MEMORIAL DAY -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 ALL GAVE SOME --SOME GAVE ALL

As we go into Memorial Day 2021, the holiday has become a day of travel, of barbecues, shopping sales, a day off for many and the advent of the summer months in the United States. All these things are well, fine and good....but we must never lose the recognition and rememberance of what the day was originally started for.

Memorial Day is a day to remember those who have fallen in the line of battle while serving our nation as a member of the Armed Forces. It's also a day to remember and give thanks for the families of those who "gave all to keep us free from tyranny and who served to protect our country". 

For our younger generation, the terms "World War", armed aggression and military action may not mean what they did to the members of older generations and citizens. It's sometimes hard to believe that some of the fine, hard-working student-athletes on the UofL campus were not born yet when the twin towers crumbled on 9/11/01. That they didn't experience the armed conflict in Vietnam. They have not known the U.S. involvement to defeat a fascist dictator.

And, maybe that's a good thing. It's something that we can hope, pray and wish never happens again on our shores or abroad. But, it's important to remember that it did happen and there were many who gave their lives to protect out democracy and freedoms. 

Many of our UofL student-athletes have parents or relatives who have, or our still serving, in protection of our country and to protect our way of life. It's not an easy thing to say that you are willing to put your life on the line to protect your neighbors and friends. 

Keep the importance of what Memorial Day truly means as you go through your activities today. Think of those who took an oath to protect these shores, our way of life and the freedoms we have that don't exist in other parts of this earth. Thank your parents, grandparents, relatives and friends of the family for what they sacrificed. 

I know, it's far from a perfect society, nation and world today. Violence in the streets, emerging from a deadly world-wide pandemic and crimes of hate against various ethnic and targeted groups. We can only hope for,  work for and strive for a day where these things do not exist. While we do that, also please keep in mind those who came before who gave us a society here where we have the rights to speak out about things we don't agree with, things that need change and things that are unjust, discriminatory and prejudice. 

And remember, some gave all for the freedoms that exist today. Ours is not a perfect world and many changes still must occur, but we do have many rights and privileges that some people in other countries and areas do not have. Those didn't "just happen", there were people who fought for, and some who ultimately died, to secure those for you. Let's honor those who did and those families they left behind.

Be thankful for what you've got. Sometimes it may not be a lot, but human will, the desire to succeed, flourish and grow have motivated many a man and women in this land of ours. Go get what you want...and lend a helping hand to those who have the same dreams as you but may need a helping hand to achieve it. We've come a long way, but, we still have a long way to go. 

I leave you today wishing you the best of everything. You are important and you are valued. Enjoy this great, old song about thankfulness. Remember those who have earned the right to be "thanked."  

William DeVaughn (Be Thankful For You've Got)

LINK:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_N03w0jmdK8

Have a memorial Monday,

paulie

Cards In The Pros - Sunday Cardinal Couple

 NY Liberty Lose in OT

Kylee Shook was back in the starting lineup for the NY Liberty yesterday, and made two baskets, including a three pointer, but the Liberty would go on to the lose the game in overtime, 90-87.

Even had the Liberty won this game, film sessions on it would be filled with lessons learned on what not to do.  The Liberty came out flat, and were plagued with turnovers early.  They did get it in gear and turned the ship around by the end of the game.  The turnovers ended up almost even with the Atlanta Dream 20-17 by the end of the game.

In addition to the pair of baskets, Shook also contributed a trio of both rebounds, and assist.  She had a big blocked shot towards the end of the game, but with little rebounding help under the basket Elizabeth Williams was able to get a second, and third attempt, and the third time was the charm.

Jaz Jones saw the floor for about 13 minutes of playing time, got a bucket and a pair of free throws, though if you go back and watch the highlights you see plenty of her celebrating her teammates' success on the sidelines as the camera kept returning to her.  This, of course, comes as no surprise to anyone who saw her antics at UofL.  She did draw lots of commentary from the broadcast crew, and with good reason.  Her aggressive lock-down defense was in full effect and she pulled down four rebounds, again a stat that we know she can excel in with her quickness and leaping ability.

After a hot start of the season, it's disappointing to see the Liberty drop this one.  Sabrina Ionescu had an off performance, with only two field goals, though some credit must go to the Atlanta Dream as they consistently swamped her with double-teams.

The big performers for the Liberty were the rookie Michaela Onyewere, with ten buckets and six of them from beyond the arc; and Sami Whitcomb, who dropped six buckets with five of them being threes.  Whitcomb was also extremely active on defense getting four steals from the Dream.

Dana Evans will be in action with the Dallas Wings Tuesday evening.  You can catch this one on ESPN3 streaming, and Shook and Jones with the Liberty will play again Thursday evening on YES network with extremely limited alternative streaming options.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

The CCRHP was back in action again yesterday as well, and we had the return of the Cardinal Couple Quiz!  Jared got the win over me in this one.  Case is off doing who knows what and Daryl had a conflicting appointment so couldn't join either.

We pretty much put a bow on the UofL sports year, wrapping up coverage of Lauren Hartlage in the NCAA Championship.  We then went on to talk about the WNBA a bit, we looked forward to the announced UofL vs UConn matchup in the fall.  We also took a few minutes to highlight Meghan Schneider's contributions as she was named a finalist for the Honda Award for Field Hockey.

See how you do against Paulie's challenging quiz below!

A Short News Day -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 Hartlage Named All-American

Despite a final couple of rounds she might like to have back in the NCAA Tournament, Lauren Hartlage had a fantastic season. Her 12th place finish at the tournament was the sixth best by a Cardinal all-time and her accolades for the season continue to come in. This week, she was named a second-team All-American by the Women's Golf Coaches Association. Second-team honors are tied for the highest honor a Cardinal has ever achieved, first set by Cindy LaCrosse in 2009. The honors are also the highest of Hartlage's career, though she has been named as an honorable mention All-American three times before. 

Hartlage's career was one of the best at UofL. Per GoCards, she's the fourth Cardinal to be named to an All-Conference team four times. She's also the first Cardinal to average below par for a season. Her final season average of 72.05 strokes gave her the UofL program record for career average at 72.53, just a half stroke over par for her entire career. She also earned the school's best ACC tournament finish this year.

As a fifth-year senior, this is likely it for Lauren Hartlage in a Louisville uniform, but she is poised for success in her post-college career. Already she has been invited to the 2021 Augusta Women's Amateur, and I doubt it will be long before she makes her way to the LPGA. Congrats to Lauren and good luck going forward!

MHA Earns Double-Double in Loss

Myisha Hines-Allen didn't earn the nickname Dooblay while she was at UofL for nothing. Despite a rocky start to her pro career, MHA has now settled in with the Washington Mystics, especially in the continued absence of Elena Delle Donne. Despite carrying a one-point lead into the fourth quarter last night against the Connecticut Sun, the Mystics were unable to close out and ultimately lost 86-81. The team struggled from the field, shooting just 39.4% from the floor collectively. Hines-Allen certainly didn't help, shooting just 3-14 from the field in her 33 minutes. Despite the cold field goal percentage, she still managed to add five free throws to her six floor points to finish with 11, the fourth highest total on the team. She also added ten rebounds for a double-double and turned in three assists. Her +3 was the highest +/- on the team and she played the fourth most minutes.

The Mystics are struggling so far this year, as they're off to a 2-4 start, but they are still working to integrate all of their pieces into the lineup. We'll see how they continue to get on as the season progresses, and we'll keep an eye on MHA and other Cardinals around the league throughout the summer.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

The Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast returns this week after a scattered week off last week. I'll still be out (my hiatus is nearly over), but the rest of the crew should be on board for the first true summer episode of the show. It may be quiz time, though it still may not, and you'll just have to tune in for yourself to find out. Check out the Cardinal Couple YouTube Channel at 11AM for the live show or catch the recording any time after that. If you're looking for the podcast, I apologize. It will for sure return when I do, and we'll work to do a better job after that of keeping it on track when I'm out.

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-

CARDS WBB vs. UCONN in Hall of Fame WBB event. -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 CARDS VS HUSKIES ON DEC. 19th AT MOHEGAN SUN 

(NOTE:  FRIDAYS WITH DARYL will have to wait until next week, as I got a text message this morning from her -- outlining her "sunup to past sundown" work day Thursday and the same for today. The good thing about Cardinal Couple is that we cover for each other when things come up. So, I head to the plate as a pinch-hitter this morning to bring you the Friday write-up. As fate would have it, we have women's basketball news this Friday -- a rarity in late May. Batter up !) 

--paulie-- 

GENO AND JEFF:  ROUND 19

Jeff Walz and Geno Auriemma have faced each other 18 times since Jeff Walz took over the Cardinals program in the 2007-08 season. They renew the rivalry for the 2021-22 season after the game was cancelled in 2020-21 because of the pandemic. Geno is one of the few active  college women's basketball coaches out there in NCAA DI women's hoops that has a winning record over Walz. Why ruin a perfectly good Friday by re-hashing the entire series, let's just say that the Cards and Huskies are 1-1 in the last two meetings. 

The two will square off again in the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame Showcase this year at the Mohegan Sun Arena, in Uncasville CT. on Dec. 19th. The matchup is one of two games that day in the facility -- Baylor (minus Mulkey) will face Michigan, who is headed up by Kim Barnes Arico. 

Walz speaks of the event: 

"We are extremely excited to play UConn in the 2021 Women's Showcase at Mohegan Sun Arena. Our experience at Mohegan Sun last year was first class and it's an honor to participate in this Hall of Fame event. After being unable to play UConn last season as we had hoped, we are thrilled we are able to continue our rivalry." 

As you may remember, Doug Bruno gallantly offered his DePaul Blue Demon as a replacement for UConn against the Cards last year and the Cards looked most impressive in a record-setting 116-75 win in just their third game of the season. I hope "Dougie" at least got a Jerry Garcia tie out of the sacrifice. 

So, let's take a look ahead at the match-up and the possibilities that might exist. On the Cards side, they'll be in their first "AD" (after Dana) season and one would expect they'd already have a few games already under their belt before this match-up. They add a strong nucleus of Payton Verhulst, Sydni Schetnan, Emily Engstler and Chelsie Hall to a squad that'll have Kianna Smith, Liz Dixon, Hailey Van Lith, Ahlana Smith, Olivia Cochran, Kasa Robinson. Norika Konno, Merissah Russell and Ramani Parker returning. A squad that went 26-4 (14-2 in the ACC) before running into eventual champion Stanford in the "Great Eight" of the NCAA Tournament

Over on the Huskies side of the court, Geno brings in frosh standouts Saylor Poffenbarger, Carolina Ducharme, Azzi Fudd and Amarie DeBerr -- along with grad-transfer Dora Juhasz to join a lineup that returns Aaliyah Edwards, Paige Bueckers, Christyn Williams, Olivia Nelson-Odoba, Aubrey Griffin, Evina Westbrook and more. The Huskies went 28-2 in the 2020-21 season, before getting upset by Arizona in the NCAA Final Four. 

What say you, Geno? 

"We're always excited to have the opportunity to play at Mohegan Sun. The Basketball Hall of Fame has put together another exciting Women's Showcase this season. Our fans didn't have the opportunity to see this team in person last season, so I think it will a great experience for them and the players." 

It's noticeable that Geno didn't mention who the Huskies were playing. The first salvo has been fired across the bow...

We'll give Geno a little leeway, though, he has been busy blasting the transfer portal. 

Obviously, it is way too early to predict just where the Cards and Huskies will be ranked when the game comes around. It's also a Sunday game in the middle of college bowl season and pro football, so it'll be interesting to see what time it is played and which network will pick up the double-header. No info on tickets yet, but, we have about six months yet -- so let's let the cake bake a bit first before we get the folks and plates out, right? 

Nevertheless, it's another sign that things are slowly starting to return to pre-COVID normalcy in women's college basketball. Let's hope the trajectory stays uplifting and promising. 

Have a fun Friday!

paulie

Season Review: Soccer -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 Season Review: Soccer

We find ourselves back to reviewing UofL sports seasons. Today, we will take a look at women's soccer, another team that split their season between the fall and spring.

A solid start to the season quickly turned sour and the spring ended about as disappointing as possible with the final two matches of the season cancelled.

The fall season consisted of eight regular season matches against ACC opponents and then the ACC tournament. The spring season was set to be a non-conference schedule.

Louisville opened the season with a 3-0 win at Miami with Emina Ekic and Delaney Snyder doing all the scoring against the Hurricanes. The Cards remained in the Sunshine State where they fell to eventual National Runner-Up Florida State.

The Cards game home for a two-game homestand. UofL defeated Syracuse 3-0 as the Ekic-Snyder duo contributed to a majority of the scoring once again with Jessica De Filippo scoring the other goal. Boston College visited Dr Mark and Cindy Lynn Stadium next with the Cards taking the win 2-0. Ekic scored her fifth goal on the year and Taylor Kerwin recorded her first with the assist credited to both Ekic and Snyder.

Another road trip was next for Karen Ferguson Dayes' squad. It started with a 2-0 loss to Final Four contender Virginia, who did all their damage in the first half. They then went across the state to down Virginia Tech 1-0 with Morgan Bentley getting her first goal on the season.

Louisville came home to wrap up the regular season with a pair of matches. Notre Dame would take the first match 1-0. The regular season finale saw Louisville host Final Four contender North Carolina. It was Ekic who would put the Cards up early in the second half in the pouring down rain before the Tar Heels with three goals over the next 30 minutes to get the win.

At 4-4, Louisville earned the #6-seed in the ACC Tournament and saw a rematch with the Wahoos. Diana Ordonez would post a hat trick as Virginia would cruise to a 4-1 win. You can take a guess on who scored the Cards' goal- her seventh and final of the season.

We saw the spring season begin in early March with the Cards hosting Dayton and winning 1-0 on a Maisie Whitsett goal. Auburn came to town next and would go on to take a 1-0 in sudden death double overtime.

What would eventually be the final match of the season, Louisville traveled to Bowling Green. WKU relied on a goal 93 seconds into the match to get the win.

Matches scheduled against Tennessee and Wake Forest would get cancelled due to various reasons.

Louisville would end the year with a 5-7 record and a 4-4 mark in the ACC. One year after an impressive 13-5-2 mark, Louisville showed signs of struggling and a frustrating ending.

The Cards would end up getting outscored by just one, 13-12 on the year. Ekic led the way with seven goals and three assists. Snyder would be one of five Cards to score one goal this season but led the team with four assists.

Only three of the six scorers are set to return next season. Taylor Kerwin graduated after the spring semester. Jessica De Filippo transferred out after the fall season. Emina Ekic entered the NWSL Draft after the fall season and was drafted in the first round by Racing Louisville FC, where she has put on a show. Louisville is bleeding profusely on offense for next year. You cannot replace Ekic with any single player. Snyder looks to take the lead but needs a second and third scorer. Corinne Dente was a hopeful candidate but is still in recovery mode from a torn ACL. We may see Whitsett convert back to a forward or possibly Emma Hiscock steps up after a promising freshman outing.

Defensively, Sarah Hernandez is set to return as a centerback and power the back line. Gabby Kouzelos is expected to return for another season in goal. Kouzelos recorded 53 saves on 66 attempts for an incredible .803 save percentage. Louisville is set on defense for the fall 2021 season.

We quickly approach a holiday weekend with Memorial Day on Monday. Daryl returns back to her Friday column tomorrow and we should be back on our Cardinal Couple Radio Hour this Saturday.

Happy Thursday and Go Cards!

Jared

Meghan Schneider Field Hockey Finalist for Honda Sport Award -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 SENIOR MEGHAN SCHNEIDER SELECTED FOR SPORTS AWARD

If you followed Louisville Field Hockey in the 2020-21 season, you'll well remember the Cards sparkling 14-6, NCAA Final Four appearance, a first in Louisville Field Hockey history, You might also remember that the Cards were very stingy in surrendering goals. Out of those 20 games, Louisville recorded four shutouts and allowed just one goal in 10 matches. 

A big part of Louisville's defensive success came from the stick of senior defender Meghan Schneider.  The elder sister on the UofL squad (her younger sister Katie is a redshirt sophomore forward) from San Diego, CA started all 20 games for Louisville and was one of the key components in allowing opponents just 1.2 goals per contest. 

Her defensive efforts have been recognized by a panel of coaches and those in the know from the National Field Hockey Coaches Association.(NFHCA)/ They are the ones who come up with the Honda Sport Award each year for the ttop women athletes in Field Hockey -- an award that is also presented in 11 other NCAA sanctioned sports. It is "the best of the best" and the finalist in each category becomes a candidate for Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year and the Honda Cup. 

Consider that Meghan also had to work with two different goalkeepers during the 2020-21 split Field Hockey season. Hollyn Barr was in goal keep for the fall 2020 season, opted out for the spring, and Sam Minrath tended goal. 

Meghan is the third Cardinals Field Hockey student-athlete to be named as a finalist. Last season, Mercedes Pastor got the call and back in the 2005-06 season Jessica Javelet was on e of the four named to the finalist list. 

For this season, Schneider is joined by UConn's Sophie Hamilton, North Carolina's Erin Matson and Stanford's Corinne Zanolli as finalists. Matson won the 2019-20 award. In the women's basketball division for the award, Cards fan might also remember that Cards  Dana Evans was a finalist in the 2019-20 Honda Award for Women's Basketball. Sabrina Ionescu was the award winner. 

Schneider has also been named to the NFHCA DI Senior Team. She earned the Elite 90 Award for the 2020=-21 NCAA DI Field Hockey Championship -- which means her GPA of 4.0 was the highest of all the participating semi-finals teams student athletes. 

Meghan was a co-captain of the UofL squad last season and earned NFHCA All-West Second Team honors in 2019. She's been a three-year starter for Louisville and was a huge part of the successes that former Cardinals great Ayeshia McFerran (2015-18) had at Louisville. 

Off the pitch, Meghan Schneider is a biology major who has plans to attend medical school once her undergraduate days are over. 

Back in the days when media member could actually sit down and do interviews face-to-face with Cardinals coaches and student-athletes, I remember interviewing Ayeshia McFerran. She contributed a lot of her success at goalkeep to the strong defensive line in front of her during matches. Meghan was a part of that defensive back line back then, with standouts Carter Ayars, Taylor Stone and Maria Gomez.

Defending the opposing squad's forwards and keeping them from getting shots on goal is a huge part of the Field Hockey game and "d-backs" also get the ball to their own forwards to initiate the attack. Because of the low-scoring nature of Field Hockey, just one goal can prove to be a huge difference in the outcome of a contest. If you can "keep the goalkeeper clean" and limit an opponents' offensive attack, it creates more opportunities for your attack. 

Meghan Schneider has been exemplary at reversing the course of the ball during her time at Louisville and it has translated to a 57-24 (.700) win percentage for Louisville Field Hockey since she came to campus.   

A huge CARDINAL COUPLE CONGRATULATIONS to Meghan for making a difference on and off the pitch for Louisville Athletics!!

Have a wonderful Wednesday! 

paulie

WTen Season Ends -- WNBA -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

We had a pair of Cards in action yesterday and some former Cards that played in the evening so we take a break from reviewing the different seasons to look at what went on throughout the day.

Women's Tennis Falls in NCAA Tournament

The Cardinals #13 ranked duo Raven Neely and Tatiana Simova fell to Florida's #7 ranked McCartney Kessler and Marlee Zein 6-1, 6-3 in the opening round of the NCAA Women's Doubles Championships.

Florida started hot in the opening set by racing out to a 5-0 lead before the Cards mustered up a point. Florida would go on to take the next point to claim the set.

The second set looked promising as the two foes traded points on service with Louisville going up 3-2. The Gators would go on to take the next four points and breaking the Cards twice to claim the win.

Louisville's pair of Neely and Simova finished the year 11-6 and was the first UofL doubles team to qualify for the NCAA Championships since 2015.

WNBA

We saw a trio of former Cards playing last night in the WNBA. The Dallas Wings traveled east to take on the New York Liberty last night. The game ended up being live-streamed for free on the WNBA twitter account. The Liberty improved to 4-1 with an 88-81 win while the Wings dropped to 1-2.

Dana Evans came off the bench for the Wings and saw nine minutes. She missed a three-pointer while committing one turnover and one foul.

Kylee Shook and Jazmine Jones both started on the bench but saw valuable minutes on the floor. Shook dropped two points with three rebounds, one assist, and two fouls on 13 minutes. Jones played 18 minutes and had five points, three rebounds, one assist, and one steal to go along with a turnover and three fouls.

Tonight, the Washington Mystics will visit the Indiana Fever at 7:00 p.m. I do not think Myisha Hines-Allen is back with the Mystics yet. She has been playing in Europe this spring. 

On Thursday, the Dallas Wings will visit the Atlanta Dream, so we get to see Dana play for the second time this week.

LAUREN HARTLAGE

University of Louisville senior Lauren Hartlage golfing days in college came to an impressive conclusion with a 12th-place finish at the NCAA Championship at the Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz., on Monday.

The senior, who was in contention after the second round, finished the tournament at 1-over-par, carding 73-68-75-73=289 to end as the fourth-best individual in the tournament.

We look forward to see how her career progress as she moves on to the pros ! 

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

Hartlage third round action -- Liberty face Wings tonight -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 LAUREN HARTLAGE AT EVEN PAR FOR NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS 

The golfing continues in Arizona for the collegiate NCAA Championships today, as the participants enter their fourth round of play. University of Louisville golfer Lauren Hartlage fired a 75 Sunday to slip out of a tie for second and slide into a tie for 10th after 54 holes. 

Hartlage remains as the participant with the best score for golfers not playing for the team title, but as individuals... with an even par 216 after the third round. The Stanford golfers had the right answer for the Grayhawk Golf Club course in Scottsdale, AZ....three of their team participants were on fire with Rachel Heck putting up a 70 to go to -10 under for the 54 holes, Angelina Ye carding an eye-popping 65 for Sunday to move to -5 for the event and Brooke Seay firing a 68 Sunday to go to -1 under. 

Hartlage began well Sunday with a birdie on the first hole, a par 4, and stayed at -1 under until the eighth hole, where she recorded a bogey on the par 3. She finished the first nine with an even par 36. 

The final nine was a bit more turbulent for the Elizabethtown, KY graduate student. It began well with a birdie on the par 4, Hole 10 and she stayed at -1 under until a bogey on the par 3 13th hole. Lauren recovered to fire a birdie on the par 4 -14th hole. 

The final four holes were a roller coaster ride for Hartlage. She fired a par on 15, a par 4, but produced a double bogey 5 on the par 3 - 16th hole. Holes 17 and 18 were bogeys for Hartlage for the final round score of 75.   

She takes to the links at 12:33 today (Mountain Time Zone) 

In team competition, Stanford has run away and hid from the rest of the field with an impressive -18 par after three days.  ACC member Duke is in second, 20 strokes back at +2 for the 54 holes. The Blue Devils are one of three ACC schools in the top ten team competition -- Wake Forest is in seventh place with a +16 and FSU stands in eighth place with a +17 mark after three days. The PAC 12 also has Arizona State, Arizona and Oregon in the top 10 and the SEC is represented by Ole Miss. The Big 12 is doing pretty well with 3rd place Okla. St and 4th place Texas. 

Here's hoping Lauren can solve the mysteries of the Par 3's in Scottsdale and finish strong in Day 4. 

DALLAS COMES TO BROOKLYN TONIGHT

The Dallas Wings bring their game to the New York Liberty in the (Brooklyn) Barclays Center tonight -- meaning we get a matchup of former Cards Dana Evans (Dallas)  against Jazmine Jones and Kylee Shook.

The trio aren't a major factor in either lineup, so far, in the early season WNBA contests  

Yesterday, New York downed the Chicago Sky 93-85 to improve to 4-1. It was the Betnijah Laney (20 points) and Sabrina Ionescu (19 points) show for the Libs  -- who broke open a halftime 52-52 tie to outscore the Sy 41-33 in the second half. Kylee Shook produced five points and six rebounds in 18 minutes for New York and Jaz Jones added three points and three grabs in ten minutes.

Dallas sits at 1-1 after an overtime 100-97 loss to Seattle on Saturday. It continues to be the combination of Arike Ogumbowale (28 points) and Marina Mabrey (26 points) piloting the Wings...Dana Evans got seven minutes Saturday and contributed five points, after seeing two minutes in the season opener for Dallas against the LA Sparks. 

Sadly, viewing options for this one tonight consist of just a broadcast on the YES Network, which is a "pay" network that primarily covers New York City professional sports squads. It's also on FUBO, if you have that. I have neither.

I can't figure out, after due deliberation in this senile brain, why aren't these WNBA games aren't getting more ESPN or another readily available sport network coverage? The WNBA is a popular, resurgent and growing-in-popularity professional sport and one would think it would draw more viewers than cornhole contest or the Monaco Grand Prix Formula One racing...but I'm looking at it through a basketball junkie's viewpoint. 

I'm no network executive, though, so take the rant for what it's worth.

Nevertheless, let's hope Dana has a good game but the Libs continue their winning ways and Kylee and Jaz have big nights !! 

Have a marvelous Monday!

paulie

Lauren Hartlage -- Olivia Cochran -- SUNDAY CAARDINAL COUPLE

 Lauren Hartlage

Lauren Hartlage had a late day surge to move into a tie for second in the NCAA Golf Championships in Scottsdale Arizona.

In the first round, on Friday, Hartlage shot a one over par at the Grayhawk Golf Club, which was good for 19th place after the round.  The senior lit the course on fire with a round of four under to move into a tie for second.

Hartlage started play on the 10th hole recording pars on every hole until she circled all the way around to the fourth hole.  With birdies on holes four, five, seven, and eight, she recorded the third best round of the day at four under.  She is still five strokes behind Rachel Heck of Stanford in first place, but there are still two rounds to play.

After today's third round, the top 15 teams, and the top nine individuals not on an advancing team will play the final round on Monday.  Hartlage has obviously placed herself in a position to reach Monday's play and take a shot at the individual championship. We wish her smoothing putting and long drives ! 

Olivia Cochran

Olivia Cochran was selected to play in the USA Women's National 3x3 Team training camp.

Featuring a game roster of Stefanie Dolson, Allisha Gray, Kelsey Plum, and Katie Lou Samuelson, the team is competing in Voiron, France at the Big 12 International Tournament.  This tournament will wrap up play today.

After this, the team will move on to Graz, Austria to compete in the FIBA 3x3 Olympic Qualifying Tournament.  Three teams at the OQT will get berths in the Tokyo Olympics.  Four other teams have already qualified based on points totals from previous FIBA competitions, and the eighth and final Olympic Berth will go to the winner of the FIBA 3x3 Universality Qualifying Tournament which will have six teams competing from countries that did not have a basketball team in the 2012, or 2016 Olympics.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

The CCRHP took a break yesterday.  Daryl was avoiding pushing any buttons on vacation, Jared was going to have to leave early to make it to a event to push his camera buttons, Case was off doing...I'm not sure what, exactly, and Paulie apparently had a rough travel day Friday.

We should be back next week better than ever.  Will we see the return of the quiz next week?  It's about time for it.

JMcA

Cards in the Pros -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Dilfer and Stevenson on USA Roster

While not quite the professional ranks, Tori Dilfer and Anna Stevenson are set to advance their careers and abilities when they join the USA Collegiate National Team for training this summer. The two were announced yesterday to be part of the 29-player roster that will train in Anaheim from June 13-18. No matches are announced, but the opportunity to compete against and train with the best of their peers for a week is sure to be an experience they will cherish. A few familiar names also on the roster are Kayla Lund from Pitt and Maddy Skinner and Alli Stumler from UK. We'll have more on this story as the event approaches.

Ekic Propels Racing Louisville to First Club Victory

It took the NWSL's newest team quite some time to break through in the W column. RLFC played through the entire challenge cup without a win, going 0-2-2 in that event, scoring a pair of goals in two games and being shut out in the other two. They didn't advance out of group play in that event, but did get quite a bit of important experience as a team prior to opening their first regular season. The regular season got underway last week, with Racing going the full 90 locked in a scoreless draw against Kansas City. A draw isn't the worst way to start the season but they were still looking for that first victory.

It was a wait that ended last night. Racing welcomed the Washington Spirit to town last night on a beautiful evening for soccer and gave the fans in the stands plenty to cheer about. The hometown team was on the back foot for the majority of the game, as Washington finished with 29 total shots, ten on target, and had 61% of the possession. Michelle Betos was plenty active in goal, ending with a hard-earned clean sheet. Louisville took their chances on the counter attack, and it was in the second half that they came away with something. 

Emina Ekic took control of the ball swinging around the right side of the pitch. When the ball stepped away from her, a Washington defender's attempt to clear caught Ekic on the arm. Because she wasn't extending her arm, it was considered part of the body, which put the ball at her feet. From there, Emina did what we saw plenty of times throughout her time at UofL. She worked the ball to her left foot just inside the top of the box and fired one to the upper left of the goal. It was the first goal of her professional career and put Racing on top in the 76th minute. 

Washington wasn't going to go away after just one goal, so it was key for Louisville to keep the pressure on. Just five minutes later, another counter attack paid off. This time, we saw Ekic carry the ball up from midfield with pace as Racing pushed from the back. She sent a long pass up the middle to CeCe Kizer who took control just outside the box and used two touches to set up her one-on-one shot against the Washington keeper. Her shot found the side netting and Louisville led 2-0. 

It wasn't over yet, as Louisville still needed plenty of effort from Betos and the defenders over the final 15 minutes of play (plenty of stoppage time) to keep Washington out of the net. Despite the Spirit's greatest efforts, Louisville was able to see it through to the final whistle, winning 2-0 while facing a 29-7 final shot deficit. Racing Louisville will be back in action with their first road game of the true season next week. When they take the field, they'll do so tied for third at worst, as just two teams can sit on six points. 

Mystics End Liberty's Undefeated Start

We didn't get to see the Louisville matchup quite yet, as Myisha Hines-Allen remains "temporarily suspended" from the Mystics roster due to overseas obligations. MHA could have returned as early as last night, but remains with her French team until an expected return tomorrow. As such, we didn't get Shook vs MHA in last night's game, but the Mystics didn't need MHA or Elena Della Donne to completely house the Liberty 101-72. That 29-point difference was made up completely in the first and fourth quarters as the Mystics shot 47% from the field and 51% from three on the night. 

Kylee Shook started for the Liberty and had one of the better games for the team that was thumped. She played 22 minutes and finished 5-7 from the floor giving her 11 points to go along with two rebounds, three assists, and a block. She finished with a +/- of -9, the second best mark for any Liberty player that was on the floor for more than ten minutes.

Jaz Jones had a bit of the opposite game. She came off the bench and played 24 minutes. In that time she took just five shots, making one. She finished with three points, one rebound, three assists, a steal, and a block. She was -28 on the floor, the worst on the team. It was a night to forget for the entire Liberty team, as their undefeated start came to an end while the Mystics finally got their first win of the season. The Mystics are back in action tomorrow at 1PM, when MHA may make her first appearance, and the Liberty get a chance to get back on track tomorrow at the same time.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

We're off again this week as our schedules are all over the place. I'm due to return to the pod eventually, but it wasn't going to be this week. As the Louisville spring seasons come to a close, we're nearing quiz season. As such, make sure that you're brushed up on your Louisville trivia so that you can participate in our weekly fun. The show should return next week, but keep an eye out on this page for more details.

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-

Season Review: Field Hockey -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

We take a week off from "Friday's with Daryl" as Daryl is enjoying a well-deserved vacation right now. Besides being a regular writer and radio show participant, Daryl also balances several jobs that include working in the ACC Network studio on campus and running the camera crew at Louisville Bats' games. She's also one heck of a fantasy football player, which she hopes to win another title this season. She also celebrated her birthday earlier this week right about the same time Celene Funke (softball) and Shayla Scanlan (lacrosse) celebrated theirs.

Her regularly scheduled Friday report should resume next week, but for now we hope Daryl enjoys her vacation. Daryl, if you're out there celebrating by drinking I'll take a rum and coke!

Season Review: Field Hockey

We can go ahead and look at another team whose season wrapped up recently.  This team had arguably the most success this season. We look no further than field hockey.

Justine Sowry's squad achieved several accomplishments in the dual season. They reached the #2 ranking, which is the highest in school history and they advanced to the program's first ever Final Four and were one lucky shot away from going to the championship. Personally, I think the Cards should get credit for a #1 ranking after their upset against North Carolina back in the fall, but there were no polls for the fall season.

Louisville finished the season with a 14-6 record and officially had a 3-3 conference record. They went 11-5 against ACC schools, but not all were considered conference games.

The fall season started out hot with back-to-back wins against Duke, outscoring the Blue Devils 6-1 in those two matches. It was followed by a 3-1 upset against North Carolina and capped off with a 2-1 revenge win against Boston College. The Cards would go on to win three more before falling to Syracuse by one goal in the fall regular season finale. The Cards cruised by Virginia in the ACC semifinals before falling to North Carolina in the conference title game.

They opened the spring season against UNC, which turned into a loss too. They would go on to win the next three matches by a combined score of 9-2 before trading off on wins and losses the rest of the regular season.

Louisville earned the 3-seed in the NCAA Tournament and received a first round bye. In the NCAA Quarterfinals the Cards topped UConn 1-0, relying on a goal in the first quarter.

2-seed Michigan squared up against Louisville in the NCAA Semifinals and it was a battle. After a scoreless first half, the Wolverines got on the board in the third quarter. We saw all sorts of different colored cards get thrown at players from both teams in the second half (did you know there was a 10-minute penalty?!) before Louisville capitalized on a corner with 1:18 remaining in regulation to send the game to overtime. The two foes played a pair of empty sudden victory overtime periods and proceeded to a shootout. Even the normal five-person shootout wasn't enough as it was not until a sixth person that Michigan rushed the field as they advanced to the national championship.

Coach Sowry mentioned the most difficult part for her team was adjusting to the roster changes between the fall and spring seasons. Quite a few players retired after the fall as their education and life opportunities took them elsewhere and a player or two transferred out of the program.

Louisville outscored opponents 47-27 on the year and even posted three five-goal performances. They were shutout only twice with both of those being on the road against ranked ACC opponents. The 2.35 goals per game was quite a feat and ranked 15th in the country while the 1.35 goals allowed per game was a compliment to a stellar defense and goalkeeping situation.

Mercedes "Mechi" Pastor proved to everyone once again why she should be in the running for the best player in collegiate field hockey. The senior, who was not recognized on Senior Day (potential foreshadowing for next season perhaps?), scored 13 goals and added six assists for an impressive 32 points. Players are credited two points per goal and one point per assist.

Aimee Plumb and Katie Schneider each scored six goals while three more scored four. A total of 11 players recorded a goal and 14 recorded an assist.

In the cage, Hollyn Barr took the fall duties and Sam Minrath took over the duties in the spring. Barr allowed 13 goals over 10 games while Minrath surrendered 11 goals over 11 games.

Our goalkeepers had plenty of support in the backfield. Meghan Schneider was a force to be reckoned in the back and was often the last line of defense before opponents came face-to-face with the keepers. She had plenty of help as Alli Bitting remained rock solid in the back and India Reed made a name for herself on defense.

Like lacrosse, field hockey plays in the undisputed top conference in the country. Having to face a team like North Carolina three times in 20 games is a difficult task. An eye-popping stat is that 19 of the 20 total games the Cards played were against ranked opponents with Ball State being the odd one out. Nine of the games were against teams in the top 10, where they went 5-4. Three of those four losses came against the #1 and #2 teams.

Corners and set pieces seemed to be the toughest issue for Louisville this year as they had 133 penalty corners and converted on less than 15% of them. Get that percentage up to at least 25% and the Cards could have added another four wins this year.

The squad has plenty of talent returning in players like Sam Minrath, Charlie van Oirschot, Aimee Plumb, Emilia Kaczmarczyk, and India Reed. We hope to see some of the seniors return but have received no confirmation on any yet.

LAUREN HARTLAGE

We also want to wish Lauren Hartlage, who starts the first day of the three-day NCAA Championships. We know she will represent UofL well and will provide updates after each day. She will tee off on the par-72 course at 8:13 a.m., MT (10:13 a.m. ET). Want to see her progress? Go to golfstat.com 

Happy Friday and Go Cards!

Jared

Season Review: Lacrosse -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 Season Review: Lacrosse

In another session of reviewing seasons for different UofL sports we sit down and take a look at UofL Lacrosse. The lax squad is still in the rebuilding stages of the program but showed signs of improvement from other recent seasons.

In Scott Teeter's fourth overall season and only his second true full school year and season, the Cards finished 5-11 on the year with a 1-9 mark in the ACC. Louisville evened earned as high of a ranking as #15 midway through the season, an accomplishment they have not seen since joining the ACC. The Cards also earned their first ever ACC victory when they took down Virginia Tech 13-9.

The Cards faced ranked opponents in 12 of their 16 games this year with seven of them being against teams in the Top Five. Louisville went 1-11 against ranked teams, but held a perfect 4-0 record against unranked opponents.

Three losses came down to two goals or less. Two of their other losses, both to Notre Dame, came down to the wire with the Irish pulling ahead down the stretch.

Louisville saw plenty of bright spots this season. One notable accomplishment was Ally Hall reaching 100 career goals with the milestone coming in her final career game with the Cards. Her career average was 1.67 goals per match.

Caroline Blalock also broke the 100 career goal mark and finished the season with 106 career goals. She added 38 assists in her career with 11 this season and holds a .395 shot percentage. Blalock has expressed interest in returning for another year. So far, nothing is confirmed.

Rachel Florek continued her impressive career at Louisville with 140 saves, ranking her second in the ACC and eighth in the NCAA. The 140 saves this season also ranks fifth best in program history. Florek is up to 348 career saves over her three years with Louisville after transferring in from Towson after her freshman year. Like Blalock, Florek has expressed interest in returning for another season.

A total of 13 different faces scored a goal with six players scoring in the double-digits. 14 different players recorded an assist. An offense spread out among several players is a good sign for a well-balanced offense.

In a few other interesting stats, Louisville committed 24 less turnovers than their opponents and only had 16 less ground balls on the year. Two-thirds of Louisville's goals were unassisted while opponents relied on unassisted goals for about 45% of their offense. Louisville was outscored 218-154 on the year, but sometimes it's tough to go up against #1 UNC twice, #3 Syracuse twice, #5 Boston College twice, and #4/6 Notre Dame twice.

The biggest focus next season should be finding a way to take down some of those top teams. Louisville got their first ACC win so we know it's possible. They got close to winning a few more. But it's the ACC and everyone is good. Conference play is typically about half the season so having a sub-.500 record will not bode well for RPI and earning a bid to the NCAA Tournament.

This graduating class came in under Louisville's old coach in the fall of their freshmen year, but Coach Teeter came in just a few months later right before the season started. Teeter is now able to bring in his own recruits, and based off what he did at Canisius and what he has done with the Canadian National Team, he knows how to bring in top talent.

I wouldn't mind seeing another night game out at Cardinal Stadium, preferably against a team that isn't North Carolina or Duke. Perhaps a team like Denver or Vanderbilt or Mercer would be better. These are all teams that made the tournament this year that Louisville has beaten in the Teeter Era. The nighttime games can draw bigger crowds and a close game or even a victory in front of a large crowd can boost support. Still, let's keep a majority of the games at the Louisville Lacrosse Stadium.

The stadium itself does need a few alterations in the next couple of years. The video board has had several technical difficulties and needs to be angled where all the fans have a clear view. There are no true bathrooms or concession stand at the lacrosse stadium, both which could be argued as a necessity. The turf field and the press box are both still in great condition and just having an entire stadium dedicated solely to lacrosse puts Louisville ahead of a majority of schools.

Continue following along as we recap many other sports in the coming days and weeks. I may ask for some assistance from our volleyball guru Worldwide and women's soccer guru Case when it comes times to review those respective seasons.

As the summer season quickly approaches we are always trying to find new content for you. If there is anything you would like us to write about please let us know. We always appreciate feedback. Many of you enjoyed our history of the different UofL sports a couple years ago. Maybe this summer we could look at explaining certain rules with different sports as we all have been baffled by a tricky rule here and there. Perhaps you'd like to hear of some of our all-time favorite players across the different sports. Please let us know!

Now, off to a nice birthday dinner for my dad tonight after work. He is a fan of Ditto's on Bardstown Rd so I assume we will head that way. Then mom's birthday and my brother's birthday all follow suit in the next two weeks. My brother chose to go a more expensive route with Ruth's Chris Steakhouse, but your 21st birthday only comes once, so drink up! Ironically, my birthday is the only one in the immediate family not in this two week time frame, but I am fortunate to enjoy many fall sports on my birthday instead.

Happy Thursday and Go Cards!

Jared