Sunday Cardinal Couple

Field Hockey Gets In

The NCAA Selection Show for Field Hockey was last night at 10pm.  The massive field of 12 was announced and UofL was able to get one of the very few at-large bids for the tournament.

With nine automatic qualifiers for a 12 team tournament, only three at-large bids were available.  The top two teams in the NFHCA poll were UNC and Michigan.  Both got the automatic qualifier bid for their conferences (ACC and Big 10).  Ranks three through five are UofL, Iowa, and Northwestern (ACC, Big 10, Big 10) and these are the three teams that got the at-large bids for the overall tournament.  Ranked 6th is Liberty, who did not get into the tournament.  With the at-large bids exhausted, the Big East AQ bid went to UConn, ranked 7th.

(I should point out here that the at-large bids were not based on the NFHCA poll, but they did track perfectly with the poll, and I use it here to highlight the absurdity of the NCAA's decision-making with respect to field hockey.)

UofL will play Sunday, May 2nd at 3pm.  They will be playing the winner of UConn vs Rider (Northeast Conference).  The 1st and 2nd rounds will be hosted by Penn State, while the semifinals and finals will be hosted by UNC.  There is no information available that I've been able to find for live streaming the first and second rounds, but the semifinals will be on ESPN3, and the finals will be shown on ESPNU. A good guess would be ncaa.com , they hosted the selection show. 

Lacrosse vs Notre Dame

UofL closed out the season in a loss to Notre Dame, 15-11.

The Irish were in control for most of the game, stretching out an eight goal lead at 10 minutes into the 2nd half.

The Cards went on a 6-1 run to narrow the lead to only three before Notre Dame got a goal in the closing minute of the game to reach the final score.  The hero of the run was Nicole Perroni.  The Canadian sophomore (Whitby, Ontario) got the first hat trick of her career in the run.

Caroline Blalock also got a hat trick in the game, while Hannah Morris put a pair in the back of the net.  Single goals to Ally Hall, Kylea Dobson, and Kokoro Nakazawa would account for all of the scoring from the Cards.

Paulie caught up with Louisville Lacrosse head coach Scott Teeter post-game and you can those remarks below: 

POST NOTRE DAME SCOTT TEETER

Next up for Lacrosse is the ACC tournament.  All eight teams in the ACC will participate in the tournament, with UofL getting that 8th seed.  That matches the Cards up with top seed UNC in the first round of the tournament also hosted by UNC.  The game will be at noon on Wednesday, presumably on the ACC Network Extra, but that has not yet been confirmed.

Today's Activity

Things are starting to calm down slightly from the crazy spring of sports that this has been with the extra load of fall sports also playing in the spring.

Only two games on the slate for today and they're both Softball finishing up their weather-altered schedule with FSU.  Their double-header will kick off today at noon with the 2nd game at 2:30(ish).  The first game will be on the ACC Network with the second one shifting over to the streaming on the ACC Network Extra.

A Personal Note

I and my family would like to thank you all, the readers of Cardinal Couple, and the listeners of the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast, for your expressions of sympathy and support on the death of my father, Charlie McAdams.  My father looked forward to each day's article, and to the Saturday "radio" podcast.  The staff and readers/listeners were more than just names to him.  As an avid sports fan and UofL fan, you all were kindred spirits to him.

We appreciate your support.

Jeff

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

Speaking of the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast, we were on the air again yesterday as normal.  Missing Case, we did have Daryl join us this week as she had a day off from button pushing... given the rescheduling of the Softball series versus the Noles..

We celebrated Jared and Katy's engagement, discussed the ACC Commissioner's visit to UofL's ACC Network studios, Softball, Lacrosse, Field Hockey, and wrapped up Volleyball for the year.  Check out the fun below!

JMcA

Highlighting UofL Cheer Championships -- Charlie McAdams -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 UofL Cheer Takes Home Two Titles

As Paulie mentioned roughly a week ago on here, Louisville welcomed home two new titles recently. Louisville cheer took the crown with their All-Girl and Small Co-Ed squads. Due to the demanding schedule combined between fall and spring sports we did not get a true opportunity to highlight their accomplishments.

The Louisville spirit squads are well-known and can often be seen at football games, men's basketball games, women's basketball games, and various community outreach projects.

Louisville Cheer is broken into three groups: All-Girl, Small Co-Ed, and Large Co-Ed. The groups speak for themselves with All-Girl comprised of only women cheerleaders. Small Co-Ed and Large Co-Ed are a mixture of men and women cheerleaders with Large Co-Ed having more members. Each group can compete in a prelims and finals.

There is also the option for the cheerleaders to break into small four-person stunt groups, which is considered its own entity instead of an attachment directly to any of the cheer squads.

Louisville Ladybirds is the name of Louisville's dance team. They are not broken into groups like the cheerleaders. However, they compete in two different categories with Dance Team Performance and Dance Team Hip-Hop.

Earlier this month, all of the Louisville spirit squads traveled to Daytona for the NCA and NDA competitions. Like most years, the accolades came pouring in.

Louisville Large Co-Ed finished third in their division. The Ladybirds took second in both of their divisions. Louisville Cheer had a stunt group finish runner-up. Louisville All-Girl and Louisville Small Co-Ed each took home the title.

For Louisville All-Girl, this is their seventh straight national championship with a score of 95.5458. They beat out Oklahoma State by 1.5 points. They have won a total of 17 NCA Championships dating back to 1998.

Louisville Small Co-Ed saw their first national championship since 2017. After sitting in second after prelims, Small Co-Ed jumped ahead of Arkansas State to win with a score of 95.9709. Arkansas State finished well behind them by a margin of 6.1 points. This is their 11th NCA Championship dating back to 2005.

The routines performed by the groups is vastly different than what is seen at UofL games. At home games, UofL Cheer and Ladybirds are used more for entertainment and focused on energizing the crowd. During competitions, the groups focus on a much more strenuous and demanding routine with more tumbling and stunts.

Unlike most sports, these groups don't have a regular season or have multiple chances to qualify for the championships. What happens in prelims and finals at Daytona is all they get. These groups spend all year preparing for an event that happens over the span of a couple days.

Cardinal Couple had the opportunity to speak with Myah Rice, who recently won a national championship with Louisville All-Girl. Myah described the feeling of winning a title as well as the work they put in to get there.

As a site that prides itself on covering the Joy and Excitement of UofL Women's Sports we are thrilled to see these two UofL squads bring home the hardware to Louisville. Congratulations to both groups!

WITH OUR DEEPEST SYMPATHIES...

You all know our illustrious and Volleyball-loving writer Jeff McAdams here at CARDINAL COUPLE. 

It is with our deepet sympathies and sad regret that we bring you the new that Jeff

s father -- Charlie McAdams-- has passed away. 

Charlie was 77 and a retired school teacher/ administrator  with the Jefferson County School Systems. A military veteran and college graduate from Western Kentucky, Charlie was married to his wife Vivian and had two sons, two grand-children and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins, family, friends and former students. 

You can read the obituary at the link below: 

CHARLIE MCADAMS OBITUARY

From all of us at Cardinal Couple, our deepest sympathies on his passing to the family. If you'd like to leave a message for Jeff and the family in our comments section, or in the Dignity Memorial section, I'm sure that they would appreciate it. 

A Thoughtful Tuesday to you and Go Cards!

Jared