Lax Visits UNC -- Swim Qualifiers -- Bracket Challenge -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Lacrosse Travels to #1 North Carolina

Louisville Lacrosse has a quick turnaround as they visit #1 North Carolina today.  The Cards enter the match with a 4-3 record after hitting a running clock against Longwood in a 17-7 win.

North Carolina is 5-0 on the year.  They started conference play with an 18-12 victory at Virginia last weekend.

Their 9.8 assists per game is top in the ACC and fourth in the country.  Their .560 shot percentage is also number one in the conference.  The Tar Heels' +13 scoring margin ranks top in the country.

Rachel Florek leads the ACC and is second in the country with 81 saves.  She had 79 going into the Longwood match, but saw little action in that match.  She has recorded 17 saves, a program record, in two of the last four matches.

Maddie Birch and Brenna Shanahan are tied for third in the ACC with 1.57 forced turnovers per game.

With her three points against Longwood, Caroline Blalock has surpassed the 100 point mark in her career.

UNC leads the series 5-0 and won 17-6 last year.

The match is set for an uncharacteristically late 7:00 p.m., start time.  You can catch it on the ACC Network.

12 Swimmers Qualify for the NCAA Championships

A program-best 12 swimmers for Louisville qualified for the NCAA Championships.  The mark is third-best in the country.

Grace Oglesby will compete in the 200 butterfly and the 100 fly.

Casey Fanz will compete in the 50 freestyle and 100 free.

Abby Hay will compete in the 200 IM and 400 IM.

Christiana Regenauer will compete in the 50 free.

Lainey Visscher will compete in the 50 free.

Arina Openysheva will compete in the 100 free and 200 free.

Kaylee Wheeler will compete in the 100 breaststroke.

Morgan Friesen will compete in the 100 breast and 200 breast.

Mariia Astashkina will compete in the 100 breast and 200 breast.

Sophie Cattermole will compete in the 1650 free.

Madison Luther will compete in the 1650 free.

Alena Kraus will compete in the 200 fly.

Ashlyn Schoof and Diana Dunn will be alternatives in the relay.


The Championships will be held in Athens, Ga., from March 18-21, two weeks from now.



Bracket Challenge

One day.  That's all it took to bust most of our brackets.  All three games on Wednesday in the ACC Tournament featured upsets, by a seeding standpoint.

There were 17 submissions.  Eight brackets went 0-3 yesterday.  Only one bracket is still perfect- the Cardinal Couple Chimps.  Yes, we're all scratching our heads at that.

13 entries have Louisville winning it all.  Georgia Tech, Duke, Florida State, and Boston College all each received one entry with them listed as the champion.

I will provide the crew with an update to include in tomorrow morning's article.  Hopefully, for most of us, we will see some green on our brackets.

Katy will be in town beginning Friday and flying out early Monday morning.  I may be a tad late giving updates to the back half of the tournament as I focus on spending time with her.  She does have a grad school interview with Louisville Presbyterian Seminary (she did get accepted into UK, if she chooses to go there) so sending her thoughts, prayers, good vibes, whatever you may have to offer!

I'll bring the beautiful girlfriend to a softball game or two for their home opening weekend, but don't count on us being there all five games.

Check back in later in the day for Paulie's updates from the first few games of the tournament.  Rumor has it he was on a date with Ms. Wuf, who came to Greensboro just for him, last night.  Bojangles was the place to be as they brought out their greasiest chicken for the happy couple.  Hopefully they'll be awake and energized enough to make it through the four games today.

Happy Thursday and Go Cards!

Jared