By Aj Pfeiffer
Last Thursday night saw a renewal of the epic rivalry between the Cardinals and the Wildcats culminating in yet another heated matchup between the two schools, but now the competition has been put on ice- literally.
The puck dropped on the latest meeting between the Louisville Cardinal Ice Hockey team and the University of Kentucky Cool Cats at the Alpine Ice Rink Thursday night Oct. 7 in front of a full house evenly composed of fans bundled up in red and blue.
The Cards, led by head coach Joe Plaunte, held tough against a ferocious UK offense only trailing 2-0 after the first, but ultimately fell to the more experienced Cats 17-2. Goalie Kyle “Birdy” Buerdorf had a phenomenal game deflecting shot after shot during the onslaught that was the first two periods. The Cats got off 20 shots on Buerdorf throughout the game.
The home crowd saw a glimmer of hope in the first five minutes of the second as Louisville native Mike Miescke scored a forehand wrister from just within the blue line pulling the Cards within a goal. From there it was all downhill as the Cats turned up the heat and put on an offensive display scoring seven goals in the third period alone and holding the cards to only one more goal, a top shelf goal by Chris Malec in the third.
The outcome was disheartening to Card fans, but showed that the two programs – neither are varsity sports – are at very different levels in their growth, a note that was evident in the score.
While both programs have been around over 15 years, a change in American Collegiate Hockey Association rules in 2005 prohibiting community college and trade school students from participating on university club teams, drastically effected the Cards but had little effect on the Cats. As of 2005, when the two programs last met, the clubs were in very even standings, working their way into the middle of division II competition and looking to continue building into tournament caliber teams. For UK, this dream has almost been realized, as they missed skating on post-season ice by a single game last season, but for the Cards it has been quite a different story.
After the 2005 season the club disbanded for a season, before playing a very limited three game schedule in 2006. Through the renewed support of alumni and a fresh group of players the rebuilding has begun.
Jake Kelly, a grad student in the Electrical Engineering program at the Speed School, has played wing for the last two seasons. Kelly commented that now there is a new level of hope and excitement.
“The team is young and full of a lot of talent,” said Kelly.
Senior team Captain Nick Kuypers said there was still reason for the Cards to be upbeat, despite the setback.
“We are looking forward to a great season,”said Kuypers. “Both our on ice product and rink have made significant improvements. Considering the new crop of talented players we have brought in coupled with the support of our generous sponsors Texas Roadhouse and Cumberland Brewery fans can expect to see a fast aggressive and competitive Cardinal hockey team this year all while having fun and enjoying a few pints of “Slew Foot”, our signature beer. We had an awesome turnout this Thursday against UK and can’t wait to see everyone again when we play EKU.”
The cards play Eastern Kentucky University on November 5th in another fierce in state rivalry, and have also added the rival Bearcats from the University of Cincinnati back to the schedule facing them at home on November 13.
Moving on from the tough loss, the Cards promise an exciting and fun filled 2010-2011 season in their new home at The Alpine Ice Rink. The full schedule is available at cardsicehockey.com and tickets are available through the site or at the door before games.
