Tough Louisville losses in Field Hockey, Men's Soccer and Football

.
CARDINAL COUPLE PRESENTS SUNDAY

-Field Hockey falls to #4 Connecticut

-Sandy Walker previews Dream vs. Lynx

-Football gets run over by Herd

-Men's Soccer loses in O.T.

Not a whole lot to cheer about yesterday for UofL sports fans...as three Cardinal sports teams took to their respective fields of battle and received defeats...Let's see what happened

Cards fall for the second time in BIG EAST
play this season at UConn.

The Field Hockey Cards struck first against UConn in Storrs Saturday when Dominique Pasqualichio found the net on a penalty corner with assists from Heather Stevens and Hayley Turner just six minutes into the game. The Huskies responded with a goal, though several minutes later on a penalty corner to tie it up. They would go on to score two more times in the first half....putting Louisville in an uncomfortable position on the short end of a 3-1 score.

UConn came out and increased that lead to 4-1 in the second half and held the advantage until the Cards got a late goal from Kelsey Rosenmeier to create the final 4-2 score.

The Cards (7-4, 1-2) were outshot 17-9 by the Huskies. Erin Conrad had six saves for Louisville but UConn (9-1, 3-0) put the most points on Louisville's stout defense of any opponents so far this year.

Louisville heads to Ohio State for a Tuesday tilt against the Buckeyes before returning home to face Rutgers Sunday, Oct. 8th.

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

(Cardinal Couple's Sandy Walker gives us this preview of Atlanta vs. Minnesota in the WNBA Finals)

Both Atlanta and Minnesota have definitely improved since their last meeting in June. The Lynx was 2-0 against Atlanta during the regular season but tonight's outcome in Game One of the WNBA Finals will be less reliant on improved skills and, more importantly...about the spirit, intensity and temperament of the Atlanta players....in my humble opinion.

Minnesota has every reason to expect a opening night win against Angel and Atlanta:

-The Lynx were designated #1 seed for the entire run of the WNBA Playoffs.

-The Lynx have the clear blessing for success from those who make a living projecting the outcome of sporting events.
-The Lynx benefit from additional time for physical rest and practice, having swept Phoenix in two games...while it took Atlanta three games to down Indiana.

The Atlanta Dream have a few documented advantages and also possess a few intangibles which I believe will hold the key to the outcome of the game tonight and the championship:

The will-to-win is what champions
are made of. Angel's is off the
charts.

-The Dream had Angel McCoughtry, Sancho Lyttle and Arminite Price...all were selected to the WNBA All-Defensive team. They were also the highest scoring team in the Eastern Conference during the regular season.
-The Dream have been their before...playing in the finals last season vs. Seattle
-Did we mention Angel? When her will-to-win is in high gear, there is no one more effective and productive in the league.

Keys to tonight's game and the series:

-The match up between Seimone Augustus and Angel, a stand-alone highlight reel in the making.
-Atlanta's success (or lack of it) from the free throw line.
-Whether Atlanta goes with the taller lineup against the normally better rebounding Lynx or sticks with the smaller, quicker lineup which flourished against the Fever with Iziane Castro Marquez and McCoughtry at the helm.

My projection of a winner (if based solely upon a statistically completed analysis) would be the Lynx. After including the intangibles, though...I go with Atlanta tonight. Having been denied the ring last season...Angel's on a mission.

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

Teddy gets air at the
goal line

Although Louisville's Teddy Bridgewater ran for a touchdown and passed for a second one in yesterday's game against Marshall, it was a late interception that spelled the difference in the 17-13 loss to the Thundering Herd. A wacky play...the ball bouncing off two players before falling into the hands of a diving Marshall defender for the pick. Not Teddy's falut...but a game changer.

Things get no easier for Charlie's bunch next week. They travel to Chapel Hill to face a very good North Carolina team Saturday, Oct. 8th. at the despicable time of noon.

The TarHeels are 4-1 after yesterday's 35-20 win over East Carolina. They've also beat BIG EAST member Rutgers this year.

Unhappy with Cards
performance (and
he should be...)

The 2-2 Cards disappointed a lot of fans in Papa John's Cardinal Stadium...losing a defensive struggle to the Thundering Herd. Also quite upset with the loss was Cardinal head coach Charlie Strong..who refused to pick out any individual poor performances...just stating that the whole team played poorly. From my vantage point, Louisville's offensive line needs to review the basic techinques of blocking again.

The hero of the UK win...Dominique Brown...was almost a ghost yesterday for the Cardinal offense. Only six carries and 14 total yards? 95 yards rushing total for the Cards...completely baffling after a big performance at UK.

What's up with that?

Charlie Springer over at UofL Card Game has a great video of country music performer Trace Adkins singing the National Anthem at the game. Watch early, though..and you'll see Trace draw a blank when it comes to the "dawn's early....." part.
As Alex Trebek from Jeopardy would say..."the word is light, Trace...Light."
http://www.uoflcardgame.com/

.

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

Louisville Soccer took a tough defeat last night against the Huskies in Cardinal Park. 1-0...in overtime. Good crowd on hand to watch the battle...but in a game where he who scores most wins, the Cards could not produce a net-finder.

.

.

Soccer drops 1-0 to #10 Marquette...Volleyball sweeps DePaul...Field Hockey today....Rocks roll X 41-6

Saturday, Saturday, Saturday at CARDINAL COUPLE

-Early score decides Field Hockey vs. Marquette.

-DePaul no match for Lola in Volleyball.

-Sowry's stick swingers take on UConn today.

-Strictly business...Trinity romps St.Xavier by 35.

IF you showed up a little late for last night's women's soccer match against Marquette last night, you missed the deciding score. Five minutes into the game, the Golden Eagles' Taylor Madigan drove a loose ball into the corner of the net for a 1-0 lead. And, that...as they say...was that.

Defense dominated the rest of the way. Only 14 total shots in 90 minutes of play...Marquette holding a 9-5 advantage. The Golden Eagles also led Louisville in shots on goal 5-1.

Jordan Pawlik for Louisville

Cardinal coach Karen Ferguson Dayes commented on the early fireworks:

"With all due respect to Marquette, I personally think that it was a soft goal on our part. It was a great finish for them but we were definitely a little flat and I believe it was a missed clearance by us. After we made some adjustments for what they were doing, I thought we were in there. They're a good team and I give them credit. They got the win tonight."

With the loss, the Cards drop to 4-5-3 on the season and 2-1-2 in the BIG EAST. They'll look for redemption Sunday when USF visits. Game time is 1 p.m.

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

Lola Arslanbekova led the Volleyball Cards with 19 kills last night as Louisville swept the DePaul Blue Demons 25-15, 25-15, 26-24 in BIG EAST Volleyball action in Chicago last night.

Lola shines again for Cards

UofL (11-4, 3-0) won the first two matches with relative ease...jumping out to a 16-12 lead in game one and then going on a 9-3 to take the win. Game two saw the Cards rip out to a 11-2 advantage and lead late 21-10 before coasting in for the ten point victory. The Blue Demons made it a bit tougher in the third...grabbing a 8-2 early advantage and the Cards did not gain the lead until Kaitlynn James got a block to put Louisville up 21-20. DePaul took the game to match point with a 4-1 run...but Louisville responded with the final four points to take game, set and match.

Tanya Lukyanenko had a big night also for Anne Kordes' squad...with 10 kills and the Cards got 10 digs and two blocks out of James. 

Tough one Sunday for Louisville, at South Bend against the Irish. Notre Dame (8-4, 1-1) hosts the Cincinnati Bearcats today before the Cards invade. 

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

Field Hockey looks to take one on the road today when they face off against #4 UConn in Storrs this afternoon. #19 Louisville will need a big defensive effort to shut down a Husky squad (8-1) that has scored eight goals in their last two wins. On offense, Hayley Turner will need to keep up her scoring success of late for the Cards to pull off the upset.

Don't be surprised if this one is a low scoring affair. The Cards defense has been stellar this season...allowing only 10 goals in 10 contests. The UConn defense just as good...giving up only eight scores this year.

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

James Quick lives up to his last name

Trinity dominated the second half against St. Xavier in high school football last night at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium...caging the Tigers 41-6 in front of 30,666 attendees. This one was still close at halftime...the Rocks holding on to a shaky 14-6 advantage. X blew a golden opportunity to score near the end of the first quarter...fumbling on the Trinty 1 yard line. No panic or yelling in the Rocks locker room at halftime. Just a reminder from head Trinity coach Bob Beatty that they needed to go out in the second half and take care of business.

Business was good in the final half.The game turned into the James Quick show for Trinity...he had two touchdown catches on the night and threw for a score. The junior wide receiver/athlete is as good as promised. Trinity is definitely one of the top 3 teams in the nation.

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

Football returns to the Oven again this afternoon when Marshall comes to visit the Cards. 3:30 p.m. kickoff and it's been announced that it's a sold out show. Another ideal day for the gridiron...temperatures in the low 60's and no rain. The Cards go on the road for two after this one...visiting North Carolina and Cincinnati before returning home to face Rutgers on Friday, October 21st.

After the Cards corral the Thundering Herd...why not head over to Cardinal Park to watch the men's soccer team (6-2) battle UConn? Game time is 7 p.m. for Ken Lolla's guys. It's an easy walk from Papa John's and better than sitting in traffic for an hour sweating out the UofL game exit snafu that occurs after each home contest.
.
.