Lacrosse Final Four Set -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

ACC Guaranteed a Team in the National Championship

Louisville lacrosse's season came to a close a month ago, but the NCAA Women's Lacrosse Tournament is still going on for a little bit longer. The Final Four is set with both matches being played on Friday. The national championship game will be played on Sunday.

Three of the top four seeds advanced to the Final Four: #1 Northwestern, #2 Boston College, and #3 Syracuse. #4 Maryland was eliminated by Florida last round. The Gators have been the ACC killer this tournament, having defeated North Carolina, #5 Virginia, and former ACC school Maryland.

The ACC had six teams make the 29-team field: #2 Boston College, #3 Syracuse, #5 Virginia, #7 Notre Dame, Duke, and North Carolina. Stanford, who joins the ACC in the fall, also made the NCAA Tournament.

Louisville lacrosse at L&N Stadium

Duke fell to Loyola Maryland in the opening round. North Carolina fell to Florida in the opening round. Notre Dame crushed Coastal Carolina 24-6 in the first round before losing to Michigan in a heartbreaker, 15-14. The Wolverines scored with one second remaining in regulation to secure the win. #5 Virginia dominated LIU 21-6 in the first round before falling to the Gators, 13-8.

Syracuse received a first round bye and went onto defeat Stony Brook 15-10 and #6 Yale 19-9 to advance to the Final Four. Boston College also received a bye in the first round and followed it up with wins against Princeton 21-16 and Michigan 14-9. 

Louisville lacrosse coach Scott Teeter

In the regular season, the Eagles capitalized on the golden goal rule to win 11-10 in overtime against the Orange. The two foes met again in the ACC Championship with Boston College earning the win, 15-8. It's tough to defeat a team three times in a season so this has the potential for an upset or at least an epic match. With BC and Cuse facing each other on Friday, the ACC is guaranteed to have a team playing in the national championship.

The ACC has had at least one team represented in the NCAA Women's Lacrosse National Championship every year since 2009, COVID-19 season excluded due to no tournament. This stat includes the time Maryland played in the ACC.

We will certainly pull for the ACC this tournament and hope to see the Cards there next year.

Happy Thursday and Go Cards!

Jared

Louisville Softball in ACC Tournament...Lacrosse leaves for NCAA Tornament -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

I suppose we could call today's CARDINAL COUPLE edition the Tournament edition...with Softball already in Chapel Hill, NC and waiting to play NC State later today at 5 p.m. and Lacrosse on the way to University Park, PA to face James Madison in the first round of the NCAA Tournament Friday afternoon. We can even toss in women's golf...who finished their three day run in the NCAA Regionals...unfortunately not qualifying for the NCAA Championships. 

Here's what lies ahead for today and the weekend: 


SOFTBALL SET FOR A STATE SHOWDOWN


One of the few ACC Tournaments, it seems, that was not moved out of North Carolina is the ACC Softball Tournament. It starts today on the UNC campus in Chapel Hill at Anderson Stadium. The top eight teams in the ACC final ranking take the field today in quarterfinal action. #1 seed FSU faces #8 Virginia at 11 a.m. Following is #4 Boston College vs. #5 Notre Dame. At approximately 5 p.m. the #2 seed Cards will face #7 NC State and the nightcap features #3 North Carolina against #6 Syracuse. 

The tournament is a single-elimination format...with the semifinals taking place at 1 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. Friday and the Championship game Saturday at 2 p.m. The ACC Network Extra and RSN are listed as the televised media sources for the quarters and semis...ESPN will show the title match. In Louisville, RSN means Fox Sports South as a rule...so check there first if you're planning on watching. If the Cards win today, they would get the winner of the North Carolina vs. Syracuse contest and play at approximately 3:30 Friday.

The Cards ended the season facing their foe today and swept the N.C. State Wolfpack in a three-game series. Anderson Stadium will see the Cards for the second time this season...it was the site of the 2017 ACC/Big Ten Challenge...where the Cards beat Purdue twice and split with Ohio State. 

Louisville has five players hitting .300 or better. Nicole Pufahl leads the way with a .360 average. Maryssa Becker follows with a .338 average. Your obvious choice for governor...Jordan McNary 'slaps' in at .329...with Tiarra Sanabria (.319) and Morgan Meyer (.304) rounding out the five-some. Close behind, with averages of .290 or better are Alison "Mike" Szydlowski (.299), Megan Hensley (.295) and Jamie "New Pride of New Egypt" Soles at .293. 

A whole bunch of hitting, pitching, fielding and running headed your way...starting today...ACC style. Best of luck to the Cards...take the title! 


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LACROSSE OFF TO PENNSYLVANIA

The Louisville Lacrosse team departed from "the Little Yum" yesterday afternoon...with a send-off from fans and the UofL Pep band...to travel to University Park, PA...where they'll face James Madison in the first round of the NCAA Women's Lacrosse Tournament. 

We got the chance to speak with ACC Defender of the Year Brittany Read, ACC All-First team member Hannah Koloski and head coach Kellie Young shortly before they climbed on the bus and headed for the airport. We have those complete interviews below: 

BRITTANY READ

HANNAH KOLOSKI

KELLIE YOUNG

A new situation for the LaxGirls...in several aspects. First off, not having to face Northwestern in the first round. The Cards and Wildcats have faced up in the first round in the last three Louisville appearances in the NCAA Tournament. Also, the Cards will be in a new venue...Penn State's field...instead of on the Northwestern campus. 

Louisville looks to win their first-ever NCAA Tournament game tomorrow. Check back with us tomorrow to get the time and specifics of the broadcast stream. 

It's tournament time. Grab your popcorn, beverages and hunker down in front of your viewing device! 


paulie
xxxxx

One is enough....Louisville Softball downs Syracuse 1-0 in ACC Quarterfinals -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

LONE RUN IN FIFTH CARRIES CARDS TO SEMI-FINALS

Louisville Softball got excellent pitching from Megan Hensley and Maryssa Becker and was able to piece together two singles and a throwing error on a fielder's choice in the bottom of the fifth inning to defeat Syracuse 1-0 last night in ACC Tournament action. 

Hensley and Syracuse pitcher Anna-Marie Gatti engaged in a pitcher's duel for 4 1/2 innings before the Cards got the lone run. Louisville had threatened in the bottom of the fourth with runners on second and third and just one out...but a hard hit shot by Nicole Pufahl was converted into a double play to get the Orange out of the inning.


The top of the fifth provided Syracuse sith their best chance to reach the plate. The inning started with two outs but back-to-back singles sent Louisville head coach Sandy Pearsall at the circle to replace starting pitcher Hensley with Becker. She got the Cards out of the jam.

Jenna Jordan and Sidney Melton produced singles in the bottom of the fifth and speedy Jessica Adell came in to run for Jordan. A Brittany Sims infield grounder ended up with a throw to first that sailed past the Syracuse first baseman and Adell scampered home for what turned out to be the only run of the contest. 

Becker set the Orange down in order in the sixth and seventh innings to get the win for Louisville. The Cards had five hits in the contest...Melton providing two of them. 

Just who Louisville will play in the semifinals is yet to be determined. The final game of the evening between Notre Dame and Virginia Tech was stopped after an inning with a rain delay and eventually postponed until today at 10:30 a.m.

Whoever the opponent is, they'll face off at around 3:30 p.m. today. Fox Sports South will show all the games today.

In other ACC action, #1 seed Florida State knocked off #8 seed Pitt 8-0 in six innings and #5 seed North Carolina advanced with a 6-0 win over #4 Boston College. 

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LACROSSE FACES NORTHWESTERN TONIGHT

The Louisville Lacrosse squad enters NCAA Championship play with a 7 p.m. first round match against Northwestern tonight in South Bend, IN. The Cards are one of 26 teams that are in the LAX dance and one of seven from the ACC. 

ESPN 3 will show the match. 

The Cards handled the Wildcats 10-4 in the regular season at the Louisville Lacrosse Stadium but Northwestern was responsible for putting Loucrosse out of the 2014 and 2015 NCAA Tournaments. 

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SYDNEY TO INDY

Syd Brackemyre has found a new home to continue her college basketball career and the former Card has landed a couple of hours away from the 'Ville at D II University of Indianapolis. 

The Greyhounds also have a new coach in Krystin Draybin. 

UofI went 10-20 last year...they return eight scholarship players from last season...none over 6'1". 

Indy plays in the Division II GLVC (Great Lakes Valley Conference) and so does Bellarmine...so there's a good chance Syd will be coming back to the Ville at least once before her college career ends. 

Good luck, Syd the Kid! Stay healthy and pursue your dream with passion. We'll keep an eye out for you in Knights Hall. 

paulie
xxxxx

Softball falls to FSU 4-3 but gets #2 seed in ACC Tourney...Lacrosse makes NCAA Tournament -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

SOFTBALL ROBBED IN TALLAHASSEE

Louisville Softball took a 4-3 regular season loss to the 'Noles on Sunday but weren't totally responsible for the loss. A horrific umpiring call at a key junction of the game contributed to it. Yes, they didn't score the most runs...but FSU was basically given the deciding tally. 

In a game that had been see-saw score-wise, Louisville found themselves ahead 3-2 going into the bottom of the fifth over Florida State. Jessica Warren and Alex Powers reached on base hits for the Seminoles. A single to center field by Sydney Brodrick was fielded cleanly by Nicole Pufahl. Warren would score easily but Pufahl's throw to catcher Jenna Jordan at home was clearly in time to get Powers out at the plate. 

The ESPN3 announcers called her out. I was watching on ESPN3 with Sonja and we both saw she was out. The multiple replays showed Powers out. 

The home plate umpire called her safe. 

The call gave FSU a 4-3 lead instead of a 3-3 tie and, eventually, the game...since the Cards could not produce another run in the top of the sixth...with runners at the corners...or seventh. 

Maryssa Becker started and Megan Hensley finished in the circle for the Cards. Hailey Smith, Jenna Jordan, Brittany Sims and Morgan Meyer all had two hits for Louisville.

Losing to #5 in the nation is no disgrace. Losing on a blown call is a travesty. On a televised game like that, I'd like to see a booth-review rule established for college softball. Interpretation replacing reality has no place in the outcome of an event. 


CARDS GET #2 SEED IN ACC SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT

Despite the loss, the Cards were able to hang on by a few percentage points and clinch second place in the final ACC regular season standings. The ACC Tournament takes the top eight teams in regular season play...so Louisville will get the #2 seed and face #7 Syracuse in Raleigh, NC on Thursday at 5 p.m.

Louisville won two out of the three-game series against the Orange when the two played a couple of weeks ago. 


The entire tournament will be shown on the league's Regional Sports Network and Saturday's title game on ESPN .


Matchups:

#1 FSU v #8 Pitt
#2 Louisville v #7 Syracuse
#3 Notre Dame v #6 Virginia
#4 Boston College v #5 North Carolina 

North Carolina State, who is the host school for this year's tournament, did not qualify.

LACROSSE TO FACE NORTHWESTERN IN FIRST ROUND OF NCAA TOURNAMENT

Louisville Lacrosse made the 26 team field (as we expected they would) for the NCAA Tournament as an at-large selection and will face Northwestern in first round action at South Bend. The winner will move on to face Notre Dame. 

If it seemed like Bill Murray's Groundhog Day...it is because the Cards have faced the Wildcats the last two years in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament and lost both times.

The Cards did face Northwestern during this regular season and defeated them 10-4. They split meetings with the Irish this year, winning in the regular season and losing in the ACC Tournament. 

Seven ACC schools made the field. Maryland goes in as the #1 seed, Florida #2 and North Carolina #3. 

The Cards play May 13th. at a time to be announced later.

paulie
xxxxx

Lacrosse falls in NCAA Tournament to Northwestern 10-7 -- Saturday Cardinal Couple

BRUST'S RETURN NOT ENOUGH...WILDCATS WIN OVER LOUISVILLE

Faye Brust's return to action after a knee injury on April 4th certainly buoyed the LAX Cards spirits...the 2 1/2 hour rain delay probably dampened them a bit...but the outcome was about what we've come to expect against Northwestern in Lacrosse...




A close game but eventually a loss to the Evanston, IL. member of the BIG 10.

The 10-7 win by the Wildcats knocked Louisville out of the NCAA Tournament. A game that wasn't to Kellie Young's liking:

"This is not how we wanted our tournament run to go. I am proud of our defense, we held their top two scorers scoreless. We ran a new defense and our kids applied it and performed well in the first half. You can't win a game if you can't get the draw. We need to want a national championship, that is our next step." 

The draw control battle was won by the Wildcats 12-7. Kaylin Morissette getting five of the Louisville mid-field possessions. 

The Cards had success early in finding Cortnee Daley for scores...she had the Cards first two goals...and Faye Brust scored her first goal in over a month to give Louisville a 3-1 lead halfway through the first half. So far, so good...

Northwestern rallied to tie it at 3-3. Hannah Koloski put the Cards briefly back on top (the final time Louisville would hold the lead) at 4-3 with eight minutes left in the first half but Northwestern found the net 90 seconds later and the contest went into the intermission at 4-4.

A 2 1/2 hour rain delay, thunder and lightning in the Evanston area, gave Northwestern plenty of time to dissect and analyze the Cardinal defense and it paid dividends for the home team...scoring twice in the first seven minutes of play. 

Morissette had two of the Cards three scores in the final half...cutting the Wildcat lead to 7-6 with 15:12 to play...but the Northwestern defense clamped down and held the Cards to just one score the rest of the way....Morissette cutting the lead to 9-7 with four minutes left in the contest on an unassisted goal. 



Tough way to end the season. 

Northwestern is now 4-0 lifetime against Louisville. If Kellie Young is getting the "Jeff Walz can't beat the Wildcats" complex in regards to facing these Big 10 Wildcats...one can't really blame her. 

The scores have been close, the Cards have led in the contests and...if this all sounds a bit familiar...it's a mirror to WBB's most recent series against those other Wildcats that prowl Lexington.   

Young's quest for the future is admirable and fits well within the desire of all Cardinal fans...to get to and win championships. It will be particularly hard, though...when you're in the best lacrosse conference in NCAA DI and other perennial powerhouses like Maryland are recruiting the same area you are. 

The Louisville Lacrosse facilities are adequate...visiting teams would probably like a locker room instead of a tent and a permanent press box instead of a state fair concession booth would be nice. It might get a little more live game media coverage for the squad besides CARDINAL COUPLE and The Cardinal Student newspaper. 

Neither of these things are overly important in the recruitment of players, of course, but given the state of the art soccer, field hockey and softball facilities Louisville now has to offer...you have to wonder when it'll be Lacrosse's turn for an upgrade. 

To be the best you have to beat the best...and get the best...so that will be job #1 for Young, her staff and returning and upcoming players next season.

That, and finding a way to beat Northwestern.

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FREQUENCY MODULATION RETURNTH

We're back on the air again this morning after taking last week off for the Kentucky Derby. It'll be a full studio with Worldwide, Sam the Intern, Monk, Punkin and Paulie.

We've got exclusive interviews with Sam Purcell and Samantha Williams plus other audio from Sandy Pearsall, Maryssa Becker and Kelsi Jones. We'll be discussing hoops, softball and lacrosse. There might even be a WorldWide quiz in the hour as well.

Join us at 11 a.m. EDT on 100.9 FM WCHQ or on the internet at www.crescenthillradio.com. Link below: 

THANK GOD THERE'S NO VIDEO FEED...

It's radio that is totally unrehearsed, poorly planned and

miserably carried out. And that's just Worldwide's contributions...that's the beauty of it. Gather the chimps by the entertainment center and break out the banana pudding...CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO is on the air! 

paulie
xxxxx

Softball loses to NC State...Lacrosse plays today...FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

CARDS OUT OF ACC TOURNAMENT WITH 3-2 LOSS TO NC STATE

Louisville had their chances to advance to the semifinals of the ACC Tournament yesterday against NC State in Blacksburg, VA but in a game that featured seven total errors and only nine hits...the Cards fell 3-2 to the Wolfpack.

The Cards started off well enough, getting Kelsi Jones across the plate on a wild pitch in the bottom of the first to grab a 1-0 advantage. The lead held behind the strong pitching of Maryssa Becker until the fourth inning when the Pack tied it on a walk, fielders choice and single.

The fifth inning featured two scores...NC State gaining a 2-1 lead...loading the bases and scoring on a fielders choice. Becker got out of the jam, though and UofL got a soaring shot from Hailey Smith starting the Cards at bat with a homer to center. Louisville added two more runners when Jordan McNary was hit by a pitch and Whitney Arion walked but could not get either home. 

NC State grabbed the lead for good in the sixth. Two Louisville errors in the inning and a double put the scoreboard to 3-2. 

It looked as if the Cards were going to tie it in the bottom of the sixth. Brittany Duncan singled and speedy Morgan Meyer came in as a pinch runner. She moved to third with one out and tried to score on a Smith fly ball to center but was tagged out in a collision with the NC State catcher at home plate. 

Unfortunately, the play at the plate wasn't close. 

After Becker retired NC State in the top of the seventh...Louisville was retired in order in the seventh on two strikeouts (looking) and a ground-out to first to give NC State pitcher Emily Weiman her 28th. win of the year and the Wolfpack their ninth win in a row.

Becker allowed five hits and three runs...two of them earned...pitching her way out of several tough situations. The Cards simply couldn't do what the basic premise of the game is, though.

Outscore the opponent.  

The Cards will wait to see if they get an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. The selection show is slated for 10 p.m. Sunday night on ESPNU. 

NC State moves on to face FSU today. The #1 seeded Seminoles downed #8 seed Boston College 4-2. #2 UNC moves forward with a 3-2 win over host #7 seed Virginia Tech and will play #6 seed Pitt today...the Panthers pulling off the upset over #3 seed Notre Dame 8-1.

Congratulations to seniors Whitney Arion and Kelsi Jones and sophomore Maryssa Becker. They were named to the All-ACC Squad. 

LACROSSE STARTS NCAA PLAY AGAINST NORTHWESTERN TODAY


Kellie Young's Net and Stick girls are in Evanston, IL to begin NCAA Tournament play. They'll face home-standing Northwestern today at 4:30 p.m.

Northwestern is the #8 seed in the tournament and is ranked #9 in the polls. They are a perfect 3-0 against # 18 Louisville in lifetimes matches and own a 12-10 victory over the Cards earlier this season. It was also the Wildcats who put UofL out of the 2014 NCAA Tournament in the second round. 

Time for a little payback...Laxers. 

Louisville comes into the match after losing to Duke 14-7 in the first round of the ACC Tournament. Northwestern fell to Ohio State in the Big 10 Tournament. The winner of today's match would face either Notre Dame or Ohio State. #1 ranked and seeded Maryland is also in the Cards region. 

No TV that we know of on this one. UofL's Lacrosse Twitter account:

@LouisvilleLax

does a good job of updating the action, though and we'll follow it that way. 

paulie
xxxxx

  

Tuesday Cardinal Couple - Lacrosse Edition

Lacrosse gets an NCAA bid

The NCAA tournament brackets for Lacrosse were unveiled Sunday night, and UofL received an at-large bid.  The Cards will face some familiar foes in the 1st and potentially 2nd rounds.  The tournament starts for the Lax team with 8 seed Northwestern.  This is a rematch with the team that eliminated them from the tournament last year, in an 11-8 contest.  The Cards also played Northwestern this year up in Evanston, IL and lost in a close contest, 12-10.

Last year's loss came less than 36 hours on the heels of a gutty double-overtime win over Ohio State.  This year, if the Cards can get by Northwestern, they will potentially face...Ohio State.  Louisville and OSU haven't played this year, but last year did provide adequate evidence of how closely matched these two teams were.  In addition to the aforementioned double-OT loss in the tournament, these teams tangled in the regular season with OSU coming out victorious despite a late game comeback by the Red and Black.

The other potential 2nd round opponent is Notre Dame. Again, as is seemingly the case in many sports, the Louisville and Notre Dame Lax teams have a tendency to play some very close games.  The meeting between the two teams two years ago resulted in a double-overtime loss for the Cards.  Last year, in non-conference play, Notre Dame erased a first half Cardinal lead to take the game 12-9. This year, reunited in conference play, Louisville takes the win 10-8 in South Bend.

Should the Cards win in the 2nd round, perennial juggernaut Maryland will likely await.  After a 1st round bye, they will face either Jacksonville or UMass.  UMass is "also receiving votes" in the rankings, and Jacksonville got into the tournament on an automatic bid from winning the Atlantic Sun conference.  Neither is likely to present much of a threat to Maryland.

Seven of the eight women's lacrosse playing ACC schools got bids to the NCAA tournament.  Of the other seeded teams, only one isn't an ACC team (Stoney Brook as the 6 seed in the region with 3 seed Duke).  In current rankings, UNC, Syracuse, BC, and Duke are in spots 2-5, Virginia is 8th, Notre dame is 12th and Louisville is 18th with only Virginia Tech being absent from the rankings and tournament from the ACC.

The question that seems to be floating in the air is how Louisville will do without Faye Brust.  To my knowledge, there hasn't been any new information from the Louisville Lax program concerning Brust's return.  The initial report after the North Carolina game where she injured her knee was that they were going to let the swelling subside for a couple of weeks and evaluate whether she would be able to play.  With a diagnosis of a torn ACL, I think her chances of a return are slim at best.  Last year GK Ashley Herbst played in a few late season games with a torn ACL, but as GK, much less mobility and pressure is needed on the knee, and even with a more stationary position, she clearly wasn't able to play at 100%.  An attacker, such as Brust, will need much more stability, and strength from her knee to play than a goalkeeper would.

So, with 5 games post-Faye, let's look at a few stats.  Brust tore her ACL very early in the game against UNC, and while she played briefly in the 2nd half of the game, she wasn't a factor, so I'm starting the post-Faye period with the UNC game.  First off, our overall record was much better with Faye than without. 9-3 vs 1-4. 

Though, to be fair, the conference schedule...and the ACC is an absolutely brutal Lacrosse conference as we've talked about before numerous times...is heavily weighted towards the late season, so much of that record disparity can be chalked up to conference vs non-conference scheduling.

So who steps up to replace Brust's scoring?  The Real Joe Hill suggested in a comment yesterday that it would be Hannah Koloski.  Unfortunately, it looks like her scoring production hasn't changed all that much since the North Carolina game.  She was scoring at 3.25 points per game (ppg) before UNC, and 2.2 ppg for UNC and later.  That's roughly consistent with her ppg numbers for wins and for loses overall 3.5 for wins, 2.15 for loses.  Looking at wins and loses before and after the UNC game results in similar numbers as well. 3.5 in wins before UNC, 2.3 in loses before UNC; 3 in wins since UNC, and 2 ppg in loses since UNC.  So, basically, when Hannah does well, Louisville does well, but it doesn't appear that Brust being out of the lineup has had any affect on her play, though we have to keep in mind that the sample sizes here for all of these stats is pretty small.

Another player I thought might make an impact without Brust on the field is Anna Kopecka, a redshirt senior from Prague.  The stats for her play are a little trickier since she didn't play in the first 7 games.  What the numbers do show in general is improvement over the year.  Counting only games in which she played, the Czech scored .4 ppg before the UNC game, and 1.2 ppg since.  It also looks like Louisville does worse when Kopecka scores more, though with her play improving in the later part of the season when the team was taking more of the loses, let's not put too much stock in that.  She has .6 ppg in wins, and 1 ppg in loses.  Before the UNC game the numbers look a little better, with 1 ppg in wins, and 0 ppg in loses.  After Brust's departure, however, the numbers flip again, with 1 point in the win over Notre Dame, and 1.25 ppg in the other four games which were losses.  Again, we're talking very small sample sizes, here.

What appears to be the best barometer for Louisville wins that I could find is the production from Kaylin Morissette. Besides her draw control prowess, which is a big advantage for Louisville, Kaylin can, at times, score in bunches.  In the season, before the UNC game, Morissette was scoring at a 3.1 ppg clip, dropping to only 1 once the UNC game started. 

In Louisville wins, Morissette had 3.1 ppg, with only 1.6 in loses.  What may be at play here is that without Brust in the game, opponents are able to key on Morissette more as the difference in wins and loses with Brust playing was considerably smaller than after her injury. Morissette had 3.2 ppg in wins before the UNC game, and 2.7 ppg after.  In the other five games, Kay had 2 ppg in the win, and only .75 ppg in the four loses.

So looking at the numbers, it looks like Kaylin is the key to Louisville winning.  I haven't done an exhaustive analysis of all of the players, and I was only looking at scoring, not other factors such as assists, ground balls, or turnovers.

Regardless of what the numbers show, action will get underway Friday, at 4:30pm in Evanston, IL on Northwestern's home field.

-- 

JMcA

Softball blasts by Pitt...LAX starts NCAA against Northwestern -- Monday Cardinal Couple

THREE HOME RUNS LEAD CARDS PAST PITT

Home runs accounted for eight of Louisville's nine runs against Pittsburgh Sunday and Shelby McCombs pitched five innings of one-run relief to give Louisville the series win in the final regular season game for the Cards. 

The start was less than hoped for in this one...Pitt touching Maryssa Becker for two singles and a three-run blast from Carly Thea that put the Cards in an early hole. 

Shelby McCombs relieved the Louisville ace in the third inning and allowed an additional run in the fourth on a solo fence clearer by Maggie Seville.

The Cards bats woke up in the top of the fourth when Whitney Arion doubled, came home on McCombs double and McCombs got the free ride on Kristina Dillard's first home run of the season to cut the Panther lead to one. 

Louisville took control in the top of the seventh with a six-run eruption. After a Becker walk and Arion single, McCombs drilled a shot over the fence to make it 6-4 UofL. The Cards continued to circle the bases...Kayla Soles getting a walk and Brittany Sims singling to set up a three-run "touch 'em all" by Hailey Smith. 

It is good to see the Cards bats on a hot streak as the ACC Tournament rolls around. They've scored 21 runs in the last two games. It's also pleasing to see that Shelby McCombs is providing a second strong pitching option for Sandy Pearsall. 

The Cards finish the regular season at 30-16 and 16-7 in their inaugural season in the ACC. They'll head to Blacksburg, VA for the ACC Tournament as a #4 seed where they'll face NC State Thursday at 1:30 p.m.

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LACROSSE RECEIVES AT-LARGE BID TO NCAA TOURNAMENT

Louisville Lacrosse is one of seven ACC schools to get bids to the NCAA Lacrosse Tournament.

On the selection show last night, the Cards discovered that they will be headed to a familiar venue...Evanston, IL...to begin play against the Northwestern Wildcats on Friday, May 8th. Winner of that one gets the winner of the Ohio State vs. Notre Dame contest. The Cards are in Maryland's bracket in the 26 team format. 

Louisville began the 2014 NCAA Tournament in Evanston and advanced to the second round with a double overtime win over Ohio State before losing to Northwestern. 

The Cards went to Evanston earlier this season and fell to the Wildcats 12-10. Louisville fell behind 10-5 in that one before rallying to lose by only two. The Cards finished the season 10-7...winning two games in their first season against ACC competition. 

Congratulations to Lou LAX for their second straight NCAA bid! 

paulie
xxxxx

Duke knocks Louisville LAX out of ACC Tournament....Changes for Softball this weekend -- Friday Cardinal Couple

(We'll take a look at the 14-7 loss #3 Duke put on the Louisville LAXers yesterday in the ACC Quarterfinals and preview the weekend changes for Louisville Softball against Boston College at Ulmer Stadium. A typical weekend for softball...dealing with rain threats. Maybe the next promo for Louisville Softball should be pocket umbrellas...FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE is coming at ya...in rain gear and rubber boots!) 


TYPICAL PATTERN EMERGES AGAIN IN CARDS LOSS TO DUKE. 


We've reviewed the basic anatomy of a typical Louisville Lacrosse game in the ACC here several times before. Students, refer to your previous notes and follow along. 

- The Cards stay close early in the contest, even lead. This held true again yesterday against the Blue Devils. Louisville lead 3-1 with about 11 minutes to go in first half action.

- Here Comes the Boom. Duke went on a 5-0 run to take a three goal lead. 

- Cards fight back but fall short. Louisville made a run to get back in the contest twice. The Cards cut it to 6-5 with goals from Kelli Gerding and Hannah Koloski. Duke responded with Here Comes the Boom: The Sequel...four straight Blue Devils scores put them up 10-5. The Cards did cut it to three on Cortnee Daley and Carlissa Corbett scores but a few defensive lapses and thefts allowed the Durham school to post the final four net-finders...including a "really...you needed that?" score with one tick left on the clock from one of the Duke subs.

Seven different Cards had a goal each in the loss. Anna Kopecka, Heidi Smith, Kaylin Morissette, Gerding, Koloski, Daley and Corbett all beat the goalie once. 

Louisville has a 10-7 record and now waits to see if they'll get an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. 

In typical, "why do anything normal?" NCAA Lacrosse fashion, 26 teams will vie for the 2015 NCAA title. 13 conference qualifiers and 13 at-large teams. These will be announced Derby weekend. 

May 8th. features 10 first round games at higher seed sites. The May 10th. second round matchups will be contested at eight different sites. So...six teams get first round byes. 

Here's a stellar FINAL FOUR...Sonja, Tillie, MArkie and Poobah  

May 16th and 17th will be the quarter-finals where four games will determine who the FINAL FOUR are and they'll meet in Philly at PPL Park on May 22-23 to determine a national champ. 

Couldn't the NCAA just added six teams and have sixteen first round sites were everybody plays...like the basketball and soccer tournaments do?  Or even eight first and second pods where you send four teams?  You need seven hands (or four people) to count to 32. I guess they were a selection committee planner short...Moe, Larry and Curly couldn't find a "fourth".

"WE got 'next'"

Are the Cards a bubble team? My opinion is "No". i think they are in the NCAA Tournament comfortably. They'll probably drop a spot or two in the national rankings...but should easily be selected for an at-large. I see seven of the eight ACC schools that play Lacrosse getting in and Louisville just might get to host a first round game if things go their way. We draw well, in terms of a fan-base, for Lacrosse. Whether they would stick a admission fee on this because it is NCAA Championships related and they are money-hungry fools remains to be seen.

The month of May is one that Kellie Young and her girls hope keeps them busy to nearly Memorial Day weekend. 

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WEATHER NECESSITATES SOFTBALL CHANGES

This was one of the designs we considered for the site
until it was pointed out that we don't have a
women's football team at UofL. Yet. 

Our meteorological prognosticators are calling for rainy weather Saturday. So, the scheduled ACC Softball series against Boston College this weekend has been altered. There was a Saturday doubleheader scheduled against the Eagles and a single game Sunday. This has been re-arranged to a Friday 7 p.m. single game tonight and a doubleheader for Sunday that will start at noon.

BC comes in with a 20-19 record and is 3-13 in the ACC. This places the Eagles tenth in the eleven team conference standings. Louisville (25-14) is fourth.


This will be the first ever meeting between the two schools. BC is on a roll...having won their last four games and most recently shut out Connecticut 5-0 earlier this week. I guess "Stewie", "The Mosquito" and "Moriah" don't play hit and pitch in Storrs. The Cards are fresh off a 8-0 trouncing of the Kittie Kats in Lessington.

With the day off...Louisville should be able to use staff pitching ace Maryssa Becker twice. If Madi Norman and Shelby McCombs can step up and deliver a strong third game...Louisville could sweep the series. A sweep could allow the Cards to move up in the ACC standings...Notre Dame and UNC face each other for three games this weekend also. Here's the top four in the conference:

Florida State     17-3
UNC                  15-4
Notre Dame       16-5
Louisville           12-5

The best case scenario would be if Notre Dame beat UNC twice. It would give both schools six losses. If the Cards sweep, they would still have only five conference defeats and bounce ahead of both schools in the loss column. A #2 seed in the ACC Tournament would be great and keep the Cards out of Florida State's path until the finals. 

Let's just hope the weather guys and girls haven't misread the future...

pauiie
xxxxx