Dr. Mark & Cindy Lynn Stadium Photo by Seth Bloom. 2015. Fitted

Cardinal Notebook: 9/8

Mark BlankenbakerSeptember 8, 2015

BasketballField HockeySoccerVolleyball0 views

Louisville vs. Kentucky Soccer at Dr. Mark & Cindy Lynn Stadium TONIGHT

The No. 15 Louisville men’s soccer team concludes its season-opening homestand with a visit from Kentucky on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m., ET in the Battle of the Bluegrass at Dr. Mark and Cindy Lynn Stadium.

Tuesday’s match will be televised by ESPN3, while live stats will be available through GoCards.com.

The Cardinals enter the inaugural matchup with the Wildcats at Lynn Stadium with a 2-1-0 mark on the season after earning a 3-1 victory over Stony Brook on Friday night. The Wildcats are 2-0-0 overall after home wins over Valparaiso and Wright State to begin the season.

Louisville has won four of the last five matches in the series against Kentucky, including a 2-1 triumph in Lexington last season behind Tim Kubel’s game-winner in the 79th minute. Tuesday will mark the Cardinals’ first home match against the Wildcats since dropping a 1-0 decision in 2012 at Cardinal Park.

Leading the way for head coach Ken Lolla’s club through the first three matches of 2015 is freshman attacker Tate Schmitt, who has a team-high two goals and one assist. Senior Ben Strong, junior Andrew Brody and freshman Danny Reynolds have one goal each, while both Strong and Reynolds also have assists this season.

In each of their first two matches this season, the Wildcats overcame 1-0 deficits to earn 2-1 victories. Last season, Kentucky finished with a 10-6-4 mark overall and was second in Conference USA with a 5-1-2 league record. They earned an at-large berth into the NCAA Championship and were eliminated in the opening round with a 2-0 home loss to Oakland.

Red Out at Lynn Stadium

For Friday’s matchup against Stony Brook, the first 250 drinks sold through the main concession stand are free courtesy of Louisville head coach Ken Lolla. The offer includes soft drinks and draft beers and gates at Lynn Stadium will open one hour prior to kickoff.

Louisville Soccer Ticket Information

Single match tickets are available through the Louisville Cardinals Ticket Office. Reserved chairback tickets are set at $12 for adults and $6 for youth. Fans can purchase online through www.ticketmaster.com, by phone at (502) 852-5151 or in-person at the Louisville Cardinals Ticket Office located at Gate 2 at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium. Tickets can also be purchased on match days at Lynn Stadium starting one hour prior to kickoff.

Field Hockey Moves to 4-0 with Wins Over CAL & UC Davis in CA

The 12^th-ranked University of Louisville field hockey team registered its third straight shutout with a 2-0 win over host UC Davis Sunday afternoon. The Cardinals improve to 4-0 on the season while the Aggies drop to 2-4.

“We are very happy to come away with two wins this weekend,” said UofL head coach Justine Sowry. “UC Davis plays very well on their turf and presented some difficulty for us playing our game. I am pleased with our defensive unit staying strong throughout the game and we were able to capitalize on a couple of opportunities. We are looking forward to getting home to prepare for our opening ACC opponent.”

The Cardinals got on the scoreboard early in the first half when sophomore Stephanie Byrne sent a shot that was stopped by UC Davis goalkeeper Erica Cohen, but Byrne collected her own rebound and made good on her second try. Byrne’s team-best fourth goal of the season gave Louisville a 1-0 lead at the 8:43 mark in the game.

Louisville took the 1-0 lead into halftime after outshooting the Aggies 13-3 and holding an 8-3 advantage in penalty corners. Cohen held Louisville in check with eight saves in the first half while UofL’s Ayeisha McFerran had two stops and junior Gianna Perrone added a defensive save to keep the Aggies off the scoreboard.

In the second half, Louisville capitalized on a penalty corner to add an insurance goal at the 52:02 mark in the game. Senior Katharine Gwynne-Wood got the corner started and sophomore Nicole Woods provided the stop for freshmanTess Hannah‘s third goal of the season which made the score 2-0. In the second half, the Cards outshot the Aggies 6-2 and held a 5-2 edge in corners.

Freshman goalkeeper Ayeisha McFerran (4-0) collected four saves en route to her third shutout of the season. Overall, Louisville outshot UC Davis 19-5 and had a 10-3 advantage in corners. Cohen (2-4) had 11 stops for the Aggies.

UofL (4-0) will return to Trager Stadium for its ACC opener against No. 9 Virginia Friday at 6:30 p.m.

Volleyball Fell to Minnesota & Wisconsin Over the Weekend

Outside hitter Erin Fairs’ 16 kills were not enough as the No. 13-ranked Wisconsin Badgers outlasted the University of Louisville in the final match of the ACC/Big Ten Volleyball Challenge.

“We put up a great fight tonight,” said UofL head coach Anne Kordes. “There is no doubt that many of their points were from our lack of sustained focus rather than a lack of execution. Our younger players may be taken off guard by having to focus from point one through 25. That is why we play the schedule we do. We have had no easy matches and I love that. I am extremely happy and proud of my team. I loved how Aniah Philo gave us a nice spark off the bench. Our defense makes it hard for other teams to score and it is an exciting brand of volleyball to watch.”

The Cardinals hit .178 with eight blocks and five aces. Janelle Jenkins had a double-double with 12 kills and 13 digs, adding three blocks. Tess Clark had five blocks and Molly Sauer notched three aces. The Badgers were led by Kelli Bates’ 16 kills and 12 digs.

The Badgers had two long runs in the first set and .432 hitting made it difficult on the Cardinals to dig out. UW held the Cards to .154 hitting and outdug them 18-12. At the 13-13 tie, UW rattled off six straight points to go up 19-14 and although the Cards made a push powered by two successful slides by Maggie DeJong, they fell 25-19.

In the second set, Wisconsin’s hitting chilled to .188 while the Cards hit at a .441 clip, powered by Erin Fairs nine kills. A 7-1 run gave UofL a big momentum lift as the Badgers burned both their timeouts trying to get a handle on the Cardinal serve. The Badgers managed to push back with a run at 23-16 but it was too little, too late and a Tess Clark.

Trailing early, the Cards tied at 18 in the third set but never had the lead as Wisconsin kept them at arm’s length, rolling to a 25-21 win to take a 2-1 set lead.

The Cardinals tied at eight in the fourth set but had their hands full as the Badgers had a five point rally on Taylor Morey’s serve to go up 18-12. Although the teams traded points down the stretch, the Cards were unable to string together a rally before falling 25-19.

The Cards play Utah Friday at 7:30 in the first round of the Active Ankle Challenge to be held in Cardinal Arena as Seton and Ohio University visit.

Kelsi Worrell & Arthur Albiero Named to USA Swimming Roster

University of Louisville swimmer Kelsi Worrell and Head Coach Arthur Albiero were officially named to the USA Swimming’s National Team.

Worrell, two-time NCAA Champion and Pan American Medalist, is listed in three events for Team USA, the 100-fly, the 200-fly and the 50-freestyle. Albiero is listed on the coaches’ staff. He spent the summer with the USA Swimming Staff as a coach for the Pan American Games.

Kelsi Worrell is the 2015 NCAA Champion in the 100 and 200 butterfly, setting the American and NCAA record in the 100 butterfly. She earned All-American status in three individual events and three relays. She was also named the Atlantic Coast Conference Swimmer of the Year as the champion in the 100 butterfly and 100 freestyle, setting ACC records in both events at the ACC women’s swimming and diving championships. She was a two-time ACC Swimmer of the Week and last fall, Kelsi was named to the US National Team for the 2015 Pan American Games and is a Honda Award Finalist. Kelsi has been named to the Athletic Director’s Honor Roll every semester, a Red & Black Scholar-Athlete three times and a two-time CSCAA Scholar All-American. As a junior Exercise Science major, she is a three-time Dean’s List recipient and was recently named the 2015 Atlantic Coast Conference Women’s Swimming & Diving Scholar-Athlete of the Year as well as an Academic All American.
At ACCs, Worrell split a 22.34 in the 50 fly which after extensive research revealed that her time was the fastest fly split ever performed. Entering the NCAA Championships, the fastest 50 fly split was still Worrell’s 22.34. On day two of the NCAA Championships, Worrell swam a 22.07 50 fly split in the prelims of the 200 medley relay making it the fastest split ever. In finals, Worrell split a 21.96 becoming the first woman ever under 22-seconds for a 50 fly split.

Later in the meet, Worrell broke the American record and the 50-second barrier in the 100 fly heats with a time of 49.89. With that swim she was the first woman ever to break 50-seconds in the 100 fly, and took the top seed heading into finals by over a full second. She came back in the finals and for the second time that day dipped under 50-seconds in the 100 fly to drop a 49.81 and re-set her hours old American record.

At the Pan American games she won two gold medals and a silver. At the USA National Championships, she won two gold and a bronze.

Albiero is a two-time National Coach of the Year, two-time Olympic Coach and Conference Coach of the Year in the Big East, the American Athletic Conference and the Atlantic Coast Conference.