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Sept. 19, 2006 CARDS EARN FIRST EVER NATIONAL RANKING! Hello Cardinal Soccer Fans!
We only had two days to prepare for our nationally televised game vs. Cincinnati on FOX Soccer. Monday's training session was sharp and focused as the team looked towards the all important Big East opener. With kickoff at 8:06 pm on Wednesday, the anticipation around campus grew throughout the day. Huge TV trucks and satellite dishes slowed traffic on South Floyd Street in front of Cardinal Park. Finally, it was game time. One minute in Jen Avila hit the crossbar from 25 yards out. Thirty seconds later, Shannon Smyth hit a rocket off the left post as we continued to smother Cincinnati with pressure. Just over five minutes into the game, Jamie Craft got endline and slotted a ball to the back post for Avila to finish. The half finished 1-0, Cards. The second stanza picked up where the first left off. Less than two minutes in, Laura Walker split two defenders with a pass which put Monique Gjini in on the endline. Gjini played the ball across the top of the six yard box to Avila for her second goal of the game. Craft got herself in the scoring column with two goals of her own in the second half. When the game ended, the "shots" on the scoreboard read 19-4 in favor of the Cards. The final score, UofL 4, Cincinnati 1! After an early Sunday morning breakfast, we were off for a two hour bus trip to Bowling Green, KY for a match against Western Kentucky. The game started slow as Western packed it in against us and made creating scoring chances difficult. Finally, at the 30th minute Lindsey Fox broke through and scored. After controlling the entire first half, we were only up 1-0. The second half was better, as Lindsay Boling added a 2nd goal for us in the 48th minute. We continued to create some great chances, only to have several near misses. With just over a minute to play WKU got a goal to make the score line closer than the game really was. We were disappointed not being able to finish the game off and earn a shutout, but happy with the victory. Big East action resumes this weekend with DePaul and #1 ranked Notre Dame! Go Cards! Coach Ferguson |
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