Lax and Softball Win -- ACC WBB Tourney Day 1 -- UofL WBB in Action -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Kokoro Nakazawa Goes Off as Lax Defeats Cincinnati

Kokoro Nakazawa recorded her first career hat trick and scored enough for two hat tricks with six goals as Louisville lacrosse defeated Cincinnati 18-13. The Cards are now on a two-match win streak and have improved to 3-4.

Cincinnati raced out to a 4-0 lead. The Cards were quick to answer with a 5-0 spurt to take the lead. The Bearcats answered with a couple quick goals to put the score in their advantage but Louisville would be the team leading at halftime, 8-6. The run right before halftime continued into the second half and Louisville found themselves up 10-6. The Cards would stretch their lead to 15-8, but Cincinnati scored five of the last eight goals in the match to bring the score a bit closer.

Kokoro Nakazawa led the field with six goals. Allegra Catalano (four goals) and Negai Nakazawa (three goals) each recorded a hat trick. Rian Adkins, Kylea Dobson, Tiffany Natoli, Maggie McMahon, and Nicole Perroni each logged a goal. Perroni's goal came with 1:40 remaining to extend her school record scoring streak to 43 games.

Sara Addeche got the start in goal. She was limited to three saves with 13 goals allowed. Despite the off game, the senior goalkeeper is still one of the top in the country in total saves. With a sizable lead late in the match, Scott Teeter chose to let J Pleck get a few minutes in the net.

The Cards outshot the Bearcats 40-20 with 31 of those being on goal. They also dominated the draw controls 21-14.

Louisville returns home on Sunday to host a top 10 Boston College team.

Softball Upsets Arizona in Midweek Game

There's no better way to bounce back from a rough weekend than to get a win on your home turf against a ranked opponent, and that's just what Louisville softball did. The Cards defeated #24 Arizona 5-3.

Alyssa Zabala tossed a complete game for the win to improve her record in the circle to 10-1. She has earned the last six wins for the Cards. Vanessa Miller and Bailee Richardson each hit home runs in the win.

While Louisville threatened to score in the first inning, they would end the frame empty-handed, but would answer with three runs an inning later. Paige Geraghty's rbi single plated the first run. Ally Alexander scored on an error by the Arizona defense and Gabby Holloway's fielder's choice helped score the third run.

Miller sent a shot over the right field wall that landed on the far side of the red track that encircles the stadium to help the Cards go up four.

After retiring the first 11 batters of the game, Zabala's bid for a perfect game ended late in the fourth inning after allowing a couple hits and a single run for the Arizona.

A home run by Richardson to dead center in the fifth inning got the run back for the Cards before Arizona posted a pair of runs on a homer by Louisville native Allie Skaggs. However, the Wildcats' rally came up short.

Louisville made the most out of their five hits, piecing together three walks and a few Arizona errors in the mix. Zabala recorded five strikeouts to just two walks and six hits.

I got a chance to speak with Vanessa Miller and Alyssa Zabala following the game. You can watch it here.

Louisville improves to 16-5 on the season. They remain home at Ulmer Stadium this weekend with a three-game series against ranked Virginia Tech.

ACC WBB Tournament Day One

Opening day of the ACC Women's Basketball Tournament brought plenty of excitement and two upsets by seeding.

In the first game of the tournament, 13-seed Boston College used a strong first quarter to hold on for a win against 12-seed Clemson.

In the second game, 10-seed Georgia Tech needed a big fourth quarter to pull away from 15-seed Pitt.

In the night game, 14-seed Wake Forest pulled off the biggest surprise by defeating 11-seed Virginia in the final couple minutes.

So, how are the brackets looking? Well, of the 23 entries we have this year, none are perfect, but none are winless. 13 brackets were ruined after the first game when Boston College took down Clemson. The few remaining perfect brackets suffered mightily when Virginia fell to Wake Forest. That puts all brackets at either 2-1 or 1-2. With 11 games remaining, this is still anyone's game.

Louisville Faces Boston College at 11:00am

Playing in their first game of the 2024 ACC Women's Basketball Tournament, 5-seed Louisville gears up to take on 13-seed Boston College. 

The Cards and Eagles met once this season, with the former walking away with a two-point road win. Nina Rickards made a layup with 19 seconds left to secure the win.

Louisville is 16-1 all-time against Boston College with the only loss coming in the first ever meeting between the programs back in 1985. Four of the last five match-ups have been within 10 points.

In their nine ACC Tournaments, Louisville has compiled a 14-8 record. They have appeared in the championship game four times and won the title in 2018 against Notre Dame.

This one will be aired on ACC Network but can also be viewed online or on the ESPN app. For radio, Nick Curran and Cortnee Walton will be on 93.9 FM.

The other three games today feature 8-seed North Carolina vs 9-seed Miami, 7-seed Duke vs 10-seed Georgia Tech, and 6-seed Florida State vs 14-seed Wake Forest.

Happy Thursday and Go Cards!

Jared