Louisville Lax handled by Notre Dame 18-3 -- Friday Cardinal Couple

 LAX CARDS DOWNED BY #15 IRISH IN SOUTH BEND 18-3

Not a great day for the Louisville Lacrosse squad Thursday on the Notre Dame campus. 

The Cards fell behind early 8-0 after one period to the Fighting Irish and the onslaught continued in the second quarter...as the home team took an 11-1 lead to the halftime locker room. The LaxCards lone goal came from Maggie McMahon...five minutes into second period action. 

Hayley Richards

The Cards made a switch at goal keeper to start the second half, bringing in sophomore Hayley Richards and were able to keep the Notre Dame scoring machine a bit at bay in the second half...losing the half only 7-2 to the Irish, but the defeat in the final game of the season, put the Cards at 2-8 in conference and 6-9 for the season. 

It effectively ends the 2025-26 campaign for UofL Lax, since only eight teams participate in the post season conference tournament and Louisville finished 11th out of the 13 teams that play ACC WLax. They only bettered Cal 1-8 and Florida State 0-10.

 6-9 isn't likely to get them in the NCAA Tournament. 29 teams participate in it, and UofL is ranked at #48. 

A lot of questions remain about the direction of the squad and next year could possibly be decision making time about the leadership of the program. 

paulie

Softball wins, Lacrosse loses in Saturday action -- SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 CARDS OUTSLUG NOTRE DAME IN SOUTH BEND. LAX FALLS TO PITT IN THE L.L.S. 

A good and bad day for UofL spring women's sports. 

Softball travelled to South Bend and out hit the Irish softball squad for a 8-5 win.The LaxCards hosted the Panthers and took #24 Pitt to overtime but fell 15-14 to the visitors. 

SOFTBALL USES FIVE RUN FIFTH INNING TO GET BY IRISH.

(photo by kennedy Knisley)

Louisville visited the Irish in South Bend and got two good pitching performances...one out of Brooke Gray for the win, to go 10-1 on the season...and from Jayden Gohs in relief to clinch it and get her second save credit of the season. The 8-5 UofL win tied the three game series at 1-1. 

Louisville struck first in the contest when they put two on the board in the top of the first. Madison Pickens picked up two RBI's when she singled home Chelsea Mack and Bri Despines. The Irish would chip away at Cards hurler Brooke Gray for four innings, picking up runs in the second. third and fourth innings to take a 3-2 lead. 

The Cards erupted for five runs in the top of the fifth. The scoring began when Easton Lotus smashed a double down the right field line that scored Chelsea Mack. Camryn Lookadoo doubled to right center to bring Lotus and Despines to the plate. Then, Madison Pickens sent one out over right field fence...scoring her and Lookadoo. That made it 7-3 UofL and the Cards just had to get nine more outs. 

Notre Dame wasn't ready to leave the ball park yet, though. They homered off Gray in the bottom of the fifth, and put runners on the bags...which effectively sent the UofL pitcher to the sidelines. Anna Wise came in and got the Cards out of the fifth by allowing just two runs. Jayden Gohs got the final six outs in the sixth and seventh innings for Louisville. 

UofL would add an insurance run in the top of the sixth. Easton Lotus scored from first on a Despines double. 

The squads finish the series today with a 1 p.m. start . 

LAX LOSES IN OVERTIME TO PITT. 

(photo from UofL)

A thriller but overtime 15-14 loss for Louisville Lacrosse today against #24 Pitt. 

Kaitlyn Giandonato scored for the Panthers with a minute and a half left in the extra session for UPitt to end the sudden victory session. 

Pitt began the contest with a 4-0 lead at the L.L.S. The Cards were able to fight back by the end of the period and make it a 4-3 Pitt lead. Both team were having success in finding goals in the second quarter and the contest was tied at halftime 8-8. 

Louisville came out with a roar in the third period and took a 11-8 lead on goals by Charlotte Jackson and two goals from Ella Berg. Berg also assisted on Jackson's goal. Pitt responded to tie it at 11-11 and edged ahead at the end of the third 13-12 . The fourth period was one where Pitt went up 14-12 but Louisville rallied to tie it on goals by Reese Whitman and Rian Adams...and force the extra session.  

The Cards drop to 6-8 on the season..and 2-7 in ACC play...while Pitt improves to 8-7 and 4-6 in conference. 

PAULIE

SB Drops Game 1; LAX Senior Day -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Softball Falls 5-2 at ND

In a game that wrapped up scoring early, Louisville was unable to keep their early lead against the Irish in the series opener. The Cards scored a pair in the first inning, but gave up five in the bottom of the second. Neither team crossed the plate for the remainder of the game. The two teams will be back in action today at 1PM.

Easton Lotus reached base from the second spot in the batting order before Bri Despines doubled her home. Camryn Lookadoo singled, and an error helped score Despines to give the Cards the 2-0 lead. Alyssa Zabala got the start for Louisville and had to walk a tightrope in the first inning. She gave up a walk and single to open, but managed to escape the inning without giving up a run. 

Louisville went 1-2-3 in the second, and ND was ready to pounce. Zabala got a fly out to open the inning, but ND would go on to pick up five hits and profit from two Louisville errors in the inning to score five runs. The Cards put a runner on base in the third, but couldn't bring her home. Zabala got two outs to open the inning, seemingly settling back in, but a four-pitch walk spelled the end of her day. Brooke Gray came in to relieve her. 

Gray was incredibly efficient. She pitched the remaining 3.1 innings (ND didn't bat in the bottom of the 7th) and gave up just three hits. She had one strikeout, and used just 38 pitches. Of those 38 (fewer than four per out), 27 were strikes. Gray gave the Cards a chance to get back into the game, but Brianne Weiss on the other side was too good. She threw 118 pitches in a complete game to ice the Cards. Louisville had just five hits and two walks in the game. Despines' double in the first was Louisville's only extra base hit. 

Lax Hosts Pitt for Senior Day

Louisville lacrosse has flagged a bit of late. They beat Cal to keep their ACC tournament hopes alive, then gutted out a 5-4 win over Vanderbilt, but a tough 10-12 loss to Virginia was followed by a 22-5 thumping at the hands of Stanford. The Cards will host Pittsburgh, ranked 25th in the country, today at noon for Senior Day. 

Ahead of today's game, Louisville will honor their seven seniors. Many are names with which we've become quite familiar. The others have given a lot to the program over the years, even if they haven't seen as much playing time. Honorees will be Rian Adkins, Aubrey Bagenstose, Karlie Harnischfeger, Sophie Macleod, Maggie McMahon, Erin Nicholson, and Cece Reilly.

After today's game, Louisville will wrap up the season on the road against Notre Dame on Thursday. With only eight teams making the ACC tournament, the Cards are just about officially out of contention. With two possible wins remaining, they'd need a pair of losses by Virginia to tie the Cavaliers, but they'd still lose the tiebreaker based on the head-to-head loss. A three-way tie between Louisville, UVA, and Pitt is possible, but I don't think Louisville comes out of that one favorably. Nevertheless, four wins would be a high-water mark for Scott Teeter in ACC play, and it would give the Cards an overall record above .500, so they'll still be motivated. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Lacrosse Gets Midweek Break -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Off for Spring Break

Louisville lacrosse has had a tough go of it so far this season, so spring break comes at a good time for them. The Cards are 4-5 overall and sit at just 1-4 in conference after taking a thrilling 11-10 OT win over Cincinnati on Thursday and then falling 14-16 in a heartbreaker at Duke on Saturday. The Blue Devils are ranked 15th in the country, so it is encouraging to see Louisville hang with them, but the game was ultimately another in a long line of "coulda, shoulda, woulda" games that the lacrosse program has seen since joining the ACC. 

Louisville opened the season with a pair of losses before taking their first win against Kent State. The good vibes from that victory were short lived as a trip to Chapel Hill loomed on the weekend. The Cards fell at the hands of the #1 Tar Heels 24-3 and moved to just 1-3 overall and 0-2 in conference. A win over Canisius put Louisville over .500 in non-conference play (2-1), but they continued their alternating wins and losses with a tough 13-10 defeat against Syracuse at home on the last day of February. The Orange were ranked 12th at the time.

The Cards started March with a bang, hosting a rare midweek conference game when they brought Florida State into UofL Lacrosse Stadium. Louisville beat the Seminoles 15-5 to get off the 0-fer mark in conference play. That set up the first winning streak of the season for the Cards when they defeated Cincinnati last week, but it was the shortest possible streak following the loss to Duke. Still, back-to-back wins is somewhere to start, and Louisville is now 3-1 in non-conference play. That they are 1-4 in conference is difficult, but there is still time to get some momentum in conference play. 

After this mid-week break, Louisville will host three straight matches at home. They'll play California this Saturday, Vanderbilt next Wednesday, and Virginia on 3/28. The Cards are guaranteed to finish above .500 in non-conference play, as the Vandy match is their final non-ACC competition of the season, barring an NCAA appearance. Vandy is also Louisville's penultimate mid-week game of the regular season, as they'll get breaks two weeks in a row before closing the season on the road at Notre Dame on Thursday, April 16th. Before that match, they'll face Stanford on the road and Pittsburgh at home. 

The Cards are currently tied for second to last in the ACC with Cal, so there is work to do if they want to make the ACC tournament. Only the top eight teams make it, and there are 13 competing schools. Fortunately for Louisville, most of their remaining opponents are directly competing for one of those eight spots. Unfortunately for Louisville, they still have to play Stanford, who is undefeated. The Cards missed a big opportunity against Virginia Tech in the ACC opener, as the Hokies are one of three teams at 2-3 (Notre Dame, Clemson). Virginia is 3-2 (losses to Stanford and Clemson) and Pitt is 2-4 (wins over Duke and VT). There's still way too much that can happen before we can look at scenarios, but winning on Saturday is a must. 

The Cards are led offensively this season by sophomore Ella Berg. Berg had six goals and three assists in the first five games of the season last year before suffering a season-ending injury. This season, she has started all nine games and scored 23 of Louisville's 103 goals. She also has five assists, tied with Reese Whiteman. Whiteman is second on the team in points, scoring one less goal than Berg. The two have taken the same number of shots (49), though Berg is slightly more accurate, with four more on target. 

Charlotte Jackson, Maggie McMahon, and Erin Nicholson are the other three Cardinals with double-digit goals, as Jackson has 14 and McMahon and Nicholson both have 11. Jackson leads the team with eight assists, while McMahon has six. Nicholson is a senior midfielder who takes deadly advantage of her opportunities, scoring 11 goals on just 27 shots, with 19 of those on target. Most efficient is Grayce Kitchen, who has eight goals on just 12 shots (11 SOG). Kitchen is also second on the team with seven assists. Senior captain Rian Adkins has eight goals and six assists. 

Sophomore Haley Richards has solidified her position as this team's goalkeeper. Richards has started all nine games and has played nearly every minute. Her only time out of the net during which Louisville had any goalie in the back was against UNC. She was pulled after three quarters when the score was 18-3 to give Campbell Murray the opportunity to get beat up by the Tar Heels. Coming off in that game gave Richards the opportunity to stay above 50% save percentage. She has allowed 107 goals and made 108 saves. 

It's all to play for with just a month left in the regular season, so let's see what this squad can do as they chase their first full season above .500 (they were 5-4 in 2020) since 2017. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Lax, Softball suffer Saturday Setbacks -- Sunday Cardinal Couple

 HOMESTANDING LAX AND SOFTBALL TAKE ACC LOSSES

Not exactly a championship day down on Floyd Street Saturday...as Louisville Lacrosse fell to Syracuse in the LLS on the south end of the campus on Floyd St and then Louisvile Softball got outscored by Stanford in Ulmer on the north end of Floyd.St

In LAX, Louisville got the first score of the contest, but Syracuse responded with five straight goals to go up 5-1. The Cards would close the gap to one by halftime, trailing 6-5.

Syracuse used a strong third quarter to gain a 10-6 lead over Scott Teeter's LAX Cards. Louisville got the first two goals on the second half to get back within two at 10-8, but #13 Syracuse battled back to gain a 13-8 advantage and held off Louisville's late rally to get their first ACC win of the season 13-10. 

Cards LAX  attacker Ellen Berg. 

For UolfL, Ellen Berg scored a career high of four goals to lead UofL. Louisville, now 2-4 overall on the season are 0-3 in ACC play.

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On the north end of Floyd Street, Louiville softball got involved in a run scoring battle with visiting Stanford and saw a nice lead falter late in a 10-8 loss to the Cardinal. 

That's right..the Cardinal beat the Cardinals.

Stanford jumped out early on UofL and scored three runs in the first inning.on starter Brooke Gray, who was relieved after one out after allowing three runs scored. Madi Reeves took over for UofL and gave them three innings in the circle and gave up three runs before giving way to Anna Wise. Wise got the loss hung on her, she gave up three runs in just one inning pitching and gave way to Alyssa Zabala, who threw 2.2 innngs and allowed just one run on two hits.

The Holly Aprlle led softball Cards trailed 9-6 after 4 innings but the two sqiads just managed a run each the rest of the way

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We do apologize for not having Jared Anderson pictures for these contests. Without going into detail, he has..unwillingly..resigned, for now as our photographer. You'd figure after over 20 years of covering UofL sports, I'd receive just a little more respect. After all, Bob Valvano gets his X account hijacked and it's all one big "oops, I'm sorry" deal. As for me, I get hacked and get sent to solitary.. Nevertheless, I write for the joy and excitement of UofL women's athletics. I don't thnk they can stop me from doing that. 

I also miss the post game coaches interviews that I used to do, but with kidney failure, dialysis and also being recently diagnosed with hypoxemia. my daily activities are greatly curtailed .  

On this first day of March, it looks like the month came in like a lamb, according to the old wives tale, it'll be going out like a lion.  .

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Worth repeating: 

"What we've got to be able to do is make sure we execute at the offensive end," UofL coach Jeff Walz said. "You have to pass-fake. You've got to make sure you don't let Hidalgo take things over at the defensive end and come up with 8-9 steals and, the next thing you know, she's scoring some layups because you're not doing a good job of keeping her off balance."

paulie

The Week Ahead for Louisville Women's Athletics -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Packed Schedule as Spring Ramps Up

Louisville women's athletics has a busy week ahead as the winter sports season hits its climax and the spring sports season gets rolling. Six sports are in action this week with only the track and field team having the week off. 

Women's golf and swimming will both be first in action today, as each of those teams continue multi-day events. The golf team is finishing up the Moon Golf Invitational in Melbourne, Florida today, and the Cards stand tied for 13th of 17 teams after yesterday's rounds. Louisville is just three shots off of 11th place and will get the final round underway at 9am this morning. Swimming and diving are getting into the third day of the ACC Championships, with the event scheduled to run all the way through Saturday. There are plenty of events on deck for that, so you can keep up with Louisville Swim and Dive on social media or check in with live stats here or live streaming via ESPN. Louisville finished third as a team in last season's ACC tournament, and seven ACC teams are in this season's top 25. Today's events get underway at 9:30. 

Softball will begin a loaded week with their home opener this afternoon as they host Bellarmine. It should be an unseasonably warm day, with highs forecast in the 60s today, so it should be more pleasant than people may have expected going into a mid-February matchup. This game was originally slated to be played next week, so the weather is a nice surprise for the rescheduled event. The Cards are 6-3 so far this season, with all three losses coming to the hosting opponents at their two weekend events. Louisville faces a Bellarmine squad that is just 1-8 in their first season under a new head coach. The Cards will look to extend their win streak to three games going into the weekend, where they'll travel once more. Tonight's game will be at 6:30 on ACCNX. After today, Louisville will go on the road again, this time to Fort Myers, FL for an event hosted by Florida Gulf Coast University. Louisville will play Buffalo and FGCU on Friday afternoon, Wisconsin and UConn on Saturday, and close the weekend with a Sunday morning rematch against Buffalo. 

Lacrosse will play a pair of games this week as well, as they look to pick up their first victory of the 2026 campaign. The Cards lost a heartbreaker in the opener, going down in double OT to Ohio State, and fell at the hands of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg on Saturday. Louisville will look to bounce back with a home match against Kent State tomorrow at noon and they'll play another road ACC match on Saturday. This week, Scott Teeter's squad will face North Carolina. 

Women's tennis will have two matches at home this week, as ACC play fully ramps up. The Cards are 6-1 so far this season with their lone loss coming last Friday against Notre Dame. Louisville is 0-1 in conference as a result, but they'll bring two Florida teams to Bass-Rudd this weekend to try to fix that. The Cards face Florida State on Friday and Miami on Sunday. 

Louisville women's basketball has a mid-week bye this week, giving their opponents a chance to catch up in league play. The Cards have won three straight since losing to Duke, and that head-to-head matchup is currently the difference between the top two teams in the ACC. Duke is 14-0, while Louisville sits at 14-1. Duke plays NC State on Thursday, but chances are running out for the Blue Devils to take a loss. After the Wolfpack, they'll play at Clemson, host FSU, then finish the season on the road at rival UNC. Louisville gets a mid-week break but they'll take on Virginia at the Yum! Center on Sunday. The Cards finish the season with a significant test of their own, going on the road to Georgia Tech on Thursday the 26th before hosting Notre Dame on March 1st. The Cards and Irish will square off at 4PM on ESPN2, and they'll be the second to last tip-off of the ACC regular season. The Cards can lock up a double-bye in the ACC tournament with one more win. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case