Softball Splits and Selection - Sunday Cardinal Couple

 Selection Sunday Is Here

It's time to put on your dancing shoes, because Selection Sunday is here, and later this evening, the dance floor will be revealed.

ESPN is hosting and gets the primetime slot at 8pm.  It will be an hour long show, so we'll get some pontificating and interviews, but it should be relatively straightforward.

A quick look at the most recent Bracketology update, from last night, has Louisville as a five seed playing in Austin Texas.  Texas, as the four seed host, is expected to play Belmont.  A Belmont upset over Texas could set up an interesting rematch from the early season where Louisville struggled against the Bruins in Nashville in a 75-70 win.  This sub-regional is part of the Seattle 4 region with one seed Iowa, in Charlie Creme's picks.

Creme has the ACC getting eight teams into the dance, with Syracuse being in the "next four out".  Other bubble observations of interest to Cards fans has a downfall of a giant with Oregon not making the dance after several years of superstar players and great seedings.  Meanwhile, former Cards assistant Sam Purcell's Mississippi State team has flourished with Purcell's tutelage and are included in the "final four byes".  A great job being done in Starkville by one of our faves of past UofL coaching staff.

On the CCRHP yesterday, we were in general agreement that a five seed seems about right for the Cards, lets here what you think.

Softball Splits in Durham

Anticipating unpleasant weather today, the Duke and Louisville softball teams decided to play the 3rd game of the weekend series as part of a double-header yesterday.  Perhaps the Blue Devils came to regret that decision after the Cards took advantage of the long day to get a 15-8 win in the second game, after a 5-3 loss in the first.

Taylor Roby started in the circle in the first game, and, well, it wasn't the greatest start for her.  Duke managed to get the bases loaded, though had taken a couple of sacrifices to get there, but a double to right center scored three before Roby was able to end the inning.

Her lead-off at-bat wasn't anything to write home about either.  Daisy Hess, 2nd in the lineup, did single and was able circle the rest of the base paths thanks to a Makayla Hurst single.

Duke put a run across again in the 2nd inning, making the score 4-1 before Roby would get some mojo back with a lead-off solo shot.  Unfortunately, that wasn't able to trigger any real momentum, and Duke would answer in the bottom of the 5th.

One more for the Cards in the top of the 6th, when Daisy Hess legged out a triple and tagged up and scored when Pickle Winkler flew out to centerfield.

UofL couldn't get anything across in the last chance top of the 7th and Duke secured the series win.  With the 2pm start, and a game time that clocked in a just a few minutes over two hours, the second game start time was set for 4:35pm.

Roby took the loss with three innings and the start, with Alyssa Zabala coming in for the other three innings of pitching.

After the somewhat low scoring first game, the nightcap proved to be offense heavy.  Perhaps credit to pitcher familiarity, giving batters a bit more of an edge.

Roby again got the start in the circle, got some relief from Zabala after three innings.  She pitched 1.2, with Sam Booe finishing out the other 2.1 of the game.

No scores for either team through two innings.  Korbe Otis would get things started, hitting a one-out single up the middle and then stealing 2nd.  Sarah Gordon struck out, but was able to take first as the pitch got past the catcher, not a play to see too often.  Otis got to 3rd after tagging on a caught fly foul ball, and then with the order back up to the top Roby got a nice double to score Otis and Gordon.  Mia Forsyth entered to pinch run for Roby and scored on a Hess single to left center.  Hess did make it to 3rd on a stolen base and a wild pitch, but would be stranded there.

In the beginning of a pattern, Duke answered with a trio of runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning.  They would then tack on another in the 4th to take the lead.

On to the 5th, and Hannah File would take a plunk to get on base, and again back at the top of the order, Roby took a five pitch walk.  Hess reached on a fielder's choice, and that choice was to get the slower running, Roby, out at 2nd.  No pinch runner was available for Roby after she re-entered after the 3rd inning.  After an odd field-only mid-inning substitution for Duke involving their right fielders, catcher, and designated player, Hess stole second on the Winkler strike out.  Elana Ornelas walked, loading up the bases, which Easton Lotus took advantage of with a three RBI double.

Unfortunately, the pattern continued with Duke getting four across in the bottom half of the inning to take the lead back, this time by two.

The Cards said, "OK, let's go around again."  Korbe Otis drew a walk, and Gordon singled, which was enough to chase the Duke pitcher.  File singled, scoring Otis and advancing Gordon to 3rd.  Hess drew a walk.  Winkler hit into a fielder's choice, and advanced to 2nd as Duke was, with the bases loaded, trying to get the out at the plate and throw was missed by the catcher.  That allowed Gordon and File to score for another three spot in the inning.  For the first time in the game, Duke didn't have an answer.

Leading 9-8, the Cards were looking for some insurance runs in the 7th, as no 1-run lead was safe in this whole series.  Starting the 7th, Paige Geraghty singled on a close play at 1st that was initially called out, but overturned on review, Otis reached on an error as her hit manages to find its way between the legs of the Blue Devil's shortstop.  Perhaps showing some fatigue, Gordon was able to reach on fly ball dropped by the right fielder, allowing Otis and Geraghty to score.  File reached on a fielder's choice where Duke chose to get Gordon out at home with the tag.  And, oh look, we're at the top of the order with our big hitter, Taylor Roby.  Sure enough, she takes it yard for the 2-run homer, pushing the Cards lead out to 13-8.

Duke would get one back in the bottom of the 7th, but it wasn't nearly enough, and UofL gets out of Durham with a 1-2 record on the weekend against the number 15 team in the country.  Not bad, really.

An epic battle, this game was, weighing in at three hours and seven minutes long.

The Cards will stick around the area with a Tuesday game at Charlotte at 3pm, and then they'll come home to welcome in Pitt for a three game series at Ulmer.

Lacrosse

Scott Teeter's Lacrosse squad visited Chestnut Hill and the number 5 Boston College Lax team.

The Cards played this one close...in the first half, going into the break with only a one goal deficit at 8-9.  And midway through the 2nd quarter, UofL had the lead at 8-7.  Unfortunately, that would be the last goal from the Cards in the game as the Eagles got the last two goals of the first half, and then continued that run out to 12-0 through the whole second half of the game.

Nicole Perroni got a hat trick, Kokoro Nakazawa and Kylea Dobson each got a pair, and Hannah Morris got one for UofL.

Kokoro got on the board early, only four minutes in, followed by Hannah Morris's goal.  Kokoro got her second, with the assist from little sis Negai Nakazawa with about eight minutes left in the 1st to get the Cards out to an early 3-0 lead.  Kylea Dobson got on the board with about four minutes left, and Perroni got her first with about two left for a 5-1 Louisville lead.  BC scored a pair before the end of the quarter, but UofL did have the 5-3 lead at the end of one.

Perroni got her second with less than a minute gone in the 2nd quarter with an assist from Kokoro, but BC would run off three to tie it at six apiece.  Perroni finished the hit trick with about 10 minutes to go in the half to get the lead again, but BC would answer.  Kylea Dobson would put her shot in with about 8 minutes to go in the first half to once again, and for the last time, get the lead.  The Eagles got the last two of the first half, and blanked the Cards 10-0 in second half to win 19-8.

It was a great 30 minutes of play for the Cards against one of the top programs in the country, but alas the game is 60 minutes long.

Lacrosse will be back in action Thursday at 1pm, back here in Louisville, playing UNC.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

Keeping busy with spring sports, and down a couple of contributors thanks to spring storms and spring jobs; Case, Paulie, and myself spent a romping hour talking about Softball, Lacrosse, and women's basketball tournament brackets.

The CCRHP is available at it's anchor.fm home....  Oh wait, anchor.fm got bought by Spotify, so the URL has changed a bit (and likely broke all of the old links in the CC archives...lovely).  It's available at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/pod/show/cardinal-couple/episodes/Spring-Sports-Busy-NCAA-Tourney-on-the-Horizon-e2084vr and any quality podcast directory.

Selection Sunday

The men's and women's selection shows are on tonight, the men at 6 pm and women at 8 pm . CBS will have the feed. 

We'll wait and see, on the Cards. We'd love to see them open somewhere close, obviously, so we and the Cardinals WBB fans can attend. 

We'll also start taking entries for the Cardinal Couple NCAA WBB Pick 'Em once the bracket is released. You know the routine. Leave your picks in the comments section before the first round games get under way. Don't forget your tiebreaker for total points in championship game. Yep, we got gift cards again, your choice of a $25 Cracker Barrel or $25 Starbucks Gift Card. 

Good luck and let the madness reign

-- JMcA

Lacrosse Season Ends -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

LOUISVILLE LACROSSE FALLS TO BOSTON COLLEGE 15-4

(DAVID WATSON FILLS IN FOR PAULIE TODAY WITH THE THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE COLUMN)

The second season of Scott Teeter's stint as UofL head Lacrosse coach came to an end yesterday in a football stadium. 

I know, the sport vs. facility doesn't quite match up -- but the home field for Boston College's gridiron squad (Alumni Stadium) was the venue for the ACC Lacrosse Championships. This isn't the regular location for BC LAX. The vast majority of their home games are played at the Boston College Newton campus on the Lacrosse and Soccer Field -- although the Eagles did play their final regular season game, also against Louisville, in Alumni Stadium. 

Alumni is a much bigger, in terms of seating, spot to host the eight teams vying for the conference championship. From what I could see on the ACCNE broadcast of the event, though, the place was not nearly packed. Regardless of the attendance, though, the Eagles results against the Cards mirrored last week's match with BC taking a 15-4 win. 

Boston College is the nation's #1 ranked women's lacrosse squad and also #1 seed in the tournament, so the Cards' work was definitely cut out for them before either team took to the pitch. Using the defensive skills that got them to an undefeated regular season, Boston College shut down any semblance of offense for Louisville and roared out to an 8-0 first half lead. It could have been 9-0 (who's counting at that point?) but an apparent Eagles score at the end of the half was reversed by the officials after reviewing the time clock and whether the shot got off before the clock went to 00:00. 

Boston College has a knack for finding cutters in front of the opponent's goal and Louisville was also forced to play "a man down" for significant stretches of the half because of over-aggressive defensive tactics. The Cards may have been getting skunked on the scoreboard but they weren't being passive at all. 

What do you say to a squad at halftime in a situation like this? One can surmise that Teeter implored his squad to continue to play hard, play smart and work the ball.

Louisville seemed almost tentative with their passing and shot attempts in the first 30 minutes and when you couple that with a Boston College goalkeeper that was stopping any Cardinal attempts to score -- the results are usually not going to be in your favor. B.C. was double-teaming UofL's leading scorer, Tessa Chad, as well -- to compound the Cards offensive woes. 

The Cards did come out with a spark of energy in the second half and found success with Ally Hall in front of the goal. Her two scores in the first four minutes of action trimmed the Eagles lead to six. The Cards were passing the ball much better and getting some stops defensively.

The rally was short-lived, though. Boston College pushed the lead back to 10-2 before Kayla Marshall connected for Louisville. Caroline Blalock also found success for the Red and Black with six minutes remaining by mirroring what BC had been doing most of the game. She sprinted the length of the field with the ball and got off a shot with scant defensive coverage by the somewhat surprised Eagles and found the back of the net.

By then, though, the score was 11-4 Boston College. The Eagles dominated the final minutes of play after that, including two "rub it in" goals with less than 90 second to play. Yes, you play to the final buzzer, I get that and BC was a few goals short of their season average -- but Jeff Walz never runs it up at the end of games and one has to wonder if the B.C. coaches were doing so to punish the Cards for their aggressive "chippiness" earlier in the match. At 13-4 and 1:30 to go and with a 90-second shot clock in pay, why not just run the clock out with an 11 goal advantage? 

The four goals wasn't Louisville's lowest offensive total of the season, the Cards managed just two goals in snowy Denver against the Pioneers back in February.

Other ACC Tournament action had Syracuse getting by Virginia 12-10, North Carolina beating Virginia Tech 19-9 and Duke squeaking by Notre Dame 14-13. The winners get a day off and will match up in the semifinals Friday. Syracuse faces Boston College and Duke gets North Carolina.

Louisville's season ends with a 5-13 mark. The good news is that Teeter gets everyone back next year but Chad. Let's not forget that he had to basically start from scratch with this squad two years ago in the toughest conference in College women's lacrosse and, as his recruits fill the program and they gain experience, the fortunes of Louisville Lacrosse will improve.

Chad was an invaluable leader and scoring machine in her two years at Louisville and will be hard to replace -- but hope springs eternal and it will be up to the returnees to improve, work hard in the off-season and sharpen their game and skills. To compare it to women's basketball, she was the Asia Durr, Arica Carter and Sam Fuehring of the Louisville Laxers. 

It's good to be back with you on these pages once again while Paulie and Sonya take a few days away from the site. I especially enjoyed watching the contest with my daughter Abby, who played at the DI level, and was pointing out nuances, sets and schemes on the pitch that I never would have noticed on my own. She kept giving me examples of how lacrosse was similar to basketball -- with passing, zone defenses, fast-breaks, shots in the lane and other aspects. Yes, ol' Dave O learned something, remarkable that! 

Best of everything to you!

Dave-O 
David Watson  

Lindsey Duvall gets park named after her -- Lacrosse in ACC Today -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

2017 MISS BASKETBALL HONORED WITH MT. WASHINGTON PARK NAMING

Chris Stallings is one of those guys who you like as soon as you meet him. The Bullitt East head girls basketball coach has spent countless hours working with and developing the basketball skills of hundreds of basketball players in the Mt. Washington and Bullitt County area. He does it with a smile and encouragement. When a person loves what they do, it comes very easy and effortlessly. There's pride there. 

Ironically, one of the first times I met him, he was wearing a UConn women's basketball t-shirt. That's unique enough in Mt. Washington...but the fact that he had his star player Lindsey Duvall headed to Louisville to play for Jeff Walz in the fall of 2017 was enough  cause for me to do a double take and wonder if something was afoot and Geno had gotten to the affable skipper of the Chargers. Stallings relieved my fears instantly.

"It's just the first shirt I grabbed and put on this morning. I talked to my athletic apparel supplier this morning. There's a lot of red and black stuff on the way." 

Stallings relates this story about Duvall: 

"We do things a little differently here at Bullitt East. At halftime of games, we let the kids in the stands take the court and shoot baskets. Lindsey's older sister played for me her at Bullitt East and Lindsey would get out there when she was in the second or third grade and hoop it up. You could tell at that age, she was sticking with it and she was going to be a player. She was going to be something special. I'd tell folks that they had to watch that little girl out there and they stay in the stands and watch her shoot...not go to the concession stand. That's the beauty here. You get to see them early on. They go to the camps, middle school and end up playing ball for me here."

Mt. Washington has gotten larger over the years. From a small, sleepy town with a two-lane Main Street...hardware store, funeral home, Dairy Queen (which was a Burger Queen way back when) a Baptist church, several locally owned businesses and restaurants and surplus store to a thriving, small community with major shopping malls, a bypass around the main street and huge high school that sits right off the bypass. Where Bardstown Road meets Hwy 44. But, it still has a small town feel. Kids still run the court at halftime. Coach still shakes your hand and treats you like your kin. When people ask you how you're doing, it's a sincere and honest inquiry. A part of America I do love so. 

Duvall grew up also. She starred at Bullitt Central and was heavily recruited by both Kentucky and Louisville. She was always in a particular park shooting baskets whenever the weather allowed and she wasn't in the gym practicing her craft. Staying to watch Coach's son play baseball in that same park when she had exhausted herself after hours of dribbling, shooting and rebounding. You could say it was one of her homes away from home. 

And now it's named after her. 

The Mount Washington mayor and city council made it so. Stallings hasn't come out publicly and talked about his involvement in the naming...but one could probably correctly surmise that he was an integral part of the idea and it's rise to fruition. 

Duvall enters her red-shirt freshman season at UofL after sitting out last year due to some knee issues. She had a tumorous growth removed from her left knee while in high school but some remaining fragmentation needed to be cleaned out that was causing pain during her freshman year on the Cardinal roster. She recovered nicely and probably could have played for the Cards around the beginning of ACC season in 2017-18 but chose to continue to learn and develop without wasting a year of eligibility. Oh, the things she saw! The memories made and places visited. A year wiser and ready to go, she'll ply her trade for a team that was one missed foul call and one tip-in attempt that barely rolled out from a NCAA Championship game against a foe already twice beaten earlier in the year. 

There will be cookouts and pickup basketball games in Lindsey Duvall Park this summer. Elderly people out for a stroll or walking their dogs. Children playing tag or attempting to fly kites or playing catch. Baseball games and cheering. 

There just might also be the next Lindsey Duvall. A young girl, time after time, throwing a round orb at a round rim. Practicing the dribble so the other kids won't steal the ball from her. Perfecting the shot. Scraping a knee occasionally and contesting a foul during a one-on-one or pickup game. Maybe even Lindsey herself will drive by, stop the car and watch for awhile. Maybe hear that little girl yell out to another young girl:

 "I'm Lindsey, you're Asia and I'm going to hit this jumper to beat Notre Dame!"

Legends. Dreams. Hometown heroes. It's what America is made of. How many of us spent time in the backyard, or at a small park or parking lot throwing an old, worn-out rubber basketball at a rim with no net. In barely-above freezing weather. When it was so hot that the sweat from your head rolled into your eyes and made the basket blurry. When you challenged the kid who always beat you to just one more game of "21'...even though the light was fading from the sky. 

Lindsey's honor is an honor, in a way, to all those kids and adults out there who ignored the call for supper, in order to get a few more shots up. Who played against every kind of competition available. Who played for love of game and the thrill of seeing that long or contested shot drop through the rim. 

I'd like to think that a decade or so from now...a young mother takes her child for an afternoon walk and the child looks up and says: "Mommy, your name is on that gate overhead!" Knowing Lindsey, she's smile and tell her young charge: "C'mon, now. We need to get to the court so you can shoot the basketball." 


LACROSSE ENTERS ACC TOURNAMENT PLAY TODAY.

The Louisville Lacrosse team has safely arrived in Durham, NC and is preparing for their first game of the ACC Lacrosse Tournament. A tall order, indeed, in front of Scott Teeter's LAXERS...facing #2 in the nation and #1 in the ACC Boston College for an 11 a.m. contest this morning.

The Cards need a win today, and most likely need to win the ACC Tournament to get into the NCAA Tournament. They have two players that received second-team All-ACC Honors yesterday in freshman Caroline Blalock and Emily Howell.

Boston College placed (4) on the All-ACC first team. 

Today's action will be shown on Fox Sports South. Here's hoping the LAXCards can get off to a great start and hold on to the lead as time expires. An upset in the brewing? We'll know around 1 p.m.this afternoon. 

Have a tremendous Thursday. 

"Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana." 


paulie
xxxxx

Scott Teeter Interview -- Louie Awards -- Softball vs. FSU -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

A busy Monday for UofL Athletics...which translates out to a busy day for Paulie in keeping up with events and such to report here at Cardinal Couple. From campus to downtown to Tallahassee, FL, though...we've got you covered with reports on the joy and excitement of UofL Athletics. Let's fasten the seats belts, put the chairs in an upright position and hurdle down the runaway, shall we? 

SCOTT TETTER INTERVIEW

The Louisville Lacrosse squad goes into ACC Tournament play beginning Thursday in Durham, MC on the Duke Campus. The first round opponent is undefeated Boston College. 

Cardinal Couple's Paulie caught up with head Lacrosse coach Scott Teeter in his office on campus to get a preview of the tournament and recap the season and future needs of the Laxers. 

Coach and the team are excited to start what they refer to as "the second season". The emphasis was to be playing their best Lacrosse of the season by the end of the regular season and to carry that into the tournament. Louisville faces a strong foes in conference leader and #2 in the nation Boston College but Teeter does think the Cards match up pretty well against them. 

Coach mentioned confidence as a key when facing the Eagles. In the regular season, the Cards held a halftime lead against them...saw that lead disappear and eventually lost but learned from the experience and will try and correct the things that led to the defeat. 

Coach says that the seniors need to step up in the playoffs. Most of them have experienced the ACC Tournament and the NCAA Tournament and Teeter hopes they bring their "A" games and that experience and leadership to the battle on Thursday. He did mention that he thought Alex McNicholas did a good job for them in draw controls against Syracuse on Sunday and that they had re-aligned their formation to secure more of those and gain ball possession after scores. 

When asked about the importance of height in draw controls, he also joked that Myisha Hines-Allen would definitely compete for ground balls and draws and we joked about finding her a grad season year to compete in Lacrosse for the Cards.

On recruiting, Coach Teeter knows and recognized he has a lot of holes to fill with the depleted roster and graduation of ten seniors. He and the staff are out with the commits, possible commits and the possible transfers-in to the program to fill those needs as much as possible. He also mentioned, in addition to the immediate needs, the plan to recognized and obtain players for two and three years down the road to address future needs and build a roster that wouldn't be so heavily impacted by graduation each year. 

On the challenge of ACC recruiting, he noted that it was a much different area of concentration nationally than when he was at Cansius. He pointed out that the advantage of presenting the lure and advantages of selling a recruit on ACC competition was great but, if they were of the talent level to play ACC Lacrosse, then, most likely...the other ACC conference schools had identified them and were also in the hunt to obtain them on their campuses. 

Uncovering stones and hidden treasures, finding diamonds, polishing them into their full potential when they arrive and throughout their stay as a student-athlete. The duties of a head coach, not only in Lacrosse, but in any sport -- are not too different than that of a gemologist or geologist. 

Scott Teeter and his staff are on the trail for those gems. Don't be surprised if they find a gold mine or two and stake a claim to mine and develop these valuable assets. The process is one that doesn't happen overnight...but Teeter has the temperament and patience to succeed over the long haul, the duration -- and make the Cards a shining emerald in the already quite-jeweled ACC Conference. 

Click below to hear the entire interview:  

The Scott Teeter Interview 4/24/18


LOUIES SHOWCASE CARDINAL ATHLETES ACHIEVEMENTS.


Many accolades and honors to go around at the Louies last night. In case you are wondering just what a "Louie" is...be advised that it's an award show and setting, not unlike the Oscars or Grammys, that recognizes the successes and achievements of the University of Louisville individuals and teams.

Held at the Louisville Palace and emceed by Sean Moth, it is a gala affair. Since we concentrate of women's sports here, we'll mostly list the award winners for them.

HIGH PERFORMANCE ATHLETEs OF THE YEAR -- MALLORY COMERFORD and BRENDAN MCKAY

L1C4 AWARD - REGGIE BONNAFON 

SENIOR OF THE YEAR -- MYISHA HINES-ALLEN

JUNIOR OF THE YEAR -- ASIA DURR

SOPHOMORE OF THE YEAR -- DORCAS WASIKE (cross country)

FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR -- LAUREN HARTLAGE (golf)

BREAKTHROUGH ATHLETE -- MELANIE MCHENRY (volleyball)

CARDS CARE INDIVIDUAL -- LINDA MUTTER (track/field) 

CARDS CARE TEAM -- WOMEN'S SOCCER

LEADERSHIP AWARD -- KIRSTI HARRISON (rowing) 

SENIOR CHEER AWARD -- HEATHER AARON

SENIOR LADYBIRD -- RYLEIGH VERTES

SENIOR PEP BAND AWARD -- BETHANY WALKER

Congratulations to all these teams and student-athletes for their hard work, dedication and perseverance! 


SOFTBALL FALLS 3-1 to FSU

One squad absent from the Louies was the Louisville Softball team. The "Hit and Pitch" Cards concluded their three game series against the Seminoles last night in Tallahassee with a 3-1 loss to #8/#10 home team, but did limit the powerful 'Noles to just three runs and five hits. The Cards took the early lead in the first inning when Megan Hensley went fence and beyond to center field and the lead held behind the strong pitching of Hensley until the bottom of the third...when FSU gathered a solo home run shot. 

The bottom of the fifth inning was the pivotal point of the contest. Hensley allowed a lead-off walk, followed by a two-run homer to give the ACC's best softball team a 3-1 lead that they would not relinquish and that ended the scoring in the contest. 

The Cards (28-17, 7-10) return home to face Boston College for a three-game series beginning Friday. Sunday is Senior Day and Jenna Jordan, Ashley Nikolao, Nicole Pufahl, Jamie Soles and Alison Szydlowski will be honored and recognized for their incredible achievements as Cardinals. 

What happens to the time? It seems like it was just yesterday we were commenting about the red-headed "Poof" in center, the "NEW" Pride of New Egypt, New Jersey, "Mike, Mike, Mike" , justifyng Jenna behind the plate and sitting at Ashley's table with her and her folks when she was a freshman at the Cardinals softball banquet...

Have a terrific Tuesday. Jared Anderson returns to these pages tomorrow. 

"You do not need a parachute to sky dive...unless you plan on sky-diving a second time." 


paulie
xxxxx







  

Lacrosse ACC opener and NCAA WBB Bracketology commentary -- Wednesday Cardinal Couple

LACROSSE TRAVELS TO B.C. FOR ACC OPENER

Kellie Young's Louisville Lacrosse team is 5-0 and ranked in the top 15 in NCAA D1 women's lacrosse. That's a good thing, and the squad has taken care of business against Cincinnati, Canisius, Denver, Duquesne and William and Mary with relative ease so far this season. 

The competition curve gets a lot tougher today, as the Cards travel to Chestnut Hill, MA to open ACC conference play against #3 Boston College. This probably won't be a double-digit blowout that Kaylin Morissette and Faye Brust have been accustom to...so far this this season.

Coach Young has had a knack for finding scorers over the years to replace those that have graduated. Nikki Boltja gone? No problem. Meet Hannah Kolowski and Kelli Gerding.
And Boltja is still on campus to enforce her hard work ethic as a volunteer coach. The girls must be paying attention...

The core that returned to put the yellow balls in the net is dynamic. Morissette and Brust come off an Big East season where they were the alpha dogs and top of the class in goal production. With them is Cortnee Daley as a returner who also has had little difficulty in changing the scoreboard since she has been here. (And they're all great interviews...)

Add Heidi Smith, Carissa Corbett, Cat Gordon and Anna Kopecka as attack specialists and midfielders who could break loose at anytime and Young has more weapons that Rick Grimes on The Walking Dead.    

It doesn't stop there. The defense is as solid as the support towers for the new I-65 bridge. Goalies Ashley Peacock and Brittany Read, defenders Courtney Boyd, Stephanie McNamara, Emily Howell, Casey Madura and Leigh Gatons have made scoring on Louisville as difficult as accessing the gold in Fort Knox. 

All of it about to be tested today in the Cards first test in "The League". Make no mistake about it. The ACC IS women's college lacrosse's rarified air. The top of the mountain. Where the rest want to be. #1 and by a wide margin. The NBA vs. high-schoolers. Showtime.

We'll recap the Boston College v. Louisville match tomorrow and we're hoping we're reporting about a Cardinal win in Beantown...

Welcome to "The Show" Louisville LAX. You've paid the dues, put in the work and prepared for the battle. Go make it so. 60 minutes to shine, and an opening moment in a conference that will test you each and every step on the way...


/////////////////////////////////////////////////

BRACKETOLOGY -- A Commentary

We don't delve into a lot of pre-tournament NCAA WBB speculation here in terms of projections and prognostications here at CARDINAL COUPLE because, quite frankly, the Cards seemed to get burned and under-ranked since the inception of the Walz area. 

Charlie Creme seems like an OK guy, I guess. I've never met him...wouldn't know him from Jon Bon Jovi...but it seems like he puts a lot of work into tracking and ranking his bracketology predictions leading up to Selection Monday. 

Good for him. It keeps him off the streets and a productive member of society.

As of Tuesday morning, he had Walz's Warriors as a #2 seed and headed to College Station, TX. to play on the Texas A&M Aggies court to face a #15 seed. In the Seattle region. 

Tough travel for Louisville WBB fans, no doubt..but doable. 

We could go into the travesty that prevents the Cards from opening in the KFC YUM! Center but...it is what it is and we'll complain no more about the arena hosting MBB and UK

Remember this. The NCAA women's tournament selection committee has a vendetta against Louisville WBB. They're like the age old TV commercial about Mikey and breakfast cereal. If it's Louisville, they don't like it. 

I wouldn't be overly surprised if they assign Louisville a #5 seed and send them to France to play Euroball. 

Charlie means well. The Cards resume is sufficient enough to grant a #2 seed. He's done the work and I hope they pay heed to his efforts. I also hope the Chicago Cubs baseball team survives the fourth of July each year without being eliminated from playoff contention. He's looking at stats. He's making projections. Nice work, if you can get it...

The underlying factor is that you have to win six straight games to be crowned the National Champion. You're going to have to beat some pretty good teams to do that. Doesn't matter where you start and how you get there. Survive and advance. Get the "W". 

Louisville had their shot last year after surviving the cold in Iowa and coming home to gain a third and fourth win. A tough Maryland team prevented a Final Four appearance. Don't think that Sara, Bria, Jude, Megan, "E", Shawnta' and Sherrone have forgotten that. Be assured they've filled in MHA, Arica, Ariana and Mariya on the details. 

Wherever, whenever and whoever. At this time of year, it is single elimination. Leave it all on the court and give it 100%. Listen to the game plan. And let the "Mad Scientist" spin his magic.  

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This from a reliable source on campus...

Jude's X-rays and MRI on the hand came back fine. She'll be good to go for the Big Dance. 

This is great news. A one-handed Jude can be effective...we saw that against FSU...but we'd rather see her with 100% limb usage. 

Go Cards! 

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The University of Louisville softball team will travel to Oxford, Ohio for a midweek game at Miami University Wednesday.

Quick Hits

• The University of Louisville softball team brings a 10-7 overall record into the weekend. The Cardinals are coming off of a 2-2 showing at the Louisville Softball Classic. Louisville fell 11-0 to Northwestern in their opening game and rebounded with back-to-back eight-run rule wins against Ball State and Illinois State before falling 4-3 in eight innings to the Redbirds Monday afternoon.

• Sophomore Jordan McNary leads Louisville offensively with a .471 batting average. Sophomore Maryssa Becker follows at .438 with a team-best four home runs and 13 RBIs. Senior Whitney Arion has scored a team-leading 15 runs.

• Freshman Shelby McCombs (3-2) carries a team-best 2.20 ERA with 19 strikeouts and is holding opponents to a .238 batting average in 35.0 innings. Sophomore Maryssa Becker (2-1) follows with a 2.87 ERA and 42 Ks in 39.0 innings.

paulie
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