"Floored" ida. Cards upset #3 Gators in Sugar Bowl 33-23

THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

- Louisville's fast start leaves Gators toothless

It is the biggest victory in Louisville football history.



The champ.

Just as Muhammad Ali shocked the world with a knockout over Sonny Liston in 1965 to claim the heavyweight boxing title, another Louisville legend -- the Charlie Strong coached Louisville football team -- shocked the world (as least the college football world) with a 10-point win over #3 Florida in Wednesday night's Sugar Bowl in New Orleans.

Make that Lou Orleans.

Ali was on hand to see the win. So was a 5 year old cancer patient from Louisville who wanted to see this game with only months possibly left in his young precious life. The champ is smiling. The young man has his belief renewed that miracles can happen.
 

Scoring on the first play from scrimmage in each half, the Cards dominated the air game behind the heroics of Teddy Bridgewater. The Cards shut down the Florida offense for the majority of the contest and pulls off the biggest BCS bowl upset quite possibly in history. They moved the unmovable object. They danced past the gator pit unscathed.  

A 14-point underdog, the #21 ranked Cards proved the Vegas odds-makers wrong...holding off a desperate Florida rally in the fourth quarter. Gator bait? Not tonight.

Sugar Bowl champs. Right here in Derby City.

Charlie wears a Sugar Bowl confetti wig.

A win that proves the ACC chose the right school. Another notch in the totem pole for the best college town in America. A righteous justification for the coach who had been a bridesmaid so very often in the quest for a head coaching job. A testimony that there is no better athletic director in college sports than Tom Jurich. 

Louisville Cardinals. L1C4. Big East 1 - SEC 0.

We'll return to our usual coverage of UofL women's sports Friday. Today's column is for Teddy Bridgewater and his mom, a breast cancer survivor. For Eli Rogers and his mom, an 11-year AIDS survivor. For the 20,000 fans who made the trek to New Orleans and for those who watched on TV or listened on radio. For an athletic director who gave a man a chance. For a coach who urged fans to "get on the train." A coach who believes that when you give your word, you keep it. A guy who turned down the money and the SEC. A guy who kept pointing to the Louisville fan section and telling the world that "this one is for those people up there" -- dressed in red and black.

Strong? Yeah, you betcha.

Arlo Guthrie wrote a song years ago about a train that rode the rails to New Orleans. "Riding on the City of New Orleans" came true tonight. And, to paraphrase Aerosmith...the train kept a rollin' all night long. Ozzy Osbourne sang about riding on the rails of a crazy train. The Cards have done all that and more with this win. The Cardinal Cannonball.

Down goes Frazier? How about down goes Florida? Gators, you just been "Carded"?

Teddy hits the deck on first UofL offensive play
but Florida ends up on mat in the end.

A win that few...except Cardinal fans...expected. A win that had ESPN announcers stunned, stammering and shuffling for material. A win for a young team that the pundits claimed achieved false success against a weak schedule. A team that would not be able to withstand Florida's vaunted defensive pressure according to the experts. Big East beating the SEC? Impossible...

How does 33 points taste, Florida?

Have some.

A win for the ages. And a victory for underdogs everywhere. A Sugar Bowl shocker.

The team will arrive at 3:30 today back at PJCS. IF you aren't working, go to greet them. A larger celebration is needed. Maybe over the weekend in the house where it started. The pizza oven.

Sugar?

How sweet it is.
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Wednesday Cardinal Couple - Big East play begins

WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Louisville WBB nears BIG EAST Conference schedule

-Football Cards play in Sugar Bowl tonight

( Jenny O'Bryan brings us the Wednesday Edition of CARDINAL COUPLE. We're glad she's feeling better and back on the laptop!)

With the New Year comes conference play.  Big East play starts on Saturday, January 5th.      

Below is a link to current Big East standings along with the schedules of each team, thus far. Louisville is 12-2 going into the Saturday matchup and will look to avenge a 86-61 loss that the Blue Demons stuck on the Lady Cards the last time the Cards visited McGrath-Phillips arena in Chicago. The Blue Demons had five in double figures in the rout, routinely beat the Cards in the transition game all night and Katherine Harry grabbed 20 rebounds in the dismantling.

http://www.bigeast.org/portals/5/fls/19400/stats/wbasketball/2012-2013/confsked.htm

This will be the last time in the foreseeable future that Louisville will face some longtime rivals in Cincinnati, Connecticut, Rutgers and BIG EAST schools Providence, Seton Hall, Georgetown, St John's, Villanova, Marquette, USF and DePaul.  

 

Seven of the fifteen teams are already in to double-digit wins for the season with only Connecticut remaining undefeated.    The rugged play of the Big East is upon us.  For all of you who have been worried about the “soft” out of conference schedule, well, no more. 

Atop the conference, as has been historically typical, is Connecticut.  Syracuse, Notre Dame and Louisville round out the top 4.   This conference ranking is based on W-L percentages, so, I expect things will readjust very quickly as we get in to conference play and the competition steps up for a lot of teams.  For instance, Syracuse is off to a 12-1 start, but has played no top 25 teams.   I am not saying they are not good, just that so far this season, they do not seem to have been very tested. 

Saturday’s line up of games to kick off Big East play provides the opportunity to watch some really good basketball.  There are 5 games to open the conference, and likely the toughest of the day to be UConn vs. Notre Dame, to that in a minute. 

As we know, Louisville travels to DePaul to face the Blue Demons at home.  Coach Doug Bruno spent his summer as an assistant to the US Women’s Olympic team.   While the Blue Demons are currently not ranked, they are getting votes and are always very, very dangerous at home.  Look for veteran players, Kentucky native Anna Martin (senior) and Katherine Harry to provide the biggest challenges to the Cardinals. 

In what may be the marquee matchup for the day, depending on whom you ask is Notre Dame at Connecticut.   Notre Dame graduated 3 of their starters in Novosel, Mallory and Peters.  While returning Diggins and others, their lineup took a big hit to graduation.  The flip side to that, Connecticut graduated only Tiffany Hayes and added the # 1 recruiting class in the country in Breanna Stewart, Moriah Jefferson and Morgan Tuck.  After Connecticut’s rout of Stanford this past weekend, I look forward to watching this game and seeing this rivalry matchup early in the season.  Looks to be nationally televised, too.  So, catch it on TV at 4:00 and then tune in to Cards Radio to listen in on the Louisville game at 6:00 p.m. 

Providence will face Georgetown, Seton Hall will face Pittsburgh and Marquette will face Syracuse in the other 3 games in the Big East. 

It is time to buckle up Cards fans.  Big East play is here and things are about to get a lot tougher for our Cardinals.  I think they are up for the challenge, but no opponent can be overlooked!

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Finally, in other news, Louisville Football plays tonight in the Sugar Bowl.  While Cardinal Couple dedicates it coverage to primarily women’s sports, rest assured that we are all rooting for our Cards in Lou Orleans!  Check out any number of our favorite sites (on the left side of the page) for all your football coverage.   As Cardinal football fans like to say, “Get on the train”.  This is a big time game, on a national stage. Cards a 14-point underdog. We have nothing to lose. Go, Teddy, go!

Stay classy, Lou Orleans, stay classy.  Go Cards!!

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Finally, in the "News of the Weird" department, we received a call from ESPN yesterday inquiring if we'd like to do a "skype" with them on the upcoming Sugar Bowl game. At 11 p.m.

We politely told the caller we were a women's sports site and although we will be cheering for the Cards, we probably weren't knowledgable enough to deliver a factual report. Plus, we don't have "skype". 

If we did, we probably would have rounded up Co-Co, Cletus, Jenny, Sandy, Jeff, William Frawley, Mondo Vendo, MArkie MArk, Timmy the Intern, Bud Goode, Sonja and I and delivered a version of the 12 Days of Christmas.

Or put Jeff Walz's last post game interview to a operatic format.

Always thinking, always confused. It's not just a motto, it's a way of life here.
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Friday Cardinal Couple -- Cards defeat Belmont 3-1 in NCAA 1st round

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FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Lola, Rucker lead Cards past Bemont 3-1

-Cards headed to a BCS Bowl!

The University of Louisville Volleyball team defeated Belmont 21-25, 25-19, 25-18, 25-21 to advance to the 2nd round in the NCAA Volleyball Tournament Thursday night in the KFC YUM! Center.

It didn't come easy for Anne Kordes' squad.

Cards prepare to play

Belmont came out ready to give the Cards a battle from the opening serve. Knotted early, the OVC champs took a 11-9 lead over the Cards on a Allison McCoy kill. Louisville battled back, though and took a 15-12 lead after a kill by Tanya Lukyanenko. The Cards extended that lead to 20-16 after a Lola kill and Belmont needed a timeout.

The strategy worked. With Scarlet Gable serving, Belmont ran off eight straight points and had the Cards at set point. Emily Juhl's kill kept the Cards alive for one volley, but Belmont got a kill from Jocelyn Youngdahl to take game one 25-21.

Kaitlynn James serving

Belmont remained on fire to start game two and led 5-1 early, thanks in part to three Louisville attack errors. The Cards came back to tie it at 5-5, though and the game was still close at 15-15 when Lola went to work.

Three straight Lola kills and it was 18-15. Belmont called a timeout. This time, the strategy didn't have as much success, the Cards extending that lead to 21-16 after another Lola kill. Kaitlynn James ended the set with a kill on a nice feed from Hannah Kvitle to take the second game 25-19 and tie the match at 1-1. Lola had eight kills in the second game.

Gwen Rucker serves

After the break, UofL and Belmont got engaged in another nail biter. Neither team could gain a clear advantage and the contest was even at 13-13 before four Belmont attack errors helped the Cards grab a 20-15 advantage. Three more Belmont miscues had the Cards at 23-17 and kills from Tanya and Lola ended it. Cards 25-18 and up 2-1 in games.

The rowdy Belmont students and the girl who saved my
life (deflecting a kill headed directly toward my head). 

Once again, the early stages of the next and final game were tooth and nail. Louisville took an 8-8 tie to a 15-10 lead after Gwen Rucker aced a serve. Although Belmont would climb back within three at 21-18, Gwen's kill put the Cards up by four, a Belmont attack error made it 23-18 Cards and Lola's kill had the Cards at match point 24-19. Belmont would not go quietly, though. Two straight Gable kills made it 24-21. A service error ended it, though and Louisville rejoiced with a 25-21 triumph.

Lola had 19 kills for the Cards and Gwen Rucker added 13 for the victorious Cards. Together they produced 32 of the 55 UofL kills for the match. Rucker added seven blocks and Caitlin Welch led a balanced Cardinal dig effort with 19.
The Cards hit .214 against the pesky Belmont squad.

Caitlin Welch, Gwen Rucker and Anne Kordes
address the media after the win.

2782 in attendance Thursday night in the KFC YUM! Center and Louisville advances to Friday night 2nd round action to face Michigan, who defeated Tennessee earlier in the day 3-2.

Coach Kordes was effusive in her praise for the scrappy Belmont squad in post games remarks and spoke about the tough match ahead against the tough BIG 10 squad. She was also philisophical about the Cards having to go to Berkeley, CA instead of West Lafayette, IN. if they get past the Wolverines tonight.

In Anne's hire, Tom Jurich has put another one deep over the fence and touched all the bases. She exudes confidence, gives great post-game summations and recaps, answers questions with detailed knowlege, and...oh, yeah...she's a darn good volleyball coach as well. 

Game time Friday night is 7:30. We think you should go.

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An incredible, come-from-behind effort by Louisville Football Thursday night at Rutgers -- falling behind 14-3 to the Scarlet Knights but fighting back to win 20-17. John Wallace's field goal with 1:41 to go gave the Cards the BIG EAST title and the Cards will be heading to a BCS Bowl. The guess here is the Orange Bowl, with the Sugar Bowl a possibility.

Teddy Brigdewater, gutting it out with a broken wrist, bum knee and ankles. Hats off to you, sir! In the words of Rocky..."I didn't hear no bell, Tommy!".

We recommend Charlie Springer's excellent read on this donnybrook. The link for Charlie's site -- Card Game-- is below.

Louisville going Bowling!


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SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

*******SPECIAL REPORT*******

Louisville defeats Providence 2-1  in Field Hockey. Erin Schneidtmiller scores the difference maker at the 49:12 mark. Goalie Erin Conrad with six saves. Cards are in the BIG EAST Tournament with the win as a #3 seed!

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- Soccer begins BIG EAST Tournament play

- Football wins soggy 34-31 thriller in overtime

Cards begin BIG EAST Tournament quest in Tampa vs Bulls

The University of Louisville women's soccer team faces the South Florida Bulls Sunday at 1 p.m. on their march to take the BIG EAST Tournament. Louisville finished 3rd in the National Division with a 10-4-3 record and 5-3-3 in the BIG EAST. The Cards won their final two regular season games against Seton Hall (3-0) and Cincinnati (2-1)

South Florida is the #2 seed in the American Division and finished with a 10-5-2 record and 6-2-2 in the BIG EAST. They lost their final regular season game to Marquette 4-0.

Louisville is lead by junior Charlyn Corral, who has 23 points on the season (8 goals, 7 assists). Next is Angelika Uremovich with 20 points (9 goals, 2 assists). Goalkeeper Chloe Kiefer has been steady in her duties this season, allowing .95  goals in 17 games.

The winner advances to the semifinals and would play the winner of the Georgetown vs. DePaul game. The semifinals and finals will take place at the Joseph J. Morrone Stadium in Storrs, CT.

Good luck to our women's soccer team! Kick 'em where they ain't!

Football goes to 8-0 and retains the Keg of Nails

I don't believe I've been as wet at a football game since the Florida St. game a decade ago. Still, we made it through the entire contest and Louisville won on a overtime field goal by John Wallace after Terell Floyd intercepted a Munchie Legaux pass intended for the end zone.

Cardinal offense. Wow
Cardinal defense. Ow
Cards 8-0 now

Go CARDS Go!!

It is good to be in dry clothes....

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Field Hockey faces must win at Providence

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FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Post-season on the line at Providence for Field Hockey

-Football in a showdown with UC

The University of Louisville Field Hockey team travels to Providence, R.I. for a Saturday noon match that carries serious post-season consequences.

In short, if the Cards win, they're in the BIG EAST Tournament. A loss drops them into a three-way tie potentially with Rutgers and Villanova. The tie-breaker looks to be more complicated than figuring out ObamaCare or Mitt Romney's route to the ocean from Iran.

Louisville (11-7, 2-3) is on a three-game win streak, last defeating #22 Ohio State. They handled the Friars easily last year in Trager Stadium 6-0. The Cards lead the overall series 8-1.

Amber Thomas leads Louisville with nine goals this season and Becca Maddock follows closely with eight scores. Goalkeeper Erin Conrad allows a scant 1.85 goals per game.

Providence is 3-1 in their last four games and sports a record of 9-7 on the season...3-2 in the BIG EAST. They're automatically qualified for the BIG EAST Tournament as a third seed...but a loss to Louisville would drop them to the fourth seed.

Speaking of the BIG EAST Tournament, it will be held here in Louisville at Trager Stadium. Semifinal games are next Friday and the championship will be played Sunday. The other participants in the Big  East Tournament are top seeded UConn and Syracuse...who face off this weekend to determine who will win the regualr season title.

Good luck to Justine Sowry's flock as they fly north to cook the Friars!

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With no women's athletic events scheduled on campus today, we would draw your attention to a big football game being played at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium. The undefeated Louisville Cardinals take on one-loss Cincinnati at 8 p.m. on ESPN.

A contest that has sold out the Pizza Oven. Five things we like about tonight's matchup...

1) UC's quarterback's name. "Munchie" Legaux. Munchie Let-go. Seriously? Got to be one of our favorite opponent names since the days of Baskerville Holmes and Ace Custis...
2) Evening football. Gives one a chance to get stuff done during the day and still get out and tailgate a few hours. Friday is even better, we can now go watch the men's bb scrimmage tomorrow.
3) They play for "The Keg of Nails". That's just a tough-sounding award. Makes me want to grab a ladder and a hammer or something. Ooh-rah!
4) The payback factor. UC beat Louisville last year in Paul Brown Stadium and "Munchie" says he's a better QB than Louisville's Teddy Bridgewater. Harumph!
5) A chance for "two". Louisville Volleyball goes to UC for a Monday match. Chance to beat the Bearcats twice in several days appeals to us! Goooo CARDS!
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Wins for soccer, field hockey and volleyball

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MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Volleyball spikes Huskies in four sets

-Women's Soccer shuts out Seton Hall

-Field Hockey downs Demon Deacons

-Contest continues

-Central Cardinal Club TOMORROW!

Poobah waits paitently for his bratwurst

Just as the UofL women's sports teams had an exciting weekend on the road, so did your intrepid CARDINAL COUPLE owners, who got to see first-hand the UofL football teams' victory over Pitt in Heinz Field.

Chef Filet and Tillie the Tour Guide do the Stanky Leg for the crowd

A fun weekend with Poobah's merry band of miscreants from 80 Under 80...taking in the sights of Pittsburgh. Met and greeted the Villanova and Rochester University volleyball teams at our hospitality room and Paul & Sonja won first place in a UofL sports trivia contest on the bus. We even found MArkie MArk's reading glasses, saw the notorious Bon-nay Say-bel "Sweet Caroline" dance and Chef Marquis Filet's "stanky leg". Louisville overcame a 21-17 first half deficit to win 45-35, too...so it was a very successful weekend.

Quite frankly, we're worn out.

BIG EAST Unity as VU Volleyball and Cardinals socailize

But, all good things eventually end...and it's back to the secret lair deep beneath the mean streets of Floyd and Boxley to report on your UofL women's sports teams.

A special thanks to Jenny, Sandy and Donny for keeping the site up and running and Timmy the Intern for remembering to take the trash out.

Three Cards combine for 43 kills against the Huskies

Led by Lola Arslanbekova's 21 kills and 11 digs, Louisville Volleyball prevailed over the Huskies in Storrs on Sunday. Emily Juhl and Gwen Rucker added 11 kills each in the four-game, 21-25, 25-18, 26-24, 25-22 win.

The Cards go to 18-3 overall and 7-1 in BIG EAST play with the triumph.

Louisville went on a 5-0 run to lead 17-12 in the first set. A Husky reorganizational timeout got them back to a 18-17 lead, however...and they out-pointed the Cards 7-4 after a Louisville timeout to take the first game.

The Cards rolled back in the second game to lead 13-8...but Connecticut rallied to make it 17-16 UofL and force a timeout. This time, Kordes' strategies prevailed...Louisville's 8-2 run knotted the match at 1-1

Neither team could gain a clear advantage in the third game until UConn broke away from a 17-17 tie to lead 24-20. The Cards had a great finish, though...taking the final five points behind Rucker and Arslanbekova for a narrow 26-24 victory. 

In the final game, Cardinal leads of 10-7 and 18-12 were eliminated when a 7-1 Husky run tied the contest at 19. A Louisville timeout proved successful, though and the Cards outscored Connecticut 6-3 the rest of the way to take the set and match.

Louisville hits the highway again next weekend, with BIG EAST action at Syracuse and Marquette.

Corral's two goals spur Louisville to a 3-0 women's soccer win.

Junior Charlyn Corral found the net once each half for the Louisville women's soccer team and Casey Whitfield added a goal to lead Louisville to a 3-0 win over the Pirates in South Orange, NJ.

Corral connected with 11 minutes left in the first half and Louisville took that 1-0 advantage into halftime. Whitfield's score came five minutes into the second half and Corral added a goal with a minute left to play in the contest.

Another outstanding effort from the Louisville defenders...Chloe Kiefer getting her 17th. career shutout and notching four saves.

Louisville (9-4-3, 4-3-3) plays their final home game of the regular season Friday against Cincinnati at 7 p.m. The Cards will honor the seniors prior to kickoff.

Field Hockey upsets #22 Wake Forest 2-1

Michelle Amon provided the late game heroics in Winston-Salem, NC. Sunday...getting a tie-breaking goal with eight minutes left in the match to lead Justine Sowry's Field Hockey team to a 2-1 win over #22 Wake Forest.  

Amon chased down a missed shot-on-goal and sent it
past the Wake Forest goalkeeper to give the Cards the go-ahead score.

The teams battled to a 1-1 tie in the first half...Louisville getting a score from Amber Thomas sixteen minutes into the contest.

Erin Conrad with a busy day tending the net, gathering 11 saves, tying her career high. With the win, Louisville goes to 9-7 on the season.


Field Hockey comes home for the final two games of the regular season this weekend...a Saturday noon match versus Villanova kicking off the action 
Seniors Erin Conrad, Haley Jurich, Natasha Leickly and Amber Thomas will be honored before the match.

NEXT in the Choose Your Favorite Louisville Women's Athlete

We have the VolleyCards Lola Arslanbekova up against track and field's Patrice Gates.

Arslanbekova has pretty much been the face of Louisville Volleyball since she arrived here four years ago. The Tashkent, Uzbekistan star leads the Cards in kills this season and was the BIG EAST Pre-Season player of the year. Now married and planning on staying in Louisville after graduation, Lola will go on record after she graduates this year as, perhaps, the best outside hitter in the history of Louisville Volleyball.

Gates leads the Louisville women's track and field throw team her with excellence in weight, shot put and discus throwing. A five-time state high school champion, the junior has qualified for the BIG EAST Indoor and Outdoor Championships The tosser from Villa Rice, GA looks to have an outstanding upcoming season and many first place finishes.

You can vote on the left hand side of the site. 

Congratulations to softball's Caralisa Connell, who won in first round action over soccer's Christine Exeter.

Central Cardinal Club's Holiday Boutique Tuesday

Tomorrow is the day for the annual Central Cardinal Club's Holiday Boutique and Fashion Show at the PNC Club in Papa John's Cardinal Stadium. An excellent chance for you to come out and see the many silent auction items, booths, free wine tasting and other activities and holiday shopping chances in this gala fund-raiser for the club.

CARDINAL COUPLE will have a table set up as well, so stop by and say "Hi!" and let's talk Cardinal Women's Athletics with our writers! Hours are 11 a.m. - 9 p.m.

The PNC Club is on the east side of PJCS, parallel to Floyd Street.
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Sunday Cardinal Couple -- Volleyball defeats Illinois, Field Hockey over Ohio

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SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

- Lola-led Cards down Illinois 3-2 in Volleyball

- Paige Monson provides game-winner for Field Hockey

- Football goes to 2-0 with win over Missouri St.

( We'll also have an in-depth report by Jeff Mc Adams today on the VolleyCards successful weekend. DON'T MISS IT! )




CARDS DIG IN, OUT-POINT THE ILLINI

They may be the best un-ranked team in women's college volleyball and Anne Kordes' VolleyCards added to that legacy with a 3-2 win over #20 Illinois in the BIG EAST/BIG TEN Challenge Saturday in Cincinnati.

( EDITOR'S NOTE: I have since been corrected and told that Louisville is, in fact, 24th in the nation. Must be some hanging chads or voter machine malfunction still out there, though....because the Cards have defeated three teams this year with better TOP 25 rankings. The very un-official Timmy the Intern and Bill the Goat poll puts Louisville at #9 in the nation. We have no idea how they did their research and no clue who they've placed in the other Top Ten Spots.)

Leading the way for the Red and Black  was senior outside hitter Lola Arslanbekova...who delivered 22 kills and 21 digs against the Fighting Illini. 

"I'm so proud of the girls for these two wins because  the BIG EAST/BIG TEN Challenge is a prestigious tournament. We came so close last year, dropping both matches against Purdue and Illinois in five sets by the narrowest of margins. It just makes it that much more exciting to see the progress we have made. They are putting in the work and playing with confidence. I am very pleased." -Anne Kordes, head UofL Volleyball coach.

It didn't come easy for the Cards...who took the highly contested match 25-18, 23-25, 25-17, 22-25, 15-9. 

Louisville roared out to an early lead in game one and at 12-4, looked to be catching the Fighting Illini unfocused and unprepared. A Illinois rally made it 17-13 but Lola led the Cards on a 5-0 run after that to snuff the UofI surge. 

The Cards appeared to have the edge early in game two and actually led 11-7, forcing a Illinois timeout. Still in command at 20-15, Louisville ran into some inspired blocking at the net and was outscored 10-3 the rest of the game to knot the contest at 1-1. 

Game three saw the Cards jump out early again and grab a 8-3 advantage. Lola continued to fuel the Cards progress and enjoyed dominance at 14-6 and 21-11. Aided by Kaitlynn James and Emily Juhl late...the Cards coasted in with a eight-point victory. 

Illinois would not go away, though and hung tough with the Cards in game four, forcing 14 ties and five lead changes in the hotly contested battle. The Cards posted a 22-21 lead after a Lola kill...but UofI swept the final four points to knot the match at 2-2.

In the deciding game, Louisville sprinted out to a 8-2 edge and stayed in the drivers' seat at 12-5. A Gwen Rucker block and two straight Lola spikes provided the Cards with the final three points needed to take game and match. 

Lola was named All-Tournament for her efforts. 

The Cards return to the KFC YUM! Center for the Louisville Invitational on Friday and Saturday...with UNLV, Middle Tennessee and Miami (FL) the other participants. 

FIELD HOCKEY DOWNS OHIO IN BLOOMINGTON

Paige Monsen picked a great time for her first career goal as a Cardinal, delivering at the 57 minute mark in the second half yesterday to give UofL a 2-1 win over the Bobcats in Bloomington. 

The first half provided an intense, scoreless battle until the final minute...when Elisa Garcia also got her first goal in college...driving a shot into the net with 41 seconds left on the clock.

Ohio tied it at the 56 minute mark, but Monsen retaliated for Louisville to make it 2-1 and the Cards defense kept the Bobcats out of the net the rest of the way. 

Senior goalkeeper Erin Conrad with a busy day, gathering nine saves. Louisville (4-2) takes to the road again next weekend...headed to East Lansing for games against Central Michigan and either Michigan State or American University Sept 14th and 16th.

GOOD JOB, TEDDY

Finally, props to the Football Cards who whipped the Missouri State Bears 35-7 in Papa John's Cardinal Stadium. Teddy Bridgewater throwing for a career high 344 yards against the Bears. 

A wonderful day for tailgating and football and most excellent results for the 2-0 Cards. It gets considerably tougher next week...North Carolina visits the Pizza bowl and they'll probably be looking for a fight after losing 28-27 to Wake Forest Saturday. The Cards 14-7 loss to the Tar Heels easily qualified as the most boring football game of the Cardinals 2011 season.
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Monday Cardinal Couple -- Happy Labor Day!

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MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

- #14 Louisville Women's Soccer downs UNCG

- Cards get on the train and roll past Kentucky 32-14

Happy Labor Day to our CARDINAL COUPLE readers! Whether it's a picnic, barbeque, going to today's field hockey game at Trager, just sitting around the house or taking a walk in the park...we hope you have a great day off and we appreciate you checking in with us on this holiday. 

Louisville women's soccer remained undefeated with a 3-0 win over UNC-Greensboro yesterday in Lexington in the UK Tropical Smoothie Invitational.

It was a smoothie type of win for the Cards, getting goals from three different players to go to 4-0 on the season. Chloe Kiefer needed just one save to get her third shutout of the season at goalie. 

Offense was hard to come by early in the event and the teams hit the locker room locked in a scoreless battle as the first half ended. Louisville got going about twenty minutes into the second half when Erin Yenney took a pass from Angelika Uremovich and headed one into the back of the net. The Cards increased that to 2-0 at the 76th minute mark...Irene Young getting her first collegiate goal by collecting a loose ball by the net and knocking it in. The Cards closed out the scoring seven minutes later when Casey Whitfield connected after beating the UNCG goalie to a ball and driving past her for the score.

"I'm happier today with our overall performance. Our backs were much better offensively and it allowed us to generate and sustain more of an attacking presence. It's a great game for us to continue to build off of tactically." --Louisville head coach Karen Ferguson-Dayes. 

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It was divine providence or a meteorological miracle. Maybe the Big Guy up there wanted a clear view of the game. After a afternoon of soggy tailgating, the skies stopped dumping water on us for the kickoff of the UofL v UK football game and the rain stayed away until shortly after Louisville delivered a convincing 32-14 win over UK. 

Freshman Michael Stewart (64) cheers on Senorise Perry's
touchdown run in the first half. (Photo by John Summers II)

Good afternoon for football and thanks to all the CARDINAL COUPLE readers who introduced themselves to Sonja and I. It was fun going to a sporting event and not having to track scores, momentum and players. Not to worry...we're not deserting the daily commitment to women's sports at UofL..but it was nice to just sit there and cheer, have a beverage and a dog and jump up and high five the people around us after a big play or score. 

Lots of good write-ups out there on the Internet about this big win for UofL. WE like 'the observer's' view of the game and here's the link to UofL Card Game.

Card Game

CARDINAL COUPLE administrator Donny Yaste picked a 31-14 score and was the closest out of our predictors. He's probably headed to Vegas as I type this to make a living as a professional gambler. He also has a really good website about Kentucky High School hoops. You can access it on the left side of our site. He's a likable little chimp and we know you'll enjoy his site. Here's the link. 

Kentucky High School Hoops

Enjoy today and Sandy will take care of the laundry for us tomorrow. 
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Sunday Cardinal Couple -- Volleyball, Field Hockey win

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SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

- Volleyball dispatches of Samford in evening session

-Field Hockey waits out rain delay, wins 3-2 over Davidson

-Annual gridiron clash may have to dodge a few puddles

Louisville Volleyball followed their morning win over Marshall win a Saturday evening triumph over Samford in the KFC YUM! Center in four games...winning 25-22, 25-16, 22-25, 25-15. 

A sluggish start for the Cards to open the match, falling behind 5-1 early and trailing by scores of 7-3, 12-7 and 14-10 in the first game before mounting a rally that tied it at 15-15 on a block from Tanya Lukyanenko. The Cards were still deadlocked with Samford at 20-20 and proceeded to lose two of the next three volleys before scoring the final four points of the game on a kill from Kaitlynn James and blocks from Gwen Rucker and Lukyanenko. 

Louisville came out much more aggressively in the second game and jumped out to a 4-1 lead after a kill from Lola Arslanbekova. A brief Samford rally pulled them to within one at 8-7, but after that...the Cards steadily pulled away and led 15-12 after a Samford service error. Louisville went on a 9-2 run after that to lead 24-14 following a kill from Carly Sahagian and ended the match with another kill from Sahagian to win 25-16.

After the halftime break, Samford showed they had some fight left in them by playing the Cards close throughout all of game three...neither team able to gain an advantage of more than three points and Louisville found itself holding a 22-21 late in the action. Samford got four straight points, though on two kills from Katie Murphy and then two from Elizabeth Neisler to win game three 25-22.  

The Cards got the wake-up call and jumped out early in the final game. Lukyanenko's kill made it 5-1 Louisville. Kaitlynn James made it 10-5 with a kill. Lola got in the action with a kill to make it 15-8 Cards. It was 20-13 after a Sahagian kill and another from Lukyanenko had Louisville ahead 24-14. Lola put the Bulldogs out of their misery with a kill that ended the game at 25-15. 

Lola led the Cards with 22 kills. She was also named MVP of the tournament and made the all-tournament team along with Gwen Rucker and Brooke Mattingly for the Cards. 


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Field Hockey beat Davidson 3-2 and also outlasted the weather that caused nearly a two-hour delay in the Saturday afternoon game at Trager Stadium. Lightning and heavy downpours stopped the match with the Cards up 3-2 with about 17 minutes left in the game. 

The Wildcats scored first but the Cards responded quickly with goals from Mallory Mason and Erin Schneidtmiller in a four-minute stretch to regain the lead at 2-1. That's the way the first half ended...the Cards holding an 8-4 shot advantage. 

Becca Maddock pushed the Cards ahead 3-1 when she scored about eight minutes into the second half. A couple of minutes after the Wildcats cut the lead to 3-2, the skies opened and the flash of lightning sent both team to the sidelines.

After play resumed, Davidson and the Cards battled scoreless the rest of the way. 

"It wasn't a pretty one, that's for sure. The delay in the game made for a very long day under difficult conditions. We got a win and that's a great thing, but a lot of lessons need to be taken away from this game. Davidson didn't allow us to play the game we wanted to. Some positives to take away were definitely our attack play - that was an area we really wanted to work on. We generated some pretty good scoring opportunities but overall we do need to take a lot of lessons from today and continue to grow and move forward." -- Louisville field hockey head coach Justine Sowry. 

The Cards (2-1) return to action Monday when they play Ball State at 2 p.m.

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Finally, the Battle for the Bluegrass takes place in Papa John's Cardinal Stadium this afternoon at 3:30 p.m. when Louisville and Kentucky put on the helmets and duke it out in front of 57,000+ rabid fans in football. 

You've seen the staff picks. Our informal poll revealed that 70% of you think UofL will win by 10 points or more. Louisville picked preseason to win the BIG EAST, UK picked to secure the basement in the SEC East Division. The chance of stormy weather and soggy conditions for these young men as Red and Blue clash in front of a sold out stadium and national television audience. Ponchos as important as tailgate food today, it appears. 

CARDINAL COUPLE will be there, but not in reporting or game coverage mode. May the best team win. If you go, remember to be "good" Cardinal (or Cat) fans and act responsibly. Be gracious in victory and complimentary in defeat. The eyes of the nation are watching, don't act like idiots. Cheer heartily for your team but don't be an obnoxious loudmouth. Enjoy the game and allow others around you to do the same.  

And, GO CARDS!      
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