Accolades for Several Cardinals -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

No Daryl today. She's working hard running the show at Louisville Slugger Field and welcoming back a fan favorite Cincinnati Reds who is down in Louisville temporarily. You get Jared again, which means you'll get at leasti one "selfie" in today's photos. 

In the world of UofL sports, we have no results to report. But we get to happily brag on several student-athletes!

Volleyball- Anna Stevenson

We'll start with a recent Cardinal alumna. Louisville volleyball's Anna Stevenson has been named to the US National Team. Currently ranked #1 in the world, Team USA holds the 2020 Olympic gold medal and is the three-time defending VNL national champion. Stevenson is one of 25 players to make the roster.

Since her ACC title and Final Four appearance with Louisville, Stevenson has been enjoying the engaged life while playing for Aydin Buyuksehir Belediyespor in Turkey.

A total of 14 players will be selected to travel each week as they play in the Philippines, Canada, and Turkey.

Softball- Carmyn Greenwood and Kendall Smith

Louisville softball had a pair of players named to the College Sports Information Directors of American Academic All-District team. To be considered for the honor, players must be a start or key reserve, maintain at least a 3.30 GPA, and be of sophomore level or higher at their respective institutions.

Greenwood is a two-time All-ACC selection and has been on the ACC Academic honor roll twice. Greenwood has had an All-American caliber season so perhaps there will be more accolades on the way for her?

Smith spent her final year of eligibility with the Cards after transferring in from Western Kentucky. She sat second on the team in batting average behind Greenwood and holds multiple Conference USA awards.

Lacrosse- Hannah Morris, Nicole Perroni, and Caroline Blalock

For Louisville lacrosse, three players received honors.

Hannah Morris and Nicole Perroni were named to the IWLCA All-Region Second Team. Morris was top on the team with 56 goals scored. She scored in 16 of the 18 games this year. Perroni was second on the team with 50 goals scored. Her 28 caused turnovers was a team best.

Caroline Blalock was named a USA Lacrosse Magazine All-American Honorable Mention. She was all named to the All-ACC Second Team. Blalock was top three for Louisville in six statistical categories.

Guess The Athlete

We had some fun a couple weeks back with guessing a couple student-athletes that I had the chance to work with. I worked with another student-athlete last night so I figured we could play "Guess The Athlete" again.

Need a hint? She plays on Jeff's favorite Louisville team. She's a defensive specialist. She graduated high school here in Louisville.

Answer: Alexa Hendricks

We'll play again in the future as the opportunity to work with more of our awesome student-athletes presents itself.

                                                      *******************************

Don't forget to tune into our World Famous Cardinal Couple Radio Podcast tomorrow ay 11:00 a.m. ET. We are happy to be back after taking last week off in honor of the Kentucky Derby.

Happy Friday and Go Cards!

Jared

Lax Bows Out of ACC Tournament -- Student-Athlete Mental Health -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Lacrosse Bows Out of ACC Tournament

A season full of 'what ifs' came to a frustrating close yesterday for Louisville lacrosse. The Cards fell in the opening round of the ACC Tournament to Pitt, 13-10.

After allowing the Panthers to score the first two goals of the match, Nicole Perroni went on a 3-0 run by herself to give the Cards a one-goal advantage before Pitt evened the score to close out the first quarter.

The second quarter was rough. Louisville's offense failed to score the enter period while the defense struggled and allowed four goals.

A trio of Cards found the back of the net in the third quarter while only allowing two goals to cut their deficit to 9-6.

A Perroni goal cut the score to 10-7 and a Caroline Blalock score made it 11-8, but Louisville wouldn't come within three until the final couple of minutes and ran out of time for a rally.

Perroni recorded a career-high five goals on the day. Caroline Blalock concluded her collegiate career with two goals. Allegra Catalano also scored two goals and Kylea Dobson added one.

J Pleck saw action in goal the entire match. She recorded seven saves to go along with 13 goals allowed.

For Louisville, a 7-11 season fell short of expectations. The Cards had four losses come by a one-goal deficit and lost a match by three goals and four goals each.

Scott Teeter's squad loses both Sarah Blalock and Caroline Blalock to graduation. Paige Richbourg, Hannah Morris, and Kirsten Parker are all listed as seniors, but all three still have the COVID-19 year of eligibility if they choose to elect to come back.

Student-Athlete Mental Health

One of the least talked about aspects of the life of a student-athlete is probably the darkest part- mental health. In the last few days, two schools have had to break the news of the loss of one of their student-athletes.

JMU softball player Lauren Bernett passed away a day after being named Conference Player of the Week. Wisconsin track star Sarah Schulze passed away on April 13. Both deaths were named as suicide for the cause of death.

Both deaths join a pair of other suicides since the beginning of March. Stanford women's soccer goalkeeper Katie Meyer passed away March 1. SUNY Binghamton University men's lacrosse goalie Robert Martin passed away on April 1.

Over the course of nine years from 2003-2012, the NCAA held a study through several doctors to follow the suicide rate among student-athletes. The original intent was to see if certain genders or sports had a higher suicide rate.

In the study, over 3,773,309 individual student-athletes were included. Of that, there were 477 deaths with 35 labeled as suicide. As anticipated, accidents and physical health related issues made up a majority of the 477 deaths.

The conclusion from the study was that the suicide rate in NCAA student-athletes was lower than that of a normal college student or the general public.

You can read a full released report of that study using this link - https://thecovidblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Athlete-suicide-study.pdf.

However, things change over time. And things have gotten worse. Another study by the NCAA early in the COVID-19 pandemic saw numbers get worse. One of the biggest results of the study was that the rates of reported mental health concerns was 1.5-2.0 times higher than that of pre-COVID-19 studies. As opposed to previous student, women athletes had more mental health concerns than men's athletes.

You can read a detailed report of that study using this link - https://ncaaorg.s3.amazonaws.com/research/other/2020/2021RES_NCAA-SA-Well-BeingSurveyPPT.pdf.

I know this isn't joyful or exciting, but it's something that needs to be addressed and talked about much more around the country. Student-athletes have to balance daily life, school, and sports, which for a young person still developing in their early career, can be overwhelming and draining. The increased pressure with expectations of performance on the field/court has only added fuel to the fire.

I'm not expert on the topic, but seeing signs of mental health related issues even of student-athletes at UofL is concerning.

Some might remember the passing of UofL cheerleader Dani Cogswell back during the summer of 2014. Her cause of death was due to a drug overdose with multiple drugs found in her system. Some of those drugs, although illegal, were considered to help with mental health issues such as anxiety.

There's many steps that need to be taken by both the NCAA and each school to help address the issue. One of those is providing resources to the student-athletes.

On A Lighter Note

To end on a lighter note, we will release the answer to the two women student-athletes that I had the pleasure of working with earlier this week. There were some great guesses but no one guessed correctly.

In the white shirt is Abby Baldridge of women's soccer. In the grey shirt is Paige Morningstar of volleyball. The two are roommates and have become good friends in their first year at Louisville. They wanted to get some photos together and I was happy to oblige.

One of the cool things about working with student-athletes outside of their sport is getting a chance to know them better and get their personalities. They are able to showcase their sense of fashion and relax more with it being a low pressure situation.

Both young women were a blast to work with!

Happy Thursday and Go Cards!

Jared

Softball Falls at VT; Lacrosse on Thunder -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Softball Loses Series Opener 4-3

Louisville softball is in Blacksburg this weekend taking on one of their highest-ranked opponents of the season, and they opened the weekend with a very strong performance. Though they may have missed out on their biggest opportunity to steal a win from the #3 Hokies, Louisville showed great determination and held on tight for the entire game. 

It was an inauspicious start for the Cards, who went 3-up, 3-down in the top half of the inning on just 9 pitches (pop-out and 2K, nearly an immaculate inning), but Roby rewarded them with three groundouts in the bottom half. Unfortunately, those three groundouts were precluded by a leadoff single and a walk, and the Hokies were able to make use of the productive outs to score a run. 

After another 1-2-3 offensive inning, Roby was on the ropes again after a 1-out double put two runners in scoring position. Fortunately, Virginia Tech didn't have a speedster on the paths, as a double will frequently score a runner from first in softball, and the Cards were able to make a play at the plate on the ensuing grounder. Another groundout ended the inning, and Louisville held onto a tenuous 1-0 deficit. 

That deficit was erased in the top of the third as Vanessa Miller opened the inning with a homer to straightaway center. After Ally Alexander struck out, Jenna Servi attempted to continue the good vibes with a triple, but the top of the order was unable to bring her in, as Carmyn Greenwood kept her bat on her shoulder to watch a strikeout and Korbe Otis flew out to center. Nevertheless, Louisville had tied the game. In the bottom half, Roby continued to work the defense and keep the ball out of the air. Though the pitch count was still climbing, the grounders also helped to keep Roby from being in the circle for too long, as she got out of the third with a groundout, single, and GIDP and moved her pitch count to 48 after three innings. That's still a pretty big number, but considering it's almost half the game and the softball pitch count can climb much higher without doing damage than baseball, it's not too bad. Comparatively, VT's Keely Rochard had 38 pitches through three innings, and she had given up just two hits compared to the four hits and a walk from Roby.

The top of the fourth didn't see Louisville continue their momentum, though, as a HBP put Kendall Smith on base with one out, but she stood out there for only four pitches while Louisville followed the HBP with a three-pitch strikeout and a first pitch popout. The bottom of the inning saw Virginia Tech ready to get their lead back. An eight-pitch walk opened the frame, and a steal following a flyout put the runner in scoring position. Putting runners in scoring position is a good way to win games, as a single brought the runner home. Smelling blood in the water, VT went for a pinch-runner with one out, but the aggressive attempt backfired when Louisville completed a strike 'em out, throw 'em out double-play, with Kendall Smith firing the ball to Ally Alexander for the tag. In those situations, we say thank you to the batter for watching the third strike and not slowing down the catcher with a swing.

With the lead once more, Rochard was inspired, and she struck out the side to show it. It wasn't easy, though, as all three batters worked the count. What could have theoretically been done in nine pitches took Rochard 22, with Alexander working an 11-pitch at bat. While we can't see whether she swung at pitches out of the zone in the at bat (she almost certainly did), she didn't watch any in the zone either. She took three balls and fouled off six pitches, including four money pitches on the full count. Unfortunately, the second of her two whiffs in the at bat was the third strike, but it was an impressive plate appearance. 

Once again, putting runners in scoring position paid off. The Hokies opened the inning with a double, and the runner advanced to third on a flyout. A walk gave the Cards a double-play opportunity, but the unusual FBFBFBB pitch sequence shows it wasn't intentional. It's unusual because she made contact with every pitch she swung at, but every pitch she didn't was a ball. You don't see that every day. Anyway, the runner on third actually didn't hurt Louisville, as a charging Jenna Servi snuffed out the suicide squeeze bunt attempt and Louisville found themselves in a much more advantageous position with runners on first and second but two outs. Unfortunately, a single up the middle was more damaging than the name suggests, as the runners advanced two bases and VT's lead extended by a run. A foul-out ended the inning with the Hokies holding a (now) 3-1 lead.

The top of the order finally came alive in the sixth, with Greenwood and Otis opening the inning with back-to-back doubles to recoup a run, but Rochard tightened the belt again, striking out the next three batters to strand Otis at second and to hold on to the lead. A single opened the bottom half of the inning, and a pinch-hit double scored the run to continue the seesaw of the 1-2 run advantage. Roby managed to return the favor from the top half and strand the runner at second but Louisville was down to their last scheduled plate appearance and trailed by two runs. With the bottom third of the order up, Louisville would usually not like their chances, but the bottom third had just as many hits as the top third in this one going into the seventh so anything could happen.

The Cards fears looked to be realized when they opened the inning with a pair of popups to dig a major hole. Down to their last out and needing two runs, the Cards dug in. Refusing Rochard the time to get settled in, Alexander and Servi were both first pitch swinging, each grabbing a single. Greenwood watched a pair of balls, presumably Rochard reacting and trying to get an easy out with an aggressive swing, before sending the third pitch down the left field line. Unfortunately for the Cards, the left fielder had it well defended, and, while Alexander scored, Servi could only advance to second. That set up Korbe Otis, who got down to her final strike before also sending a ball down to left field. Again, it was well defended, and Jenna Servi was tagged out at the plate trying to score the tying run. Louisville fell 4-3. 

It was a valiant effort, and a different outcome at the plate would have brought Roby up with Greenwood representing the go-ahead run at second. I don't blame the Cards for sending Servi, as  even though bringing Roby in with the bases loaded usually sounds quite threatening, but Rochard had not been particularly rattled on the day. That was especially true for Roby, who was 0-3 with a pair of strikeouts to that point. We'll never know what might have happened with Roby at the plate and the tying run at third, as VT surely wouldn't have intentionally walked that run in, but aggressiveness very often pays off. 

The Cards will get another shot today, with game two of the series getting underway at 2PM. Today's game will be on ACCNX, with tomorrow's noon finale getting the ACCN treatment. Louisville will look to stay at or above .500 in conference this weekend, which they can do if they can manage a split in these two games.

Lacrosse Hosts Notre Dame

Today is Senior Day for the Louisville lacrosse team, and they'll host the Fighting Irish from South Bend in Cardinal Stadium. The game starts at noon and the Senior Day festivities will happen before the opening draw. The Thunder Over Louisville Air Show isn't set to begin until 3PM, so you'd have plenty of time to get down to the Waterfront after the match if you wanted to turn out. Notably, the only way to access Cardinal Stadium for the game will be via Gate 2 on the Floyd Street side of the stadium, so keep that in mind as you make your way over.

Honored today will be seven players, a student assistant coach, and a manager. The players include the Blalock sisters, who are tied for the most games played in program history at 76. Caroline has been a captain throughout her time on the team, while Sarah holds a 55-54 advantage in games started. The two will be greatly missed. Also suiting up in Louisville for the last time are Hannah Morris and Paige Richbourg. Hannah was the 11th player to score 100 career goals for the Cards and Paige ranks 9th in program history in draw controls. Seniors Kirsten Parker and Abby Roskovich and RS Junior Kristen Pezzullo will also be honored, as will Kelly Coughlan and Courtney Jackson, the aforementioned coach and manager.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

After a much needed week off last week, I'll be back this week for the show, and we'll try to avoid critical recording failures. Such are the joys of internet broadcasting. This weeks show will cover the week that was in Louisville Women's Athletics, both on and off the field. There will be three of us to cover it, a throwback to the basement days on the hill. As always, you can check out the live stream of the show by going to the Cardinal Couple YouTube page and clicking on the live video. Jeff usually creates that about an hour before the show, which officially starts at 11 AM Eastern. If the live time doesn't work for you, there are plenty of playback options, so be sure to check out whichever is best for you!

Cardinal Couple YouTube: Link

Anchor (podcast host): Link

Apple Podcasts: Link

Breaker: Link

Google Podcasts: Link

Overcast (free account required): Link

Pocket Casts (free account and app required): Link

RadioPublic: Link

Spotify: Link

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Cards Bounce Back Against Niagara -- Liz Dixon Grad Photos -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Lacrosse Bounces Back with Win at Niagara

Louisville Lacrosse broke their two-game losing streak with a 19-10 win at Niagara yesterday. The Cards improve to 7-9 on the season.

The Purple Eagles came out ready to play, scoring less than two minutes into the match and played Louisville to a 3-3 first quarter. Niagara would also score two of the first three goals in the second quarter for a one-goal advantage.

Louisville, historically known for big runs, proceeded to go on a 9-0 run over the back half of the second quarter and first portion of the third quarter for a comfortable eight-goal lead.

Niagara would cut the lead to five to close out the third quarter, but a 6-2 run over the final period allowed the Cards to cruise to a nine-goal lead and blowout win.

Caroline Blalock completed a hat trick early in the second quarter and would have five goals by halftime. The super-senior would complete a double hat trick in the third quarter and ended the match with a single game career-high seven goals. 

Nicole Perroni posted a four-goal performance, including three straight of her own spanning over the final minutes of the first half and early second half. Her fourth and final goal came early in the final period.

Louisville's leading scorer Hannah Morris scored two goals while six Cards contributed one goal apiece.

The split goalkeeper philosophy continued today. Sara Addeche got the start and surrendered give goals along with one save over 21:53. J Pleck would come in relief to allow five goals in addition to six saves. The two have nearly identical playing time on the year with the latter having a better save percentage and more saves.

Scott Teeter's squad returns home this Saturday to close out the regular season. Louisville and Notre Dame will square off on the Cards' senior day at Cardinal Stadium at noon. Admission is free at Cardinal Stadium for this match. A win would give UofL two conference wins and tie them for fifth (out of nine teams) in the ACC, pending no other teams earn a third conference win.

Liz Dixon Grad Photos

My Friday did not end following Louisville softball's run-rule victory over Syracuse in their series opener. My next stop was with Liz Dixon to take her graduation photos for her.

Although, Dixon is graduating, she will still be returning for one more season with the Cards and will take a few extra classes while focusing primarily on basketball and winning a national championship.

During our tour around downtown and campus, we ended up inside the Kueber Center, where the four ACC Championship and four NCAA Final Four trophies were sitting out. I picked up the 2022 Final Four trophy to use for the photos and made a comment on how heavy it was. Liz, with her quick witted sense of humor replied with "That's why we lift weights."

Here's a few of her grad photos:

On a side note, good luck to Louisville baseball as they take on their blue buddies down I-64 tonight at Jim Patterson Stadium. Tickets range from $5-$200.

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

Lax Downs UC -- Softball Begins Bluegrass Challenge -- Praasterink to NCAAs -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

LAX Cards Down Bearcats in Battle for I-71

Making just their second road trip this season, Louisville lacrosse found major success with a 16-9 win at Cincinnati. An 8-5 second quarter and holding the Bearcats to two second half goals proved to be the difference maker.

Louisville found themselves down 2-0 early inside Nippert Stadium, but powered through with a 4-0 run over the remainder of the first quarter and the beginning of the second quarter. A 2-0 spurt by Cincinnati evened the score before Louisville pulled off a 7-3 run to close out the half for a small lead.

Following the intermission, the Cards had a 4-1 third quarter to have a comfortable seven-goal lead. The match was never in doubt following that with a quiet 1-1 fourth quarter.

Allegra Catalano was the top scorer for Louisville with four goals. She also added an assist to go with her four scores. Caroline Blalock posted a hat trick while adding five assists, tying the fourth-best mark in assists in a single game by a Louisville player.

Kylea Dobson earned a name for herself with a hat trick and the always reliable Nicole Perroni had a three-piece of her own. Tiffany Natoli contributed two goals and the lone remaining goal came from Abby Scully.

J Pleck got the start and allowed four goals to go with four saves over 19:10. Sara Addeche came in relief for the final 40:50 to allow five goals with four saves and earn the win.

Cincinnati seems to be uncertain on where they play their games. When Paulie and I attended the LAX game up there last time, it was at Gettler Stadium (the UC soccer facility). They've also used Sheakley Athletic Center  (their on campus "bubble" for LAX and Football practice) and Nippert Stadium...where they play home football games. Judging by the attendance, Nippert was way too large a venue for the event, but the Cards won and probably would have taken UC on in an abandoned lot by the train station to extend their dominance. 

Louisville improves to 5-3 on the year. They visit #2 North Carolina on Sunday.

Softball Hosts Bluegrass Challenge

Less than ideal weather has caused Louisville softball to alter their schedule for the Bluegrass Challenge well before the first pitch is ever thrown, but the Cards are slated for five games this weekend.

Louisville opens up play at 5:00 p.m., today against Central Michigan. They will then turn around and face Valparaiso immediately after.

The Cards have a 3:00 p.m. game against Central Michigan and a 5:30 p.m. game against Ohio on Friday.

There will be no games on Saturday due to the forecast. Louisville will square off against Indiana at 11:00 a.m. on Sunday.

Eastern Kentucky will also be in town, but the Cards and Colonels will not face each other.

The Cards are 1-0 against Central Michigan (2014) and 2-0 against Valparaiso (2012, 2021). The Cards have seen Ohio a few more times and hold a 7-2 record against them, most recently with a win in 2017. Louisville and Indiana have faced each other almost a couple dozen times with UofL holding a 19-3 advantage. Louisville defeated Indiana 9-5 in their fourth game this season.

Else Praasterink to Compete at NCAAs

Else Praasterink has punched her ticket to the NCAA Championships after finishing second in the platform diving qualifying meet in Ann Arbor.

Praasterink scored a 303.05 in prelims and a 592.05 overall score to place second.

The sophomore from the Netherlands is the only Louisville diver on the women's side to qualify but will be one of 15 Cardinals to compete in the NCAAs.

Emily Engstler Named as Cheryl Miller Award Finalist

Emily Engstler has been named one of the five finalists for the 2022 Cheryl Miller Award. The award is presented to the top small forward in NCAA Division I women's basketvball 

The other four candidates are Ashley Joens (Iowa State), Rhyne Howard (UK), Haley Jones (Stanford) and Madi Williams (Oklahoma).  Ashley Joens won the award in 2021 

Date and time to announce the winner will be determined at a later date and will be done in conjunction with the other four winners of the Women's Starting Five. Those are the point guard, shooting guard, power forward and center awards. 

Want more info?  We suggest you check out www.hoophallawards.com  

NCAA Selection Show / Cardinal Couple Pick Em

The NCAA Women's Basketball Selection Show is this coming Sunday night and the Cards should be considered a lock in the tournament and to host the opening two rounds at the KFC Yum! Center. If either of those things don't happen then there's a serious problem.

The Cardinal Couple ACC Pick Em was a big success despite a surprising couple of upsets. With 26 entries, it was our biggest entry pool to date.

With that being said, the Cardinal Couple NCAA Pick Em is good to go again this year! From the moment the teams are announced and up until right before the first games tip off, you will be able to enter. Start studying up!

We know, there are a whole lot more teams to choose from in the NCAA WBB Pick 'Em.  But, it is free and Paulie is conducting high level, top secret negotiations to secure gift cards for the winner and runner up. He also appreciates your e-mails on gift card suggestions. He did discover that Ford does not have a gift card for a new truck, and he couldn't find one for a brand new house. 

Happy Thursday and Go Cards!

Jared

Cards, Cats tie in Women's Golf -- Caroline Blalock gets All-American Honors -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 4-4 TIE IN 2022 SPRING OPENER

The University of Louisville began their spring season with a 4-4 tie against Kentucky in Naples, FL Tuesday.in the Battle of the Bluegrass. 

Since Louisville won the last head-to-head meeting between the two, they'll retain the Battle of the Bluegrass Cup. Club Pelican Bay Golf Club in Naples, FL was the host for the event.

Mairead Martin, Carmen Griffiths, Gabbi Bentancourt and Carly Haines won their individual matches against UK golfers. The Cars were down 4-3 in the match, awaiting the outcome of Haines match against Ryan Bender and the match was still even after 18 holes -- so it went to extra holes. Haines won the match on the 20th hole and created the tie between the two squads.

The Cards entered the spring season ranked as the 32nd. team in DI and will resume the spring season on Feb 29th. when they travel to Duran Golf Club in Melbourne, FL for the Moon Golf Invitational.

CAROLINE BLALOCK NAMED ALL-AMERICAN

Louisville Lacrosse graduate-student/midfielder Caroline Blalock has been named to the Inside Lacrosse All-American squad. It's the second year in a row the five-year captain has been honored with the award. Caroline and her twin sister Sarah are the only graduate students on the squad and have been on the squad since head coach Scott Teeter arrived at Louisville.

Caroline led the team last season in assists, ground balls, forced turnovers and was second in scoring for the 5-11 Cards. 

She's from Ellicott City, MD --which has the oldest standing train station in the country -- constructed in 1830 for the B&O Railroad. 

Louisville Lax begins the 2022 season on the road with games at Colorado on Friday, Feb 11th and at Denver on Sunday, Feb 13th. The home slate begins Friday, Feb 18th hosting Marquette. 

Jared will get you ready tomorrow for WBB's big game against NCST.Thursday.

paulie

Spring Teams Split Friday -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Lacrosse Struggles Against Syracuse

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

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

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

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

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

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

Softball Takes Game One Against Duke

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

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

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

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

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

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

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

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

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-

Hailey Van Lith -- Caroline Blalock -- Softball -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

VAN LITH NAMED AS A NAISMITH HIGH SCHOOL SEMIFINALIST

While the University of Louisville WBB squad rolls along with a 21-1 record and some significant rankings (#2 in the Top 16 Committee Rankings, #3 RPI, #4 USA Today Rankings and #5 in the AP Poll) a future Cardinal is receiving some pretty huge accolades as well. 

Hailey Van Lith, a Louisville signee, has been named as a 2020 Jersey Mike's Naismith High School Girls Trophy semifinalist. The Wenatchee, WA native, who plays for Cashmere High School, is one of ten players named for this honor. 

Van Lith and her father Corey were recently in Louisville for the Cards game against Team USA , taking a brief break from her senior season at Cashmere, and had to be impressed with the 12,000 + that were in the KFC YUM! Center for thee contest. In my brief chat with her and her dad, she was excited for the game, for her arrival here to play hoops and genuinely sincere and engaging with the fans welcoming her to the "Ville".

She's ranked as the #2 prospect in the nation by Prospects Nation and the top guard by  espnW HoopGurlz. The honors, accolades, awards and recognition the 5-foot-7 superstar has received over the past several years could fill up the rest of today's column and the rest of the week here at CARDINAL COUPLE. 

Just a few highlights from her impressive list: 

-- U19 USA squad
-- FIBA 3x3 World Cup MVP
-- (4) Gold Medals from USA squad competitions
-- Player of the Yer in Washington
-- Made 12 threes in a game
-- Averaged 34.4 points and eight rebounds last year.
-- 52 points in a game

...and the list goes on and on. 

We have to wonder if Corey (her Dad) has any wood-working skills or time to build the cabinets, shelves and trophy cases needed to hold all her achievements ? 

From Mongolia to Main Street Louisville, Van Lith has had a major impact on the world of girls high school basketball, plus women's basketball in general, and we wait with excitement on her arrival to our fair city to begin her student-athlete time.  

For now, it's hitting the books, working with her Cashmere teammates and striving to win games, one at a time, to win the Washington Class 1-A State championship. Cashmere is 17-0 this season, so far, and ranked #2 in the state. 

"HVL" does it oh, so, well and soon she'll be wearing the Cardinal "L".


LACROSSE'S BLALOCK NAMED PRESEASON ALL-ACC

As Louisville Lacrosse prepares for their 2020 opener in Cincinnati on Sunday, they received the great news that Caroline Blalock (one of the Blalock sisters) has been named preseason All-ACC. The ACC Coaches determine this annual pre-season squad and it's a deserving honor for the Cards junior midfielder. 

Blalock has been a team captain for Louisville all three years she's been here. Last year, she was named an Inside Lacrosse preseason All-American and finished the season as a member of the ACC All-Academic Team. She was busy on the field, as well, causing 23 turnovers, 30 points and 20 goals. 

During her freshman campaign, she was named all-ACC Second Team and led Louisville with 43 goals, 55 points and 24 caused turnovers. 

Jared and I will be in Cincinnati on Sunday (and we're not trying to walk-on the Bengals or Reds) watching Scott Teeter's team kick off the season and LouLax opens the home portion of their schedule when #10 Denver visits on Saturday, Feb 15th. 

Good luck to the Cards, Caroline and the squad against the Bearcats !! 



SOFTBALL SWINGS INTO ACTION TOMORROW



Louisville Softball heads to Clearwater, FL and begins their 2020 campaign in the NFCA Leadoff Classic Friday with a noon game against #21 ranked Mississippi. It's a busy three days ahead for the Cards, as these type of tournaments usually are, with five games in three days. 

Louisville will also face Baylor Thursday at 2:30 p.m. On Friday the Cards have another double-header, starting with Texas St and ending with Mississippi St. Sunday action has the "hit and pitch" Cards against Missouri. 

The first two games will be shown on You Tube and we'll keep you updated on further coverage as we learn it, for Saturday and Sunday. 

Some really good teams await the Cards, including three opponents from the SEC, and a early test for a team that returns five starters and pitcher Taylor Roby. Celene Funke will lead the Cards outfield contingent and short-stop Caitlin Ferguson will help protect the left-side of the diamond. 

Wishing I could be down "in the clear-water" for this one, especially since our Louisville forecast for the next several days is winter weather. My application for "senior-citizen honorary bat-boy" is still "pending further review, however...

Hit 'em where they ain't and send the foe back to the dugout unsuccessful, Softball Cards !! 


LOUISVILLE STUDENT-ATHLETE TALENT NIGHT

Your "hosts with the most" Jaz and Steven

Our roving photographer Jared Anderson popped in on UofL Talent night last night and sent us some pictures of the event. Co-emcees Jazmine Jones and Steven Enoch were part of the incredible talent production that the Cards student-athletes displayed. 

From what we've heard, softball's Jenna Servi has some unbelievable dance moves, the next big thing in duets is the duo of Nyah Green and Norika Konno, who did a Japanese-English duet and JJ and Steve will be hosting "America's Got Talent"  after they graduate.

Trying to top Shakira and J-Lo ??  

"Q and A" with Louisville Soccer student-athletes.

Hopefully they can move like that on the diamond !




Have a wonderful Wednesday, I'll be heading down to Floyd Street to hear the weekly "Words from Walz" later today and we'll have them for you in Thursday's article.

-paulie
xxxxx