Golf finishes 2nd in BIG EAST, Soccer and Lacrosse Awards, Cats v. Cards

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WET WEDNESDAY @ CARDINAL COUPLE

Anna-Karin Ljungstrom forced
a playoff for the individual title.

(Here's hoping everyone made it through the storms

last night that hit Louisville. Paul slept through them.)

-Women's Golf 2nd in BIG EAST TOURNEY

-Softball Heads to Lexington

-Negron receives lacrosse award

-Kuric gets women's soccer honor

-Smith on the way to Louisville

The University of Louisville's women's golf team finished second in the BIG EAST Tournament with a third round effort of 305..for a 915 three day total. Sophomore Anna-Karin Ljungstrom  closed well for the Cards, firing a final day 73 to tie for lowest round and the tournament lead. She faced St John's Harin Lee in a sudden death playoff for the title...but lost on the 4th hole of the match. Still, a big effort from the Cardinal.
Notre Dame captured first place...12 strokes lower than Louisville.

Sara-Maude Juneau had a 77 on the final day, along with Laura Anderson. Maria Castellanos finished at 78 for the final eighteen and Tara Lyons took 83 strokes to finish the third day.

The Cards now await their NCAA Tournament fate...to be announced Monday April 25th. A great season of chip and putt for the ladies and good job, 'Coach K' with a team that had no home meets and just might have travelled further to compete throughout the season than any other sports squad at UofL. Unpack those bags and rest awhile, ladies!

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The Softball Cards travel to Lexington to face the Wildcats for a single game today. The #16 ranked UK squad dropped a previous meeting this season to Sandy Pearsall's squad 6-0 in Ulmer Stadium. A quick turnaround for the Louisville Sluggers...they begin a three game series at Ulmer on Thursday against Providence that will conclude the home part of the regular schedule for the Cards.

Freshman Hannah Kiyohara is
batting .387 for the Cards. 

Although the Cards are unranked in the polls, they are having a great season at 32-13 and 10-4 in the BIG EAST. They are in 4th. place in the BIG EAST standings, behind DePaul (10-1) South Florida (9-1) and Notre Dame (7-1). With the return of Tori Collins to the pitching rotation, they have two pitchers that are headaches for opposing teams to face. Caralisa Connell (18-6) had a twelve game win streak earlier in the season and has a 2.38 ERA.

Louisville also has tons of firepower when at the plate. Hannah Kiyohara leads the Cards with a .387 batting average and has 18 RBI's on the year. Colby Wherry is at .370 with five home runs and third baseman Chelsea Bemis has smashed eight base cleaners, driven in 37 RBI's and sits at .368.

Freshmen Maggie Ruckenbrod, Katie Keller and Taner Fowler have contributed heavily to the Cards offensive attack and Alicja Wolny is a threat to reach base anytime she steps into the box.

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Louisville lacrosse in 10-4 this year and 3-2 in
BIG EAST play.

Monica Negron has been named BIG EAST Defensive Player of the week in lacrosse for her excellent work against Rutgers and Villanova in the Cards last two wins. She held Rutgers leading scorer Marlena Welsh to just one goal in Louisville's 10-8 win over the Scarlet Knights. Against the Wildcats leading scorer, Justine Donodeo, Negron limited her to no goals and just four shots.

The lacrosse Cards face a decisive road trip beginning Thursday...visiting 13th. ranked Syracuse (5-7, 3-1) and then Connecticut on Saturday. Here's hoping the Cards high-powered offensive attack of Bergan Foley, Liz Lovejoy and Katie Oliverio can find the net successfully and frequently against the Orange and Huskies....

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Katie Kuric was a BIG EAST
All-Academic selection.



Louisville women's soccer player Katie Kuric was named Senior of the Year Monday night at the Student Awards banquet. Kuric complied a 3.945 GPA during her four years at Louisville (OK, whose the kill-joy who gave her a "B"?) and was a four year competitor in women's soccer. She was a Dean's Scholar, a Black and Red Scholar and made the Dean's list and A.D. Honor roll. Kuric chronicled her journey overseas with brother Kyle last year on a trip to Egypt during summer break at http://www.uoflsports.com/ . Seeing the pyramids is on the "Bucket List" for us at CARDINAL COUPLE. Not that we're going anywhere soon, mind you.  

Kyle is an outstanding hoopster for Rick Pitino's Louisville basketball team and his out of this world, "are you kidding me" dunk against Notre Dame this past season was the Papa John's Dunk of the Year in college basketball. The one-handed throw-down in South Bend against Scott Martin near the end of the first half was simply amazing. Kyle will be a senior wing for the Cards this fall.

Katie has her degree in Management and is a great example of combining academic excellent and athletic dedication on the collegiate level. Louisville Soccer will miss her...but WE have the feeling that you'll hear plenty more about Ms.Kuric after her college days are done...

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Bria Smith visits Louisville today. Where
would you take her?



Bria Smith lands in Louisville this morning for an official visit to the Cardinal campus. She's still uncommitted to a college and is ranked the eighth best player in the class of 2011...and second at her guard position. We have no doubt the the Lady Cards basketball staff, coaches and players have a full and exciting day planned for her. We were speculating on the top five things that you'd want a perspective recruit to see while in Louisville. By no means is this how her day will go...but the list of things to see below would make for a fun visit to "the Ville". 

1) The KFC YUM Center. A must stop for any potential hoopster contemplating UofL. The showcase by the Ohio River draws over 10,000 for women's hoops.

2) Cardinal Park. The multi-use athletic facility offers a great walking and jogging track to stay in shape during the off-season and also has three state of the art stadiums for track, field hockey and softball.

3) Churchill Downs. The legendary Twin Spires and a jaunt thru the Kentucky Derby Museum never fails to fascinate even the horse racing novice.

4) Cardinal Arena. Lady Cards spend a lot of time there...practicing, training and the locker rooms, player access areas and coaching offices are state of the art.

5) Ali Center. A magnificent tribute to "the Greatest"...Interactive displays and a testament to the will and desire of the greatest boxer of all-time.
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Enjoy your stay, Ms. Smith and here's hoping your flight this morning wasn't too bumpy. Take it all in and have fun...because if you choose UofL...four years in the greatest college sports town in America await...

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