Cards Called Up -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Bard, Cantu Earn USWNT Attention

Louisville women's soccer saw two players invited to camp with the US Women's National Team youth programs this month, with announcements coming yesterday. Rising sophomore Ella Bard and incoming freshman Cate Cantu heard their names called as they'll join camps for the U-20 and U-18 teams, respectively. Bard will camp in Kansas City 4/7-4/16 with two opportunities to play against Brazil on 4/11 and 4/15. Cantu will camp in West Palm Beach 4/10-4/17. No international friendlies are listed for that one. 

Ella Bard's call-up to the U-20 team indicates that she has impressed the USWNT staff so far in her development. Bard was called up to the U-19 team in October, missing time with UofL to take part in friendlies against the Republic of Ireland and Portugal. In February, she joined that team again to play against Czechia, Wales, and Portugal. This time, an invite to U-20 camp means that Bard is a serious contender to be a part of the team which will participate in the Women's U-20 World Cup in Poland in September. A call up in that window would surely be difficult for the Cards in the early season, as Bard figures to move into a full-time starting role on defense, but the experience she could gain would be unmatched.

Cate Cantu is a name that is likely more unknown to Louisville fans. While Bard made a quick name for herself as a freshman last season, making her debut in the Vanderbilt game and earning her first start against Wright State, Cantu hasn't yet made it to campus. Cantu is an incoming goalkeeper, which is a position you might remember as recently vacated. (Happy belated birthday to the new Racing Louisville keeper, Erynn Floyd, by the way.) Cate has the opportunity to claim that position right out of the gate. If she does so, she could become the third straight long-term starter to claim the job as a freshman, following Floyd and Gabby Kouzelos. Cantu was a three-time All Central League First Team selection in Pennsylvania, and she was a High School All-American as a senior. Her club team, Penn Fusion, were ECNL National Champions in 2024. Cantu will be competing for the starting spot against Brielle Baker, who is the only returning goalkeeper from last season's roster.

While players missing time is difficult for a college team, the opportunity to play for your country are invaluable for both the player and the team. Players get the chance to fulfill lifelong dreams and play against some of the top competition the world has to offer. Teams get to reap the benefits of the additional experiences the players gain as well as show recruits how much they support player development. We see the same with Jeff Walz and basketball all the time. Showing recruits that you're not just going to make them good enough to play for their national team, but that you will also give them the freedom to make the most of those opportunities, is quite enticing. 

All the best to Ella and Cate in the coming weeks. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

images from @louisvillewsoc on Instagram

Softball CARDS in logjam behind FSU and Duke -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 Louisville in fourth place in ACC 

There are a couple of clear leaders in the ACC Softball race this season.  

FSU and Duke sit atop the conference with the best records. The Seminoles are 12-0  in ACC play and 35-4 overall. Duke is 13-2 in the ACC and 28-11 on the season. Not too far back is Virginia Tech with a 9-3 conference mark and 33-5 overall. The Cards check in at fourth...at 8-4 in the league and 32-8 this season. 

Virginia (9-5) and Stanford (9-6) are hot on the heels of the top four and North Carolina is the only other team with an above .500 conference mark at 8-7.It's important to note that the top four finishers in the league will receive a bye in first round ACC Softball Tournament action and only 12 of the 15 teams that play softball in the ACC make the tournament If the tournament were to start tomorrow...the other five teams that would qualify would be Clemson, Georgia Tech, Pitt, Notre Dame and NC State.  All told, the teams play in 24 conference games. 

The Cards have three games left against each of these fellow league members....Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Syracuse and NC State. The cards will travel to South Bend for that UND series, Pitt and Syracuse will come to Ulmer Stadium in Louisville and the Cards will travel to Raleigh for the NC State series. The ACC Tournament will be in Charlottesville this year...hosted by Virginia. May 6-9 in the tournament dates...that's is the week after Derby....which is May 2nd. 

The Cards have an advantage in getting to play Pitt and Syracuse in Ulmer. 

The Cards vs Notre Dame series starts Friday.

Louisville is 9-1 in their last 10 games and has been on a hitting tear the last three games...scoring 25 runs. In addition to conference battles ahead, the Cards still have the second rivalry game against UK in Ulmer and also a game against IU. 

Let's hope the old adage of "April Showers bring May Flowers" doesn't rain out any of the Cards remaining games and that we don't get any mid-April or later snow in the area. I can remember snow back in 1989 on Derby Day...by then I had stopped attending the event and was hitting an annual Derby party. 

paulie

The WBB season ends...UCLA proves me wrong by showing they are the best team -- Monday Cardinal Couple

 UCLA BLOWS OUT SOUTH CAROLINA IN SECOND HALF. 

I step back and admit I am wrong. 

I said, a few weeks back, that UConn was the best team in Division I WBB. 

When South Carolina ended their season with a surprising blowout, it led me to think that the Gamecocks would do the same to the Lady Bruins.  But, after a half, this one was already close to being over at 36-23 UCLA.. the 79-51 final unfolded in almost unbelievable fashion. Dawn Staley's gals couldn't buy a basket with gold standard cash money.

As a buddy remarked to me..."When's the last time you saw a bunch of white girls beat a bunch of black girls in D1 action?" Putting the unintended racial profiling aside, she made a good point. I guess none of us figured that Lauren Betts and Gabriella Jaquez would shut out the "cocks" inside and dominate on the offensive boards. Maybe we should have opened our eyes a little wider. 

After all, UCLA came into the contest with just one loss all season. Yes, it was early on, against South Carolina...but this was NCAA Tournament time and many critics were saying that UCLA was the best team in the nation. I was still in the UConn camp. 

I guess I didn't read the signs correctly either. 

Isla, we hardly knew you...Good luck

For Louisville, the upcoming few weeks could prove to be very interesting. The height that the Cards had is disappearing quickly. Between graduation and the transfer portal . Juffermans and Hardy are in the portal. .Ziegler has graduated. Istanbulluoglu and Putra are back, along with Mbugna. It looks like Roberts and Randolph will hang with the Cards, and that alone will make Louisville a bona fide ACC title contender. 

They don't have a Betts on their roster though...and that's what it took this year to best the rest.  

paulie

GOOD AND BAD DAY FOR LOUISVILLE WOMEN'S SPORTS IN CALIFORNIA -- SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 SOFTBALL WINS BIG, LACROSSE LOSES BIG ON WEST COAST. 

Two different tales on the Saturday Louisville women's sports activities in California. 

Louisville Softball had batting practice in their final game in the California series, hammering the Golden Bears 12-2  Louisville Lacrosse got whacked around by Stanford  22-5 out on "The Farm". 

SOFTBALL SUCCESS ON CAL PITCHING 12-2

Alyssa Zabala

Holly Aprile's "hit and pitch Cards" unleashed the bats against the Cal pitching staff in the 12-2 massacre. Early in the ballgame, it looked like Cal might be the team to take the final game in the series, scoring two runs in their first at bat against Louisville...but the Cards Alyssa Zabala settled down and the Cards took a 3-2 lead after two. 

The contest stayed at 3-2 until the top of the fifth. UofL brought the bats out for a little more exercise and posted six runs against the Bears to go up 9-2 . Three more runs in the top of the seventh created the final 12-2 blasting. 

This wasn't normally how Louisville unloads on a foe. Not a slap hit, walk and sac fly type of offense at all. The Cards got home runs from Jordan Williams, Bri Despines and Madison Pickens and doubles from Pickens, Riley Janda and Camryn Lookadoo that accounted for 11 of their 12 runs to cross the plate. 

Zabala got the win and turned the ball over to Jayden Gohs after four innings for the completion. The win was "Smiley's" ninth of the season. 

STANFORD FILLS THE NETS AGAINST LAX CARDS 22-5

For as much success as the Softball Cards had against Cal, Louisville Lacrosse must have felt like they were in World War III and losing badly against the Stanford Laxers. 

In this Cardinals ve Cardinal match on the turf...the home team scored first and had put six goals up on the UofL squad with almost four minutes left in the first period. And, in the second 15 minute stretch, Stanford increased a 6-2 lead to 11-2 halfway through the period.

 Halftime's scoreboard read Stanford 13- Louisville 3. 

The third period must have seemed almost boring to the home fans...Stanford was only able to increase their lead to 14-5, The Trees were going to be winners...no doubt..and proved the point to Louisville with a 8-0 fourth period stick party against UofL's beleaguered defense. Everyone scored for Stanford except the concession stand workers. 

22-5. Not pretty. Stanford was the seventh ranked team in DI WLAX going into the game and didn't hurt that standing one bit. They have the best record in the ACC also...at 10-2.  For Louisville..the loss takes them to 6-7 overall and 1-4 in the ACC. Louisville was 43rd in the nation going into the match. 

A JOYOUS EASTER TO YOU ALL...

From Cardinal Couple to all of you,  a joyous Easter to you. Remember, He died for your sins and He has risen. We hope the Easter bunny leaves you and yours baskets full of goodies.

paulie  

Softball Evens Series -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Win 6-3 Over Cal

Louisville softball saw their long win streak end Thursday at Cal, but the Cards won yesterday evening (afternoon, depending on which timezone you use) to even the series at one game apiece. Louisville struck first, but they didn't hold the lead throughout. Ultimately, the Cards were able to put up more runs than Cal could answer with, though, and they held on to win to move to 31-8 (7-4). 

Louisville put the first two runners on base with Chelsea Mack and Easton Lotus, and Bri Despines made it count early. A single scored Mack, and a Camryn Lookadoo sacrifice bunt moved the runners up one 60 more feet. A sac fly scored Lotus, and Louisville led 2-0 before the inning ended. Brooke Gray got the start and was rewarded with a bunt pop-out on her first pitch. She walked the second batter but the defense helped her out with a double-play to end the inning. 

The Cards were unable to add to their lead in the second, and the middle of the Cal order jumped on Gray to open the bottom half. She gave up back-to-back solo home runs to tie the game at two before setting the next three batters down in order. The top of the third once more saw Louisville put a speedster on base to open the inning and a steal to threaten immediately. Despines grounded out but advanced Lotus to third, which turned out to be irrelevant when Lookadoo hit a ground-rule double to score the run. The Cards couldn't bring Lookadoo home, but Louisville had regained the lead 3-2. 

Gray settled back in and put up a three-up, three-down inning in the bottom of the third. The Cards added to their lead in the fourth on four hits, including a two-RBI triple from Chelsea Mack. Mack was brought home by Lotus for the third run of the inning, and Louisville led 6-2. Gray would continue to pitch well, giving up just two more hits and two more walks over the next three scoreless innings. Louisville was unable to add any other runs, and Coach Holly Aprile made a quick decision to relieve Gray when she gave up a leadoff single to open the seventh. 

Alyssa Zabala came in to close out the game, but not without a little drama. After a foul out, Zabala gave up a single to right center that allowed the leadoff runner to get all the way to third. A productive ground out advanced both runners, scoring one, but Zabala finished the Bears off with another ground out. Gray took the earned run, but she also finished with the win, moving her to 9-1 on the season. Louisville finished with the 6-3 victory. 

The Cards and Bears will close out the series today at 3PM to give Louisville time to return home for the holiday before they head back out next weekend. Today's series finale will be on ACC Network Extra.

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Cal knocks off Softball Cards 7-5 in Berkeley -- Friday Cardinal Couple

 CAL'S BIG SECOND INNING SENDS CARDS TO THE LOSS

Normally, when you've got Alyssa Zabala on the mound it's usually a safe bet for the Cards . California must not have read the script, though...and posted four second inning runs on the Cards en route to a 7-5 victory at a high school softball field near Berkeley. (The Cal field is undergoing a major renovation,,,) 

Jordan Williams

It was 5-1 Bears when the Cards came up in the top of the fourth and Louisville showed they still had a bit of life left in those Cardinals wings...when they got a Jordan Williams home run to left and then Riley Janda scored on a Easton Lotus single to make it 5-3. 

A Cal run in the bottom of the fourth inning made is 6-3 home squad, but Louisville kept knocking at the door with a two run top of the fifth...when Jordan Williams drove in Madison Pickens and then Williams scored on a Cal fielding error. It was 6-5 Cal. 

Unfortunately, that was the end of Louisville's scoring . The Bears added an unneeded insurance run in the sixth inning. A 7-5 win for California. 

The two squads meet again today at 2 p.m.

paulie

Amanda Butler leaving Louisville for College of Charleston -- Thursday Cardinal Couple

BUTLER GOING FROM A CARDINAL TO A COUGAR

The word is out...Amanda Butler is leading Louisville to become the head coach at the College of Charleston. A return to the state of South Carolina, where she coached Clemson before becoming a Cardinals assistant. 

The opening is there because of the past CofC coach Robin Harmony leaving the Cougars to become the head coach at Pitt. So, Harmony goes from being a Cougar to a Panther and sources close to Cardinal Couple, who have a great insight to the operations and workings of Cardinals basketball indicate the move was expected. We, of course are still the bad boys of journalistic media in UofL's eyes because of a hijacked Twitter account. All we can say i we have followed all the things to get us back in there but other forces are working to keep us out of the information loop. 

Butler was aided in getting the job by Debbie Antonelli, a South Carolina resident and well respected college impressario and voice. 

Butler said: 

"This is a championship team with a opportunity to build a legacy. that is based on returning. John Groce touched on it a lot a lot more than I did...the challenge of a new landscape is being able to talk about that openly and honestly. But the reality is...how important is legacy to you?...How important is history to you? "

Let's not forget the valuable two years she spent under Jeff Walz about roster building and management, 

The Cougar are in the CAA, or Colonial Athletic Association. She'll be facing school such as Campbell, Stony Brook, Elon, Monmouth, Towson and William and Mary. In the season just ended, CofC was conference champ at 16-2 and went 27-6 overall. They went into the NCAA Tournament as a #14 seed and was eliminated in the first round by Duke. 

No immediate word on players returning or who recruiting will focus on. We also can't verify if Anaya Hardy, who is leaving the Cards roster will be going to CofC with Amanda. Hardy is the second Cardinal to announce they are entering the portal, along with Isla Juffermans. Also, Shay Robinson is leaving his assistant coaching position at Louisville to go to Florida. He's the one I always got mixed up with Lamont Russell. 

We will watch with interest on who Walz gets in to replace them.  Only  Jonneshia Pineda and Brittany Morris remain on the WBB coaching tree along with Walz. 

paulie

Cards Softball run rules EKU 12-4 in Richmond

 CARDS GET 30th WIN OF THE SEASON AT EASTERN KENTUCKY

Madison Pickens

Louisville softball broke a 3-3 tie after an inning and put the bats on the ball in Richmond against EKU with 12 runs and 13 hits in a six-inning win Tuesday evening against the Colonels. 

Madison Pickens had six RBI's for Louisville...as the Cards saw three EKU pitchers in the run-rule affair. She belted two three-run home runs against the home team's pitching. Bri Despines scored four runs in the Cardinals win

Alyssa "Smiley" Zabala

Holly Aprile gave four Louisville pitchers a turn in the circle...with the win going to Alyssa Zabala..who was the second Cards pitcher and went 3.2 innings...allowing no runs or hits and striking out six Colonels batters. Madi Reeves got the start but only lasted 1.1 innings before giving way to Zabala. Reeves gave up three runs on two hits and walked five in her start. Jayden Gohs started the sixth inning, but only went 1/3 of an inning,..throwing just 21 pitches before handing the ball to Anna Wise, who got the final two outs. 

The Cards will head west to face California next to face the Golden Bears for three ACC games on Thursday,Friday and Saturday before retuning home on Easter.

paulie

 

WBB Final Four Set -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

All Chalk in Phoenix

South Carolina and Texas took care of business last night to close out the 2026 Regional Round and move to the Final Four in Phoenix. They joined UConn and UCLA, who did the same on Sunday night. That makes a clean sweep for 1-seeds in the tournament. However, for all of the talk about a lack of parity in women's college basketball, that argument is getting long in the tooth at this point. Does the cream still rise to the top? More often than not, yes. That said, this season marks the first final four made up of all 1-seeds since 2018, and it's just the second in a decade. 

That 2018 Final Four also included Louisville, and it saw both games go to overtime. Louisville came out on the wrong end of their matchup against Mississippi State, but there's no need to relitigate that whole thing. State would go on to lose to Notre Dame in the final, after the Irish defeated UConn in the Final Four. 

We'll see if the final four matchups are as close as that 2018 season, but the elite eight matchups certainly were not. Duke held their own the best, losing by the smallest margin, but their defeat at the hands of UCLA was still by 12 points. UConn won their third straight game of this tournament against ACC opponents, dismantling Notre Dame by 18. South Carolina made light work of TCU, winning by 26, but the jewel of the elite eight came in Louisville's region. 

At the same time as the Cards were completely unraveling against Michigan on Saturday, Kentucky was doing largely the same against Texas. Like on the men's side, Louisville and Kentucky women were bounced from the tournament on the same day. Texas beat UK by 22, while Louisville lost to Michigan by 19. All that did for the Wolverines was set them up to get absolutely trounced. The Longhorns made their second-straight final four appearance by dominating Michigan 77-41. Yeesh. 

The men's tournament will get the Saturday/Monday timeslots, so Texas and South Carolina draw the short straws by playing on just three-and-a-half days' rest with travel to Phoenix. The women's games will be played on Friday and the championship game will be Sunday, with a time still to be announced. This is the same final four as last season, but the matchups are different. UConn and South Carolina will play a rematch of the 2025 National Championship game, which saw the Huskies thump the Gamecocks 82-59. That game will start at 7:00PM on Friday. Scheduled for 9:30 (but actually tipping off 20 minutes after the horn of the first game if it runs long), the second game will feature UCLA and Texas. UCLA is seeking their first championship game appearance of the modern era, after last season was their first Final Four of the era. Texas is looking to make their first appearance in the championship game since winning it all in 1986. The Longhorns lost in the final four in 1987, 2003, and 2025. 

Louisville will look to next season to reignite their hunt for their first national championship. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Softball shuts down Ga. Tech to sweep series -- Monday Cardnal Couple

 3-1 Complete Game for Alyssa Zabala in win. 

Since we have moved out of Cards WBB coverage for the time being, let's catch up on one of the spring sports at UofL. Louisville Softball picked up a nice win against Georgia Tech today at Ulmer Stadium to go 29-7 on the season and improve to 6-3 in the ACC. Alyssa Zabala went the distance in the circle for the Cards, picking up her seventh win of the season while allowing just three hits. 

For 3- 1/2 innings, this one was a scoreless affair. The Cards finally broke through for a run when they managed to "fill the bags full of Cards" when Easton Lotus opened the bottom of the fourth with a single and Camryn Lookadoo and Madison Pickens were hit by pitches. Taylor Monroe sent a deep fly to center that was caught... but Lotus tagged and scored for UofL.

Ava is a junior for the Cards from Taunton, MA. 

Ava Venturelli made it 2-0 Cards with a solo home run and the Cards added their final run of the game when Lookadoo hit a sacrifice fly to bring home Chelsea Mack. 

Georgia Tech opened the seventh with a solo home run off Zabala, but she sent the Bees to the dugout out with three straight outs after that and ended the game. 

The Cards return to action Tuesday when they travel to Richmond, KY to face Eastern Kentucky University. The Colonels are 18-15 on the season...but 11-4 at home. It's scheduled for an ESPN+ broadcast...starting at 6 p.m.  

paulie