Keller, LeCoq rock UCF to win AAC Softball Crown

MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE


- Softball wins AAC Championship Tournament

- Lacrosse falls to Northwestern in NCAA Second Round

- Sara Hammond's squad wins USA 3x3 Championship


Behind Katie Keller's home run and triple and Rachel LeCoq shutting out UCF for six innings...the Louisville Cardinals softball team won the AAC Conference Tournament yesterday against UCF 3-2 and gets a NCAA Tournament automatic bid.

The Cards will be heading to Tucson, AZ to face LSU in first round action May 16th. ESPN3 will show the game on-line Friday night at 8:30 p.m. ET.

Maryssa Becker drew the start for the Cards, who jumped out early with a Keller home run in the first to grab a 1-0 lead. The Golden Knights battled back for two runs in the second and had runners on second and third with no outs when Becker gave way to Le Coq. The senior kept UCF from pushing any other runs across, though...and Louisville tied the contest in the fourth inning on a Keller triple.

UofL took the lead for good in the top of the fifth when Jordan McNary doubled down the first base line and then scored on a wild pitch.

Meanwhile, in the circle LeCoq had Central Florida under control and allowed just two hits.

Five Cards were named to the All-Tournament team (Kayla Soles, Brittany Duncan, Rachel LeCoq, Katie Keller and Taner Fowler) and Keller received the Most Outstanding Player award.

The Cards will open NCAA play against a formidable foe in LSU, an at-large selection from the powerful SEC. If they get past the Bayou Bengals...the winner of #11 seed Arizona and Boston University awaits. The Regionals are a double elimination format, so a loss would have them pitted against B.U.


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Louisville Lacrosse's season draws to a close with a 11-8 loss to fifth seeded Northwestern yesterday on the Wildcats' home field. Sophomore Cortnee Daley led the way for Louisville with four goals as the Cards finish with a program best 16-4 record.

The Wildcats struck early...just 78 seconds into the contest...but Louisville countered with Daley's first goal at the 27:25 mark.

Jon Stewart would have been proud...because it became the Daley show after that in the first half. Two more scores from Cortnee gave Louisville a 3-1 lead that held until Northwestern ran off three in a row to lead by one at the half.

The Cards countered with scores from Kaylin Morissette and Daley to lead 5-4 before the Wildcats went on a 4-0 run over a five minute span to build a 8-5 advantage.

Louisville cut the lead to two a couple of times the rest of the way when Faye Brust scored on free position goals but Northwestern had a insurmountable 11-7 advantage until the Cards Carissa Corbett scored with a minute and a half left in the contest.

It was the first time Nikki Botja had been held without a goal this season and for just the fourth time in the last three years.

Noticably missing from the contest was senior midfielder Monica Negron. No word on why she didn't play as we went to print this morning.

A great run by Lacrosse this year and Kellie Young returns four of her top five scorers next season. She'll need them...the ACC put seven teams in this year's 26 team field and only Duke lost in the second round...to another ACC opponent..Notre Dame.

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Sara Hammond's team Takeover won the 2014 FIBA 3X3 USA Women's Basketball Tournament and will represent the USS on the world stage in Moscow, Russia on June 5-8.

Hammond, Cierra Burdick (Tennessee), Jewell Loyd (Notre Dame) and Tiffany Mitchell (South Carloina) went undefeated in the seven game tournament and defeated the 2013 USA representatives FST-LongIsland to win the title.

Hammond and Burdick also won the Hot Shot challenge... a partner shooting competition, three-point shootout and a skills challenge.

Takeover will be one of 24 teams competing for the FIBA World Championship.  

paulie