Louisville Lacrosse opens season with 14-6 win over Marquette...WBB faces Notre Dame today -- SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Wood, Daley and Balog with 3 goals each in LAX win

The Louisville Lacrosse squad opened the 2016 season with an impressive win Saturday afternoon over Marquette 14-6 at the Louisville Lacrosse Stadium. A great afternoon for Lacrosse...with the temperature in the low 50's. A new press box to watch the action from. A new look for this version of Louisville Lacrosse. Head Louisville Lacrosse coach Kellie Young was impressed with what she saw: 

" I think we got some of our jitters out of the way today and had some really impressive moments on both ends of the field...and some moments that I think film will help us grow on...but Marquette is a disciplined team and I think our team overcame that and played really well." 

One of the Cards that overcame some early jitters was goalkeeper Brittany Read. In her first career start, the Gibbsboro, NJ sophomore had an impressive game in the circle. Coach Young was impressed with what she saw: 

" She was amazing. I'n so proud of her. Not just for the saves but in clearing outside the crease. Very proud of her effort today." 

UofL fell behind 1-0 to start the contest but rallied with a 4-0 run that featured goals by Kaylin Morissette, Cortnee Daley, Julia Wood and Jillian Balog. Marquette climbed to within two after a Amanda Bochniak score...but the Cards closed out the half on a 3-0 run when Kelli Gerding, Wood and Daley found the back of the net...giving UofL a 7-2 halftime advantage. The Golden Eagles actually had a 10-8 edge with shots on goal but Read had eight saves in the first thirty minutes.

Louisville held an 8-4 advantage early in the final half but went on a 6-0 run with goals by Wood, back-to-back scores by Balog, Gerding, Hannah Koloski and freshman Meghan Siverson. Comfortably ahead 14-4, the Cards did allow two late scores by the Golden Eagles but win with ease 14-6.

Wood and Balog, who had a combined two goals last year were a nice surprise for fans familiar the 2015 Louisville offense...but Young saw the upcoming potential:  

"We knew this fall Julia Wood would have a big presence for us this year. She gained some confidence from last year and my pre-game message to her today was 'Remember you're an attacker' and she did that today. Jillian has just been coming on the last weeks and is so confident. She handled it well today." 

Kudos to the Louisville defense of Read, Heidi Smith, Emily Howell and Steph McNamara who repeatedly turned away Marquette scoring attempts. We asked Read if there were a few nervous moments before the season opener: 

" I wasn't too nervous...I was just excited to play and have fun...I know our defenders always have my back. We're a team. We talk, communicate. We have a job to do and we get it done." 

Read finished with 12 saves in the contest and Kaylin Morissette continued her mastery of the draw control...getting 12 and Louisville winning the flips at midfield 17-5. 

Louisville goes on the road with a visit to Philly for their next two...squaring off against Temple Friday and Duquense Sunday before returning home for a Saturday, Feb 20th hosting of Denver. 

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WILL IRISH EYES BE SMILING? 

There's been a ton of anticipation for the Sunday Louisville women's basketball game against #3 Notre Dame and we certainly hope it lives up to the hype that has preceded it. 

We'll offer five things here that we think Louisville needs to do to claim sole place atop the ACC Conference.  

1) Own the boards. That's not as hard as it may seem against a UND squad who is only out-rebounding foes by a + 4.9 margin this season. When you own the boards, you are setting up scoring opportunities, preventing second-chance points and playing aggressive defense. The Cards have a + 5.7 edge against teams this season in rebounding. 

2) Avoid staggering out of the gate. The Cards have has less than impressive opening minutes in their last two games. They overcame the shaky starts against UNC and Wake Forest but dropping behind early to Notre Dame could prove fatal. 

3) Score at the Charity Stripe. Free throw shooting has been a very positive aspect of Louisville women's basketball as of late...78% against Wake Forest and 86% against UNC. That needs to continue against the Irish...who shoot only 69% from the charity stripe. They foul opponents an average of 19 times per game. Each free trip will be important.

4) Hit and stop the three. That may be a tall order against a UND squad that is holding opponent to 29.5% from behind the arc. The Irish also lead the nation in three-point accuracy. Asia Durr is hitting at a 41% rate from trifecta range this season...but the Irish counter with Madison Cable at 46.8%, Arike Ogunbowale's 44.8% Marina Mabrey's 42.9% accuracy and Michaela Mabrey's 40.6% prowess. We hope Mariya Moore is feeling it from the deep. Anything Briahanna Jackson, Arica Carter and Taja Cole can add from three range will be greatly helpful. 

5) Score inside. Duke had success gathering points in the paint against Notre Dame and Myisha HInes-Allen is capable of putting up Azura Stevens type numbers. Cortnee Walton will need to be productive on putbacks and the easy follow ups, lay ups and drives to the hoops simply have to go in.

It will be the Cards toughest test of the season so far, make no mistake about it. A litmus test to see exactly how far this team has come since the nervous month of November. Notre Dame is 9-1 on the road and that loss came to UConn. After that, only Duke has stayed within a double-digit loss when hosting Muffet McGraw's team. 

They have has scares. Ohio State visited and lost by just three. Oregon State lost by just one in the Purcell Pavilion.

A huge crowd could really bolster Louisville's chances on Super Bowl Sunday...so make every effort to attend if at all possible. $3 tickets for a match-up like this? Several hours of entertainment? Treat yourself. Head down to the river. The operating mode of the Louisville women's basketball team this year has encompassed one game at a time and win the day. This would surely be a good day to win...

ESPN 2 will televise the contest. Cards Radio if you prefer listening to a concise play-by-play. It's on the tune-in app as well. 2 p.m. Let's get it started. We'll have the game write up for you whenever Worldwide gets the chance to post it.

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THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR

The Soundcloud rebroadcast of Saturday's show is available on the Crescent Hill website via Soundcloud. Here's the link:

LINK: https://soundcloud.com/chradio/cardinal-couple-020616


It was a fun show with lots of great audio clips...featuring Sandy Pearsall, Jeff Walz, Cortnee Walton, Asia Durr, Mariya Moore, Courtney Trimble and Katie Mitchell.

paulie
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