University of Louisville
VILLANOVA
Cardinals Close Regular-Season with 2-0 Win Over Villanova
October 26, 2008 | Women's Soccer
Oct. 26, 2008
2008 BIG EAST Championship Bracket in PDF Format 
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Senior Shannon Smyth and sophomore Caitlin Rehder each scored goals to lead the University of Louisville women's soccer team to a 2-0 BIG EAST victory over visiting Villanova Sunday at Cardinal Park in the regular-season finale for both teams.
The win, combined with Cincinnati's 1-0 double-overtime loss against No. 23 Georgetown on Sunday, gives Louisville (8-6-3, 6-3-2 BIG EAST) the No. 4 seed in the National Division and a first round home game in the 2008 BIG EAST Championship against American Division No. 5 seed Pittsburgh. The Cards and Panthers will meet for the first time this season on Thursday, Oct. 30 at 7 p.m. ET, at Cardinal Park. The winner will advance to a BIG EAST quarterfinal game against American Division champion West Virginia on Sunday, Nov. 2 in Morgantown.
"This win is significant for us for a lot of reasons," said Cards' head coach Karen Ferguson-Dayes. "First and foremost, it's a win our senior class deserves and they're lasting memory of their last regular-season home game will be a win. Secondly, it gave us a greater chance of staying at home for the first round of the BIG EAST Championship, and with the result from the Cincinnati-Georgetown game, it did guarantee us a home game in the first round."
After a slow start in Sunday's game against Villanova (11-7-1, 4-6-1 BIG EAST), which was televised live locally in Louisville, the Cards gained command in the 30th minute of play as Smyth (Milwaukee, Wisc./Divine Savior HS) scored from 12 yards away on a cross by fellow senior Jessica Mello (Cincinnati, Ohio/Walnut Hills HS) for a 1-0 advantage. Those two, along with senior Mallory Lampson (Columbus, Ohio/Hilliard Davidson HS) were honored prior to the game during Senior Day ceremonies.
"I think we started today's game a little flat and lethargic," said Ferguson-Dayes. "After the media timeout (in the 24th minute), we regrouped and started to get back to the things we normally do. The toll from Friday's emotional letdown (against Georgetown) carried over to the beginning of today's game, but we were able to sort things out and for the reminder of the first half and into the second half, we did a good enough job to ensure a victory."
After holding the 1-0 advantage at the intermission, the Cards played much better in the second half and padded the lead at 2-0 as Rehder (Des Plaines, Ill./Maine West HS) scored from 30 yards out on a shot that first deflected off of the cross bar and then off the back of the hand of Villanova goalkeeper Leann Kania and into the net in the 55th minute.
"In the second half, I thought we moved the ball a lot better and our kids played a lot better," said Ferguson-Dayes. "We were anticipating rather than reacting and we did a good job of taking it to them in the second half."
Overall, the Cards controlled the ball for much of the 90 minutes putting up 23 shots, including 12 on goal, while limiting the Wildcats to only eight total shots and four on goal. Defensively, junior Katie Zoeller (Louisville, Ky./Ballard HS) got the start in goal for the Cards turning away a pair of Villanova shots in the first 45 minutes of play, while freshman Chloe Kiefer (Whitefish Bay, Wisc./Divine Savior HS) added two more saves in the final 45 minutes.
