Foley named to All-American team...Watson weighs in on Epps and Goodin-Rogers

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WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Is Bergan Foley UofL's best lacrosse player
of all time?

-Lacrosse's Bergan Foley makes IWLCA All-American team

-David Watson on the verbal from Epps and Goodin-Rogers.

-Epps and Goodin-Rogers talk about the verbal.
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285 goals scored....the fourth most all time in NCAA Women's Lacrosse history. The third-best goals per game mark nationally. First team All-BIG EAST, first team IWLCA All-Midwest. And, now 3rd team All-American honors. 

WE may never see the likes of the scoring machine that is Bergan Foley again in the young history of the Louisville lacrosse program. She'll take to the field one more time in the 2011 IWLCA/Under Armour Division I North-South Senior All-Star game on June 11th. at the United Sports Training Center in Downingtown, PA. With her will be senior teammates Liz Lovejoy and Emily Dashiell. The three have set the bar quite high for future Louisville lacrosse athletes. Louisville lacrosse is nearing the level of the top flight women's lacrosse programs nationwide...the Maryland's, Duke's, Virginia's and Notre Dame's of the game.

Someone needs to put up a plaque, statue or some kind of recognition at the Louisville Lacrosse Stadium for Foley. Better yet, for all three girls...who have helped get a novice program off the ground and competing with the best that the nation and the BIG EAST has to offer. Get it done, Mr. Jurich...

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David Watson weighs in on the Makayla Epps/Kyvin Goodin-Rogers verbals to Louisville:

The mighty fortress by the banks of the Ohio River
serves as a staging ground for the Lady Cards.  

Just what kind of monster is Jeff Walz creating deep in the laboratories of Cardinal Arena? The mighty fortress walls already reverberate from the sounds of Monique the Mighty, Shoni the Superb, Tia the Terrific, Asia the Atomic, Becky the Bomb and the other indestrutables clad in Red and Black. The ominous threats of Cierra the Conqueror and Shawnta the Storm loom menacingly. They are rebuilt, geared for missions and hungry for battle. The newest additions to the elite are Bria the Blitzkrieg, Jude the Juggernaut, Sara the Stupendous and Monney the Marauder. They ride in on sturdy steeds. Ready to compete, collide and clash with fearful foes in the fall.

Walz has been scouring the countryside still lining up additions. Who knows what the man has planned for 2012? And, 2013 already looks unstoppable with the procurement of the Marion County Monsters. Kyvin Goodin-Rogers the Great and Makayla Epps the Expert will dominate Kentucky high school girls hoops for two more years yet. Two state titles in the future? Don't bet against them.

In the streets, the villagers are vocal and swarming. They're waiting to see the force unleashed. They're hungry for the season still months away. That isn't thunder you hear in the distance - it's the University of Louisville women's basketball team rumbling toward the KFC YUM! Center at Category 5 hurricane force.

Makayla Epps and Kyvin Goodin-Rogers have played high school basketball together for four years already. They've still got two years to go. I'm still following up on rumors that they won national championships as pre-schoolers at a Lebanon daycare facility. Their AAU participation has more miles on it than my sturdy 2003 Ford F-150 pickup truck. It's safe to say that the two know a bit about basketball and were probably tossing each other no-look passes and assists in the third grade. 

In an era where UofL men's basketball has been steady but still leaves questions about the long-awaited titles that all thought Rick Pitino would produce, there are hopeful and exciting times ahead for the 15 or so that will take the court in the downtown arena to compete in women's college basketball in the BIG EAST. We've been through the NCAA Final Four / Angel McCoughtry era. What's next for this team? Can't see them bowing out in the first round of the Big Dance to Morehead. Ask Xavier about the Lady Cardinals. They're still cleaning up the wreckage Shoni and crew dumped on the Cintas Center.

I suspect that it's going to be a fun journey. That UofL will pass the Lady Vols, UConn and the others in regular season attendance. That this is only a preview of thing still yet to come. That the tradition, dynasty and indisputable recognition of Louisville women's basketball will continue to grow and rival that of the programs that Geno and Pat have built. Room at the top? Oh, yeah.

In the meantime, what's up your sleeve next, Jeff? The villagers are waiting.

(We've got this feeling that David watched way too many war movies over the Memorial Day weekend...but we like his enthusiasm and hopes for the Lady Cards. Hit the bunkers and send out the flares...the troops are ready.)

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WE like the reports that Courier-Journal writer Jody Demling provides on recruiting. He talked with Makayla Epps and Kyvin Goodin-Rogers about their verbals to UofL. We thought his story needed to be included here at CARDINAL COUPLE...in case you missed it. Here's Jody!  

I spoke with both Marion County High School sophomore stars Makayla Epps and Kyvin Goodin-Rogers this afternoon on their commitments to Louisville.

Epps confirmed she wanted to commit more than a year ago but the mother told her to "wait and make the right decision."

Goodin-Rogers said she "knew for a while" but decided on Saturday night that she wanted to go ahead and make a commitment.

"It's been two or three months, but I never said anything to anyone. Eventually people kept asking me and telling me where I should go and I just decided that I wanted to tell them I already knew." Goodin-Rogers said. "I love the coaches. Coach (Jeff) Walz is just like my high school coach (Trent Milby). They do the same things we do. They know when it comes times for business but also outside of basketball they're real people."

Epps said, "I love Walz. I have the same connnection with him as I do with Milby. I love the assistant coaches, the facilities and everything. And I've always liked wearing the red and black."

(Jody Demling covers recruiting and golf for The Courier-Journal. He also knows a thing or two about horse racing.)

Link to this story:
http://blogs.courier-journal.com/jodydemling/2011/05/31/epps-and-rogers-talk-about-comm...