By Noah Allison–

After losing two straight matches, Louisville hoped to get the ship back on track last night, hosting the number five Indiana Hoosiers. Instead, frustration and the Cardinals third straight loss came as a result of IU’s 3-0 victory.

Louisville now stands at a 5-4-1 overall.

A season that just over a week ago had them in the top five rankings is quickly turning south. While both teams created chances early, IU made the extra pass and flew to the ball with intensity.

Louisville gave up the first goal in minute 37 from a long throw in that was headed in. In a crowded box with an odd bounce, senior goalkeeper Joe Ball wasn’t able to locate it before it slipped past him.

In the opening minutes of the second half, it seemed U of L would get to work. IU quickly squandered Card Nation’s hopes and scored two more in the first 20 minutes of the half.

“The first one, the header, we had three guys around it and Joe probably should have made the save on it just the same,” Head Coach Ken Lolla said. “The second one was a long cross that we should have dealt with better and the third one, again, we were soft on it and didn’t defend it. Those are things that we can overcome but tonight we didn’t make the plays when we needed to.”

Louisville had their chances and made their runs. On paper, it was close as IU outshot Louisville by just one, 13-12, with shots on goal being in IU’s favor, 7-6. In the comeback effort, Louisville dominated the corner kick chances 8-1.

“We had some pretty good opportunities tonight to score goals and we didn’t. And on the other side I feel like Indiana took care of their half-chances they had. I give them credit, they took the opportunities they had, and I didn’t think they had a ton, but the ones they had they took well.

“I thought there were times that we moved the ball very well and times that we didn’t. Did we create enough chances to score goals? I think we did. I think on the other hand we quite honestly gave up some soft goals,” Lolla said.

Louisville’s third straight loss is a disheartening one. Over the slump, the Cards have scored just one goal and lost their first ACC match.

The Cardinals next match has them heading up to South Bend, IN to play the defending national champions and conference opponent, Notre Dame.

Rest assured Ken Lolla and his men are getting to work. The Cardinals have not had a losing streak of three or more since losing four straight games in the 2008 season. That year the Cardinals fought back and wound up in the national championship.

Photo by Austin Lassell / The Louisville Cardinal