ACC Lacrosse Tournament Set
The ACC Lacrosse Tournament is all set. Unfortunately for Louisville, Virginia Tech was sneaky and cheated the Cards out of the 7-seed. Louisville is the 8-seed and will face 1-seed North Carolina.
Louisville (1-9 ACC) beat Virginia Tech (1-8 ACC) in the regular season and would have given the Cards the tiebreak over the Hokies. However, Virginia Tech had a couple schedule changes between weather and COVID-19 protocol and were not eager to make up their final game, giving them a half game edge over the Cards.
The Cards, who are ranked #19 in the most recent poll, seem to be in a position to still make the NCAA Tournament, but upsetting an undefeated Tar Heels team would guarantee a bid.
Louisville hosted North Carolina earlier this season at Cardinal Stadium. The Cards had a couple offensive spurts, but like everyone that has faced UNC, Louisville fell by a large margin in the end.
UNC has not lost since 2019, when they fell in double overtime in the NCAA Semifinals to Boston College. The Tar Heels are also looking to win their fifth straight ACC title (there was no tournament in 2020).
For the Cards, Ally Hall is two goals short of scoring 100 career goals. Rachel Florek has 335 career saves, ranking first in program history. Her .427 career save percentage is third in program history.
This match is scheduled for Wednesday at noon on the ACC Network. In other action Wednesday, #4 seed Notre Dame get #5 seed Duke at appox. 2:30 p.m., #2 seed Syracuse faces #7 seed Virginia Tech at5:00 p.m. and #3 seed Boston College will go against #6 seed Virginia at 7:30 p.m.
Softball Concludes Home Season, Thank You Seniors
Louisville Softball concluded its home season on Sunday with a doubleheader against #7 Florida State. The Seminoles took the first game by Mercy Rule victory while the second game ended in a 0-0 tie after 11 innings and more than three hours due to a scheduled flight home.
A 1-2-1 series against one of the favorites to win the NCAA title is a plus in my book. It also knocked the Seminoles out of first in the conference and allowed Clemson to take the lead in the conference. Somewhere our buddy Arthur has a big smile on his face.
Louisville recognized a total of eight players, seven from the current season and Caitlin Ferguson, who played her final season in 2020.
Both Paige and Riley Schindler have had some unfortunate luck with injuries, which prevented them from playing the last couple years. Madison Ciaccio had appearances in dozens of games throughout her career and often subbed in at first base. Jordyn Wolfe has seen plenty of action in the outfield and as a pinch runner but also has been plagued by an injury the last couple of weeks. Jennifer Leonhardt joined Louisville for her final year of eligibility and has made a significant contribution in the circle and is second on the team in strikeouts. Maddy Newman spent four years as a starter at second base and has been a behind-the-scenes leader for much of her career. Celene Funke repped the Louisville jersey for five seasons and was one of the most recognizable student-athletes at Louisville known for her charisma and energy.
This senior class has had to overcome a great deal between a mixture of injuries, a coaching change, COVID-19, and now having one of the toughest schedules in the country. Even with so many obstacles, this senior class has proven to be strong leaders and kept the energy level high. We thank all of the seniors for everything they've done for this program.
The Cards sit at eighth in the ACC currently. They have eight games remaining: a four-game series at last place Boston College and a four-game series against North Carolina, who is currently 10th in the conference. Louisville is 3.5 games ahead of Pitt, who is 11th. The Cards need to finish in the top ten to qualify for the ACC Tournament at Ulmer Stadium in mid-May.
(Softball and Lacrosse photos from Jared Anderson)
Other News
Louisville head Field Hockey Coach Justine Sowry has a press conference this afternoon to discuss the upcoming NCAA Field Hockey Tournament. The Cards still have a few more days before their quarterfinal match-up on Sunday. We'll bring the words to you in tomorrow's Cardinal Couple.
It is Derby Week in the Ville so the parties have begun. Our horse handicapper extraordinaire Paulie is hard at work doing his research for your Oaks Day and Derby Day picks. Stay tuned this week to see what advice and recommendations he has....he's handicapping Weds. thru Sat. this week. Check out his handicapping site PAULIE PICKS at:
The "naming" of Derby Day weekdays began a few years ago with "Thurby" for Thursday at the Downs. Of course, Firday has always been Oaks Day and Saturday is Derby Day -- but recently someone came up with "Mondby" for Monday "Tuesby" for Tuesday and Wednesday has now become "Louisville's Day at the Track" Someone offered "Wednesby" but that's just going too far, right?
Happy "Tuesby" and Go Cards!
Jared
Balogun to Duke. Didn't see that coming.
ReplyDeleteNick O.