Ladybirds Dance Team takes the title

Your Louisville Cardinal Ladybirds are the best

SATURDAY @ CARDINAL COUPLE

-LADYBIRDS take the title.

-Lacrosse loses at Loyola

-Border Battle today at Cardinal Park

The University of Louisville Ladybirds took the National Dance Alliance National Championship Friday evening in Daytona Beach, Florida. Over 240 teams competed in the event which is broken down into ten divisions. Louisville was named Grand National Champion of all divisions. The event is a popular spectator event with over 10,000 attending. The over 5,000 participants go through a variety of skills, showmanship, game day abilities simulation and are also judged on teamwork.

The LadyBirds are directed by Todd Sharp and he and they have won this title numerous times over the past 20 years. To watch them perform at UofL men's and women's basketball games, football games and public appearances is always an exciting thing to see and WE send a hearty congratulations to these whirling dervishes!

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Lacrosse dropped a close one to home standing Loyola (MD) yesterday 14-12. The #5 ranked Greyhounds are 11-0 this year. Bergan Foley had five goals for Louisville in the losing effort. The Cards couldn't get the offense untracked in the first half and found themselves on the short end of a 8-4 score when the first thirty minutes cam to an end.

They did begin the second half strong, though and outscored Loyola 6-1 to start the final period of play. Louisville found offensive success from Foley and Emily Dashiell in the second half and took a 10-9 lead.
Loyola was able to stem the tide, though and outscored the Cards 5-3 over the final 13 minutes. Liz Lovejoy added 3 goals for UofL and Katie Oliviero finished with 2. Louisville heads to Georgetown next for Sunday action.

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Track and Field's Border Battle gets underway at 10:30 a.m. Saturday with field events. The weather isn't looking great for today's events, sadly. The concept pits Kentucky and Louisville against Indiana and Notre Dame in a dual meet format. The Cards/Cats combo swept both the men's and women's title last year.

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Softball is in Pittsburgh for a three game series against the Panthers...two games today, one Sunday. The Cards face a Pittsburgh squad that is deep in pitching and could shut down the usually powerful and run producing Cardinal bats. Louisville goes into the BIG EAST conference match up after defeating Indiana University 1-0 on Wednesday. WE'LL recap the action for you on the first two here Sunday at CARDINAL COUPLE

Caldwell an interesting sidebar to the Bria Smith story . Foley, Cards in lacrosse.

WEDNESDAY @ C.C.

-Caldwell to Virginia?

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-Foley, Cards vs. Vanderbilt

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-Getting to Know: Bergan Foley

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-NCAA Women's Final Four set.
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-Lockhart gathers BIG EAST honors. 
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-Hammond, Smith and Goss in McDonald's Girls All-American game tonight
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Interesting sidebar in the decommitment of Bria Smith from Virginia with the announcement that UCLA coach Nikki Caldwell is talking with the Cavaliers about the job opening. Caldwell took the Bruins to the second round of the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament this year before losing to Gonzaga. It's been said that her Bruins practice harder than any team out there in College WBB.
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First, why the move from the West Coast to Virginia? Remember that Caldwell was born in Oak Ridge, TN. and played for Pat Summitt at Tennessee. Virginia is a lot closer to home than Los Angeles is and the ACC is probably the second or third toughest conference in WBB. Can't be much fun having to bump heads with PAC-10 giant Stanford twice a year...and although the Bruins have improved each of the five years Caldwell has been there...having to recruit against Vanderveer each year for California and West Coast talent can't be much fun.

That leads us to Bria Smith, who recently decommitted from Virginia after head coach Debbie Ryan stepped down. Louisville and Georgia were in Smith's final list of potential colleges...and the Cardinal camp is confident that they can woo her to the Ville. If the dynamic Caldwell decides to head to Virginia, though...you can be assured one of her first priorities will be trying to gather Smith back into the Cavalier fold.

It'll be interesting to see how this one unfolds. Will Caldwell unceremoniously dump a program she resurrected from the depths of the PAC 10? Will Smith reconsider her interest in the Ryan-less Cavs? Will the magic of Jeff Walz and the large Louisville fan base be enough to draw Smith to the 'Ville? And, does ancient Andy Landers down at Georgia have any shot at all in putting a collar on Smith and making her a Bulldog?
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#18 Louisville lacrosse faces Vanderbilt today in lacrosse action. The Cards are 7-1 on the season, losing only to Stanford. The Commodores will be a tough test for Bergan Foley and her teammates, though. The #15 ranked 'Dores recently defeated Stanford 15-10. The teams square off at the Louisville Lacrosse Stadium at 3 p.m.
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Senior Bergan Foley spearheads the Louisville attack offense and has been an essential and integral part of the Cards since arriving here as a freshman. She led the nation in 2008 in goals per game (4.07) scoring 61 in 15 games. As a sophomore, she was selected to second team BIG EAST honors and duplicated her feat from her first year...with 61 goals in 16 games. She set a career and school record with eight goals against UC Davis and was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll three times. As a junior, she was picked for the first team BIG EAST squad and second team all-West honors. She led the nation with 78 goals in 17 games. She scored seven goals on four different occasions and led the nation for the second time in three years in goals per game (4.59).
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This year, she leads the Cards again with 34 goals in eight games. She is the focus of opposing teams' defenses and leads a potent Cardinal offense along with Liz Lovejoy, Katie Oliverio and Lianne Bobal.
She hails from Huntingdon Valley, PA. and played her high school lacrosse at Gwynedd Mercy Academy. She is majoring  in business management at UofL. Athletics runs in the Foley family...her father played semi-pro football, her grandfather ran track at St.Joseph's and her uncle played hoops at Notre Dame.
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Foley and her teammates will be in action today at the Louisville Lacrosse Stadium against #15 Vanderbilt. Game time is 3 p.m.
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We know now the Final Four contestants headed to Indy and there are a couple of minor surprises in the group. Connecticut we expected to advance and after a close first half last night, the Huskies dispatched of Duke quite handily. Talk all you want about Courtney Vandersloot...Maya Moore is the best player in the nation, hands down. With the rapid in-season improvement of freshman center Stefanie Dolson, the Huskies look very invincible as they head to Indy. Texas A&M pulled the upset off against Baylor last night...going to war against Brittany Griner and holding her and her teammates at bay after jumping out to a early 22-11 lead. The Aggies had lost the previous three games to the Bears this season. Greeting last night's winners are Notre Dame and Stanford. We figured the Trees would get past the Fighting Vandersloot's of Gonzaga but the Irish sending Pat back to Tennessee was a bit of a surprise...not because they won...but by the margin and seemingly easy nature of the victory.
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Sonya sees the Huskies taking the title again this year. Paul is taking the senior laden Irish to pull off the upset. We asked regular CARDINAL COUPLE reader Tom Cahill his pick and he recommended the 7 horse in the 5th at Gulfstream. That's our boy... Should be fun and two BIG EAST schools in the Final Four. Not bad...
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Congratulations to Louisville long jumper Charachesicia Lockhart for her recent BIG EAST Women's Field Athlete of the Week award. Lockhart recently won the long jump in the Alabama Relays and her jump of 6.29m is best in the BIG EAST this year, a personal record for her and 2nd. in the nation. she also finished fifth in the triple jump there.

She'll compete in the Mile Poehlein Invitational at Purdue this weekend. Louisville's throwing squad is headed to Gainesville to take part in the Pepsi Florida Relays. WE doubt they attempt any relays...but they should score well in the weight, shot put, hammer and discus events.
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Rockcastle County's Sara Hammond will be participating in the McDonald's Girls All-American game tonight...televised on ESPN U at 6:30 p.m. For Hammond, it's all about representing Rockcastle County, the commonwealth of Kentucky and her future team...the University of Louisville. Hammonnd, the Miss Kentucky Basketball award winner, will be on the court with Bria Smith, who recently de-commited from Virginia and is being re-recruited by Louisville. The flashy New York guard and Hammond will also be joined by Indiana All-Star Bria Goss, who recently committed to UK.
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Hammond, a CARDINAL COUPLE reader, led Rockcastle County to the Kentucky Girls Basketball State Championship in March and will enroll at Louisville this summer to take classes and meet her future teammates. Her ability to play several different positions and all-court versitality will fit in well with the Jeff Walz style of hoops and WE expect she'll be a valuable contributor to the 2011-12 Lady Cards...
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Cards sweep St. John's on Sunday

Plenty to cheer about Sunday at Ulmer Stadium as the softball Cards take two from St. John...10-7 and 11-2. Chelsea Bemis connected with a grand slam to secure the first game.

Great day on the diamond for Sandy Pearsall's softball team with the sweep of the Red Storm. The action got started early for the two teams, with a 10:30 first pitch.
In a continuation of Saturday's second game rain delay which had Louisville leading 3-0 in the bottom of the second before the skies opened up...the Cards increased the lead to 4-0 on a Vanessa James single and Kristin Austin triple. St. John's put one on the scoreboard in the top of the fourth and Louisville got a solo home run blast by James in the bottom of the inning to make it 5-1.

The Red Storm woke their bats up in the top of the fifth with five runs to grab the lead at 6-5. Chrissy Montez's three run fence clearer gave the Johnnies the lead.

Louisville came right back at St. John, though, in the bottom half of the inning. Btrittany York led off with a walk and singles by James and Austin loaded the bases.
Melissa Roth's fly out scored York to tie it. Jennifer Esteban drew a walk to reload the bags and then Bemis cleared them with her first career grand slam to give the Cards a 10-6 advantage.

The Red Storm added a run in the top of the seventh but Tori Collins got the side out with no further damage and the Cards won 10-7.

In the second game, the Cards took control early and put five runs up in the bottom of the first. Alicia Wolny blasted a three run shot and Austin tripled in the inning to provide the fireworks.

St. John was able to cut the Louisville lead to 6-2 in the third inning but the Cards produced a 4 run bottom of the third to make it 10-2 and out of the Johnnies' reach. Louisville added a run in the bottom of the fourth for the final scoring.

Collins picked up the wins in each game, in relief of Kristen Wadwell. No word yet on the status of Cards pitcher Chelsea Leonard, who is out with a knee injury while pitching earlier in the week and did not participate on Sunday.

Louisville (32-15, 11-5) goes to Tampa next for a Derby Day visit to USF. They'll play three times over two days in the Sunshine State. Bemis has been absolutely pounding the opposing pitching during the Card' home stand and we hope the hot bat continues on the road.

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On the south side of campus, Louisville lacrosse lost to #11 Syracuse 16-11. The Orange broke away in the second half from a 8-7 first half lead with four straight goals to begin the second. Louisville led early in the contest 4-1 and got five goals from Emily Dashiell and four goals from Bergan Folly in the match.

Louisville is in 6th place in the Big East standings with a 2-4 conference record. Only the top four teams of the nine member league advance to the Big East tournament that will be held at Rutgers beginning Thursday, May 6th. With only two games remaining, the Cards are mathmatically eliminated from catching 5-2 third place Notre Dame and Loyola, MD. and getting to the tourney.

The Cards do have a strong stable of returning players for next year, though...including Folly, Dashiell, Liz Lovejoy, Katie Oliverio and Danielle Pawliw.

Tough loss on Senior Day for the Cards, who honored soon to be graduates Danielle Hale, Colleen Nevin, Ashley King and Lyndsay Ward. The Cards finish the season with two on the road...Rutgers up next.

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Pre-Derby favorite ESKENDEREYA will not run in the first Saturday in May leg of the Triple Crown of racing. Trainer Todd Pletcher indicated that the 3 yr. old has a slight swelling in the left front leg and hasn't galloped in workouts the way Pletcher feels the horse is capable of.

ESKENDEREYA'S defection throws the Derby picture wide open. Sonja will be getting out her dart board, crystal ball, channelling her psychic powers and consulting with the Yorkies' on Wednesday to provide her Derby picks. As for me, I'll tell you today that I'm "LOOKING AT LUCKY", honoring "NOBLE'S PROMISE" and giving a slight "ENDORSEMENT" to a trifecta with these three possible runners.

Written by Paul
4/26/10

Cardinal lacrosse downs Connecticut 15-8

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Katie Oliverio is third in the nation in assists. She had four in the Friday win over the Huskies.

The Cards came out knowing that any chance of getting to the Big East tournament would only be possible if they won against UConn. They did not disappoint, rallying from a 4-4 halftime tie to put the Huskies away. Bergan Foley led the attack with 6 goals for Louisville (9-5, 2-3) and Liz Lovejoy added 4.

Foley is the all-time leading scorer in Louisville lacrosse and has already set a new season record for goals this year with one game to go. The Cards return to action on Sunday for their final regular season game, hosting Syracuse. If they beat the Orange, they are in the Big East tournament.

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Much has been made about the sudden decision of high school basketball star Marquis Teague to go to UK in 2011 when it appeared Louisville was the front runner for his services. CARDINAL COUPLE doesn't usually do a lot of coverage on men's basketball but there are a lot of eyebrows being raised about the 180 Teague pulled. Always hate to lose a good one and it is only a verbal. We'll see what uniform he's wearing in 2011.

Written by Paul
4/24/10

Lacrosse part of a busy sports weekend

Louisville lacrosse hosts Connecticut Friday at 5 p.m. A busy weekend for women's sports at UofL with the softball team at home against St. John, the Cards track and field taking part in the Penn Relays and...oh, yeah...Saturday is opening day at Churchill. Read below for an exciting and important announcement, too...about another way to read about and discuss UofL women's sports.

The University of Louisville lacrosse team continues Big East action with UConn coming to town for a 5 p.m. match at the Cardinals lacrosse stadium. The Cards (8-5, 1-3) are coming off a win at home against Jacksonville and UConn rolls in after losing to Loyola, MD. on Sunday.

WHAS TV will show a delayed broadcast of the match Monday 1:30 AM with Gary Fogle and Patty Norton providing the commentary. Cardinal Bergan Folly leads the NCAA in goals scored per game.

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You wanted it, you got it. CARDINAL COUPLE has joined forces with CARDINAL DOMINANCE to provide sports fans with a message board. This exciting endeavor now gives all Cardinal Fans another place to voice your opinion about UofL athletics. We have a link to CARDINAL DOMINANCE on our home page, once you get there...simply take a minute to sign up for the boards and follow the link. You'll find several links available, including the CARDINAL COUPLE women's sports board.

CARDINAL DOMINANCE is owned and operated by our buddy Shannon Rufra. He devotes a great deal of time covering UofL sports and provides top flight coverage of Cardinal football, baseball and basketball. Both Sonja and I were regular posters and are still avid readers and contributors to his site. We'll provide daily updates over there as well and we invite you to take part in the fun we expect to create over there.

Shannon has a great photo gallery up of the recent UofL baseball teams win over WKU Wednesday night and a couple of pictures of me and head basketball coach Jeff Walz. While you are there, make sure to check out the videos he has of Louisville football and baseball.

One thing is for sure, Shannon's commentary and coverage of Louisville athletics is unique, comprehensive and never boring. We are happy to be his "source in the know" for UofL women's sports and to be working with him again.

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I know, I know...it's a busy weekend ahead with the marathon, balloon race, opening day at Churchill and all kinds of UofL sports activities. Almost impossible to get to all the activities going on this weekend but CARDINAL COUPLE will definitely at opening day at Churchill. The Derby Trial, which has diminished in importance over the last several years, is once again a viable road to the first Saturday in May, and a full field of ten horses are expected to enter and try to earn a spot for the Derby. PLEASANT PRINCE, AIKENITE and EIGHTYFIVEINAFIFTY could gain entrance to the Derby with a win in the Derby Trial. We love EIGHTFIVEINAFIFTY but also will be on the lookout for GAME ON DUDE..a Bob Baffert horse that gets Robby Albarado in the saddle and HURRICANE IKE with Calvin Borel getting the assignment.

Happy Derby Week to you!

Written by Paul
4/23/10

Softball Cards split doubleheader with Irish

Notre Dame pitcher Jody Valvidia tossed a one hitter at Louisville in the first game at Ulmer Stadium Saturday, leading the Irish to a 5-0 win. Louisville rallied in the second to defeat the Irish 4-1.

On what was a perfect day for softball attending, UofL's women's softball team split a doubleheader with the Big East leading Notre Dame (33-7, 11-1) squad.

Louisville (27-14, 6-4) couldn't get the bats untracked in the opener, falling behind to the Irish in the top of the 3rd inning after Katie Fleury doubled home two runs. The Cards would give up two more scores in the 5th inning on a Brianna Jorgensborg two run homer to left field. Notre Dame added an insurance run in the 6th when Christine Lux got to the plate on a Kristina Wright single.

Valdivia allowed Kristin Austin the only Cardinal hit of the game and struck out five Cardinals while going the distance for her 26th win of the season. Kristen Wadwell took the loss for the Cards.

The Cardinal rallied in Game Two, striking early when Chelsea Bemis singled home Vanessa James in the bottom of the first for a 1-0 lead. James would give the Cards two more runs in the 3rd with a bases loaded single. Notre Dame cut the margin to 3-1 off a 6th inning Heather Johnson home run blast. The Cards tacked on a run in the bottom of the 6th when Jennifer Esteban doubled down the left field line to score Katelynn Mann to complete the scoring.

Tori Collins tossed a five hitter at the Irish for her 9th win of the year. Esteban had three hits for Louisville.

A noon Sunday game completes the series.

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Louisville Lacrosse was busy at the other end of the Cardinal campus and delivered a 21-9 win over Jacksonville. The Cards surged out to a 14-4 halftime leads against the Dolphins. Bergan Folly tossed seven goals into the net for Louisville on fourteen shots and Liz Lovejoy added four goals for Louisville, who improved their record to 8-5.

I didn't get down to the lacrosse field to watch the action but Paul did make the walk and reports that about 300 fans were in attendance to watch the match.

Cardinal Lacrosse continues on Derby Eve (Friday) against the UConn Huskies.

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Hope everyone had a great Thunder Over Louisville. Despite the technical glitches that delayed the 9:30 fireworks start, it was another spectacular show. It was also pretty cold down by the river and it might have been a good year to view it on TV. We haven't missed one yet, though..and have been then for much colder viewings than last night's.

Thunder is the official kickoff to the many Derby festivities and events that lead up to the First Saturday on May race at Churchill Downs. It is one of my favorite, as well. We've gotten together with a group of friends that has steadily grown over the past 21 years to watch the air show and fireworks. Although the venue when we meet up and tailgate has changed several times...the abundant food, beverage and good times never fail to please and delight. Grills smoking, cornhole games being contested...the delightful mix of young and old laughing and camping out in lawnchairs...it never gets old or stagnant.

And, thank goodness for the roaring firepit that greeted us last night after the walk back from the river. I do love this time of year so...

Written by Sonja
4/18/10

Zenyatta romps in the Apple Blossom

The mare proved why she is the simply the best female in horse racing with an easy 4 1/2 length romp in Oaklawn's Apple Blossom Handicap. Jockey Mike Smith still believes he hasn't seen her best race yet.

One couldn't blame Zenyatta owner Jerry Moss if he was walking around the Oaklawn winner's circle humming the song from the movie Space Jam "I Believe I Can Fly" yesterday. Moss owns A&M Records and he's got a chart topper also in Zenyatta. His 4 year old filly seemed to have wings as she flew from last to first in the short Oaklawn stretch yesterday and blew by the competition in the $500,000 Apple Blossom Stakes at the Arkansas race track.


Maybe it's good Rachel Alexandra didn't show up to test the Street Cry mare yesterday in Hot Springs, AR. Zenyatta is running on all eight cylinders right now and it just doesn't matter if the racing surface is dirt, polytrack or even lime Jello...she confidently stalks the other horses in a race, knows when to make her move without any urging from jockey Mike Smith and then goes to work.

Sixteen wins in a row now for the horse named after a recording by The Police. Maybe she'll top the UConn women's basketball team's winning streak before she's through. No word on her next outing from trainer John Shireffs...but wouldn't it be great to have her at Churchill to maybe meet up with Rachel Alexandra on her favorite track?

Hoping for big things today in the Arkansas Derby from NOBLE'S PROMISE. Local trainer Kenny McPeek sends the hard luck 3 year old out as the probable favorite Saturday. NOBLE has had the misfortune of running against LOOKIN AT LUCKY the last several times out and narrowly going down to defeat. No LUCKY today in the Oaklawn field...but he'll face plenty of competition from DUBLIN, SUPER SAVER and NORTHERN GIANT in the 1 1/8 mile race that attracted 9 runners. Quite a rags to riches story here for the owners of NOBLE'S PROMISE...10 partners invested $1,000 each to buy the horse as a yearling. NOBLE has banked over $700,000 in earnings for the investors.

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Tough loss for Louisville lacrosse Friday to #13 Loyola at the Louisville lacrosse stadium. The Cards go down 17-10 after being tied with the Greyhounds 5-5 at the half. The Cards jumped out to an early 3-0 lead against the visitors but could not sustain the momentum and were outscored 12-5 in the second half.

Bergan Folly led Louisville with five goals but the deciding factor in the match was Louisville's inability to stop Loyola from scoring late in this one.

The Cards return to action Sunday hosting Big East foe Georgetown.

Written by Paul (who will be wearing his NOBLE'S PROMISE hat today) Happy Birthday Park!
4/10/10