Spring Teams Split Friday -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Lacrosse Struggles Against Syracuse

For 25 minutes against the top-five Syracuse Orange, Louisville lacrosse kept things close. After that, though, it appeared a bit as if the Cards forgot there were 35 minutes of game left. Ultimately, Louisville did not score for those final 35 minutes, while Syracuse scored a quite a few more times. At the end of the day, a close game turned into a 19-5 blowout. The Cards will get another chance at the Orange on Sunday, so here's hoping for a reversal of the double-header results from the weekend against Boston College.

The game, as I mentioned, did have its positives, as the first segment was fairly close. Syracuse jumped on Louisville's defense early, as the first goal came from Megan Carney just after the two-minute mark. Louisville managed to score just a minute later, with Caroline Blalock's first goal of the day. Meaghan Tyrell would be the next on the board, as she scored her 39th and 40th goals of the season to give Syracuse a 3-1 lead. Louisville was not deterred yet, though, as Caroline Blalock scored again to pull the Cards back within one. It was Blalock's 100th career goal, but it would be the last she would score on the day. 

Syracuse went on a mini 3-1 run over the next five minutes in a strange circumstance that saw all four goals scored by Me(a)g(h)ans. Carney and Tyrell scored for the Orange while Megan Dunn scored her first goal of the season for Louisville. Trailing 6-3, Louisville again showed life by getting a pair of quick goals from Nicole Perroni and Ally Hall. If you're scoring at home, you would know those goals put it at 6-5 with 6:39 remaining in the first half. Given what I mentioned to be the final score, you can probably guess how things went from there. 

Syracuse turned it on from there, with both offense and defense getting on board. The Orange scored four over the final four minutes of the first half and outscored the Cards 9-0 in the second half. Tyrell and Carney both finished with seven goals apiece, leaving just five to be spread between the rest of the team. Rachel Florek finished with seven saves for the Cards, indicating things could have gotten even worse. 

Paulie got with Coach Teeter after the game to discuss Louisville's performance and the look ahead at the next opportunity against the Orange. The two teams will take the field at Louisville Lacrosse Stadium on Sunday at noon on the ACCNX.

Check out Teeter's postgame comments here: Teeter on Syracuse 4.16.21

Softball Takes Game One Against Duke

Taylor Roby threw a gem and got just enough help from the offense as Louisville knocked off the 21st ranked Duke Blue Devils in game one of the four game weekend set. With still three games left in the series, there is plenty of work to do, but after the disappointing end to Louisville's series last weekend, the Cards are happy to get wins wherever they can. The win pulled the Cards to just one game under .500 and they'll need every win they can to improve their standing for a potential postseason run.

Duke opened the game with a fly out but followed it with a one-out single. Kavel stole second to stand in scoring position with one out, but she would move no farther. Roby got the next batter to strike out looking and the third out came on a ground out to first base. In the bottom half, Louisville wasted no time giving Roby some run support. Carmyn Greenwood was first pitch swinging but grounded out to second base. Celene Funke showed a bit more patience and fired the third pitch she saw to straightaway center. It escaped the center fielder, and Funke put on the jets for a one-out triple. That brought Roby to the plate, and Duke chose to pitch to her. That turned out to be a mistake, as Roby shot the first pitch to short where it was mishandled. Roby reached on the error while Funke reached home easily. Duke would escape the first with no more damage, but the Cards led 1-0.

From there, Taylor Roby went to work. Including the first inning, she scattered four hits over seven innings. All four hits were singles, and none came in the same inning. She also gave up no other baserunners, walking and hitting none while Louisville played clean defense to commit no errors. Roby would also strike out five on her way to the complete game victory. She did it all on just 85 pitches. 

Louisville gave her a bit of insurance, which she ultimately wouldn't need, in the bottom of the fourth. Rebecca Chung and Cassady Greenwood opened the inning with a pair of strikeouts, but Louisville went to work with two outs. Charley Butler got started with a two-out triple. Maddy Newman stepped up and hit a ball on the ground but it was right to the third baseman. Butler was held at third, but on the play, Newman was able to reach first. The extra batter was all Louisville needed as Sydney Bickel singled to bring Butler home. Louisville led 2-0.

The two teams would score no more runs, with Duke getting two more singles and Louisville getting no more baserunners. As mentioned before, though, Roby was a stud and the two runs were all Louisville needed. The two teams will get back underway today with the first game at noon on ACCNX. Today's action will be a double header, so the Cards will have a pair of opportunities before wrapping up the series tomorrow. Jared was able to get with Coach Aprile after the win, and you can listen to her comments here: Aprile on Duke 4.16.21.

THANKS TO JARED FOR TODAY'S LAX AND SOFTBALL PHOTOS !! 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

We're back this week with plenty to talk about. We had an NCAA tournament win for volleyball and plenty of softball games, in addition to the WNBA Draft and lacrosse and field hockey. As always we'll do our best to bring you the joy and excitement of Louisville women's athletics. Tune in to the Cardinal Couple YouTube Channel at 11AM for the live show, or check out the podcast or replay after the show. Be sure to subscribe to the YouTube channel for more content as well, and subscribe to and rate the podcast to get the word out about Cardinal Couple.

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-