Lacrosse Adds New Assistant Coach -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Riley Ewing Joins Lax Staff

Photo by GoCards

Riley Ewing has joined the Louisville lacrosse staff and will serve as an assistant coach beginning the 2026 season. Ewing spent the last two seasons at George Mason.

During her two seasons as an assistant coach at George Mason, the Pioneers posted strong results. They finished last season near the top in the country in successful draw controls, something Louisville has been looking to improve on. In 2024, George Mason recorded double-digit wins, highlighted by a 6-0 start to the season.

Ewing has also spent some time playing for Team USA. She helped Team USA win gold at the 2024 Women's Box Lacrosse Championships. She scored seven goals and five assists in the championship game.

Photo by Jared

An Ohio State alum, Ewing sits high on the single game, season, and career record books at Ohio State. She will provide much-needed assistance at Louisville, providing a strong focus on draw controls and offense.

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

Cards Fall in Lax and Softball -- SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Second Quarter Dooms Lax Cards

A rough day on Floyd Street for two Louisville women's sports squads Saturday

Louisville lacrosse couldn't overcome a porous second quarter as they fell to #4 Stanford 15-2. The loss drops the Cards to 5-7 on the year and 1-4 in the ACC.

It took less than two minutes for the Cards to score, but it would be their only lead of the game. Stanford would score a couple quick goals. Louisville would hold Stanford scoreless over the next eight minutes before another goal by the ACC newcomers right before the end of the period gave them a 3-1 lead. The second quarter was all Stanford as they outscored Louisville 8-0. The Cards trailed 11-1 at the break and were facing an uphill battle with a running clock.

The third quarter, while quick with the running clock, was rather uneventful. Stanford added a pair of goals to go up 13-1. Stanford added a couple more goals with a Louisville score sandwiched in the middle.

Lauren Figas and Reese Whiteman scored the two goals for the Cards, who were limited to just 18 shots on the day.

On the defensive end, J Pleck recorded nine saves with 15 goals allowed. She now has 107 saves on the year. Ashley Osborne recorded her 100th ground ball of the season. 

Louisville returns to action on Tuesday at noon when they host Liberty.

Softball Silenced Against Duke

Louisville softball's lone run came with two outs in the seventh inning in a 5-1 loss to #19 Duke. Duke takes the series lead 2-0 with the final game of the series slated for today at noon.

Duke was able to capitalize on a pair of Louisville defensive miscues to score a run in the top of the first inning. The Blue Devils were able to add another run in the third, but the damage was limited with multiple runners on base at the time. A solo home run and a pair of hits plated two more runs for Duke. They added an insurance run in the seventh for a strong 5-0 lead.

In the bottom of the seventh, a double by Ally Alexander and walks by Maddi Grant and Madison Pickens loaded the bases with one out. Easton Lotus was able to send a ball deep to left center to drive in a run, but the rally came too late.

Alexander and Pickens combined for four of Louisville's six hits. The Cards left seven runners on base. Duke pieced together five runs on 10 hits but the Louisville defense stranded nine Duke runners on base.

Alyssa Zabala got the start in the circle but took the loss after allowing four hits and three runs. Sam Booe came in for the back half of the game and allowed six hits and two runs along with a pair of walks.

The Cards drop to 20-14.

WBB Elite Eight Set

UofL women's basketball at Lacrosse

The last of the Sweet Sixteen games were played yesterday and the NCAA Women's Elite Eight is set.

2-seed TCU and former Cardinal Hailey Van Lith took down 3-seed Notre Dame 71-62. The Irish had one of their worst offensive performances of the season .

1-seed Texas survived a scare against 5-seed Tennessee and won 67-59 in the battle of the orange teams.

2-seed UConn took down 3-seed Oklahoma and former Cardinal Payton Verhulst. Paige Bueckers went off for a career-high 40 points.

1-seed USC and former Cardinal assistant coach Beth Burns took down 5-seed Kansas State and former Cardinal Zyanna Walker 67-61 in a battle that came down to the final seconds.

Today's games feature 1-seed UCLA vs 3-seed LSU and 1-seed South Carolina vs 2-seed Duke.

(All photos today by Jared)

Happy Sunday and Go Cards!

Jared

Lacrosse, Two Weeks To Go -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Louisville Lacrosse Approaches Regular Season

Photo by GoCards

Louisville lacrosse is quickly approaching the start of the 2025 season. The Cards are two weeks and one day away from their season opener against Denver at the Louisville Lacrosse Stadium.

The expanded ACC this year cuts down on the number of non-conference opponents, but does help maximize the opportunities to get more conference wins. Louisville has never won more than three ACC matches in a season. The Cards will play nine ACC games this year.

Last season, Louisville had its best season of the Scott Teeter era, going 8-11 highlighted by an upset over ranked Clemson. They played eight ranked opponents during the regular season and added another in the ACC Tournament. The Cards also played two of the teams to make the Final Four including eventual national champion Boston College.

Photo by GoCards

The ACC had six teams make the 28-team NCAA Tournament. Add in ACC newcomer Stanford and the ACC has seven teams in the conference this season to make the tournament last year.

Louisville lost its top three scorers to graduation- Kokoro Nakazawa, Nicole Perroni, and Kylea Dobson. The younger Nakazawa sister, Negai, Rian Adkins, Maggie McMahon, Tiffany Natoli, and Izzy Seikel all finished in double figure points (goals and assists combined) and return this season.

Sara Addeche and J Pleck split time in goal with the former seeing a majority of the minutes. Addeche graduated but Pleck returns for her senior season. She is joined by junior Aubrey Bagenstose, sophomore Hanna John, and newcomer Haley Richards. Neither Bagenstose and John played last season.

This year's squad is comprised of 11 freshmen, eight sophomores, eight juniors, eight seniors, and one graduate student. There are two local kids on the squad in graduate student Ashley Osborne (Ballard High School) and freshman Rosie Cobler (Sacred Heart Academy). The most common hometown on the roster is Columbus, Ohio, where three players all played at Upper Arlington High School.

This season features eight home games with all but one set for noon starts. Cardinal Couple plans to have in person coverage at many of the games this year.

Happy Thursday and Go Cards!

Jared

Lacrosse All-ACC Academic Team -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

22 Cardinals Earn All-ACC Honors

Photo courtesy of GoCards

The ACC announced the All-ACC Academic Lacrosse Team yesterday and 22 Cardinals saw their name make the list. Louisville had the second most on the list behind Duke.

Besides being listed on the roster for their perspective teams, student-athletes must maintain a 3.0 GPA for the current semester, maintain a 3.0 GPA for their entire collegiate career, and have played in 50% of their team's games.

Photo courtesy of GoCards

Louisville's 22 players are: Sara Addeche, Cali Bishop, Allegra Catalano, Abigail Cole, Ava Coyle, Kylea Dobson, Lauren Figas, Karli Harnischfeger, Karli Kirchenheiter, Sydney Kirchenheiter, Madi McKee, Maggie McMahon, Kokoro Nagazawa, Negai Nakazawa, Tiffany Natoli, Ashley Osborne, Ava Peers, Nicole Perroni, Marley Scott, Abby Scully, Izzy Seikel, and Olivia Toll.

We like to brag on both the academic and athletic successes of the student-athletes at Louisville and being able to maintain a high GPA throughout peak season is always remarkable. Louisville didn't make the NCAA Tournament in 2024, but made strides forward and put themselves in a good position for 2025.

Happy Thursday and Go Cards!

Jared

Lacrosse Final Four Set -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

ACC Guaranteed a Team in the National Championship

Louisville lacrosse's season came to a close a month ago, but the NCAA Women's Lacrosse Tournament is still going on for a little bit longer. The Final Four is set with both matches being played on Friday. The national championship game will be played on Sunday.

Three of the top four seeds advanced to the Final Four: #1 Northwestern, #2 Boston College, and #3 Syracuse. #4 Maryland was eliminated by Florida last round. The Gators have been the ACC killer this tournament, having defeated North Carolina, #5 Virginia, and former ACC school Maryland.

The ACC had six teams make the 29-team field: #2 Boston College, #3 Syracuse, #5 Virginia, #7 Notre Dame, Duke, and North Carolina. Stanford, who joins the ACC in the fall, also made the NCAA Tournament.

Louisville lacrosse at L&N Stadium

Duke fell to Loyola Maryland in the opening round. North Carolina fell to Florida in the opening round. Notre Dame crushed Coastal Carolina 24-6 in the first round before losing to Michigan in a heartbreaker, 15-14. The Wolverines scored with one second remaining in regulation to secure the win. #5 Virginia dominated LIU 21-6 in the first round before falling to the Gators, 13-8.

Syracuse received a first round bye and went onto defeat Stony Brook 15-10 and #6 Yale 19-9 to advance to the Final Four. Boston College also received a bye in the first round and followed it up with wins against Princeton 21-16 and Michigan 14-9. 

Louisville lacrosse coach Scott Teeter

In the regular season, the Eagles capitalized on the golden goal rule to win 11-10 in overtime against the Orange. The two foes met again in the ACC Championship with Boston College earning the win, 15-8. It's tough to defeat a team three times in a season so this has the potential for an upset or at least an epic match. With BC and Cuse facing each other on Friday, the ACC is guaranteed to have a team playing in the national championship.

The ACC has had at least one team represented in the NCAA Women's Lacrosse National Championship every year since 2009, COVID-19 season excluded due to no tournament. This stat includes the time Maryland played in the ACC.

We will certainly pull for the ACC this tournament and hope to see the Cards there next year.

Happy Thursday and Go Cards!

Jared

Lacrosse and Softball Both Fall at Home -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

While there was plenty of excitement and drama around the country with women's basketball, the campus of the University of Louisville was busy. On the women's side, lacrosse, softball, and women's tennis had ACC match-ups while on the men's side, baseball played host on the day. All teams on campus suffered losses in a one-in-a-million day. In fact, the weekend was pretty bad overall. Softball got swept, women's basketball suffered a loss, men's tennis got upset, and men's basketball lost again. It was certainly a weekend to forget.

Lacrosse Can't Overcome Early Deficit to Boston College

One of the earliest events on campus yesterday was lacrosse. The Cards welcomed #3 Boston College the Louisville Lacrosse Stadium. The Eagles have played in the last six national championships, COVID-19 season excluded, so this one was going to be a battle. Ultimately, Boston College was able to able to hold off the Cards, 17-14.

Louisville won the opening draw and wasted no time going down the pitch to score in just 33 seconds. Boston College had a quick answer by scoring twice over the next 59 seconds. This was the start of a 5-0 run for the Eagles before the Cards score a few seconds before the end of the first quarter.

The final three quarters were played even between the two foes (7-7 second quarter, 2-2 third quarter, and 3-3 fourth quarter). The Cards cut their deficit to three several times throughout the match but could not get over the hump to get any closer. Boston College found themselves up five twice in the second half, but each time the Cards used 2-0 spurts to cut into that lead.

Boston College has allowed more than 11 goals twice this season- a 14-11 loss to reigning champions Northwestern and yesterday's match. The Eagles have also averaged over 20 goals per game and were held well under that mark.

Kokoro Nakazawa powered the Louisville offense with four goals while Nicole Perroni and Kylea Dobson each recorded a hat trick. On the defensive end, Sara Addeche picked up 10 saves.

Perroni set a program record scoring streak of 44-straight games where a player records either a goal or save or both. She also holds the program record of goal-scoring streak of 44-straight games, recording a goal in each of those matches.

An interesting stat that worked in favor for Louisville was winning the draw control battle 20-15. Turnovers and ground balls worked in favor of the Eagles though.

Despite Louisville (3-5) losing, this was one of their more impressive games over the last few seasons. They went toe-to-toe with one of the top teams in the country for a full 60 minutes.

I got a chance to speak with Coach Scott Teeter and Kokoro Nakazawa after match. You can watch the full video here.

Softball Seventh-Inning Rally Falls Short

Louisville softball concluded their series against #15 Virginia Tech yesterday evening. The Cards tried to piece together a late rally with the game-tying run on third base, but fell to the Hokies, 4-3.

A solo home run put Virginia Tech ahead in the first inning and they never looked back. The Hokies' bats were kept in check over the next few innings before the broke through with a pair of runs in the fifth inning and another in the sixth inning. The Cards broke the shutout on their end with a run in the bottom of the sixth inning and added two more in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Brooke Gray got the start in the circle for Louisville. The freshman posted decent numbers with five hits allowed over 4.1 innings. She did not record any strikeouts though. Gabby Holloway came in in relief and allowed three hits over the final 2.2 innings.

Daisy Hess opened the sixth frame with a double and advanced to third on a groundout by Vanessa Miller. Riley Frizell's hit got past the left side of the infield to plate Hess. In the seventh, a single and a hit-by-pitch put multiple runners on base. Hess came in with a blooper to right field near the foul line that turned into a triple. With the tying run on the third, the Cards tried to continue the rally but fell short.

Hess and Ally Alexander each had two hits with Louisville tallying seven hits. They struggled at the plate, though, with eight strikeouts and six runners left on base.

The Cards have lost three straight and are now 16-8. They remain at home to host the Cardinal Classic and play one game each from Thursday-Sunday.

Basketball Results Around the Country

Conference Championship Day provided plenty of thrilling finishes. Iowa outlasted Nebraska in overtime to win the Big Ten Championship. Notre Dame rallied in the fourth quarter to defeat NC State in the ACC Championship. South Carolina and LSU got involved in a major fight down the stretch that led to over a dozen ejections and the arrest of a fan before the Gamecocks won the SEC Championship. USC upset Stanford to win the final Pac-12 Championship. Georgetown upset Creighton while UConn allowed 0 points in the fourth quarter against Marquette in the Big East semifinals. The Blue Jays and Huskies play for the title tonight.

In the Cardinal Couple ACC Pick Em

 

We had a tie among a few brackets at 10-4. Looking at the point total tiebreaker, my records have Nick O taking this year's title. I've got Paulie double checking my math on the second place finishers but it was another exciting ACC Tournament.

editor note...Nick O is your winner by the total points , Jared gets second....Both had 10-4 records Thanks to all for playing    --paulie

Happy Monday and Go Cards!

Jared

Lax and Softball Schedules -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

2024 Lacrosse Schedule

Louisville Lacrosse announced their 2024 schedule yesterday. Scott Teeter and Co have a pretty similar slate as last season.

02/09 @ Denver

02/11 @ Colorado

02/16 vs Marquette

02/18 @ Lindenwood

02/24 vs Virginia Tech

03/02 @ Pittsburgh

03/06 @ Cincinnati

03/10 vs Boston College

03/16 vs Clemson

03/21 @ Liberty

03/23 @ North Carolina

03/27 vs Xavier

03/30 @ Syracuse

04/06 vs Virginia

04/09 vs Ohio State

04/12 @ Duke

04/18 vs Notre Dame

This is the second year the ACC has 10 teams playing women's lacrosse, making the conference more competitive and helping fill out the Cards' schedule.

All home matches should be slated for ACC Network Extra unless they get upgraded to ACC Network linear.

2024 Softball Schedule

Louisville Softball announced their 2024 schedule a few days ago. Like most years, the Cards will spend the early part of the season down south before Holly Aprile's squad comes home around the start of March.

02/09 vs LIU (Fort Myers, Fla)

02/09 vs Georgetown (Fort Myers, Fla)

02/10 vs Georgetown (Fort Myers, Fla)

02/10 vs Florida Gulf Coast (Fort Myers, Fla)

02/11 vs Florida Gulf Coast (Fort Myers, Fla)

02/15 vs FAU (Boca Raton, Fla)

02/16 vs Seton Hall (Boca Raton, Fla)

02/16 vs FAU (Boca Raton, Fla)

02/17 vs Maine (Boca Raton, Fla)

02/17 vs Michigan (Boca Raton, Fla)

02/23 vs Furman (Conway, SC)

02/23 vs Coastal Carolina (Conway, SC)

02/24 vs Furman (Conway, SC)

02/24 vs Coastal Carolina (Conway, SC)

02/25 vs Bowling Green (Conway, SC)

02/27 vs Western Kentucky

03/01 vs Villanova (Tampa, Fla)

03/01 vs South Florida (Tampa, Fla)

03/02 vs Georgia Southern (Tampa, Fla)

03/02 vs South Florida (Tampa, Fla)

03/03 vs Central Michigan (Tampa, Fla)

03/05 vs Arizona

03/08-03/10 vs Virginia Tech

03/15 vs South Dakota

03/16 vs Illinois

03/17 vs Illinois

03/19 @ Miami OH

03/22-03/24 vs Duke

03/26 vs Indiana

03/29-03/31 @ Pittsburgh

04/02 @ Northern Kentucky

04/05-04/07 vs Florida State

04/10 vs Kentucky

04/12-/04/14 @ Georgia Tech

04/16 @ Eastern Kentucky

04/19-04/21 @ North Carolina

04/26-04/28 vs Clemson

05/03-05/05 @ Boston College

The ACC Tournament still takes the top 10 teams in the conference, meaning the bottom three finishers do not get to compete. Last year, the Cards earned the 4-seed and a bye.

Like lacrosse, all softball home games are slated for ACC Network Extra unless upgraded to ACC Network or if one of the ESPN channels picks it up.

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

Softball and Lax Woes or Hopes -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Some of our spring sports are just a few weeks into their respective seasons, but we've had a chance to get a good look at them. Are there more woes and concerns or are there more hopes and positives? Where do these teams stand in terms of postseason chances?

Lacrosse

After a shaky 0-2 start in the Centennial State, the Cards returned home to win four straight before dropping a match to the #1 team in the country. The losses to now-#11 Denver and #1 Boston College aren't too concerning. The Cards fell in overtime to a now-#23 Colorado, but had ample chances to win the game.

Louisville cruised by Marquette, Central Michigan, and Butler. They also earned their second ever ACC win with a 14-11 victory over Virginia Tech. All of the wins have been impressive and promising.

At 4-3 on the year and 1-1 in conference play, Louisville looks good to pretty decent to start the year.

#2 North Carolina and #7 Duke are both looming nearby in the schedule with a subpar Cincinnati trip this week beforehand. Assuming Louisville has no issues rolling past Cincinnati, we hope to see Louisville get a conference win against one of the two Top 10 ACC teams.

Hannah Morris and Nicole Perroni have been the go-to scorers on this team with year, scoring 24 and 20 goals, respectively. 14 other Cardinals have recorded between 1-14 goals on the year, showing that this team has plenty of offensive depth.

Coach Teeter has emphasized the importance of defense in recent years and has mentioned that it would be a primary focus this year. UofL has held three teams below the double-digit goal mark this year and Virginia Tech managed only 11 goals against the Cards.

Sophomore Sara Addeche and freshman J Pleck have split time in the goalkeeper role this year. They have a combined 12.34 goals against average and 53 saves. The lack of experience hasn't stopped the duo from stepping up to the plate. As they see more in-game action, I expect them to continue to get better.

Although an ACC title and NCAA Championship seem unlikely, Louisville has a great chance to climb into the Top 25 by the end of the season and should be dancing when May rolls around. 29 teams are selected for the D1 NCAA Lacrosse Championships, 16 conference champions get automatic bids.

 

Softball

After a five-game stint at Ulmer Stadium last weekend, we finally got a chance to see Louisville softball in action. The name of the game for the Cards this season is development.

All six freshmen on the roster have had an immediate impact. Two sophomores have also been involved fairly heavily too. Coach Aprile and Co. will continue to develop these younger players so they can adjust to the collegiate level of play. Two of those younger players have recorded a home run and another was inches shy of a home run over the weekend, showing pure strength.

On the other side of the roster, we see four graduate students and two seniors being involved in the game.  Of those six, three have transferred in or come off serious injury in the past year. 

UofL had a great start to the season, going 4-1 in Florida. A 3-2 weekend the next weekend kept the Cards above .500 at 7-3. They then upset Arkansas in one game of their three-game series before suffering a disappointing loss at Miami (OH). Dropping both games on Friday dropped Louisville to an 8-8 record before winning three straight moved them to 11-8. 

Louisville is 1-4 against ranked opponents this season. Unfortunately, they have also suffered a couple losses that should've been easy wins against Miami and Hofstra.

With a young team and plenty of new faces for the Cardinal Nine, it's expected that it will take some time to mesh and for players to find a groove.

Taylor Roby has been the leader of a four-person pitching rotation including Chardonnay Harris, Gabby Holloway, and Sam Booe. Their combined ERA of 4.12 isn't great, but has improved over the last few games.

Offensively, the .280 team batting average is substantially higher than that of last season. Roby and Kendall Smith each have six home runs and Carmyn Greenwood has five to lead a team of six players with a "Touch-Em-All" this year. Eight Cards are in double-figures in hits, led by Greenwood's 25. Five Cards are batting above .300 on the year, which is a promising sign.

As of right now, Louisville has some work to do to make the NCAA Tournament, but it's entirely possible. They'll need some help and may need to get some upset wins over ranked teams like Clemson, Virginia Tech, and Kentucky.

Softball returns to action on Thursday when they face Valparaiso at Ulmer Stadium.

(SOFTBALL AND LACROSSE PHOTOS FROM JARED ANDERSON) 

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

Olympics -- Lacrosse Accolades -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 Has the exhaustion of watching or following the Olympics hit you yet? I've been trying to follow as much as I can which has included some late nights and, on the weekends, early mornings.

As of yesterday, Team USA was doing alright. Swimming typically brings in a lot of medals and they've contributed to a heavy amount of the then-14 medals (seven gold, three silver, four bronze). Team USA was second officially (the Olympics goes based off number of gold) with Japan having eight gold medals and China with six. In total medals, Team USA sat second with 14, but China had a slight lead with 18.

Here is the breakdown of the 14 medals as of yesterday afternoon Eastern Time:

Fencing: 1 gold

Shooting: 3 gold

Taekwondo: 1 gold

Skateboarding: 1 bronze

Swimming: 2 gold, 3 silver, 3 bronze

Note: Team USA had earned other medals before I had gone to bed, but to prevent confusion, it was easier to give the medal count from the end of Monday July 26.

Softball will earn either a gold or silver in their 7:00 A.M. ET game today. Swimming still has plenty more to go with a plethora of Americans competing. USA women's basketball faced Nigeria at 12:30 this morning in group play so hopefully Paulie can give us an update on that. Team USA continues group play in beach volleyball. Gymnastics has plenty of Americans ready to vie for a medal. Women's soccer concluded group play early this morning against Australia.

Oh yeah, that's not even half of the sports Team USA is competing in today. However, we have some UofL news to cover.

Lacrosse Accolades

Scott Teeter continues to build his program and some of his latest talented recruits earned some nice honors. Five incoming Louisville lacrosse players earned USA Lacrosse Girls' High School awards.

Bri Lang, Haley Reeck, and Marley Scott were named All-Americans. Lauren Figas was named the Jackie Pitts Award winner for Florida- South Atlantic Region. Tiffany Natoli joined Scott as being named Academic All-Americans.

Lang helped lead her high school to 2019 and 2021 Section Championships. A Section is similar to a District, for the Louisville area folks. Scott helped led her team to State Championships in 2018, 2019, and 2021. Reeck is a dual-sport athlete and was a team captain for lacrosse and soccer. Rigas helped her team to a State runner-up finish in 2019 and Section runner-up in 2021.

All five will be suited up in the spring for Teeter's squad and can help replace some important players that were recognized at Senior Day such as Caroline Blalock, Sarah Blalock, Ally Hall, Alex McNicholas, Shayla Scanlan, Maddie Birch, Jen Schaaf, Rachel Florek, and Allie Arcidiacono. A few of the recognized seniors have hinted at interest in returning next season with the extra year of eligibility.

The Cards finished the season ranked 24th in the country (out of 112 active teams) but failed to make the NCAA Tournament after a first-round exit to North Carolina in the ACC Tournament.

Lacrosse is not currently an Olympic sport but has appeared five times in the Olympics, most recently in 1948. With the sport rapidly growing interest there have been rumors it could join the Olympics as soon as 2024 or 2028.

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

Lax Cruises Past Cincinnati -- ACC Pick Em -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 Lacrosse Cruises Past Cincinnati

It was an easy day for the Louisville lacrosse team as they had no trouble dismantling Cincinnati 13-5.

Louisville, who is ranked #25 in the latest poll, improves to 2-1 on the year. They also improve their record against the Bearcats to 14-0 all-time dating back to when UofL formed a team in 2008.

"I'm really happy with the win. I thought our defense played lights out, but on offense we have some things we need to improve on," said Coach Scott Teeter. "Rachel Florek was a rock in net for us again, which gave us the opportunity to get the win."

Florek recorded 15 saves on the day, just two shy of her career-high and program record which she set against Michigan and Virginia Tech last year. The senior keeper is up to 38 saves on the year.

The record number of saves in a season is 194, set by Brittany Read in 2017. Florek's average of 9.33 saves per game would put her at 140 on the year, assuming the Cards play every game scheduled. 140 would put her fourth in a season.

Her 246 career saves are already fourth in program history. The record is held by Read, who recorded a whopping 323 goals in her career. She is currently on pace to top that.

Hannah Morris recorded a hat trick to power the offense. She is tied for second on the team with six this season  Louisville was quick to put a number on the scoreboard. Bella Karstein found the back of the net just 40 seconds in for her first of two goals on the day. It was part of a 5-0 run over the first 12:10 of the match.

The Bearcats scored their first goal on an unassisted shot with 4:17 remaining in the first half, but the Cards held the 5-1 advantage when the clock went to 00:00.

The second half broight more of a see-saw scoring as the first six goals were traded off between the Cards and Bearcats with Louisville starting the scoring 89 seconds into the half. Cincinnati cut the Louisville lead to just three with 14:27 remaining in the match. Scott Teeter got a time out, a play was set, it worked and the Cards answered by closing out the match the same way they started it- a 5-0 run.

In all, eight Cards recorded a goal. Freshman Bella Karstien added two, early in the match, Caroline Blalock has two, Ally Hall was good for two. Freshman Kokoro Nakazawa got her first collegiate score, Allegra Catalano, Paige Richbourg and Kylea Dobson all had a goal each as well. 

Louisville won the draw control battle 10-9, but got beat on the ground balls 25-20. 

Paulie continues to have interference problems with his laptop, so he conducted the post-game interview with Teeter and Hannah Morris via cell phone. We'll see if it gets posted. 

The Cards head to #9 Virginia on Saturday to start a three-game road trip. They return home for a Thursday night game under the lights on March 18.

ACC Tournament Pick Em

Don't forget to submit your bracket if you have not already done so. The ACC Tournament begins Wednesday at 2:00 p.m., so if your bracket hasn't been submitted by then it will not count.

Options of entry include posting in the comments section or emailing us at either eupherjared@gmail.com or cardinalcouple@twc.com.

As of  8:45 p.m. yesterday I have 10 entries: Curtis, Louavulfan35, Kenneth Stark Sr, Paulie, David Watson, Joe Hill, Nick O, Vivian McAdams, Ramblin' Eric, and Kenny Schneider, in that order.

Kenny's Picks are listed below:

Wednesday: Boston College

Thursday: North Carolina, Syracuse, Virginia Tech, Notre Dame

Friday: Louisville, Florida State, North Carolina State, Notre Dame

Saturday: Louisville, North Carolina State

Sunday: Louisville

If you submitted an entry already and I did not mention it above please let me know. I don't want to miss anybody's entry, especially if you end up being the winner!

I haven't finished my studying and research but will add mine to today's comments section later on. The rest of the Cardinal Couple Crew in Worldwide, Case, Daryl, and Sonya will also have their picks ready by Wednesday.

As a reminder with the scoring, it is one point for every correct pick, Wins in later rounds do not count for extra points. The maximum number of possible points is 12.

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

Lacrosse Season Ends -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

LOUISVILLE LACROSSE FALLS TO BOSTON COLLEGE 15-4

(DAVID WATSON FILLS IN FOR PAULIE TODAY WITH THE THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE COLUMN)

The second season of Scott Teeter's stint as UofL head Lacrosse coach came to an end yesterday in a football stadium. 

I know, the sport vs. facility doesn't quite match up -- but the home field for Boston College's gridiron squad (Alumni Stadium) was the venue for the ACC Lacrosse Championships. This isn't the regular location for BC LAX. The vast majority of their home games are played at the Boston College Newton campus on the Lacrosse and Soccer Field -- although the Eagles did play their final regular season game, also against Louisville, in Alumni Stadium. 

Alumni is a much bigger, in terms of seating, spot to host the eight teams vying for the conference championship. From what I could see on the ACCNE broadcast of the event, though, the place was not nearly packed. Regardless of the attendance, though, the Eagles results against the Cards mirrored last week's match with BC taking a 15-4 win. 

Boston College is the nation's #1 ranked women's lacrosse squad and also #1 seed in the tournament, so the Cards' work was definitely cut out for them before either team took to the pitch. Using the defensive skills that got them to an undefeated regular season, Boston College shut down any semblance of offense for Louisville and roared out to an 8-0 first half lead. It could have been 9-0 (who's counting at that point?) but an apparent Eagles score at the end of the half was reversed by the officials after reviewing the time clock and whether the shot got off before the clock went to 00:00. 

Boston College has a knack for finding cutters in front of the opponent's goal and Louisville was also forced to play "a man down" for significant stretches of the half because of over-aggressive defensive tactics. The Cards may have been getting skunked on the scoreboard but they weren't being passive at all. 

What do you say to a squad at halftime in a situation like this? One can surmise that Teeter implored his squad to continue to play hard, play smart and work the ball.

Louisville seemed almost tentative with their passing and shot attempts in the first 30 minutes and when you couple that with a Boston College goalkeeper that was stopping any Cardinal attempts to score -- the results are usually not going to be in your favor. B.C. was double-teaming UofL's leading scorer, Tessa Chad, as well -- to compound the Cards offensive woes. 

The Cards did come out with a spark of energy in the second half and found success with Ally Hall in front of the goal. Her two scores in the first four minutes of action trimmed the Eagles lead to six. The Cards were passing the ball much better and getting some stops defensively.

The rally was short-lived, though. Boston College pushed the lead back to 10-2 before Kayla Marshall connected for Louisville. Caroline Blalock also found success for the Red and Black with six minutes remaining by mirroring what BC had been doing most of the game. She sprinted the length of the field with the ball and got off a shot with scant defensive coverage by the somewhat surprised Eagles and found the back of the net.

By then, though, the score was 11-4 Boston College. The Eagles dominated the final minutes of play after that, including two "rub it in" goals with less than 90 second to play. Yes, you play to the final buzzer, I get that and BC was a few goals short of their season average -- but Jeff Walz never runs it up at the end of games and one has to wonder if the B.C. coaches were doing so to punish the Cards for their aggressive "chippiness" earlier in the match. At 13-4 and 1:30 to go and with a 90-second shot clock in pay, why not just run the clock out with an 11 goal advantage? 

The four goals wasn't Louisville's lowest offensive total of the season, the Cards managed just two goals in snowy Denver against the Pioneers back in February.

Other ACC Tournament action had Syracuse getting by Virginia 12-10, North Carolina beating Virginia Tech 19-9 and Duke squeaking by Notre Dame 14-13. The winners get a day off and will match up in the semifinals Friday. Syracuse faces Boston College and Duke gets North Carolina.

Louisville's season ends with a 5-13 mark. The good news is that Teeter gets everyone back next year but Chad. Let's not forget that he had to basically start from scratch with this squad two years ago in the toughest conference in College women's lacrosse and, as his recruits fill the program and they gain experience, the fortunes of Louisville Lacrosse will improve.

Chad was an invaluable leader and scoring machine in her two years at Louisville and will be hard to replace -- but hope springs eternal and it will be up to the returnees to improve, work hard in the off-season and sharpen their game and skills. To compare it to women's basketball, she was the Asia Durr, Arica Carter and Sam Fuehring of the Louisville Laxers. 

It's good to be back with you on these pages once again while Paulie and Sonya take a few days away from the site. I especially enjoyed watching the contest with my daughter Abby, who played at the DI level, and was pointing out nuances, sets and schemes on the pitch that I never would have noticed on my own. She kept giving me examples of how lacrosse was similar to basketball -- with passing, zone defenses, fast-breaks, shots in the lane and other aspects. Yes, ol' Dave O learned something, remarkable that! 

Best of everything to you!

Dave-O 
David Watson  

Lacrosse prepares for busy, challenging Spring schedule -- The Scott Teeter Interview -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

TEETER TALKS! THE INTERVIEW: 

Believe it or not, the Louisville Lacrosse squad is less than two months away from starting their 2019 season. It's a schedule that will present challenges for Scott Teeter, his coaching staff and the Louisville lacrosse roster...but the second year coach is ready to take on the opponents. 

With the recent release of the 2019 schedule, Paulie decided to visit with Coach Teeter and get a pre-season look at who the Cards will play, who is new on the roster and who returns for the Lax squad. Coach was gracious in spending some time with Cardinal Couple to discuss, preview and comment on what is ahead for the LAXCards. 

Paulie also chatted with assistant Kay Morissette prior to the interview and caught up with her and what she's been up to since the season ended.  Arguably the best to ever don a UofL Lacrosse uniform, Kay is always fun to talk to and it was time well spent before the interview with Scott. Thankfully, he didn't have to face her in any draw controls. 

As you listen to the interview via the link at the end of the article link, here are some points and comments to listen for: 

-- How did the Coach, staff and squad spend the fall?

-- When do they begin practice for the season? 

-- Where will the Cards begin the season and when is the first home match? 

-- Who is the first ACC foe the Cards will face? 

-- How many home games will Louisville Lacrosse have and who comes to visit?  

-- Does Paulie get a plane, a train and a siren in the interview? (three important background features to any Cardinal Couple interview)

-- Why will the Cards be the first team to arrive in Boston for the ACC Tournament besides the home-standing Eagles? 

-- How many freshmen are on the roster? 

-- Who returns from last year's roster and how many seniors does Teeter have? 

-- Who returns from injury last year and how important will she be for the Cards? 



An informative and well-spent time with Coach earlier this week, as we got the lowdown on what to expect for 2019 Louisville Lacrosse. Scott Teeter and his staff have worked the recruiting process quite diligently and extensively and have brought some very talented players in to augment the returnees from last season. 

In his second season as the Cards skipper, Scott has restored the fire, team unity, integrity and excitement for Lacrosse on the campus. With Kay, Renee and Patty on-board as his capable, experienced and hard-working staff, the Cards are well-prepared and eager to hit the field and compete in the best conference in college lacrosse. 


LINK TO INTERVIEW: INTERVIEW WITH LACROSSE HEAD COACH SCOTT TEETER


( Note: In case you are wondering, we got a plane around the five minute mark in the interview and a train around the 12 minute mark. No sirens. ) 


paulie
xxxxx

Lindsey Duvall gets park named after her -- Lacrosse in ACC Today -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

2017 MISS BASKETBALL HONORED WITH MT. WASHINGTON PARK NAMING

Chris Stallings is one of those guys who you like as soon as you meet him. The Bullitt East head girls basketball coach has spent countless hours working with and developing the basketball skills of hundreds of basketball players in the Mt. Washington and Bullitt County area. He does it with a smile and encouragement. When a person loves what they do, it comes very easy and effortlessly. There's pride there. 

Ironically, one of the first times I met him, he was wearing a UConn women's basketball t-shirt. That's unique enough in Mt. Washington...but the fact that he had his star player Lindsey Duvall headed to Louisville to play for Jeff Walz in the fall of 2017 was enough  cause for me to do a double take and wonder if something was afoot and Geno had gotten to the affable skipper of the Chargers. Stallings relieved my fears instantly.

"It's just the first shirt I grabbed and put on this morning. I talked to my athletic apparel supplier this morning. There's a lot of red and black stuff on the way." 

Stallings relates this story about Duvall: 

"We do things a little differently here at Bullitt East. At halftime of games, we let the kids in the stands take the court and shoot baskets. Lindsey's older sister played for me her at Bullitt East and Lindsey would get out there when she was in the second or third grade and hoop it up. You could tell at that age, she was sticking with it and she was going to be a player. She was going to be something special. I'd tell folks that they had to watch that little girl out there and they stay in the stands and watch her shoot...not go to the concession stand. That's the beauty here. You get to see them early on. They go to the camps, middle school and end up playing ball for me here."

Mt. Washington has gotten larger over the years. From a small, sleepy town with a two-lane Main Street...hardware store, funeral home, Dairy Queen (which was a Burger Queen way back when) a Baptist church, several locally owned businesses and restaurants and surplus store to a thriving, small community with major shopping malls, a bypass around the main street and huge high school that sits right off the bypass. Where Bardstown Road meets Hwy 44. But, it still has a small town feel. Kids still run the court at halftime. Coach still shakes your hand and treats you like your kin. When people ask you how you're doing, it's a sincere and honest inquiry. A part of America I do love so. 

Duvall grew up also. She starred at Bullitt Central and was heavily recruited by both Kentucky and Louisville. She was always in a particular park shooting baskets whenever the weather allowed and she wasn't in the gym practicing her craft. Staying to watch Coach's son play baseball in that same park when she had exhausted herself after hours of dribbling, shooting and rebounding. You could say it was one of her homes away from home. 

And now it's named after her. 

The Mount Washington mayor and city council made it so. Stallings hasn't come out publicly and talked about his involvement in the naming...but one could probably correctly surmise that he was an integral part of the idea and it's rise to fruition. 

Duvall enters her red-shirt freshman season at UofL after sitting out last year due to some knee issues. She had a tumorous growth removed from her left knee while in high school but some remaining fragmentation needed to be cleaned out that was causing pain during her freshman year on the Cardinal roster. She recovered nicely and probably could have played for the Cards around the beginning of ACC season in 2017-18 but chose to continue to learn and develop without wasting a year of eligibility. Oh, the things she saw! The memories made and places visited. A year wiser and ready to go, she'll ply her trade for a team that was one missed foul call and one tip-in attempt that barely rolled out from a NCAA Championship game against a foe already twice beaten earlier in the year. 

There will be cookouts and pickup basketball games in Lindsey Duvall Park this summer. Elderly people out for a stroll or walking their dogs. Children playing tag or attempting to fly kites or playing catch. Baseball games and cheering. 

There just might also be the next Lindsey Duvall. A young girl, time after time, throwing a round orb at a round rim. Practicing the dribble so the other kids won't steal the ball from her. Perfecting the shot. Scraping a knee occasionally and contesting a foul during a one-on-one or pickup game. Maybe even Lindsey herself will drive by, stop the car and watch for awhile. Maybe hear that little girl yell out to another young girl:

 "I'm Lindsey, you're Asia and I'm going to hit this jumper to beat Notre Dame!"

Legends. Dreams. Hometown heroes. It's what America is made of. How many of us spent time in the backyard, or at a small park or parking lot throwing an old, worn-out rubber basketball at a rim with no net. In barely-above freezing weather. When it was so hot that the sweat from your head rolled into your eyes and made the basket blurry. When you challenged the kid who always beat you to just one more game of "21'...even though the light was fading from the sky. 

Lindsey's honor is an honor, in a way, to all those kids and adults out there who ignored the call for supper, in order to get a few more shots up. Who played against every kind of competition available. Who played for love of game and the thrill of seeing that long or contested shot drop through the rim. 

I'd like to think that a decade or so from now...a young mother takes her child for an afternoon walk and the child looks up and says: "Mommy, your name is on that gate overhead!" Knowing Lindsey, she's smile and tell her young charge: "C'mon, now. We need to get to the court so you can shoot the basketball." 


LACROSSE ENTERS ACC TOURNAMENT PLAY TODAY.

The Louisville Lacrosse team has safely arrived in Durham, NC and is preparing for their first game of the ACC Lacrosse Tournament. A tall order, indeed, in front of Scott Teeter's LAXERS...facing #2 in the nation and #1 in the ACC Boston College for an 11 a.m. contest this morning.

The Cards need a win today, and most likely need to win the ACC Tournament to get into the NCAA Tournament. They have two players that received second-team All-ACC Honors yesterday in freshman Caroline Blalock and Emily Howell.

Boston College placed (4) on the All-ACC first team. 

Today's action will be shown on Fox Sports South. Here's hoping the LAXCards can get off to a great start and hold on to the lead as time expires. An upset in the brewing? We'll know around 1 p.m.this afternoon. 

Have a tremendous Thursday. 

"Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana." 


paulie
xxxxx