Duke knocks Louisville LAX out of ACC Tournament....Changes for Softball this weekend -- Friday Cardinal Couple

(We'll take a look at the 14-7 loss #3 Duke put on the Louisville LAXers yesterday in the ACC Quarterfinals and preview the weekend changes for Louisville Softball against Boston College at Ulmer Stadium. A typical weekend for softball...dealing with rain threats. Maybe the next promo for Louisville Softball should be pocket umbrellas...FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE is coming at ya...in rain gear and rubber boots!) 


TYPICAL PATTERN EMERGES AGAIN IN CARDS LOSS TO DUKE. 


We've reviewed the basic anatomy of a typical Louisville Lacrosse game in the ACC here several times before. Students, refer to your previous notes and follow along. 

- The Cards stay close early in the contest, even lead. This held true again yesterday against the Blue Devils. Louisville lead 3-1 with about 11 minutes to go in first half action.

- Here Comes the Boom. Duke went on a 5-0 run to take a three goal lead. 

- Cards fight back but fall short. Louisville made a run to get back in the contest twice. The Cards cut it to 6-5 with goals from Kelli Gerding and Hannah Koloski. Duke responded with Here Comes the Boom: The Sequel...four straight Blue Devils scores put them up 10-5. The Cards did cut it to three on Cortnee Daley and Carlissa Corbett scores but a few defensive lapses and thefts allowed the Durham school to post the final four net-finders...including a "really...you needed that?" score with one tick left on the clock from one of the Duke subs.

Seven different Cards had a goal each in the loss. Anna Kopecka, Heidi Smith, Kaylin Morissette, Gerding, Koloski, Daley and Corbett all beat the goalie once. 

Louisville has a 10-7 record and now waits to see if they'll get an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. 

In typical, "why do anything normal?" NCAA Lacrosse fashion, 26 teams will vie for the 2015 NCAA title. 13 conference qualifiers and 13 at-large teams. These will be announced Derby weekend. 

May 8th. features 10 first round games at higher seed sites. The May 10th. second round matchups will be contested at eight different sites. So...six teams get first round byes. 

Here's a stellar FINAL FOUR...Sonja, Tillie, MArkie and Poobah  

May 16th and 17th will be the quarter-finals where four games will determine who the FINAL FOUR are and they'll meet in Philly at PPL Park on May 22-23 to determine a national champ. 

Couldn't the NCAA just added six teams and have sixteen first round sites were everybody plays...like the basketball and soccer tournaments do?  Or even eight first and second pods where you send four teams?  You need seven hands (or four people) to count to 32. I guess they were a selection committee planner short...Moe, Larry and Curly couldn't find a "fourth".

"WE got 'next'"

Are the Cards a bubble team? My opinion is "No". i think they are in the NCAA Tournament comfortably. They'll probably drop a spot or two in the national rankings...but should easily be selected for an at-large. I see seven of the eight ACC schools that play Lacrosse getting in and Louisville just might get to host a first round game if things go their way. We draw well, in terms of a fan-base, for Lacrosse. Whether they would stick a admission fee on this because it is NCAA Championships related and they are money-hungry fools remains to be seen.

The month of May is one that Kellie Young and her girls hope keeps them busy to nearly Memorial Day weekend. 

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WEATHER NECESSITATES SOFTBALL CHANGES

This was one of the designs we considered for the site
until it was pointed out that we don't have a
women's football team at UofL. Yet. 

Our meteorological prognosticators are calling for rainy weather Saturday. So, the scheduled ACC Softball series against Boston College this weekend has been altered. There was a Saturday doubleheader scheduled against the Eagles and a single game Sunday. This has been re-arranged to a Friday 7 p.m. single game tonight and a doubleheader for Sunday that will start at noon.

BC comes in with a 20-19 record and is 3-13 in the ACC. This places the Eagles tenth in the eleven team conference standings. Louisville (25-14) is fourth.


This will be the first ever meeting between the two schools. BC is on a roll...having won their last four games and most recently shut out Connecticut 5-0 earlier this week. I guess "Stewie", "The Mosquito" and "Moriah" don't play hit and pitch in Storrs. The Cards are fresh off a 8-0 trouncing of the Kittie Kats in Lessington.

With the day off...Louisville should be able to use staff pitching ace Maryssa Becker twice. If Madi Norman and Shelby McCombs can step up and deliver a strong third game...Louisville could sweep the series. A sweep could allow the Cards to move up in the ACC standings...Notre Dame and UNC face each other for three games this weekend also. Here's the top four in the conference:

Florida State     17-3
UNC                  15-4
Notre Dame       16-5
Louisville           12-5

The best case scenario would be if Notre Dame beat UNC twice. It would give both schools six losses. If the Cards sweep, they would still have only five conference defeats and bounce ahead of both schools in the loss column. A #2 seed in the ACC Tournament would be great and keep the Cards out of Florida State's path until the finals. 

Let's just hope the weather guys and girls haven't misread the future...

pauiie
xxxxx