By Valerio Rasi and Aaron Williams–

The University of Louisville women’s soccer team split their Big East home games over the weekend with a loss to the University of Marquette on Friday, Sept. 30 and a win in overtime against the University of South Florida on Sunday, Oct. 2.

The Cardinals’ record now stands at 5-5-3 overall for the season and 3-1-2 in Big East play. They will face the Villanova Wildcats next weekend in Philadelphia on Oct. 7.

Sophomore forward Christine Exeter’s header off an assist from freshman defender Devyn Ciotti into the upper right corner of the net in the 95th minute of overtime was enough to give Louisville the win over USF Sunday afternoon. The Bulls struck first with a goal by junior midfielder Taylor Patterson in the fifth minute. The Cards equalized in the seventh minute with a goal by sophomore midfielder Angela Uremovich.

A single missed clearance on defense was the only opportunity the Golden Eagles of Marquette needed to take an early 1-0 lead on Louisville. That goal would go on to be the difference as the Cards were handed their first Big East loss of the season Friday night.

Marquette sophomore midfielder Taylor Madigan’s winning strike came in the fifth minute of play when she intercepted a fortunate rebound, controlled the ball and put it in the upper right corner of the net, safely out of reach from senior Louisville goalkeeper Chloe Kiefer.

“On the first goal, we needed our players to stop a little tighter on them,” said Kiefer. “It was the kind of a ball where you need to take off your hat and say, ‘good shot.’”

“They are a very technical and good team, but we did not play to our capabilities, we kind of played at their standards,” said Exeter. “We were worried too much at the beginning, and we did figure it out at the end, but I think it was a little bit too late.”

“It took us too long to make the adjustment,” said Louisville head coach Karen Ferguson-Dayes. “Then, we made the adjustment and became more aggressive.”

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Photo: Cody Hibbard/The Louisville Cardinal