, Freedom Star and May Day Rose in the 12th. and final race of the day...the Chiulkki Stakes.)   

Good luck everybody!!

nochoiceisachoice

                   

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

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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.

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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.

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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...

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

nochoiceisachoice

Cards fall to UT 3-0 in Volleyball...Women's Soccer to face Notre Dame...

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thursday CARDINAL COUPLE

-Volleyball falls to Tennessee in KFC YUM! Center

-Women's Soccer to face Notre Dame in Morgantown


Tough outing last night in the KFC YUM! Center for Anne Kordes' volleyballers. The fell
to #16 Tennessee 25-23, 25-21, 25-19 before a crowd of 2000.

"They had ten more digs than us and that was the difference in the match because we
outblocked them. We need to be more consistent and aggressive on defense. UT is a heck of a team and by far the biggest team we have played so far. Lola had a great game, with 14 kills and 5 blocks." -Anne Kordes, UofL Volleyball head coach.

The Cards kept it interesting in game one. Tied at 15-15, the Cards gave up two straight points, necessitating a Kordes time out. Louisville rallied to get the next two points, remained
tied at 23-23, but gave up the final two points of the game to narrowly lose.

Lola's 14 kills not enough Weds.

Louisville started out strong in game two and led at 13-10...but UT used a couple of 5-1 runs to push past the Cards and gain a second victory at 25-21.

In game three, the Vols jumped out to an early 8-4 lead and increased it during the rest of the contest to sweep the Cards with a 25-19 triumph. Tennessee goes to 21-3 on the season, while the Cards fall to 17-7.

No rest for the Cardinal squad, they host Syracuse Saturday and BIG EAST undefeated Marquette on Sunday in the YUM!

Louisville is one game behind Marquette in the BIG EAST standings and a sweep this weekend of the Orange and Golden Eagles would propel the Cards into first place in the conference. Both this weekend's games are at 2 p.m. Get out and support your Volley Cards! 

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Women's Soccer heads to Morgantown this weekend to face Notre Dame in BIG EAST Women's Soccer semi-final action.  The Cards defeated the Irish 1-0 in regular season play in South Bend and are the #1 seed in the National Division of the BIG EAST. 

Jennifer Jones on the move

You can catch this one on CBS College Sports Friday. Game time is 3 p.m. The Cards will the 1-2 scoring punch of Christine Exeter and Jennifer Jones to knock off Notre Dame (10-6-3). 

The Irish pulled off an upset in the quarterfinals, travelling to and knocking off #1 American Division seed Marquette last Sunday 1-0. 

The Irish hold a 8-2 lifetime record against the Cards...but the two have never met in BIG EAST tournament play. If the Cards advance, they'd play again on Sunday. Wazoo Sports Network would show the noon match here in Louisville. 

The Cards have exceeded expectations this season, compiling a 11-5-3 record after a slow start to the season. Christine Exeter closed the regular season as the BIG EAST scoring champ with 11 goals in conference play and 13 goals overall. Her 20 goals in two seasons at UofL are on pace to make the sophomore the all-time leading scorer for Cardinal Women's Soccer.

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Volleyball downs Cincy in three games...Soccer 2-1 over Rutgers

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CARDINAL COUPLE SATURDAY

-Volleyball Cards go to 7-0 in BIG EAST

-Exeter's two goals lead Soccer to win

-Football with a tough test in Cincy today

The University of Louisville Volleyball team kept their perfect record in BIG EAST play
last night with a convincing 26-24, 25-19, 25-11 sweep of the Cincinnati Bearcats last
night in Cardinal Arena. Lola led the way again with 16 kills.

"Huge win for us tonight. Cincinnati is a great program, a great rival and they have a great coach in Reed Sunahara. We had great defense, great blocking and ran a well-balanced attack." -Cardinal head coach Anne Kordes.

Lola with 16 kills in
the Cardinal win.

The teams engaged in a nail-biter in the first game...UC actually leading 21-18 late until the Cards went on a 6-2 run to get to game-point. UC would not go away quietly, though and tied it at 24-24 before the Cards capitalized on a Lola kill and a UC error to win 26-24.
Louisville established control early in game two, leading by seven at one point, before the Bearcats roared back and got within two at 19-17. Louisville re-established their momentum from there on, though, and took six of the final eight points for the win.

A fatigued and disappointed Bearcat squad was no match for the Louisville hitters in game three - Louisville going on several runs, including a 8-0 push late...holding UC to just 11 points for their lowest total in a game this season. Emily Juhl also played well off injury, with nine kills. The Cards (15-4, 7-0) out hit UC .287 to .077 and drop the Bearcats to 13-8 and 5-2 in BIG EAST play.

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Christine Exeter scored both Cardinal goals in a 2-1 win over Rutgers last night in Cardinal Park. Both her goals came in the first half and the Cards held the Scarlet Knights scoreless until late in the second half. With the win, Louisville maintained their lead in the National Division of the BIG EAST and assured that they would be seeded no lower than second in the conference championships.

Another big night for goalie Chloe Kiefer...three saves for the senior. The Cards held a commanding 20-4 advantage in shots and 8-4 advantage in shots on goal.

"I thought we were exceptional in the first half but a little casual in the final half. It bordered on over-confidence. Overall, it's a great win." - Karen Ferguson-Dayes, head women's soccer coach.

The Cards have rebounded from a slow start to the season and will host Seton Hall on Sunday in their final home game of the regular season. Louisville has already qualified to host a quarter-final match in the BIG EAST tournament.

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The bearcat is one ugly mammal

The annual Keg of Nails contest today at noon in Paul Brown Stadium for the football Cards against the UC Bearcats. Can't ever remember being a 17 point underdog to UC. The Cards will have their hands full with UC QB Zach Collaros and bruising tailback Isaiah Pead. They won't lose by 17, though. In fact, I'm going with the longshot here and predicting a Cardinal win today.

Still crack up when I hear the announcer matter-of-factly intone:

"Pead out of bounds on the play."

Too much info, pal....

Make it so, touchdown Teddy.

Headed to see this one on the Parrish House bus in just a few short hours. The game in the Cincinnati Bengals home stadium just isn't the same as playing in cozy Nippert Stadium on campus. Let's hope playing in front of a half-empty stadium demoralizes the UC crew...
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