Cards Nearly Sweep Friday -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Lacrosse Upsets Denver in Opener

Louisville lacrosse, which we discussed a lot last week after Paulie and Jared's interview with Scott Teeter, opened their season yesterday with a midday game against the 15th-ranked Denver Pioneers. As Teeter  mentioned in that interview, the team was ready to play someone other than themselves. That showed when Louisville opened with a 5-1 first quarter. Louisville weathered storm after storm, ultimately holding on through a 1-4 fourth quarter to win the game 10-8. 

Denver opened the scoring less than two minutes into the game when Olivia Ripple scored from Raegan Wilson. Louisville was undeterred, though. Lauren Figas scored her first, an unassisted goal, just 35 seconds later to tie the match. With both teams back on level footing, they settled into a rhythm or, if you rather, a game of cat and mouse. Neither team could score for about ten minutes before Reese Whiteman, a sophomore set to see more time, scored from Negai Nakazawa with just under four to play in the quarter. That goal was the start of a 4-0 run to close the quarter with Ella Berg and Erin Nicholson scoring unassisted goals and Figas scoring her second on Nakazawa's second assist. 

The second quarter started basically the exact same way, with Olivia Ripple scoring her second goal just 1:22 into the quarter. This one was unassisted, but Raegan Wilson would add another point to her tally by scoring herself with 1:08 remaining in the first half. They were the only two scorers in the quarter, and Louisville held on to a 5-3 lead heading into the locker room. 

I think Teeter may have mentioned Olivia Ripple's trend during the break, because she didn't score the third goal of her hat trick until there was only 5:50 remaining in the third quarter. By that time, Nakazawa had extended Louisville's advantage by two, once unassisted and once from Berg. Figas matched the Ripple hat trick less than a minute later and Rian Adkins got on the board to push Louisville's advantage to five with 2:34 remaining in the third. 

The fourth returned to form for Denver in more ways than one. They scored less than a minute into the quarter, but this time it was Caroline Colimore. Adkins scored a minute and a half later to push Louisville's lead back to five, but it would be the last time they scored in the game. Fortunately, the defense was able to bear down. The Pioneers scored three more goals (including a fourth by Ripple), but their last goal came with 6:27 remaining. The Cards were able to keep them at bay for the remainder of the game and hold on for the huge season-opening upset. 

Louisville's defensive was aided by a player advantage, as Lindsey Wilmot of Denver was shown a red card with 4:18 to go. The penalties were certainly fewer than last season, as Teeter alluded to when discussing the rule changes, but there were still five yellows and a green to go along with the red. Louisville picked up three of the yellows, while Denver had the remaining penalties. 

Louisville's win was impressive, and a lot of the credit goes to the defense. Denver outshot Louisville by 16 overall (37-21), but the Cards were strong and forced a ton of uncomfortable shots. In the end, the teams finished with the same number of attempts on goal: 17. Louisville may not have had as many opportunities, but they were clinically efficient. J Pleck started in goal, as the senior inherited the position from the graduating Sara Addeche, and finished with a career high in saves with nine. Pleck also helped hold the Pioneers to 3-10 on free position shots while Louisville matched the goals with three on seven attempts.

In addition to the overall shots battle, Louisville had to weather being disadvantaged in turnovers (18-13) and ground balls (16-5). Denver just had the ball more often, which is why I give so much credit to the defense. The Cards did win the draw control battle 11-10. 

All in all, it was a great start to the season for Louisville. As expected, Teeter was spot on when he name dropped some of his expected standouts, and we'll surely see more from them and others as the season rolls on. Louisville is next in action when they host Cincinnati on Tuesday at 3PM. 

POST GAME SCOTT TEETER AND PLAYERS

Softball Goes 1-1 on Opening Day

Louisville softball one-upped the lacrosse team by playing two games on their opening day. Unfortunately for Holly Aprile's squad, they could only come up with the same number of wins. The Cards opened the evening with an 11-3 stomping of Middle Tennessee (who have officially changed their logo from MTSU to MT) but closed with a 9-4 loss against Liberty. 

Sam Booe got the start in the first game and pitched six strong innings. She struck out seven, walked two, and gave up five hits. Her three earned runs came on a three-run homer in the third inning. Booe was relieved by Brooke Gray in the seventh to keep Gray warm for game two. Gray snagged two ground outs and a strikeout in a quick inning. 

The real show in game one was Louisville's offense. Louisville was the away team in this one, and Easton Lotus (who has moved into the leadoff spot as we welcome the R-Jr back from injury) opened the game with a triple. After Char Lorenz, the R-Fr utility player, coaxed a walk, Lotus stole home to get the Cards on the board. Bri Despines, Louisville's new transfer catcher from Kent State, drew a catcher's interference call (savvy) to put runners on first and second with nobody out. Unfortunately, Louisville could add no more runs as the next three batters went down on a pair of flyouts and a strikeout. 

Louisville got back on the board in the second when a bases loaded error on a Lorenz grounder to short scored Chelsea Mack and Taylor Monroe. Despines scored Lotus on a sac fly to give Louisville a 4-0 lead. In the third, Mack drew a bases loaded walk to score Riley Janda and Lotus hit a productive groundout to score Thatcher. Middle Tennessee would break the shutout in the bottom of the third with the aforementioned homer to make the score 6-3. 

Louisville was held scoreless for the first time in the fourth inning, but they scored one run each in the fifth and sixth. Jordan Williams singled for Thatcher to score her second run of the day and Madison Pickens scored in the sixth on a bases loaded wild pitch. In the seventh, the top of the order got back to work, with Lorenz doubling in Lotus and then scoring herself on an error that saw Despines go from the batter's box to third base. Despines came home for the 11th and final run on a Pickens sac fly.

It was an exciting game for new Cards, as Despines was joined by freshmen Lorenz, Pickens, Janda, Monroe, and Williams in having a hit and/or RBI. It was also a great return to the field for Easton Lotus, who scored all three times she reached base (two hits and a walk) and earned an RBI. 

The second game was much tighter, but ultimately saw the away team take the victory again. Unfortunately, Louisville was the home team in this one. Alyssa Zabala took to the circle for the start of this one and held Liberty scoreless for the first two innings. A freshman connection scored the Cards first run when Taylor Monroe singled in Riley Janda in the second. The Cards lead was short-lived, though, as a two-run homer gave Liberty the lead in the third. Though the homer came with two outs, Zabala wasn't missing many bats in the inning. A double preceded a pair of line drives before the home run and a triple followed. Fortunately a ground out ended the threat. 

Louisville couldn't answer in the bottom half, unfortunately seeing Mack, Lotus, and Lorenz go down in order. Lorenz watched strike three on a full count, so it's hard to blame her but it stings a bit. After a fly out opened the fourth, Liberty put runners on first and second with a walk and a single. Another single scored a runner and advancement saw runners at second and third with one out. Zabala played with fire by giving up three straight foul balls to the next batter, but she ultimately picked up the swinging strikeout. Aprile still decided that it was time to give her a break and Gray came in to take over. A flyout ended the inning. 

The two teams exchanged 1-2-3 innings after that and headed to the bottom of the fifth with the score still 3-1. Katie Thatcher took a plunking to open the inning and we saw Aprile employ some of her traditional small-ball. A pinch runner moved to second on a sacrifice bunt, and Ally Alexander followed with a single. Unfortunately, the single was to left center, meaning Williams couldn't advance and making the prior sacrifice functionally a free out. Aprile put a lot of faith in her contact hitters after that, trusting Chelsea Mack to lay down another sacrifice to bring the top of the order up with runners on second and third and two outs. Lotus delivered with a single to score Williams, and the catcher missed the catch on the throw in, allowing Alexander to come in and tie the game. A pop up ended the inning but Louisville had reset things going into the sixth. 

Liberty responded with small ball of their own. A single and a sac bunt put a runner in scoring position and another single scored the go-ahead run. Unfortunately, Louisville had an error of their own on the throw in, keeping a runner in scoring position. Liberty took advantage, singling for the third time in four batters to make it 5-3. A caught stealing by Despines and a pop up ended the inning. Louisville was unable to answer in the bottom half and the game moved to the final frame with the Cards down two. 

After some shuffling in the bottom of the sixth, Louisville was forced into an interesting substitution pattern in the seventh. Gray gave up a double to open the inning and Katie Thatcher moved into the circle in a change that put Despines back behind the plate and Pickens in right field. Thatcher wasn't listed as a pitcher on last year's roster and I really question the move to test her out in the circle given the situation. Liberty's leadoff runner stole third, and Thatcher threw four straight balls to follow. That runner stole second while Thatcher walked the bases loaded. I'm not sure if either walk was intended to get force outs on base, but a leadoff double while you're down only two is recoverable, so I don't understand what appeared to be giving up defensively. A sac fly scored a runner and a pinch runner stole second to keep runners on second and third with one out. A swinging bunt caught Despines off guard and her errant throw kept runners on second and third and allowed another run. Another walk to load the bases saw freshman Ryann Sanders called into the circle. A single up the middle scored two more before a double play ended the inning. From 5-3 to 9-3 just like that. Gross.

Louisville showed life with a leadoff double of their own in the bottom half. It was followed by a fielder's choice that failed to secure an out and gave Louisville runners on the corners with nobody out and the turn of the order coming up. Unfortunately, Mack, Lotus, and Lorenz weren't quite up to the task this time. Mack popped out, Lotus picked up a consolation RBI on a ground out, and Lorenz lined out to end the game. 9-4 final. 

After the encouraging start to the day and the comeback bid in the second game, I'm still scratching my head about the choices in the end. However, there's a long season ahead and Liberty isn't a bad team. We'll have plenty more chances to see the Cards succeed, starting with two games today against Rutgers (1PM) and Radford (3:30). Both are available (at a cost) on the FastPitch Network. 

Tennis Opens Season 4-1

I wanted to give a shoutout to tennis, who we haven't covered much yet this season, as they're doing well to open the year. Their latest victory was a sweep over Austin Peay. While that may not sound like much, it included a doubles win by Alice Otis and Elisabeth Iila over the 25th-ranked doubles pair in the country. The latest win the Cards' second sweep of the year is added to their victories over UNC Greensboro, UT Chattanooga, and Dayton. Their loss came on the road at Middle Tennessee. Louisville gets a week off before heading to Indiana next week. Conference play begins the week after with a trip to SMU on 2/23. 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

We'll have three on board today as Jared cruises and Daryl tries to fight off illness. There's plenty to cover, to be sure, so be sure to tune in. 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

Spotify: Link

Apple Podcasts: Link

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Overcast (free account required): Link

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RadioPublic: Link

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

An Interview with Scott Teeter -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Lacrosse Opens Season Next Week

With Louisville lacrosse set to start their season on February 7th at home against Denver, what better time than now to check in with head coach Scott Teeter? Yesterday, Paulie and Jared did just that, heading down to the Planet Fitness Kueber Center for a preseason chat. The guys got Teeter going and turned their conversation into a 20-minute experience. I encourage you to listen to the full interview at the link below, but here are some of my key takeaways.

Here is the listening link:  2025 Season Preview with Scott Teeter

On the Season Opener

Teeter opened with how excited the team is to get going. According to him, they've reached the point in the offseason where they just need to play another team. They're excited to play and practicing hard, but there's only so much you can do when every practice is running offensive sets that the defense already knows are coming. 

Denver graduated a lot of players, much like Louisville. Denver's pride is defense and they lost a number of All-American defenders. 

Denver does well with one year transfers and a number of players will step up, including some Canadians they know quite well. 

With the changes, Louisville still knows they will be quite defensive focused. The scout is very different with a number of new players and a new offensive coordinator from Ohio State.

On This Year's Team

Louisville graduated a ton of minutes from last season, including, per Teeter, over 50% of their scoring offense. They'll look for experienced players to step up and fill the roles left open by Nicole Perroni, Kokoro Nakazawa, Allegra Catalano, and Kylie Dobson, but it will largely be by committee. 

Players he expects to be a big part in stepping up include Lauren Figas, Rian Adkins, Negai Nakazawa, Izzy Seikel, and Maggie McMahon. 

When asked for players that would be names that would grow in Louisville fans' consciousnesses, Teeter went back to the same well: McMahon, Nakazawa, Seikel, Figas, and Adkins.

The freshmen to watch include Ella Berg, who Teeter thinks is a top-ten freshman in the country. Berg scored the most goals for Louisville in fall ball. He also mentioned new attackers in Issy Leech and Kate Daniels. 

Defensively, names that came up as standing out were Ashley Osborne (a 6th year player returning after losing her senior year in 2023 to injury. Osborne was a 4-time team MVP for Ballard and was Miss KY Lacrosse) and senior Ava Coyle. Young defenders may not start but will contribute significant minutes. 

On the Weather

It's been unfortunate to not have the practices outside, with that making them unable to use one of the only dedicated women's lacrosse facilities in the country, but the UofL facilities made it easy to move indoors without missing much of a beat. Teeter chose to take the positives from the experience, noting it helps them with the difference in playing surfaces and should give some of the girls more of an opportunity to get inside playing experience before they go play at Marquette. 

On the ACC

Excited about the new look ACC and playing Stanford and Cal for the first time, with Cal on the road to open the ACC conference season. Working on what the logistics of playing all the way in California will look like. 

The ACC schedule will be difficult with UNC and BC among the top favorites to win the national championship. He also name checked Virginia, Syracuse, and Notre Dame, and believes the ACC is the top conference in the country. 

Happy to see the expansion of lacrosse as more programs like FSU add a team and is looking forward to the return of lacrosse to the Olympics in 2028. 

On Rule Changes

This is largely a non-change year as the rules are on a two-year cycle. One change to note is that midfield charges will now just be a common foul with change of possession rather than a green card penalty. 

It was a three-pronged approach to adjustment last season. Coaches had to change their systematic approach, players had to change the way they play, and officials adjusted the way they called the game.

A Surprise for Paulie

As we look ahead to the new season, Paulie was curious about how Negai is adjusting to life in the US and on the team without Kokoro. Always happy to get one over on Paulie, Teeter was glad to say that they haven't needed to address that as Kokoro hasn't gone anywhere: she's the student assistant for UofL this season. 

Kokoro has largely served as a personal coach for Negai, but is also focused on helping the other attackers. Negai is playing very confidently after the gold medal for Japan and Teeter expects her to fill the role largely left by Kokoro.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

We'll have four on board this week, and gee, I wonder what we'll talk about. We're in the thick of the conference season for basketball, volleyball had major news, and we're less than a week away from the spring sports season. 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

Spotify: Link

Apple Podcasts: Link

Google Podcasts: Link

Overcast (free account required): Link

Pocket Casts (free account and app required): Link

RadioPublic: Link

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Lax Completes Comeback; Softball Splits Friday -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Big Second Half Leads Cards to 14-9 Win

Louisville lacrosse welcomed Marquette into the LLS for the Cards' first home game of the season. Sitting at 0-2 after their road trip to Colorado, Louisville needed a shot in the arm to get their season on track. Despite trailing 5-4 after a low scoring first half, the Cards turned the offense up to 11 in the second to win the half 10-4 and take the game 14-9. 

With a final total score of 23, you might expect early scoring, but that wasn't the case yesterday. Louisville scored the first goal of the game with just five minutes remaining in the first quarter. Negai Nakazawa was the one to get things started, scoring her fourth goal of the season off an assist by Ava Peers. The Cards' lead held for about four minutes before Marquette leveled the game on a power play goal. Coincidentally, it was Negai that earned the yellow card to give the Eagles the advantage. 

That penalty was Louisville's only in the first half. They earned five in the second half, but ultimately were the less penalized team in the game by a wide margin. Marquette earned 11 cards, leading to three powerplay goals for Louisville. Louisville's offense was so in tune in the second half that the Cards actually scored a goal while on the penalty kill as well. 

Marquette scored the first two goals of the second quarter to put Louisville in a hole, but goals by Nicole Perroni and Kokoro Nakazawa tied the game with 8:37 remaining in the half. Two more goals in a row by the Eagles gave Louisville another deficit to overcome, but they were able to only claw back one on a power play to set the halftime score of 5-4. Perroni scored her second unassisted goal of the game with sixteen seconds remaining for that one. 

After the half, the game seemed as though it would go the same way as the first half. It took five minutes for either team to find the back of the net, and it was Marquette striking first in the second half to double their advantage. Kokoro scored a minute later to bring the deficit back down to one (unassisted) but Marquette responded once more. At that point, Louisville grew a bit tired of the back and forth game. The Cards scored the final three goals of the third quarter to take the lead for the first time since the opening goal, with Negai, Kokoro, and Perroni continuing their unassisted runs. The third quarter ended with Louisville taking an 8-7 lead.

The Cards weren't done. Their run continued with the first four goals of the final quarter. Perroni and Negai scored a couple more unassisted goals before Kokoro assisted a Kylea Dobson goal with eight minutes to go. Dobson's was the first goal of the game for Louisville that was not scored by Nicole Perroni or a Nakazawa sister. Izzy Seikel scored the last goal of the Cards' seven goal run with 5:44 remaining (assisted by Tiffany Natoli) to put Louisville ahead 12-7. It was mostly academic at that point. Marquette finally broke the Louisville run by scoring with five minutes left, and they scored the last goal of the game with 52 seconds remaining. Even though those two goals wouldn't have threatened Louisville's lead, the Cards decided to add a bit of insurance with a pair of power play goals to push their score to 14. Dobson and Natoli each scored and assisted the other on those two goals.

Louisville finished the game with five players scoring at least three points. Three players had hat tricks (the Nakazawa sisters and Nicole Perroni) and Perroni finished with four goals. She was 3/4 on free position shots and put all seven of her shots on frame. Dobson finished with two goals and an assist, while Natoli inverted those stats. Perroni's free position shots were critical in the game, as Louisville was 5/10 on their opportunities and Marquette was 0/5. The other stats were largely level. Each team finished with 12 draw controls, Louisville led in turnovers (11-15) and clears (11-10), and Marquette led in ground balls (15-12) and shots on goal (27-24).

Now is a good time to mention Sara Addeche. Addeche talked about how important this full year as the established goalie would be, and she's showing that she deserves the spot. She finished with 18 saves and nine goals against. Being positive in that category is quite good. Doubling up that category is incredibly impressive. Her counterpart for Marquette finished with 10 saves and 14 goals against, showing how important the goalkeeping can be even if the other team can put up more shots. Louisville's offense also did a good job of keeping the ball on the Marquette side of the field (the penalty situation helped), as the Cards took 37 total shots compared to just 35 for Marquette. While Louisville's goal percentage on shots on goal was good, it would be nice to see more of their shots be on frame. An accuracy of 65% isn't bad, but it could be better.

The Cards are back on the road today, as they'll take on Lindenwood tomorrow. Louisville defeated the Lions 14-7 almost exactly a year ago in the first ever meeting of the two programs. Lindenwood went on to finish the year 8-10 last season, with their final game being a 17-11 loss to Coastal Carolina in the ASUN tournament. The Lions are off to a hot start this season, with victories over San Diego State (20-6) and Radford (18-5). The Cards will look to display more offense than the Lions' previous opponents, and Addeche will likely be called on quite a bit again. Tomorrow's game is at 1PM and is available on ESPN+.

Postgame with Scott Teeter and Nicole Perroni

Softball Wins Early; Suffers First Loss Late

Louisville softball opened the Joan Joyce Classic on Thursday evening with a win over the hosting FAU Owls. They followed that win up with a mercy rule victory in six innings over Seton Hall yesterday morning to remain undefeated on the season at 8-0. Unfortunately, the loss column picked up a tick mark in their rematch against FAU last night, as the Cards took a 3-6 loss into the last day of the invitational today.

Cards Beat Seton Hall 12-4

Bailey Richardson reached on a two-out single for Louisville in the first inning and advanced to third when Riley Frizell singled to follow her. Gabby Holloway, batting fifth in the lineup and trying to do her best Taylor Roby impression, unfortunately struck out to end the inning. Sam Booe took the circle in this one and began her efficient (but short) outing. Two groundouts and a strikeout moved things along quickly. 

After a groundout opened the second for the Cards, the offense began to get to work. Vanessa Miller walked and came around to score on an Ally Alexander double down the line. Chelsea Mack singled to bring Alexander home, and Kylie Goff (leading off in the first game) moved Mack up 60 feet on a ground ball. Daisy Hess hit a ball deep into the shortstop's zone, and was credited with a single. She and Mack both got 60 more feet when the shortstop subsequently botched the late throw to first and Louisville's lead moved to 3-0. Another groundout (neither team got the ball off the grass much early) ended the Cards' second. Booe opened the second with another strikeout before a pair of singles gave the Pirates a runner in scoring position. You guessed it, though: back-to-back groundouts ended the inning.

The third saw Louisville go three-up, three-down in the top half and Jac Hasty replace Kylie Goff behind the plate. Seton Hall managed to keep the ball off the ground in the bottom half, with the exception of their only hit being a single through the middle of the infield. Unfortunately for them, their other batters hit liners to second and first and then flew out to end the inning. The fourth was another exciting inning, with six batters stepping to the plate, and six batters heading back to the dugout. Booe picked up her third and fourth strikeouts in the bottom half of the inning.

With Hasty replacing Goff, she stepped up to the plate in the leadoff spot of the fifth. She then walked back to the dugout with her bat on her shoulder, striking out looking. Hess followed her with a strikeout swinging, but Louisville's offense rallied with two outs. Richardson walked and an error on a Frizell grounder put runners at first and second. Mia Forsythe replaced Frizell on the basepaths and Maddi Grant replaced Holloway at the plate. Only one of those substitutions turned out to be necessary, as Grant smoked a triple to score both runners and move the Louisville lead to 5-0.

Lindsey Mullen replaced Sam Booe in the circle, which turned out to be the wrong call. Seton Hall opened with a double and a single to score their first run. The description is a bit odd, with an error being charged to Hasty and the run scoring on the throw from left field. The hitter also advanced to third on the throw so whatever happened was rather unfortunate. A pop-up gave Mullen her first out, but a single scored a second run, and a double scored a third. Booe and Goff returned as the battery, but the rest threw Booe off, as a wild pitch advanced the runner and a single scored the fourth run for Seton Hall. The fourth run was still charged to Mullen giving her four runs (three earned) in one-third inning pitched. Booe cleaned up the inning to finish her day with 4.2 innings and no runs while giving up four hits and striking out four. She finished with the win, as Louisville still led 5-4.

Louisville's offense responded in a big way to open the sixth. Miller was hit by a pitch to open the inning and stole second. Alexander walked to backfill the base and Madison "Pickle" Winkler had a pinch-hit bunt single to load the bases. Kylie Goff grounded into what should have been an out, but instead reached on a fielder's choice that was too slow by Seton Hall. The Pirates got no outs and Miller came home to score. Daisy Hess singled through the middle, scoring two runs and advancing to second when the centerfielder booted it. Seton Hall made a pitching change, and the Richardson walked on the green pitcher. A sac fly by Frizell gave the Cards a 9-4 lead and Richardson stole second to keep two runners in scoring position. Grant struck out to give Louisville a pair of outs, but Paige Geraghty singled to score a pair. Vanessa Miller, back up after the Cards batted around, singled to score Geraghty and Alexander kept the party going with another single. Winkler tried to score one more for the Cards but her liner was right to the pitcher. Louisville headed to the bottom half with a 12-4 lead, which would be the final. 

Izzy Harrison took over in the circle and closed out the game. A fly out opened the inning, but a walk and single made things interesting. With eight runs in hand, there wasn't much danger. A fielder's choice put the Cards in position to win it with one more out, and Harrison took care of business with a strikeout. 

FAU Gets Revenge 6-3

Following the first game, Louisville was the away team in the evening matchup as well. They got to work early on offense with a Goff single and a Hess double to take a 1-0 lead. Hess was picked off at second, which was unfortunate, since Frizell homered to give Louisville a 2-0 advantage. The third run would have proved to have been useful. A flyout and a single followed, but a batter's interference call ended the inning. Alyssa Zabala started for Louisville and got off to a bumpy start. A bunt single opened the inning and a two-run homer tied the score. Two more fly balls were fortunately caught for outs, and Zabala settled in to close the inning with a strikeout. 

Louisville tried to get back up to speed offensively in the second with two singles split by an error to load the bases with nobody out. Goff reached first, but it came at the expense of an out at home. Hess was able to score one on a single, but a grounder ended the side with Louisville holding a 3-2 lead. Zabala seemed to be back in the swing of things with a groundout and lineout split by a single to open the inning. Unfortunately, a triple tied the game and a walk ended Zabala's day. Brooke Gray took over in the circle, but for the second time yesterday, a cold pitcher gave up a wild pitch. Gray's gave up Zabala's fourth run of the game, and she finished the at bat with a walk. Gray collected herself and got a flyout to end the inning. FAU led 4-3, and Louisville would not recover. 

The next two innings saw a combined three runners reach base. Louisville picked up a single and FAU earned a walk and single. Technically FAU singled twice in that time, but the runner was thrown out after the single to end the third inning. Louisville opened the fifth with a single and had two runners on after a walk, but a flyout and a groundout ended their threat. Gray was relieved by Sam Booe in the bottom of the fifth, but opened with an HBP. She was able to clean it up, weathering a later single to get out of the inning with no runs.

Louisville put a runner on to open the sixth and tried small ball to tie the game. Unfortunately, a sac bunt with one out gives you a runner on second with two outs. A pop out ended the inning. FAU started the sixth with a single and Booe picked up two quick outs, with the runner advancing to second. Holly Aprile tried to ensure the out to maintain the one-run deficit by bringing in Gabby Holloway to pitch, but it didn't quite turn out. A single scored the runner from second and a walk and single scored another. Down 6-3 with one inning to go, Louisville had the top of the order up, but a strikeout and groundout opened the inning. Richardson tried to start a two-out rally with a single but a popup ended the game. 

Louisville was back in action early this morning, taking an 8-0 win over Maine in a 9am start. They're taking on Michigan in a second morning matchup immediately after to close the invitational. 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

We'll have four on line for this week's show, as Daryl fights off a late-winter bug. We'll talk the up(?) and down week for Louisville women's basketball and the wins for the spring sports.  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

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

Softball and Lacrosse Open Seasons -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Softball Sweeps Double Header

Louisville softball got their season started in Ft. Myers, Florida yesterday with games against Long Island University and Georgetown University. The Cards got ahead early in both games and held on to win the pair. The offense wasn't stellar, with Louisville scoring just six runs across the two games, but the defense and pitching gave up just one run in response. Louisville walked away from yesterday morning's game against LIU with a 2-0 victory and they carry a 4-1 win over Georgetown into this evening's rematch against the Hoyas. 

In the top of the first against LIU, Easton Lotus moved into the lead-off spot and walked to open the game. She then stole second. Kylie Goff, in her first game as a Cardinal, batted second, and also drew a walk. A wild pitch moved the two runners to second and third, so Daisy Hess, who took over the third spot in the order, decided to also take a walk to load the bases with nobody out. Another newcomer, Riley Frizell, held the cleanup spot and promptly singled in the first run of the season. LIU finally got their first out when Bailee Richardson grounded out, but it was a fielder's choice to third and Goff came home on the play. Paige Geraghty reached on a fielder's choice to load the bases again when LIU couldn't get an out, but a pair of strikeouts ended the threat. Louisville led 2-0, and that would be that. 

Alyssa Zabala got the start for Louisville in the first game, and she finished with three hits and a walk given up over four full innings. She struck out one batter but gave up no runs. LIU's biggest threat came in the third, when two singles and a sacrifice bunt put runners on second and third with one out. Zabala was able to induce two pop-outs to preserve the shutout. Sam Booe took over in the circle after the fourth, presumably just to rest Zabala's arm. Zabala was effective in the fourth, allowing one hit but otherwise getting three quick outs, but the Sharks were finding the ball with their bats, which isn't usually good for keeping scoring down. Booe came in and struck out five over three innings, but also gave up a hit, two walks, and a hit-by-pitch. Not the cleanest, but not the end of the world. The runners were scattered, with just a walk and the HBP coming together in the sixth. A strike out and a grounder straight to third took care of it.

Offensively, Frizzell was the only player with multiple hits for the Cards. Hess, Richardson, and Chelsea Mack (the UK transfer who has taken over in CF), were the only other players to reach base more than once, with a walk and a hit each. Mack and Richardson answered the defensive questions that were outstanding. With Zabala in the circle, the defense went Goff (C), Frizzell (1B), Lotus (2B), Richardson (3B), Hess (SS), Geraghty (LF), Mack (CF), and Vanessa Miller (RF). Gabby Holloway got a hit as a pinch hitter and Maddi Grant was the designated hitter.

The second game saw a bit more offense out of the Cards, who took a 1-0 lead in the second and went on to win 4-1. The second game saw a change to the lineup, with Ally Alexander taking over at third and Richardson moving to DH. Gabby Holloway had the start in game two and pitched very well, but it was Brooke Gray who earned her first collegiate win in relief. Izzy Harrison came on to close the game out and, while she gave up two walks in the seventh, she struck out the side for the save. 

Like the first game, Lotus reached first in her first at bat, this time on a single, and stole second. Her steal came after Goff had struck out, but Hess walked to backfill at first. A strikeout and a line out ended the inning. Holloway, who gave up a hit in the first, played with fire a bit in the second, as she gave up back-to-back singles to open the inning. She followed up the hits with a pair of strikeouts split by a ground out to end the threat, and the Cards rewarded her.

The bottom of the second opened with a Paige Geraghty triple, and she came home two batters later on an Alexander single up the middle. That 1-0 lead held through the fourth, despite Georgetown loading the bases with nobody out. An uncharacteristic error by Hess opened the inning and a single put two on. A bunt that was probably intended to be a sacrifice was beat out and the bases were loaded. A pop up got the first out of the inning and a sharp ground ball to Easton Lotus was smartly played. Double plays are difficult to turn in softball because of the larger ball and the shorter base paths. Rather than try to get the 4-6-3 double-play, Lotus fired the ball to Goff for the force out at the plate. The bases remained loaded, but the run didn't score. A ground out to Hess, who calmly rectified her prior error, ended the inning.

Louisville would put two runners in scoring position in the bottom half, but nothing came of it. The fifth brought the end of Holloway's season debut. A walk to open the inning turned into a runner on third with one out after a sacrifice and a steal. Holloway picked up a strikeout to make it one on with two outs, but a single tied the game. With a tie game in the fifth, Coach Holly Aprile turned to the young starter in Brooke Gray. Gray got a fly out against her first college batter (excluding fall ball) and Louisville took over. Hess opened with a walk and advanced despite Frizell's grounder being right at second base. A foul out meant there was just one out to bring the run around, but an error gave the Cards a freebie. Paige Geraghty singled to third, who was thrown off by the advancing Hess. The Hoya 3B airmailed the throw to first and both Louisville players advanced, with Hess coming home for an unearned run. Cards regained their lead 2-1.

Another fly out opened Gray's first full inning of work, and it was followed by a double. She picked up her first strikeout on the ensuing pinch hitter, and the pinch runner was thrown out at third on an attempted steal. Three up, three down... kind of. Maddi Grant came on to pinch hit for Alexander to open the sixth and tripled to right. Chelsea Mack singled her home and stole second. Easton Lotus singled through the middle and Mack's counterpart in center couldn't get the throw home in time. Lotus advanced to second on the throw and then a bunch of weird stuff happened. Georgetown made a quadruple change and the new pitcher plunked Kylie Goff. Hess then popped up, and Lotus somehow advanced on the play. Frizell grounded to second, where Goff was out, and Mia Forsythe was caught stealing after coming on to pinch run. Nevertheless, Louisville led 4-1.

Izzy Harrison came on to close out the game, with Gray in line for the win, and walked the first two batters. You already know how this ends, so I'll spare you the dramatics. The ball was never in play in the seventh, with the two walks being followed by three strikeouts. Ball game, Cards. Easton Lotus and Paige Geraghty were the only two Louisville hitters with multiple hits in this one. Goff reached twice as the result of an HBP, and Hess was the only other Cardinal to reach base more than once. Hess walked three times, a very Joey Votto-esque performance in the 3-hole. 

Louisville is back in action at 5PM this evening with a rematch against Georgetown, which will be immediately followed by a game against FGCU (scheduled for 7:30). The Cards will take on FGCU again tomorrow at 12:30PM to close out the event. Both games against the hosts will be available on ESPN+.

Lacrosse Falls at Denver

The Cards made a game out of it against the Pioneers, but the final score doesn't quite reflect the threat. Louisville cut Denver's lead to 11-8 entering the fourth quarter, but 5-0 quarters bookending the game set the final score at a lopsided 16-8. The Cards were competitive in the mid-game but were unable to match pace with the offensive output of a Final Four team from last season.

As you might expect, after the rules changes this offseason, the penalty summary is nearly as long as the goal summary. Ten cards were issued in this one, with Louisville picking up seven of them. Playing with fewer players on the field is a good way to give up power play goals, as you might expect. No Cardinal was carded more than once, which is good, but we'll have to see if they can clean things up as the season progresses.

On the offensive side, Louisville was led by Kokoro Nakazawa's three goals. Kylea Dobson, Tiffany Natoli, Nicole Perroni, and Negai Nakazawa scored one apiece. The Cards only had two assists, with one coming from Negai, and the other coming from Izzy Seikel. Louisville converted 8 of their 14 shots on goal, and those 14 shots on goal came on just 23 shots. The Cards were competitive on draw controls, as well, losing that battle just 12-14. Louisville recovered more ground balls and had more clears. Denver's offense was just overwhelming. Sara Addeche played the entire match and finished with 14 saves. A herculean effort against 30 shots. 

The Cards have today off before they head to Boulder to take on Colorado tomorrow at 2PM. There is a lot to learn from this game, despite the outsized deficit at the end, as Louisville led the middle portion of the game 8-6. They'll have to score in the first and fourth quarters to win going forward, though.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

We're without Jeff this week, as a road trip to see former Louisville players in the PVF takes him away. We'll have Jared, Daryl, and myself, as well as another week with Paulie, to fill the show. We'll talk big WBB games and the opening of the spring sports seasons. There won't be any live stream of this week's episode, but you can check out the podcast as always. The show officially starts at 11 AM Eastern, and there are plenty of playback options, so be sure to check out whichever is best for you!

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Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Lacrosse Season Comes to a Close; Softball Sweeps -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Lacrosse Loses in Opening Round of ACC Tourney

After picking up their second conference win against Duke just over a week ago, Louisville found themselves seeded 8th in the conference tournament, ahead of both Duke and Pitt, the two teams they beat this season. Despite the worse overall record (Duke was 6-1 out of conference), Louisville hosted in the first round of the ACC tournament. Unfortunately, Duke was ready to get revenge for the close loss they suffered at the same stadium very recently. 

Duke got the scoring started early, and it looked for a bit like the Cards would be run off their own field. Duke scored the first three goals over seven and a half minutes, with the first coming less than two minutes into the contest. Negai Nakazawa finally put Louisville on the board with just over seven minutes remaining in the first quarter, but Duke answered to make it 4-1 a minute later. With just ten seconds left in the period, Hannah Morris scored her first goal of the game to cut the lead in half. 

Louisville opened the scoring in the second period, again with a goal from Negai Nakazawa. This time, Negai was assisted by her sister Kokoro and the Cards were within one. Duke was insistent on remaining up by a pair of goals, matching Nakazawa's second a minute later. Nicole Perroni got in on the action with 10:09 left in the half to bring Louisville back to one, and they played that way for a bit. Duke was able to extend their lead again before Hannah Morris went on a tear. With Louisville trailing 6-4, Morris rattled off three goals in a shade over three minutes to swing the advantage into Louisville's favor. Duke grabbed one more goal with 93 seconds left in the half, and the two teams entered the locker room tied.

It was the usual suspects for Louisville coming out of the break, as the first three and a half minutes saw Louisville go up by a pair on another Nakazawa double-feature to earn Negai the hat trick and a fifth goal from Morris. Duke remained focused, though, and they buckled down on defense. Louisville went five minutes before Allegra Catalano was able to score their tenth team goal of the game. In that time, Duke managed to score three of their own, with two coming just 14 seconds apart. The rest of the third quarter played tight, but neither team found the back of the net again. Just as they had started the third, they ended it tied.

To open the fourth, another Nakazawa goal found Louisville ahead by one. Kokoro was in charge this time, scoring her 22nd goal of the season. Unfortunately for Nakazawa and for Louisville, it was her (and the team's) last goal of the year. Duke tied it up with 8:43 remaining, and the rest of the game was agonizing for the Cards. After a yellow card put Louisville down a player, a second put the Cards down two with a minute left on the first penalty kill. Sara Addeche saved the free position shot created by the second foul (one of 16 saves in the complete game), but the pressure remained. Despite getting one player back on the field, Louisville played at a disadvantage for too long. Twenty seconds before the second penalty timed out, Duke scored to make it 12-11 with 3:54 remaining.

Louisville had their chances to tie it up once more, but it wasn't meant to be. A free position shot by Kokoro Nakazawa was saved while Negai had one shot go wide and another hit the post. It came down to a free position shot by Hannah Morris with ten seconds left. The attempt hit the post. It was Morris's only missed conversion of the game, and it's an extremely unfair way for her career to end. The graduate senior finishes her time at UofL with 138 goals and 19 assists in 74 games. She scored 43.3% of her shots and put 71.5% of her attempts on target.

Louisville's loss in the first round will put a cap on their season, as 5-12 will be unlikely to draw any attention for the NCAA tournament. Duke advances to the quarterfinals Wednesday to take on Boston College. We'll have plenty more to say about the lacrosse season as time goes on.

Softball Earns 9-2 Win in Finale at Virginia

After a bit of a barn-burner Saturday evening, Louisville left little doubt in their series finale in Charlottesville as they lumped the scoring on early to sweep the Cavaliers. Louisville used a mix of small ball and long shots to rack up the runs, and a couple of early Virginia runs were largely ignorable as the game went on. 

Korbe Otis got the game started off well for the Cards with a lead-off home run. Easton Lotus was first-pitch swinging after that and reached on an error. Taylor Roby singled Lotus all the way to third, and Virginia's starting pitcher found herself relieved of the ball. The new pitcher for the 'Hoos may have benefited from a bit more time warming up as she hit Sarah Gordon with the first pitch. Reaching scoring position with no outs saw Roby removed from the base paths with Mia Forsythe brought on to pinch run. The move paid off, as a Daisy Hess single scored two runs. With runners on second and third with nobody out, Louisville managed to score no more runs. So it goes sometimes. Louisville took a 3-0 lead into the bottom half.

Taylor Roby got the start again in this game and things started a bit less swimmingly for her than they did on Saturday. The first two batters singled, but Louisville halted their progress with a fielder's choice out at third to put runners on first and second with one out. Unfortunately, Roby immediately undermined the defense's efforts with a wild pitch to move both runners up. It came back to haunt her immediately, as a single scored both runners and the batter advanced on the throw to home. A ground out to first put the tying run at third base, and a full-count walk followed. Roby kept the lead alive by forcing a ground out to end the inning.

After Paige Geraghty grounded out to roll over the lineup, Otis picked up right where the top half of the order had left off in the first. She walked, and Lotus followed her with a single. Both advanced on a throwing error, and Roby helped get her runs back with a single to score Otis. Gordon was up next, and she singled as well. She and Roby both advanced an extra base as Virginia unsuccessfully attempted to throw out Easton Lotus at home. Another two-RBI single from Daisy Hess put Louisville up by five, but they would score no more in the inning. After a single and a fielder's choice that got no outs loaded the bases, a double-play ended the threat. A four spot left the Cards ahead 7-2. 

Virginia continued to put the bat on the ball against Roby. A single was followed by a come-backer right to Roby, who turned it into a double-play. Seeming to be out of a jam, she found herself right back in one with a single and a walk. Whether it was tiredness or Virginia having seen too much of her the night before, Coach Holly Aprile decided it was time for a change. Saturday's victor, Gabby Holloway, stepped into the circle and got a flyout to end the inning. 

With Otis batting for the third time in three innings, she couldn't keep the run going and Louisville quickly had two outs. Lotus kicked off a rally, though, and singled with two strikes. Roby walked, and Virginia made another pitching change before Sarah Gordon stepped in. This time, she elected to do the hitting instead of being hit by a new pitcher, and she singled up the middle to score Lotus. Daisy Hess stepped in and hit another single, this one deep enough to score Roby from second and give Hess her fifth RBI of the night. A ground out stranded a pair, but Louisville had extended their lead to 9-2. That would be the final. 

Duke managed to pick up just two hits and a walk off of Holloway over the next five innings, and they were all scattered. She earned four strikeouts and threw just 72 pitches over those five (it took her just two to get the final out of the second, bringing her total to 74). Louisville was similarly frustrated for the remainder of the game, though two of their three hits came in the same inning. The Cards were under a bit less pressure, though, playing with a seven-run lead instead of the inverse. Offensively, Louisville got perfect on-base nights from both Taylor Roby and Daisy Hess, with the pair combining for half of the team's 14 hits and two-thirds of its RBIs. 

Last night's win moved Louisville to 32-14 overall and 13-4 in the ACC. Despite some of the early losses (and some of the headscratchers later), Louisville has played quite well this season. The Cards are now 4-2 in conference series and have moved into third ahead of Duke based on win percentage. Louisville has played a series less than most teams in the league and one game less than Florida State due to the canceled game at Syracuse. Louisville has also scored just one run less than FSU and is just five behind the co-leaders in conference runs scored, Duke and Notre Dame, who have both played five more games than the Cards. The defense has been better than you might expect as well, with Louisville having given up fewer runs than everyone but FSU, Clemson, and UNC. That comes with a grain of salt, though, as the fewer games is definitely playing a part.

The Cards have the bookends of the conference remaining this season. They'll return to Ulmer to round out the home schedule with a series against last-in-the-league Boston College this weekend. On Derby weekend, as they usually do, they'll hit the road. Top-seeded FSU awaits, and Louisville will have a big chance to score some NCAA attention on that first weekend in May. A sweep of Boston College and at least one win against the Seminoles would be ideal, but they'll have to take it one game at a time.

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Softball Splits; Lacrosse Drops Heartbreaker -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Softball Opens with Win, Falls to UK

Louisville softball got their season off to an interesting start yesterday in Clearwater, Florida. That start included back-to-back games to open their schedule with the second coming against a ranked rival. The Cards opened with South Alabama at 11AM, with the game against Kentucky scheduled to start at 1:30PM or 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first game. At the same time as Louisville faced South Alabama, Kentucky took on St. John's on a different field at the same complex, so the Cards don't have that as an excuse. However, their games couldn't have gone much differently.

Kentucky cruised to a 14-4 run rule over St. John's. The Red Storm took a 3-0 lead into the bottom half of the first, which UK quickly erased with a 2-out grand slam. In the meantime, Louisville struck first against USA in the third inning. On the play, Korbe Otis stood at first, having earned a one-out single before Taylor Roby fouled out. With two outs, Otis was running on contact, which came lightly off the bat of Hannah File. The ball blooped over Otis's head, and fell in front of South Alabama's second baseman, who was playing off. As Otis rounded second, the second baseman fumbled the ball, taking a play for File at first out of the question. Recovering, she prepared to throw the ball home as Otis didn't slow down. The throw was way off target, allowing Otis to score and File to reach second. Vanessa Miller went down swinging to end the inning, but the Cards held a 1-0 lead.

That lead was quickly erased by an unearned run by South Alabama in the bottom half. What goes around comes around, they say. Louisville got a strikeout to start the inning, but back-to-back singles put runners on first and second. A grounder looked like it would end the inning harmlessly, but newcomer Daisy Hess (a transfer from Georgia State) made an uncharacteristic error. The high school Gold Glover and three-year starter at shortstop for GSU stepped on the bag for the first out but airmailed the throw to first to allow the runner rounding third to score. Louisville got another grounder to end the inning, but the score was tied at one. 

Neither team was able to break through for the remaining four innings of regulation ball, with Louisville grabbing two singles and reaching on an error and South Alabama picking up two walks. The Cards took to the plate first in the eighth, with a runner standing on second, per the international tiebreaker rules. To Louisville's great benefit, the previous batter had been Korbe Otis, who advanced to third on a wild pitch quickly. Taylor Roby doubled to score Otis and was pinch run for to continue the attack. After a strikeout, a dropped flyball put runners on the corners for catcher Sarah Gordon. Gordon doubled down the left field line to score them both and give the Cards a 4-1 lead. A flyout and a strikeout ended the inning and Louisville took to the field. USA would score one in the bottom half, as it's pretty difficult not to score a runner from second with no outs. In fact, USA used two outs to score her, getting an advancing ground ball and then a sacrifice fly. With nobody on and two out, Alyssa Zabala picked up her third strikeout to finish the inning and grab her first win as a Cardinal.

As I said, Kentucky was a little more rested than Louisville, but neither team could claim much momentum. Even though Louisville had just picked up an extra inning win, Kentucky scored seven runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to complete their game one run-rule. The #20/17 Wildcats wasted no time getting back to business. After sitting Cards down in order in the top of the first and having their leadoff batter ground out, the Cats put three straight players on base with a single, an outless fielder's choice, and a double. A passed ball helped set up the fielder's choice and a fielding error by the catcher on the double allowed the second run to score. After a groundout advanced the runner to third, another double brought her home. Another groundout ended the inning, but Louisville was quickly in a 3-0 hole. 

Louisville finally got a runner on base to leadoff the third inning, but she was caught stealing to quickly end that threat. Defensive issues came back to bite the Cards again in the bottom half of the third. After a single and a walk had runners on first and second with two outs, a throwing error by the pitcher on what should have been the third out allowed both runners to score and pushed the Kentucky lead to five. The fourth inning saw six up, six down, and Louisville finally got their second base runner to open the fifth when Roby singled. Again, the runner was quickly erased, this time on a lineout double play. 

The bottom of the fifth unraveled for Cassie Grizzard, who hit a batter to open the frame, gave up a four pitch walk after a steal, and saw a 2-2 pitch skied to center for the walk-off home run to end the run-rule shortened game. Though they had only two strikeouts, the Cards also had just two hits. They committed three errors, leading to four of Kentucky's eight runs. The Cats are good, and Louisville will get another shot at them this season, but this is a game to forget. Fortunately, there are positives to take from game one of the day, and Louisville is allowed to have a short memory early in the year. The Cards are back in action today at 1:30PM against Southern University and later at 4 against another ranked SEC team. This time it's Mizzou. The gocards website includes a video link, but the stream can be a bit hit and miss.

If you would like to follow Softball today, TRY THIS LINK HERE

Lacrosse Drops Four-Goal Lead Against Denver

Louisville lacrosse opened their season against Denver yesterday, and the game is beginning to feel like a given on the schedule. Unlike in years past, Louisville looked very prepared early in this one. While the Cards have played Denver close before, it didn't exactly feel like they threatened to win. That was different yesterday, as Louisville opened the scoring and held a 3-0 first quarter lead. Unfortunately, their offensive firepower ran out much too early, and the Cards fell 5-4.

Nicole Perroni was the first on the board for the season, surprising no one, as she scored in less than five minutes. Negai Nakazawa, Kokoro's younger sister, scored to put the Cards up 2-0 and Perroni struck again to make it 3-0 with just eight seconds remaining in the frame. The second quarter was much less eventful, with neither team able to score again until Louisville increased their lead to four with a Lauren Figas goal with 2:25 remaining. If you had told Scott Teeter or anyone else that it would be their last goal of the day, they'd surely be shocked and dismayed. Those feelings would come to pass. It took Denver fewer than 30 seconds to answer the fourth goal, cutting the lead to 4-1 with just under two minutes until halftime. Louisville held on to the break and went to the locker room feeling good. Remember, no one had told them yet that they wouldn't score again.

The third quarter played out much like the second, with neither team making much offensive headway. Lauren Black scored a second goal for the Pioneers with 3:05 remaining in the third, but Louisville still held a two-goal lead. Unfortunately for the Cards, a two-goal lead entering the late stages of a game is among the most dangerous leads you can have psychologically. Two goals feels comfortable, but just one quick goal cuts your advantage in half and gives the opponent more motivation. Such was the case in the fourth quarter of this one, as Denver scored at the 9:49 mark and equalized just 44 seconds later. All of the sudden, Louisville went from a two-goal lead to a tied game and Denver was rolling. Such is the psychological snowball effect. In just under a minute and a half more, Denver scored the go-ahead goal, the ninth and final goal of the match. Neither team was able to attack successfully for the remaining eight minutes of the match, but only one team needed to. After scoring the first four goals of the match, Louisville gave up five straight to end their chance at a top-ten upset.

There is a lot to be encouraged about with this match. Similarly, there is plenty to be discouraged about. Denver is a top-ten team (ranked 9th), and the Cards should have beaten them. They scored early and often, but they weren't able to keep up the scoring later in the game, despite having seven shots in both halves. One of the discouraging stats is the turnovers, as Louisville had 25 in the game, ten more than Denver. Another issue was draw controls late. After winning the draw control battle 3-1 in the first quarter, the Cards lost it 6-3 over the remaining three quarters. Those draw control losses can lead directly to goals, as was the case on the quick Denver run.

Louisville has today off before they host Colorado tomorrow. The game is at Noon and will be available on ACC Network Extra. The Cards will look to bounce back from the tough loss and regain some momentum. It's a short non-conference season, as Louisville will get Lindenwood next Sunday before starting conference play against Virginia on the 25th. 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

We're without Daryl this morning, but after recovering from travel last week, I'm back to make it four on today's show. With spring sports getting fully underway, we'll have more than enough to talk about to fill the hour. 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

Google Podcasts: Link

Overcast (free account required): Link

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Until next time, Go Cards!

Case