Transfer News and Lacrosse

As we always say, all about the joy and excitement of UofL Women's sports, so we tend to like to put positive news at the top of our articles to celebrate the successes of the programs, but sometimes, the magnitude of the news and the relative popularity of the sports wins out.  So it is today.

Basketball Transfers

Brianna Jones

We've gotten word of two more transfers from the Women's Basketball program.  We have received word that Brianna Jones is leaving the program, again with the idea of being closer to home to be able to more easily have family in attendance.  She will be transferring to Georgetown.

I've always admired Brianna's hardwork and seemingly positive attitude towards playing on the UofL squad.  She frequently faded into the background, but continued to work hard, and apparently maintained a good attitude.  That hard work started to show dividends this past season as she started seeing more meaningful playing time and contributed valuable minutes, ball handling, and passing skills in several games.

If Jones continues to develop as she has, I expect her to make a real impact and become a strong foundational play at Georgetown.

Ciera Johnson

We have also heard word that Ciera Johnson will be departing the program, though I have not as of
yet received word of her destination.  Any program will benefit from having her size and presence in the paint, of course, but she does have some parts of her game that need further development, as any freshman will.  If she can gain better control of the ball in the scrum of rebounding, she'll become a very valuable player.  As it is, her size is a presence, but I feel like she struggles to get the handle on the ball frequently.

Johnson wanted to play closer to home. We would expect there would be several DI programs in Texas that would be interested in having a conversation with her. 

I don't envy these players their decisions.  These are hard decisions to be making, doubly so for 18-22 year olds to be making them.  It is important that they find a place where they can be happy with the whole package.  Sometimes that can mean a degree of proximity to home.  As always, we here at Cardinal Couple wish the best for these young women, and as with many other transfers, we'll keep an eye on their future successes and cheer for them, even if it is from a bit of a greater distance.

Lacrosse Makes Syracuse See Red

As with every team in the ACC, Syracuse Lacrosse is a very accomplished team, but Kellie Young's squad was able to put together just enough offense to edge out the Syracuse team in a 9-8 win at the Louisville Lacrosse Stadium.  This is being hailed across the ACC and in sports media as a rather large upset.  Syracuse is 8th ranked in both major Lacrosse rankings, and was 5th in the RPI, so without a doubt this is a great win for the Cardinals.  It is also UofL's first win over Syracuse Lacrosse, so that's another hurdle cleared.

One of the sensational sophomores, Meghan Siverson, got a hat trick in the game, with one coming from a free position shot, and the other two on assists from Madison Hoover.  The scoring was generally fairly well distributed, Jillian Balog put a pair in, both accounting for Siverson's two assists.  Hannah Koloski, Emily Howell, Elise Koehl, and McKayla Conti all got a goal.  Brittany Read had 9 saves between the pipes.

The Cards got off to a 2-0 lead in the game approximately 10 minutes in, but 10 minutes later Syracuse would score two quick ones to tie the game up.  UofL put up another pair over the next couple of minutes on consecutive possessions before Syracuse would claw one back with 4 1/2 minutes left in the 1st half.  In the waning 2 minutes of the half, Emily Howell got her score on a free position shot to set the 5-3 halftime score.

According to Young, the team was fired up and motivated for the second half, vowing in the halftime
locker room "We're going to get that first goal." of the second half.  Indeed they did.  Less than 2 minutes into the second half, Balog took one of her assists from Siverson and slipped the ball in from an extreme angle to give the Cards the 6-3 advantage early in the 2nd half.  The Cards would score again, in the 24th minute before Syracuse would rally from a 7-3 deficit to close the lead to only 1 with a 3-0 run.  Opponent runs have been dangerous for this Cardinals team, but this one got shut down on the next possession with Koloski getting control of the ball out of the draw, sprinting down field, and dishing to Hoover, who found Siverson for her hat trick.  The Cards made it a 2-0 run with just under 8 minutes to play in the game when Hoover found Conti to make the score 9-6.

Syracuse put on another rally, scoring the final two with just over 2 minutes left and only a minute and a half left in the game, but the Cards would hold on for the 9-8 win.

In the ACC standings, the win leapfrogs UofL over Virginia Tech into a tie with Boston College for 5th place.  Since BC has the tiebreaker of the Cardinals, however, UofL will be in the 6th seed for the ACC tournament.  On the other end of things, the loss drops Syracuse out of a 1st place tie in the conference with UNC.  Syracuse had the tiebreaker over UNC with the win against them, so the loss drops them from the 1st seed to the 2nd seed in the upcoming conference tourney.

The Cards will be back in action in the conference tournament on Thursday against the 3 seed Virginia in an 8pm matchup.  The game will be streamed on the ACC Network Extra.



THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR

We had big fun in the studio yesterday discussing UofL sports on The Cardinal Couple Radio Hour. Paulie, Worldwide and Case discussed transfers, WBB, softball, baseball, lacrosse and more!

Here's a link to the rebroadcast:  The CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR 4/22/17

-- JMcA