Spring Teams Split Friday -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Lacrosse Struggles Against Syracuse

For 25 minutes against the top-five Syracuse Orange, Louisville lacrosse kept things close. After that, though, it appeared a bit as if the Cards forgot there were 35 minutes of game left. Ultimately, Louisville did not score for those final 35 minutes, while Syracuse scored a quite a few more times. At the end of the day, a close game turned into a 19-5 blowout. The Cards will get another chance at the Orange on Sunday, so here's hoping for a reversal of the double-header results from the weekend against Boston College.

The game, as I mentioned, did have its positives, as the first segment was fairly close. Syracuse jumped on Louisville's defense early, as the first goal came from Megan Carney just after the two-minute mark. Louisville managed to score just a minute later, with Caroline Blalock's first goal of the day. Meaghan Tyrell would be the next on the board, as she scored her 39th and 40th goals of the season to give Syracuse a 3-1 lead. Louisville was not deterred yet, though, as Caroline Blalock scored again to pull the Cards back within one. It was Blalock's 100th career goal, but it would be the last she would score on the day. 

Syracuse went on a mini 3-1 run over the next five minutes in a strange circumstance that saw all four goals scored by Me(a)g(h)ans. Carney and Tyrell scored for the Orange while Megan Dunn scored her first goal of the season for Louisville. Trailing 6-3, Louisville again showed life by getting a pair of quick goals from Nicole Perroni and Ally Hall. If you're scoring at home, you would know those goals put it at 6-5 with 6:39 remaining in the first half. Given what I mentioned to be the final score, you can probably guess how things went from there. 

Syracuse turned it on from there, with both offense and defense getting on board. The Orange scored four over the final four minutes of the first half and outscored the Cards 9-0 in the second half. Tyrell and Carney both finished with seven goals apiece, leaving just five to be spread between the rest of the team. Rachel Florek finished with seven saves for the Cards, indicating things could have gotten even worse. 

Paulie got with Coach Teeter after the game to discuss Louisville's performance and the look ahead at the next opportunity against the Orange. The two teams will take the field at Louisville Lacrosse Stadium on Sunday at noon on the ACCNX.

Check out Teeter's postgame comments here: Teeter on Syracuse 4.16.21

Softball Takes Game One Against Duke

Taylor Roby threw a gem and got just enough help from the offense as Louisville knocked off the 21st ranked Duke Blue Devils in game one of the four game weekend set. With still three games left in the series, there is plenty of work to do, but after the disappointing end to Louisville's series last weekend, the Cards are happy to get wins wherever they can. The win pulled the Cards to just one game under .500 and they'll need every win they can to improve their standing for a potential postseason run.

Duke opened the game with a fly out but followed it with a one-out single. Kavel stole second to stand in scoring position with one out, but she would move no farther. Roby got the next batter to strike out looking and the third out came on a ground out to first base. In the bottom half, Louisville wasted no time giving Roby some run support. Carmyn Greenwood was first pitch swinging but grounded out to second base. Celene Funke showed a bit more patience and fired the third pitch she saw to straightaway center. It escaped the center fielder, and Funke put on the jets for a one-out triple. That brought Roby to the plate, and Duke chose to pitch to her. That turned out to be a mistake, as Roby shot the first pitch to short where it was mishandled. Roby reached on the error while Funke reached home easily. Duke would escape the first with no more damage, but the Cards led 1-0.

From there, Taylor Roby went to work. Including the first inning, she scattered four hits over seven innings. All four hits were singles, and none came in the same inning. She also gave up no other baserunners, walking and hitting none while Louisville played clean defense to commit no errors. Roby would also strike out five on her way to the complete game victory. She did it all on just 85 pitches. 

Louisville gave her a bit of insurance, which she ultimately wouldn't need, in the bottom of the fourth. Rebecca Chung and Cassady Greenwood opened the inning with a pair of strikeouts, but Louisville went to work with two outs. Charley Butler got started with a two-out triple. Maddy Newman stepped up and hit a ball on the ground but it was right to the third baseman. Butler was held at third, but on the play, Newman was able to reach first. The extra batter was all Louisville needed as Sydney Bickel singled to bring Butler home. Louisville led 2-0.

The two teams would score no more runs, with Duke getting two more singles and Louisville getting no more baserunners. As mentioned before, though, Roby was a stud and the two runs were all Louisville needed. The two teams will get back underway today with the first game at noon on ACCNX. Today's action will be a double header, so the Cards will have a pair of opportunities before wrapping up the series tomorrow. Jared was able to get with Coach Aprile after the win, and you can listen to her comments here: Aprile on Duke 4.16.21.

THANKS TO JARED FOR TODAY'S LAX AND SOFTBALL PHOTOS !! 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

We're back this week with plenty to talk about. We had an NCAA tournament win for volleyball and plenty of softball games, in addition to the WNBA Draft and lacrosse and field hockey. As always we'll do our best to bring you the joy and excitement of Louisville women's athletics. Tune in to the Cardinal Couple YouTube Channel at 11AM for the live show, or check out the podcast or replay after the show. Be sure to subscribe to the YouTube channel for more content as well, and subscribe to and rate the podcast to get the word out about Cardinal Couple.

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-

Louisville WBB victorious in Pittsburgh 82-58; FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

CARDS GET TO 20 WINS IN PITTSBURGH

We got a game-day, Cards fans.  I hope you're staying warm and safe out there if you have to be out.  After a week in between matchups for UofL, looking to close out the regular season strongly, Louisville WBB wins on the road at Pittsburgh propelled by a 28-13 third quarter rout. 

Dana Evans scored 29 points, 21 of them in the second half and has scored a tleast 20 points 16 of Louisville's 21 games played this season. Mykasa Robinson had 6 points on 2-3 shooting from field, along with 5 assists, 5 steals, 9 rebounds and went 2-3 from the FT line.  The Panthers were lead by Gabbie Green.  She was averaging 5.5 pts coming into the game and had 20 points on 5-8 from beyond 3. 

RECAP: Louisville WBB (20-1, 13-1) vs Pitt Panthers 82-58

The Cards allowed 3 offensive rebounds in Pitt's second possession but they were 0-6 in first 1:30. Pitt's second leading scorer Dayshanette Harris came out of game 2 min into it with a knee injury. Olivia Cochran picked up 2 fouls less about 30 seconds within the other about 3 minutes in. Liz Dixon got the scoring going for the Cards, she went 2-2 for 4 pts 0-1 FT line to start.  Losing rebound battle 6-4 first 3 min off the clock. 

The Cards defense only allowed 2 points up until the 5:25 min mark when it was 8-2 Cards. Mykasa had 2 steals 5 min off clock and took a charge for the Pitt TO. She also got to the line where she went 1-2.  The team was 1-3 for 33.3% at FT line in the first quarter. Liz Dixon went 5-5 for 10 points and 2 rebounds.  Kianna Smith 0-3 from behind the arc.  Hailey Van Lith contributed 3 reb 3 assists and a clock through her first eight minutes on the floor. 

End of 1Q 17-9 Cards
FG %
8-17 47% Cards
4-21 19% Pitt
Reb.  16-12 Pitt
3-pt %
0-4 0% Cards
1-5 20% Pitt

Back to back 3 point jumpers made by Green in less than a minute made it 19-15 Cards lead. With Cochran on the bench with a couple fouls, we saw a Ramani Parker sighting early in the second quarter.  She was headed to the free throw line not long after entering the game and went 2-2. With 3 minutes off the clock Pitt was winning the quarter 8-4. HVL got her first bucket about halfway through the 2Q.  

Everett secured her first bucket with 4 min left till halftime. With 2:39 Green hits her fourth 3-pointer to tie it 27 all. UofL was 0-6 from 3 point land for the game by this point. Pitt had landed 3 threes in the quarter and the Cards were losing the offensive rebounding battle 15-6.  The Cards finished on a 6-0 run and the refs waved off what I think should've been counted as the Cards first 3 point bucket on a last .1 of a second chuck by Dana Evans 15 feet behind 3 point line but the Cards ended up 0-7 from beyond 3 point arc.  Pitt finished the final 2:39 scoreless and UofL was 6-6 at the FT line for the quarter.

End of 2Q 18-16 Pitt 
FG %
5-13 38.5% Cards
6-19 31.6% Pitt
Reb. 11-11 
3-pt %
0-3 0% Cards
3-6 50% Pitt

HALF 33-27 Cards

 Dana hit the first 3 of the game for Louisville with 7 minutes left on clock in the third quarter. Dixon scored her first points since the first quarter with 5:45 offensive rebound off a Kianna Smith miss for the put back underneath. Dana Evans was 3-4 from the field with 4:19 still left on clock and Pitt scoreless for almost 3 minutes after that until they got to the line.  The Cards pushed the lead to 18 making it 57-39 with 1:56 left in the 3Q. Cards lead by 21 at 61-40. Dana lead the team with 13 points 4-6 and 4-4 at the FT line. Mykasa secured two buckets, a free throw, four rebounds and two assists in the quarter. 18 of the Cards 28 points were in the paint. 

End of 3Q 28-13 cards 
FG %
11-18 61% Cards
4-12 33.3% Pitt
Reb. 11-6 cards
3-pt %
1-3 33.3% Cards
2-4 50% Pitt

HVL hits a jumper from the FT line and Balogun scores on a fast break before back to back threes by Jayla Everett ,as she started to warm up to make it 65-51. Pitt was 11-4 in the quarter with 4:53 left in the game. Dana Evans then went on to score the next 8 points for UofL before exiting the game for the evening finishing 11-20 from the field, 3-5 from 3-point land a perfect 4-4 at the free throw line. Everett was 3-5 for 8 points in the quarter.

End of 4Q 21-18 Cards 
FG %
9-17 52.9% Cards
7-14 50% Pitt
Reb. 10-7 Cards 
3-pt %
2-6 33.3% Cards
2-4 50% Pitt

FINAL 82-58 LOUISVILLE WINS!! 

 

Coach Walz post-game:

Coach admits there were 'glimpses of good and glimpses of bad' in this one.  That there were 'tough stretches but overall did some good things' thanks to a really good second half.  Also mentioned how he thought Mykasa had a fabulous night contributing 5 assists, 5 steals 9 rebounds and no turnovers.  

Coach Walz also added on to the Dana Evans players of the year campaign with her 21 point second half effort and how she been able to consistently do this especially in the month of February. 

WALZ'S FULL REMARKS CAN BE HEARD HERE:  JEFF WALZ POST-GAME PITT.

 

FRED REPORT 

In honor of Pitt, we bring you former
Pitt WBB great Fred Potvin ! 

F-Free Throws Lead by Dana's perfect four attempts at the line, the team went 13-15 on the evening for a strong 87% effort. In comparison, Pitt went 8-17 for 47% from the line. 87% is better than the 70% requirement for a CAPITAL F

R-Rebounding The Cards were outrebounded by Pitt 27-23 in the first half losing the offensive rebound battle 15-6. The team bounced back in the second half to win the battle on the boards 21-13 and ended up winning the night 44-40 against the Panthers. Robinson lead the rebounding efforts with 9 for UofL. CAPITAL R

E-Effort/Efficiency It's always enjoyable to watch the show Dana Evans puts on for basketball fans, the way she can take over any game but I also wanted to shout out Mykasa Robinson on her performance. She cuts into every lane, dives for every loose ball and takes almost every charge opportunity thrusted at her. It really is a pleasure to watch if you're a fan of competition. CAPITAL E

D- Defense UofL forced 20 Pitt turnovers in the game. Mykasa had 5 steals herself, Pittsburgh had 3 total. Pittsburgh shot 32% from the field landing 8 from beyond 3. Pitt landed 25% of their 40 shot attempts in the first half while making one more and attempting 14 less in the second half good for a 42.3% second half effort. The Panthers scored 11 points less than their season average so I give it a solid CAPITAL D

 

FINAL Fred Report :  F-R-E-D 

 LACROSSE DOWNS COLORADO 12-9 

Getting four goals from Ally Hall and a superb defensive effort in goalkeep by Rachel Florek, Louisville got their first win of the 2021 Lacrosse season with a 12-9 win over #24 Colorado yesterday at the Louisville Lacrosse Stadium. 

The contest was an back=and forth affair early on, Louisville trading leads with the Buffs until UofL went on a 4-1 run to end the half and take a 8-4 lead. Hall had three of her goals in the first half and an assist. The Cards were having trouble winning draw controls, but were stopping Colorado after they gained possession. 

Louisville (1-1) increased the lead to 10-4 early in the second half after scores from Hall and Caroline Blalock, and the rout appeared to be on -- but a succession of yellow cards on the Cards allowed Colorado to play a "man up" and respond with four straight second half goals to make it 10-8 with 17:35 left in the second half. Three of the Colorado scores came from Sadie Grozier. 

The Cards were able to rally, though, and Blalock and Alex McNicholas went back-to-back over the next six minutes to push the Louisville lead out to 12-8. Colorado managed just one score the rest of the way, and Louisville "iced" a hard-fought 12-9 win. 

Scott Teeter was pleased with the win: 

"I thought we got off to an excellent start and we had answers whenever Colorado had a push -- we answered right back. Colorado is a great team, they are nationally ranked for a reason. We found a way to win, though, and we need to build off this." 

Teeter, goalkeeper Rachel Florek and attacker Ally Hall joined our own Paulie for these post-game remarks in the link below: 

TEETER, HALL AND FLOREK POST-GAME COLORADO

Have a great start to your weekend, we will catch you all the airwaves Saturday morning for another episode of the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast.  

As always, Go Cards!
- Daryl 

Softball Drops Two; Lacrosse Opens ACC Play -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Softball Falls to UIC and OK State on Friday

Louisville softball's early season struggles continued yesterday as they dropped their third and fourth games in a row, with three being run rules. The losses to Alabama, while not great, could not be described as unexpected, but Jeff and I discussed last week that dropping them both by large margins could be bad for confidence moving forward. It seems that came to pass yesterday. The Cards were thumped by the University of Illinois-Chicago, a team that had been 4-6 entering the game. They showed a bit more life in the later game against top-fifteen Oklahoma State, avoiding a fourth straight run rule, but were unable to score and dropped the game 3-0.

Game 1: Louisville 2, UIC 10

Taylor Roby took the circle to open Louisville's weekend yesterday and she was met by a lead-off home run from UIC's Samantha Ferguson. Ferguson would go on to score on to score three runs in the game. The Cards got through the rest of the first allowing just one more hit but trailed 1-0 going into the bottom half. Louisville returned the run scoring favor when Celene Funke reached on a four pitch walk. She stole second, advanced to third on a ground ball, and scored on an error. After a ground out, Maddy Newman was picked off at first to leave the bases empty with two outs. Cassady Greenwood doubled, but Carmyn couldn't bring her home. 1-1.

The second inning was pretty uneventful, with just one walk between the two teams, but it started to get away from the Cards after that. UIC scored two unanswered runs in the third inning and added three more in the fourth. Louisville got one back in the bottom of the fourth inning on a Cassady Greenwood homer to make it 6-2, but then gave up another four runs in the top of the fifth inning. Unable to bring the score any closer in the bottom half, the game was called for a five inning run rule. Louisville fell 10-2.

Game 2: Louisville 0, OK State 3

The second game saw Louisville blanked on the scoreboard and nearly blanked at the plate. The Cards kept this one a lot closer defensively, with Chardonnay Harris keeping the Cards in the game from the circle, but a three run third inning from the hosts was the difference. Louisville's offense was held to a pair of hits from Funke and Caitlin Ferguson, a walk from Newman, and a hit by pitch from Eden Mayo. No more than two of those things happened in the same inning. To her credit, Harris held Oklahoma State to just five hits and a walk, but three of those baserunners came back-to-back-to back for that three run inning. 

Despite a better showing in the second game, the result is ultimately the same and the Cards fell to 5-11. I know that's not what we at Cardinal Couple imagined for this team, and I'm certain it's not what anyone in the softball building expected either. The softball season is long, but Louisville will have to turn it around quickly if they're going to end up winning enough games for an NCAA Tournament bid. The Cards are back in action today with a game against #10 Oregon at 1PM immediately followed by a rematch against Oklahoma State.

Women's Track on Top in ACC Championships

With eleven events remaining today, Louisville currently holds a narrow lead over the Duke Blue Devils at the ACC Indoor Track and Field Championships. The Cards sit at 34.5 points with the Blue Devils just half a point behind in second. Still in striking distance are NC State, Notre Dame, and Virginia at 26, 26, and 25.5 points respectively. Louisville's day yesterday was highlighted by a Dorcas Wasike silver medal finish in the 5000m run. Still to be completed today on the women's side are the finals for the Pole Vault, Triple Jump, Shot Put, 60m Hurdles, Mile Run, 400m, 60m, 800m, 200m, 3000m, and the 4x400m relay. Louisville has had success in some of these events throughout the year, so we'll see if they can hold on to their lead.

Lax Opens ACC Schedule against VT

Following the thrilling win against Vanderbilt earlier this week, Scott Teeter's squad will get their ACC season underway today when they host #23 Virginia Tech at 1PM. The Hokies are 5-1 so far this season, falling only to #17 JMU in overtime. VT beat Cincinnati 20-5 earlier this week, a team you'll recall Louisville opened the season against, winning 16-11. The Cards will have their work cut out for them today, as VT has scored fewer than 14 goals just once this season (the road loss against JMU). If Rachel Florek can continue her outstanding play as she did last week, Louisville may be in business. It will take a strong effort on both ends, though, as the Hokies haven't given up double digit goals since a 17-10 win over Davidson to open the season. Today's game will be available on ACC Network Extra.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

It's the Jeff and Case show again this week, and it will again come at an odd time. We'll get the show started at 1:30 today, so be sure to tune in while you watch softball and lacrosse. We'll have plenty to talk about after the busy week for Louisville athletics and have a few games to preview as well, such as the regular season finale for basketball. Check out the Cardinal Couple YouTube for the live broadcast at 1:30 or for a replay any time.

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-

Busy Friday Sees Wins, Swims, and Broken Records -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Softball Sweeps Friday at Bama Bash

It hasn't been an easy start for Holly Aprile's squad this season. The Cards got a ranked win in their opener before losing six straight. Louisville snagged a win over Wisconsin last week to break the streak but fell again to ranked Michigan the next day. Louisville looks to turn things around this weekend, and they started that attempt with a pair of wins yesterday. Louisville shutout both Penn State and Wichita State to move to 4-7 on the season. The Cards will get another shot at Wichita State this morning before a pair of games against power house (and host) Alabama. The Crimson Tide is a perennial title contender and is currently ranked 13/10 in the polls. The Cards will have their work cut out for them. 

Harris No-Hits Penn State

In the first game of the day, the Cards got off to a promising start in the top of the first inning. Louisville got runners on first and second with two outs after a Maddy Newman walk and a Cassady Greenwood single. That would be the end of the rally, though, as the Nittany Lions got out of the jam. In the bottom half, Chardonnay Harris walked the second batter on four pitches, and Claire Swedburg stole second to give Penn State a runner in scoring position with two outs. Harris got a swinging strikeout on the cleanup hitter to keep the game level.

The next two innings saw twelve up-twelve down as both teams were held in check. Taylor Roby broke the tie with a lead-off home run in the top of the fourth. After a pair of outs, Carmyn Greenwood doubled and Charley Butler singled her home to give the Cards a 2-0 lead before a strikeout ended the inning. Harris once again sat down the side in order. 

In the top of the fifth, Louisville's offense continued the rally. The Cards used seven singles, a walk, and an error to bat around the order and score seven runs. After blowing open a 9-0 lead, Harris picked up two groundouts and a pop-out to finish the game due to five-inning run rule. As the walk in the first inning was the only baserunner allowed, Chardonnay Harris picked up the no-hitter. The no-hitter was Louisville's first since Maryssa Becker in 2014.

Offense Picks up Where it Left Off Against Wichita State

Following the seven run fifth inning that ended the game against Penn State, Louisville's offense was more than ready to keep playing. After Taylor Roby worked out of a runner in scoring position in the top half, Louisville's hot offense once again stepped to the plate. Celene Funke walked, stole second, and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Maddy Newman then walked and stole second, giving Louisville two in scoring position with no outs. Roby promptly brought them both home with a single. After a Cassady Greenwood bunt single, Charley Butler came on to run for Roby. A double steal put runners on second and third and a Carmyn Greenwood bunt single scored one. Louisville then executed another double steal to score another run and a Rebecca Chung groundout scored the final runner. Louisville put two more on base after a single and a hit by pitch to bat around the order, but Funke flied out to end then inning.

Louisville would go on to score a run in the second and two runs in the fourth to carry an 8-0 lead into the fifth, where Roby would sit down the Shockers' batters and win in the second straight run rule game. Roby gave up just two hits and a walk, while giving up no runs. Meanwhile, every Louisville batter to step to the plate reached base one way or the other. 

The Cards will see if they can keep their hot offense rolling today as they open the day with another game against Wichita State at noon. Their first game with Alabama is scheduled for 2:30PM and will be available via WatchESPN (SECN+).

Swimming in Third at ACC Championships

Heading into the final day of competition at the ACC Women's Swimming Championships, Louisville sits in a comfortable third place. The Cards (747.5) are nearly two hundred points ahead of fourth place UNC (567) but almost 150 behind second place NC State (888). Virginia leads by a mile at 1001.5 points. In addition to their solid team standing, Louisville has currently had multiple swimmers set pool times that qualified for invites to the NCAA Championships last season. We'll take a look at the potential NCAA qualifiers once conference championships have wrapped up and invites have gone out.

Lacrosse Falls in Tough Match at #14 Michigan

Louisville Lacrosse hit the road to take on a ranked Michigan team yesterday and put up a fight for much of the game. The Cards had to weather a storm as the Wolverines opened with a five goal run over the game's first ten minutes. Louisville bounced back and Shayla Scanlan's hat trick goal with six seconds left in the half made it 7-6 Michigan. The Cards would fight again in the second half, opening the half with a game tying goal from Paige Richbourg. Scanlan would go on to tie the game at 11 with 11:30 to go but that would be Louisville's final goal of the game. As they opened, Michigan closed, scoring four goals over the final seven minutes and shutting out the Cards to claim a 15-11 victory.

Despite the loss, Louisville showed great will and toughness in their second ranked game of the season. The Cards saw a lot of lopsided losses last year and appear to be holding their own much better this season. In addition to the spread out scoring, 11 goals from six players (Scanlan, Richbourg, both Blalocks, Hannah Morris and Brenna Shanahan), Rachel Florek set a program record for saves to keep the Cards in the game. Florek finished with 17 stops, preventing what could have been a very ugly outcome for the Cards. Louisville moves to 2-2 on the year and will head down I-65 on Tuesday for a matchup against Vanderbilt at 4PM.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

After taking last week off, we're back with the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour today at 11AM. Jared and Paulie are both traveling this week, so Jeff and I will be holding down the fort, but we'll have plenty to discuss. With basketball getting into the big time part of the season and softball and lacrosse both being underway in earnest, we'll have no lack of topics to discuss. Join us as we go live on YouTube or catch the replay of the show any time.

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-