Tyler has mentioned that he (and others) would like to see some content on the fall women's sports. So, here we go.
Looking at fall women's sports. let's start of an analysis of Louisville's women's soccer.
It was a huge, breakout season for Karen Ferguson Dayes squad. They went 13-5-2 in 2019, and 5-4-2 in total ACC games.. They qualified for the NCAA Tournament, knocked off Lipscomb at Lynn Stadium in the first round of the NCAA and advanced to play BYU. The Utah powerhouse. playing at home, used a strong second half to eliminate Louisville. In a contest that was scoreless after the first half, the Cougars erupted for four goals in the second half and ended Louisville's post-season.
The Cards return plenty of weapons for 2020. First and foremost is Louisville Manual senior midfielder Emina Ekic. She led Louisville WSOC with eight goals and eight assists. Ekic is the one that other teams know they have to try and contain, but she can set up as well as score and had roughly 25% of the Cards goals and 36% of Louisville's assists.
Also back on the attack are juniors Delaney Snyder, Maisie Whitsett and Sarah Hernandez. They combined for 10 Louisville WSOC goals and are all viable threats to put the ball in the net for the Cards offense.
Louisville loses five key seniors from 2019. Brooklynn Rivers was Emina's "running mate" on the attack and her five goals from 2019 will be missed, as well as her mid-field ball magic in setting up fast break sores for the Cards.
Allison Whitfield, Niamh Nelson and Callie McKinney were key components to the attack as well. Veteran defender Arianna Ferraro has graduated also, leaving the Cards with just one of three defensive-back starters from 2019 for the 2020 lineup. This is an area where Coach KFD will need to find replacements.
The good thing about the returning defense is that goalkeeper Gabby Kouzelos is back for her senior season. She was the "voice" and field general for the Cards defense and had a huge hand (no pun intended) in limiting opposing offenses to just 19 goals in 20 games. Kouzelos had 10 "shutouts" tending net in 20 games, and that's a pretty remarkable "no opponent" score when you consider there were 11 ACC games in that mix.
The Cards did get an exhibition contest in before the cessation of practices. Although no "official" stats were kept, one of Paulie's guys at Cardinal Couple attended the event (against Bellarmine in the Trager Center) and reported that Louisville won 4-0, played the entire roster that was healthy and available and all four goalkeepers on the roster saw action. The remainder of the spring schedule -- at St. Louis, hosting Dayton and Wisconsin and at Illinois -- were cancelled.
Filling the defensive sports vacated by graduation would seem to be the main priority for Karen Ferguson Dayes and her staff for 2020. Sarah Hernandez does return and played some very good defense in 2019. Sophomore Ravin Alexander, who came in as a forward, also saw time on the back line and was impressive in her defensive skills also
The attack and midfield play should be fine and the veterans returning up front will present problems for defenses. In addition to the players previously mentioned on offense, Louisville also returns skilled offensive threats in Anna Henderson, Corinne Dente, Taylor Kerwin and Jessica DeFilippo.
The incoming freshmen could add to the overall strength of the team. This year's class boasts seven very versatile players joining the Cardinals in the fall of 2020. The seven are:
Morgan Bentley -- Defending Midfielder -- Atlanta, GA
Jessica Camken -- Forward -- Weston, FL
Caitliin Elam -- Defender -- Loveland, OH
Emma Hiscock -- Forward -- Fenton, MI
Riley Mullaney -- Forward -- Dublin, OH
Holly Stalls -- Forward -- Collierville, TN
Savina Zamborini -- Midfielder -- Louisville, KY
Zamborini played at Louisville Manual and was named to the first-team Kentucky All State
2019 team.
( A special thanks to Paulie and the Cardinal Couple soccer columnists Case Hoskins and Jared Anderson for their contributions to this article.)
--sonja--
Looking at fall women's sports. let's start of an analysis of Louisville's women's soccer.
It was a huge, breakout season for Karen Ferguson Dayes squad. They went 13-5-2 in 2019, and 5-4-2 in total ACC games.. They qualified for the NCAA Tournament, knocked off Lipscomb at Lynn Stadium in the first round of the NCAA and advanced to play BYU. The Utah powerhouse. playing at home, used a strong second half to eliminate Louisville. In a contest that was scoreless after the first half, the Cougars erupted for four goals in the second half and ended Louisville's post-season.
The Cards return plenty of weapons for 2020. First and foremost is Louisville Manual senior midfielder Emina Ekic. She led Louisville WSOC with eight goals and eight assists. Ekic is the one that other teams know they have to try and contain, but she can set up as well as score and had roughly 25% of the Cards goals and 36% of Louisville's assists.
Also back on the attack are juniors Delaney Snyder, Maisie Whitsett and Sarah Hernandez. They combined for 10 Louisville WSOC goals and are all viable threats to put the ball in the net for the Cards offense.
Louisville loses five key seniors from 2019. Brooklynn Rivers was Emina's "running mate" on the attack and her five goals from 2019 will be missed, as well as her mid-field ball magic in setting up fast break sores for the Cards.
Allison Whitfield, Niamh Nelson and Callie McKinney were key components to the attack as well. Veteran defender Arianna Ferraro has graduated also, leaving the Cards with just one of three defensive-back starters from 2019 for the 2020 lineup. This is an area where Coach KFD will need to find replacements.
The good thing about the returning defense is that goalkeeper Gabby Kouzelos is back for her senior season. She was the "voice" and field general for the Cards defense and had a huge hand (no pun intended) in limiting opposing offenses to just 19 goals in 20 games. Kouzelos had 10 "shutouts" tending net in 20 games, and that's a pretty remarkable "no opponent" score when you consider there were 11 ACC games in that mix.
The Cards did get an exhibition contest in before the cessation of practices. Although no "official" stats were kept, one of Paulie's guys at Cardinal Couple attended the event (against Bellarmine in the Trager Center) and reported that Louisville won 4-0, played the entire roster that was healthy and available and all four goalkeepers on the roster saw action. The remainder of the spring schedule -- at St. Louis, hosting Dayton and Wisconsin and at Illinois -- were cancelled.
Filling the defensive sports vacated by graduation would seem to be the main priority for Karen Ferguson Dayes and her staff for 2020. Sarah Hernandez does return and played some very good defense in 2019. Sophomore Ravin Alexander, who came in as a forward, also saw time on the back line and was impressive in her defensive skills also
The attack and midfield play should be fine and the veterans returning up front will present problems for defenses. In addition to the players previously mentioned on offense, Louisville also returns skilled offensive threats in Anna Henderson, Corinne Dente, Taylor Kerwin and Jessica DeFilippo.
The incoming freshmen could add to the overall strength of the team. This year's class boasts seven very versatile players joining the Cardinals in the fall of 2020. The seven are:
Morgan Bentley -- Defending Midfielder -- Atlanta, GA
Jessica Camken -- Forward -- Weston, FL
Caitliin Elam -- Defender -- Loveland, OH
Emma Hiscock -- Forward -- Fenton, MI
Riley Mullaney -- Forward -- Dublin, OH
Holly Stalls -- Forward -- Collierville, TN
Savina Zamborini -- Midfielder -- Louisville, KY
Zamborini played at Louisville Manual and was named to the first-team Kentucky All State
2019 team.
( A special thanks to Paulie and the Cardinal Couple soccer columnists Case Hoskins and Jared Anderson for their contributions to this article.)
--sonja--
