UC women’s soccer draws against Louisville

The University of Cincinnati’s (UC) women’s soccer team started their three-game home stretch against the Louisville Cardinals on a hot Thursday evening with a draw, moving their record to 2-1-1.

Despite being in different conferences, this game had the energy of a regional rivalry from years past. Cincinnati and Louisville were formerly both in the Big East conference, but both departed for different conferences in the early 2010s. Both teams came into this game with an improved offense from last season but defense from both sides was the story in the first half.

Freshman midfielder Anna Barber and freshman forward Rylee Felton were key Bearcats in the first half, keeping up with the Cardinals’ adjustments. Both teams had nice looks at shots but came just short of scoring goals.

Louisville was threatening at the 19th minute, but a great save from keeper Anna Rexford kept the Cardinals off the scoreboard with a save.

“The first half I think was a little rough for us, it was hard for us to come together to score goals, but I think we got enough chances to score.” Felton said after the game regarding the first half.

Coming out of a scoreless first half, both teams continued their strong defensive efforts. Coming off a corner kick from Brooke Dardano, defender Karysn Cherry scored the first and only goal for the Cardinals early in the second half but the Bearcats remained unrattled.

The early substitute of Felton shifted the momentum to the Bearcats. Felton threaded the needle for the equalizer 20 minutes into the second half (1-1). The addition of Felton has been impactful for the Bearcats offense, scoring in back-to-back games and her third goal of the season.

The Bearcats and Cardinals would not let up, both in search of a go-ahead goal to close out the game. Solid defense on both sides led to a draw between the two, Louisville leads the all-time matchup 8-1-1.

The Bearcats face the Eastern Michigan Eagles in their next matchup at Gettler Stadium Sept. 1. The game is at 1 p.m. EST and will be streamed live on ESPN+.