LOUISVILLE LACROSSE TO FACE UNC IN FIRST ROUND ACC LACROSSE ACTION.
It'll be Louisville vs. North Carolina today in the first round of the ACC Tournament. All eight teams go at it today, with the Cards and Heels taking the field at noon.
Louisville is the #8 seed in the tourney, UNC the #1 seed...so, it'd be a pretty big surprise to the world of Lacrosse and sports in general if the Cards pull off the win. They met during the regular season, back on March 18th, when UNC traveled to Louisville, faced the Cards in Cardinal Stadium and took a 19-7 win.
This time, the squads are in Chapel Hill, and UNC is still the #1 squad in the nation, sporting an unblemished 15-0 record. The Cards come in ranked #19th in the nation and are 5-10 on the season. Louisville is currently on a four game losing streak and went 1-9 in ACC regular season play, defeating Virginia Tech...the #7 seed.
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| Sweet Caroline ! |
The Cards will have Caroline Blalock on the pitch, she was named to the All-ACC Second team yesterday, and Bella Karstien received All-ACC Freshman team honors.
Louisville will need top performance from those two, plus scorers Ally Hall, Hannah Morris, Nicole Perroni, Kokoro Nakazawa and a strong effort from goal-keeper Rachel Florek and the defense, if they are to get past the TarHeels.
Good luck, Louisville Lacrosse!!
JUSTINE SOWRY PRESSER
Louisville head Field Hockey Coach Justine Sowry held a presser yesterday to talk about the Field Hockey squad playing in the NCAA Tournament and other things yesterday. Although I was unable to take part in it, due to a prior, scheduled appointment elsewhere, our Daryl Foust took part in the Microsoft Teams Q&A session.
Daryl's thoughts:
"It was cool to tune into Coach's PC today. (My co-workers also got to listen in. Ha-Ha.
I got to ask the questions we came up with and I appreciated her answers. Sowry started off her post-season media campaign with a quote I doubt a lot of others around the tournament field could mirror in "coolness" -- she mentioned that she wouldn't normally be sitting wherever she was remotely talking to us about "hockey"-- she'd be prepping for the Derby. She did not say what that meant, or whether she actually goes to Churchill Downs for the First Saturday in May or hosts the squad at her house for "the greatest two minutes of sports" -- and I didn't ask. But, she did say she's got HOT ROD CHARLIE (8-1) who will come out of the #9 gate hole winning the roses.
Sowry was very easy to listen to, she had a calmness in her voice that I imagine the team can feed off as they look ahead to their first NCAA Tournament game (Sunday, MAy 2nd against either UConn or Rider) at 3 p.m.
With as weird of a season it has been, I believe the team can find inspiration and weather whatever storm comes their way. As far as HOT ROD CHARLIE goes...be sure to check out PAULIE PICKS this Saturday to see what he thinks of the Louisiana Derby winners chances.
You can hear Sowry's remarks at the link below:
LINK: Juaatine Sowry 4/27/21
BALOGUN TO DUKE
Elizabeth Balogun entered the transfer portal on April 6th. and has decided that Duke will be her destination for the upcoming 2021-22 women's basketball season.
Balogun joins former Cardinal WBB student-athlete Nyah Green on the Blue Devils roster and will be under the direction of head coach Kara Lawson.
Balogun never really lived up to the promise that being ACC Freshman of the Year brings. At Louisville, she was hot and cold from the three-point range and never really looked totally comfortable play "Walz Ball" to me. One thought that she might step up into a leadership role after the graduation of Jones, Shook, Dunham and Diop -- but it never developed.
Her 2019-2020 numbers were 28 games played and 26 starts. She saw an average of 24.1 minutes a game, averaged 8.1 pts., and 4.6 rebounds.
Her 2020-21 numbers were 29 games played with just 16 starts. She saw an average of 19.6 minutes a game, averaged 5.8 pts., and 3.8 rebounds.
It's a good fit for Balogun. She should get the playing time she seeks. Kianna Smith emerged as a preferable choice in the lineup and Balogun's time shrunk. Her length will be missed and those occasions when she was hitting the three. But, players want what players want and, will go search for it. In Balogun's case, it's a new coach to the ACC and college basketball that has tons of playing experience. Kara Lawson is drawing some good talent because of her playing acheivements and work on ESPN and other platforms. How that will translate out into coaching should be interesting.
We wish Elizabeth the best of fortunes at Duke and hope she has a great career there -- except when the Cards face the Blue Devils.
Have a wonderful Wednesday!
paulie
If you ask me. Balogun and Green are the same kind of player. It'll be interesting to see how Lawson uses them. Wish her luck, and a great remainder of her career. Maybe it'll be like Ciera Johnson, who started here but found success elsewhere and got an WNBA invite.
ReplyDeleteCurtis "Be Kind" Franklin