By Jordan Shim-
Football season may have just started, but the soccer season is fast approaching its midpoint. The Louisville women’s soccer team are off to a good start, posting a 6-2-1 record. They have put on dominant displays at home, despite some not yielding favorable results.
The Cards enjoyed their best run of form in the early stages of the season. After a 1-1 draw to Indiana in the season opener, they routed Indiana State, UAB and Toledo all by the score of 4-0.
Louisville put forth their best performance in the victory over UAB. They blitzed the Blazers all afternoon with 32 shots, 13 on goal. The Cards also stymied their attack, not allowing a single shot and recording the clean sheet.
The past three matches, the Cards have taken a step back. They lost the Battle of the Bluegrass against Kentucky 3-1 on Sept. 2. They responded two days later with a 3-1 victory over Harvard.
They suffered a heartbreaker against Ball State at Lynn Stadium. Louisville dominated in every aspect of the game for the majority of the match, but Ball State took advantage of a corner kick and scored the winner in double overtime.
Quick turnarounds have favored the Cards after tough losses because they responded with wins. They defeated Belmont 2-1 at home. They opened ACC conference play on Sept. 17 against Pittsburgh with a 1-0 win.
Louisville’s standout player has been sophomore defender Gabrielle Vincent. The Maryland native currently leads the team in minutes, and is second in goals, points, and shots on goal. She has also been a stalwart on defense. Her consistency at the back contributes to the team conceding only six shots per game. She recorded her first career hat trick on Aug. 26, against UAB.
After wrapping up their first ACC match, there has been many positives to take away from what we have seen, but there exist some negatives that may be problematic for the team going forward.
Positives:
One thing coach Ferguson-Dayes would be pleased with is the production from the newcomers. Louisville brought on 15 new players during the summer, 11 of them freshmen. Having a large influx of youth coming into a team would indicate a rebuilding period for most schools.
The freshmen, however, have already made major contributions. Four are first team starters, while two more see major playing time off the bench. They account for 10 of the team’s 20 goals. Brooklynn Rivers leads the team in goals with four.
The impact of the freshmen has jump-started the offense this season. Louisville scored 17 goals in 18 games last season. Nine games into the regular season and they have already surpassed that tally. Last season they averaged 11 shots per game. Compare it to this season; they have just about doubled that number with 20 per game.
Variety in scoring; twelve different Cardinals have scored this season. The team gains the unpredictability factor for the opposition. They cannot focus on a single player to mark. Any player can show up in any given game to make an impact.
Negatives:
No proven goal scorer. What makes them difficult to prepare for is also their greatest flaw. Lacking a go-to scorer could haunt them in the big games. Ball State was a game where having a lethal finisher could have yielded a positive result.
Conference play has begun. The ACC is arguably the toughest conference in soccer. Coming into the season, coach Ferguson-Dayes knew the quality of competition her team would be facing. As the season progressed, the schedule became more and more daunting. Their conference opponents have a combined record of 65-18-6, a .730 winning percentage. Nine matches remain on the schedule and six of them are ranked, three in the top 10.
Louisville’s preseason aspiration was a berth to the NCAA tournament. The back end of the schedule will provide difficulties in achieving that.
If the stats on paper is an indicator of how the team can play the rest of the season, the NCAA tournament is not a far-fetched idea.
File photo / The Louisville Cardinal
