Field Hockey to Final Four -- Softball Wins -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 FIELD HOCKEY SHUTS OUT UCOON TO ADVANCE TO NCAA FINAL FOUR

 

A first quarter goal by Alli Bitting proved to be the difference yesterday in College Park, PA -- as the #3 Louisville Cardinals Field Hockey team blanked the #6 UConn huskies 1-0 in NCAA Tournament "Great Eight" action. 

The Cards got the lone score off a penalty corner.  Meche Pastor fired the initial shot-on-goal, Bitting was there to chase down the deflection by the UConn goalkeeper and fire it back into the net for the Cards. 

UConn was actually out-shooting the Cards in the first half, but could not get anything by the Cardinal defense. Sam Minrath, in goalkeep for UofL, collected five saves in the win. The Cards played "a player down" for about half the final quarter when Erica Cooper was whistled for a yellow card and UofL survived three penalty corner attempts by the Huskies. 

The Huskies pulled goalkeeper Cheyenne Sprecher with about three minutes to go in the match, to try and gain an offensive edge, but the defense held their ground and it is Louisville who advances to the Final Four -- facing #2 Michigan on May 7th in Chapel Hill. 

The Wolverines knocked off Bucknell 2-0 to advance out of quarter-final action yesterday. On the other side of the bracket, #1 seed UNC took a 2-0 win over Stanford and #4 seed Iowa advanced over fellow Big 10 member Northwestern 3-1. 

Post game Louisville Field Hockey head coach Justine Sowry: 

The entire year has been a very long season  -- two seasons. We've had some highs and lows. We've had some tears and certainly some laughter and fun along the way. And to get to the point where we are, we're pretty excited and relieved. The team is excited to get another matchup against Michigan, a quality opponent. We're going to celebrate, and then get back to business tomorrow morning." 

SOFTBALL BEAT BOSTIN COLLEGE 4-1

UofL pitcher Taylor Roby gave the Cards five strong innings in the circle and Louisville plated three runs in the top of the fourth inning to win the finale of the four-game series at Boston College 4-1. 

Between Roby and Jen Leonhardt, BC managed just four hits in the seven inning UofL win. Meanwhile, the Cardinal exploded for 12 hits against the ACC foe, Maddy Newman getting three of them and Carmyn Greenwood driving in two of the four Cardinal runs. 

Louisville put a run on the board in the top of the second inning when Rebecca Chung and Celene Funke singled, Elana Ornelas came in to run for Chung, went to third on a walk to Jenna Servi and scored on a Cass Greenwood grounder, 

Louisville pushed the advantage to 4-0 in the fourth when Funke got on with a single, scored on a Servi triple and then Servi scored on another Greenwood grounder. Louisville then got single from Newman and Roby -- Newman reaching home on a Makayla Hurst double. 

The Cards (19-25-1, 13-19-1) will head to Chapel Hill to end the regular season with a series against the Tar Heels before coming home to host the ACC Softball Tournament. The Cards are currently seventh in the ACC standings -- the top 10 finishers qualify for the ACC Tournament.. 

Have a marvelous Monday! 

paulie