Lax Cruises Past Cincinnati -- ACC Pick Em -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 Lacrosse Cruises Past Cincinnati

It was an easy day for the Louisville lacrosse team as they had no trouble dismantling Cincinnati 13-5.

Louisville, who is ranked #25 in the latest poll, improves to 2-1 on the year. They also improve their record against the Bearcats to 14-0 all-time dating back to when UofL formed a team in 2008.

"I'm really happy with the win. I thought our defense played lights out, but on offense we have some things we need to improve on," said Coach Scott Teeter. "Rachel Florek was a rock in net for us again, which gave us the opportunity to get the win."

Florek recorded 15 saves on the day, just two shy of her career-high and program record which she set against Michigan and Virginia Tech last year. The senior keeper is up to 38 saves on the year.

The record number of saves in a season is 194, set by Brittany Read in 2017. Florek's average of 9.33 saves per game would put her at 140 on the year, assuming the Cards play every game scheduled. 140 would put her fourth in a season.

Her 246 career saves are already fourth in program history. The record is held by Read, who recorded a whopping 323 goals in her career. She is currently on pace to top that.

Hannah Morris recorded a hat trick to power the offense. She is tied for second on the team with six this season  Louisville was quick to put a number on the scoreboard. Bella Karstein found the back of the net just 40 seconds in for her first of two goals on the day. It was part of a 5-0 run over the first 12:10 of the match.

The Bearcats scored their first goal on an unassisted shot with 4:17 remaining in the first half, but the Cards held the 5-1 advantage when the clock went to 00:00.

The second half broight more of a see-saw scoring as the first six goals were traded off between the Cards and Bearcats with Louisville starting the scoring 89 seconds into the half. Cincinnati cut the Louisville lead to just three with 14:27 remaining in the match. Scott Teeter got a time out, a play was set, it worked and the Cards answered by closing out the match the same way they started it- a 5-0 run.

In all, eight Cards recorded a goal. Freshman Bella Karstien added two, early in the match, Caroline Blalock has two, Ally Hall was good for two. Freshman Kokoro Nakazawa got her first collegiate score, Allegra Catalano, Paige Richbourg and Kylea Dobson all had a goal each as well. 

Louisville won the draw control battle 10-9, but got beat on the ground balls 25-20. 

Paulie continues to have interference problems with his laptop, so he conducted the post-game interview with Teeter and Hannah Morris via cell phone. We'll see if it gets posted. 

The Cards head to #9 Virginia on Saturday to start a three-game road trip. They return home for a Thursday night game under the lights on March 18.

ACC Tournament Pick Em

Don't forget to submit your bracket if you have not already done so. The ACC Tournament begins Wednesday at 2:00 p.m., so if your bracket hasn't been submitted by then it will not count.

Options of entry include posting in the comments section or emailing us at either eupherjared@gmail.com or cardinalcouple@twc.com.

As of  8:45 p.m. yesterday I have 10 entries: Curtis, Louavulfan35, Kenneth Stark Sr, Paulie, David Watson, Joe Hill, Nick O, Vivian McAdams, Ramblin' Eric, and Kenny Schneider, in that order.

Kenny's Picks are listed below:

Wednesday: Boston College

Thursday: North Carolina, Syracuse, Virginia Tech, Notre Dame

Friday: Louisville, Florida State, North Carolina State, Notre Dame

Saturday: Louisville, North Carolina State

Sunday: Louisville

If you submitted an entry already and I did not mention it above please let me know. I don't want to miss anybody's entry, especially if you end up being the winner!

I haven't finished my studying and research but will add mine to today's comments section later on. The rest of the Cardinal Couple Crew in Worldwide, Case, Daryl, and Sonya will also have their picks ready by Wednesday.

As a reminder with the scoring, it is one point for every correct pick, Wins in later rounds do not count for extra points. The maximum number of possible points is 12.

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared