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Cardinal Women's Soccer Opens Spring With Pair of Wins
March 05, 2007 | Women's Soccer
March 5, 2007
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The University of Louisville women's soccer team swept a pair of exhibition matches to open the spring season, picking up a 3-2 win over Butler and upending host Purdue 2-1 last weekend.
With graduation, injuries and the absence of US Soccer U21 National team goalkeeper Joanna Haig, who was in California training with the national team, the Cardinals took a roster of just 12 players.
"For our first time out since the NCAA's, I felt we played pretty well," noted Cardinal Head Coach Karen Ferguson.
"Other than a couple of mistakes in the back third, we were solid defensively."
U of L quickly got on the scoreboard against Butler with a finish by Jen Avila just under the crossbar for a 1-0 lead. After a miscue in the back, the Bulldogs tied it up 1-1.
A few minutes later, Avila struck again for the Cards, getting in behind the Butler defense on a flick by Shannon Smyth. The second half saw Avila complete the hat-trick on a perfectly placed header from a corner kick by Laura Walker.
Butler managed a late goal for the 3-2 final.
After two hours of rest, the Cards were back on the field to take on 2006 NCAA tournament qualifier, Purdue University.
Louisville picked up goals from Avila and Lindsay Boling in the first half and took a 2-1 lead into the intermission.
To that point, the Cards had played 105 minutes, with only one sub and still had 45 minutes to contend with.
The Boilermakers tried to take advantage of the fatigue with a fresh lineup and began to wear U of L down in the second half.
Louisville continued to battle with some quality saves by freshman keeper, Katie Zoeller preserving the 2-1 victory.
"Losing senior All-American Jamie Craft, we are looking for players to replace her goals, and Jen Avila took a big step toward that with her performance this weekend," Ferguson added.
Louisville with finish their spring campaign with home matches on Saturday March 24th vs. Evansville and Saturday April 7th vs. Eastern Kentucky. Both are set to kickoff at 4:00 p.m. ET.
