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
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
