Louisville Lacrosse eliminated from NCAA Tourney by James MAdison -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

5-0 DUKES RUN SENDS CARDS HOME

A 5-0 closing run by the James Madison lacrosse team over the final 15 minutes of the contest propelled them past the Cards and eliminated Louisville from the NCAA Tournament. 

The end of this one was hard to watch...when I did eventually figure out how to watch it...boos and hisses to Penn State for making this a pay-per-view event on my computer but allowing me to watch it free on my diminutive cell phone through the College Sports Network.

Hard to watch in screen size but also in the untimely collapse of the Cards normally strong defense and disappearance of any scoring threats during crunch time. For the fourth straight year, LouLax makes the NCAA Tournament and bows out after the first game. 

The Cards started strong enough...holding a 3-1 lead after 13 minutes of play. Hannah Koloski got the scoring started just two minutes into the match when she connected on a free position attempt. Goals by Jillian Balog and Meghan Siverson followed. JMU did rally with a first half 5-0 run to regain the lead and took a 6-4 lead into halftime. 

The Cards would climb with one in the early part of the second half at 7-6 when Hannah Koloski got her third goal of the game at the 15:48 mark. After that, though, the offense remained silent and the defense fell apart. 

Kellie Young comments: 

"I am super proud of our seniors and what they brought today," said head coach Kellie Young. "They left their hearts on the field and unfortunately the other 23 players did not. The defense played out of their minds to start the game and the attack was playing scared. Our attack then stepped it up in the last eight minutes but you have to play 60 minutes. I am disappointed right now and embarrassed that Louisville lacrosse did not play the level that we played in the ACC Tournament. We will figure it out and attack next year."


A season of ups and downs ends for Louisville LAX. We hope that the disappointment associated with this loss will spur those returning for next year on to do better and go at least one step further in 2018. 


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


the CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO SHOW

I meander back into the studio today to co-host The Cardinal Couple Radio Hour with WorldWide Jeff McAdams. Case is off this week, busy with the arduous process and physical exertion of moving...but we have a very special guest scheduled to join us in studio in Louisville Cardinal sports editor Dalton Ray.

We'll run through the worlds of softball, lacrosse and much, much more this morning at 11 a.m. on WCHQ 100.9 FM and at www.crescenthillradio.com plus get a look at what involves being a sports editor for a college newspaper from Dalton. 

Should be fun. Please join us and stay tuned for Handicapping Heroes following the show. 


paulie
xxxxx

Louisville Softball loses to NC State...Lacrosse today...Moore to USC -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

CARDS CRUMBLE IN QUARTERFINALS TO PACK


Lack-a-bat-ities picked a rotten time to reappear in the Louisville softball dugout.

Louisville fell to NC state in the opening round of the ACC Tournament 5-2 yesterday in Chapel Hill, NC. to the North Carolina State Wolfpack. The Cards could only muster two runs and six hits against Pack pitcher Peyton Silverman...while allowing NC State to touch starter Megan Hensley for four runs on nine hits and reliever Maryssa Becker for a run and five hits. 

The Pack put up a run in the first inning on the Cards and added another to go up 2-0 in the third inning. Louisville got one back, largely due to the efforts of Jordan McNary, who reached on a fielder's choice and then went from first to home on Morgan Meyer's bunt and a throwing error.

Things got worse for UofL in the top of the fifth. NC State pieced together five hits and a Cardinal fielding error contributed to three runs and a 5-1 lead. "Mike" Szydlowski tried to get the Cards back into the contest with a solo home run in the bottom of the fifth...but the Cards could not piece anything together offensively in the final two innings and took a 5-2 loss. 

Sandy Pearsall on the loss: 

"I felt like our team didn't play defense toward the end and we were trying to hit it out of the park instead of doing what we did last weekend against them, which was hit the shots that we needed to hit, just keep the ball in their outfield and we didn't do that well today." 

The Cards now await their fate for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Selection Show will be on Sunday, May 14th. at 10 p.m. on ESPN 2. 64 teams will be selected. The guess here is that Louisville will be picked to go to one of 16 regional sites...where action will take place May 19-21. 


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


LACROSSE BEGINS NCAA TOURNAMENT TONIGHT

The Louisville Lacrosse squad faces James Madison tonight at 6 p.m. at Penn State's field in first round NCAA action. It's the fourth consecutive NCAA appearance for Kellie Young's squad. 

The Cards and Dukes have never met in Lacrosse. Young was the head coach at JMU before accepting the Louisville job in 2006. 

The #18 ranked LaxCards will seek their first-ever NCAA Tournament win against a #16 James Madison that prides themselves on presenting a stingy defense. The Dukes (13-6) allow just 8.58 goals per contest...which ranks eighth nationally. They won the CAA title with wins over Delaware and Elon...who both made the tournament as well. 

Louisville (11-7) will look their own defensive stopper, goalie Brittany Read..who allows just 9.58 goals per game. She was the ACC Defender of the Year. On the attack, senior Hannah Koloski leads a talented group of scorers with 60 goals. Sophomore Meghan Siverson complied 52 scores on the season. 


You can catch the action on the Penn State athletics website live stream. Link below: 

LOUISVILLE VS JAMES MADISON



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


MOORE JOINING MOORE AT USC. 

Reports on Twitter from several sources indicate that former Cardinal WBB player Mariya Moore will be joining her sister Minyon Moore at USC. 

There was speculation a few weeks ago that Minyon would be leaving USC and Mariya did make a visit to Cal recently...but it now looks like the sisters will be reunited on the Trojan campus. Mariya would have to sit a season before playing her senior year with Minyon...who would be a junior then. 

The move to Los Angeles for Mariya makes it possible for her parents to have the chance to see both girls play together and more frequently. The drive from Richmond, CA to L.A. is about five hours down I-5 and is also serviced by Amtrak. 

Minyon Moore‏ @MinyonMoore

It's always been a dream of mine to play basketball with my sister again. Congrats on your commitment to USC! #weback @Riyabelikeee

paulie
xxxxx