Haley Jurich with two goals in Field Hockey win...Sun beat the Dream

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MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE PRESENTS:

-First half fireworks set tone for Field Hockey win

-Sun defeat Dream in Connecticut

-Howard transfers to St. Catherine

The University of Louisville field hockey team returned to the friend confines of Trager Stadium and successfully held court against an Alumnae team Sunday 6-2. Justine Sowry's stick crew jumped out to an early 4-0 lead at halftime and was up 6-0 before a couple of late alumnae goals from Carrie Jackson Carden and Missy Briery.

Haley Jurich opened the scoring several minutes into the match, off a feed from Amber Thomas. Caitlin Collins got in the books a few minutes later, scoring on a rebound shot. Thomas became the third Cardinal to put up a point on an unassisted shot halfway thru the first half and Kaityn Soucy completed the first half scoring with an unassisted net finder.

The Cards built on the 4-0 lead when Haley Jurich converted on a rebound shot by Thomas and made it 6-0 by getting a goal from Dominique Pasqualichio off a penalty corner. The alumnae scored late in the contest, Missy Briery driving one into the net on a pass from Carden and Carden closing out the afternoon's scoring on a penalty corner with no time left on the clock. 

"I don't know what they ate this morning, but there were definitely a lot of positives today and hopefully we can take them into next weekend." Sowry spoke after the match. 

Louisville hosts California Friday and Michigan State Sunday to begin the regular season. Games start at 6 p.m. CARDINAL COUPLE will have reports on each. Louisville is picked to finish third in the BIG EAST...behind UConn and Syracuse.

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DeSouza's double/double not
enough for Atlanta Sunday.

The Connecticut Sun (17-10) ended a two game losing streak Sunday with a 96-87 win over the Atlanta Dream (13-13) at the Mohegan Sun Arena. Angel McCoughtry led the way for Atlanta with 22 points. Erika DeSouza finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds, Lindsey Harding contributed 14 and Arminite Price added 12.

The Sun were led by Renee Montgomery's 21...Tina Charles and Asjha Jones tallied 18 each. Tan White had 11 of her 13 in the final quarter and Kara Lawson rounded out the Sun double-digit scoring with 11.

Atlanta is in 4th. place in the WNBA Eastern Conference, a game up on Chicago...who they'll face Tuesday night in Chi-town. There are eight games left on the regular season schedule for Angel and crew...four at home and four on the road. They need to finish at least fourth in the Eastern Division standings to reach the playoffs. Last year, they did just that and advanced to the WNBA Championships. TIme to rev it up, #35...

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Janae Howard lands at St. Catherine
Her third school in four years

CARDINAL COUPLE has learned that Janae Howard, a member of the 2009 UofL WBB Final Four Team, has transferred to St. Catherine College and will play hoops there in the 2011-12 season. Howard, an Kentucky High School All-State forward from Owensboro, came to the Cardinal Women's basketball team in 2008...along with Monique Reid and Becky Burke. She was a reserve on the team that faced UConn in the 2009 NCAA Women's Championship game. Janae transfered to Western Kentucky Univeristy after the season, sat out a year and was the leading scorer on the 2010-11 team until she quit after 22 games. She transfers to the NAIA school and will have two years of playing time left. St. Catherine plays Lindsey Wilson twice in the 2011-12 season. It'll be interesting to see how she matches up against former Card Ashley Rainey...the leading scorer on Lindsey Wilson's roster from last season.

Lacrosse wins vs. Rutgers...Tennis loses at Rice...WE discuss "overrecruiting"

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SATURDAY...THUNDER Day in Louisville


Liz Lovejoy had a big day Friday...four goals in the win



at CARDINAL COUPLE

-Lacrosse rallies to beat Rutgers

-Women's Tennis falls to Owls

-Louisville holds football Spring game

-Over-recruiting? Don't think so...

Louisville lacrosse rallied from a 5-3 halftime deficit to defeat the Rutgers Scarlet Knights 10-8 at the Louisville Lacrosse Stadium. Worries over inclement weather were soothed as the rains never came during the action. Louisville, though, seemed to be under a cloud early on in the contest...falling behind to the Piscataway players 4-0 12 minutes into the game. Louisville (9-4, 2-2) fell even further behind at the start of the second half before a rally led by Lix Lovejoy and Bergan Foley produced three consecutive point and tied the contest at 6-6. The Cards took a 7-6 lead when Lianne Bobal found the back of the net.

Rutgers tied the contest at seven but Louisville finished strong and scored three of the games final goals for the win. Two goals by Lovejoy and a score by freshman Nikki Boltja gave the Cards the contest. Freshman Ashley Herbst manned the pipes in this one, limiting the Scarlet Knights to eight goals while making eight saves.

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Cardinal women's tennis took a thumping on the road from the Rice Owls yesterday 7-0. Julia Fellerhoff and Rebecca Shine fell in doubles 8-5 to the Owls and both players lost their singles matches as well. The Cards end the regular season today at Houston and then will prepare for the BIG EAST Championships next week. Louisville is 11-10 on the year going into the season ending match against the Cougars.

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A disappointingly small crowd showed up for the UofL Spring Football game at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium. It may have been that fans were scared off by the threat of inclement weather...or that a lot of play makers from last season weren't going to participate while recovering from injuries. For those who attended, they got to see some nice running from senior tailback Vic Anderson and all three Louisville quarterbacks tossed the ball around with accuracy. The game last night reminded us of the early days of the Schnellenberger reign...when the team would play in front of small crowds at the Fairgrounds. One interesting sidebar was that UofL P.A. announcer Sean Moth called the action from the field instead of the press box. Red team won 31-14...which doesn't mean a thing...since the players were pretty much interchangeable throughout the contest and it was "offense (Red) vs. defense (White)."

There... We've appeased the readers who complain that we never cover men's sports at UofL here at CARDINAL COUPLE.

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Former Lady Card Janae Howard has left WKU also.
Did Walz "run her off" from there , too? People...please...

WE'VE noticed lately that critics and pundits of the University of Louisville women's basketball program have started rattling that old sabre called 'over-recruiting' when they talk about this year's Lady Cardinal signees and transfers. We've even seen a post where the writer tried to make a comparison between former UofL football coach Bobby Petrino and current UofL women's basketball coach Jeff Walz. Hogwash, WE say....Never heard of Walz meeting a plane from Auburn in New Albany to discuss the head coaching job...

We've seen writings where Walz has been blasted for bringing in talented players that "force others out the door" What...is this a survival camp or something?

Mostly, WE believe...it's a case of sour grapes...this bashing of trying to improve a program by recruiting the best players you can. Do you want Louisville to mirror Villanova WBB...where the emphasis is on recruiting around the Philly Catholic high school programs? Maybe Walz should refuse to take a player because it might cause someone who averages five minutes a game to leave? Get a grip, people. These are facts below and they cannot be disputed:

1) Jeff Walz is one of the best young recruiters in women's college basketball
2) The LADY CARDS play in the BIG EAST..the best conference in WBB.
3) Players like to go where they have a chance to play for good teams.
4) Walz expects a lot out of his players and they practice hard and train hard.
5) Some players are better than others and to win...you need better players.

Take the case of Janae Howard, for example. A talented wing with a deadly three point shot, she was highly recruited out of high school and left the Owensboro area to attend Louisville on scholarship. She arrived at Louisville with a talented incoming class of Monique Reid, Becky Burke, Gwen Rucker, Mary Jackson and Tiera Stephen...a freshman class considered the best ever at that time for Louisville women's basketball.

Howard played sparingly her freshmen year but was on a national championship runner up team at Louisville and saw action in each of the Cards NCAA Tournament games that year. She decided to transfer, though...and attend Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, KY. Much closer to home and promised a chance to get the playing time she sought. She sat out a year. If she had remained at Louisville, chances are she would have seen tons of minutes on a Cardinal squad that was decimated by injuries and down to six or seven players at times.

Finally, this year...she got back on the court. She started for the Hilltoppers...had 30 points in one game, but decided to leave the team for personal reasons before the season ended. We use this example of Howard just to emphasize our point. The reasons why players transfer are as varied as the reasons players decide to attend a school. Players come, players go. Happens in other programs besides Louisville.

Howard wasn't the only member of that heralded 2008 recruit class to leave. Mary Jackson returned to Memphis...where she plays for the UM Tigers in a backup role. Tiera Stephen transferred to Wisconsin where she is a backup guard. Gwen Rucker played two seasons for Louisville women's basketball while also playing volleyball before deciding to concentrate on the wide net sport. She's a three year starter and will be a senior leader for Anne Kordes' 2011-12 volleyball squad. Each made a decision that was in their best interests. None of these three were "forced out"...yet critics and fans from other schools harp on the Cardinal transfers when they discuss Louisville recruiting. Jealously knows no bounds. We would point out, in fairness...that Reid and Burke are still on the team, will be seniors this upcoming season and have been valuable contributors to Louisville women's basketball during their stay here.

Players come, players go. Where would Louisville have been this year if Tia Gibbs hadn't decided to transfer to Louisville from Vanderbilt? Cierra Robertson Warren will be an awesome force in the upcoming season for Louisville in the post...she transferred here from North Carolina. Shelby Harper made a commitment to walk on the Louisville squad as a freshman and has become a crowd favorite and streaking blond blur with the basketball.

A small, unimpressive former ball boy for the New York Knicks decided to attend the University of Kentucky a few years back. He knew playing time would be limited. He sat the bench for four years under the coaching of Rick Pitino and Tubby Smith. He learned, he watched....he didn't play much. He became an assistant coach, worked at several places and eventually ended up as a key assistant under Rick Pitino at Louisville. He is now the head coach of Manhattan University.

Steve Masiello paid the dues and prospered.

Louisville will welcome recruits Sara Hammond, Jude Schimmel, Monney Esther Niamke and possibly one or two more for the 2011-12 season. Schimmel and Hammond have sent letters of intent. WE feel Monney's is pending soon. Bria Smith is visiting the campus. All are top notch players that will impact the future of Louisville women's hoops in the future. Over-recruiting? We hardly think so. Creating a nucleus of quality position players to build on the success of the University of Louisville's women's basketball program...definitely. Will all this "come back to haunt Walz and the coaching staff" ?

Only if you consider success as haunting...

Over-recruiting and "recruiting over "players at Louisville? No. Seeking players to build the program. Yes. Don't confuse the two, pundits. Players come. players go. Those that succeed are usually those who listen and learn.
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Where are they now?

Welcome to the Monday view at Cardinal Couple!

-Where are they now?

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-WE try to predict the BIG EAST

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Ashley Rainey (pictured right) is playing at Lindsey Wilson College and averaging 20.8 points a game and 10.4 rebounds for the Blue Raiders (10-3). She has been named the Mid-South Conference Women's Basketball Player of the Week twice for the NAIA school. Rainey played in 22 games for Louisville in the 2009-10 season...starting 16 before leaving the team. She averaged 6.4 points and 6.4 rebounds in her one season at the Ville.

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Janae Howard is at Western Kentucky University and the third leading scorer on the Hilltoppers (4-7) squad. She's started 5 out of the 10 games she's played for the Toppers and is averaging 24.6 minutes per game. Howard leads the WKU squad in three pointers made and attempted (25-69). Howard was a reserve on the 2008-09 Louisville squad that made it to the NCAA Championship game.

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Another player on that team, Mary Jackson, is at Memphis after sitting out her transfer year and comes off the bench for the Tigers. She recently had 11 points against North Carolina A&T and averages about 3 points a game. The Tigers (8-3) have won their last 5 in a row.

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Laura Terry played in 11 games for Louisville in 2009-10 before a knee injury put her on the sidelines during her junior year. She twice hit double figures for the Cards last year, with 11 points against IUPUI and 10 at Central Michigan. Terry is now a student assistant coach for the Cards and you can see her on the bench during Cardinal home games.

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Nikki Burton took part in 18 games as a part of the 2009-10 Cards and started 11 of them before going to the sidelines with injuries. She's on the injured list this year with a groin injury and is expected to redshirt this season. Burton averaged 5.9 for the Lady Cards last year and had 36 steals...good for second on the team despite playing only about half of the Cardinal contests.

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With BIG EAST play right around the corner, the action will be coming fast and furious amongst the 16 teams in the league. WE'VE got some very early conference season speculation on how the teams could finish up. Read at your own risk...

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Them that has:

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-Connecticut is loaded again and is our pick to win the BIG EAST schedule. Will Maya Moore ever graduate? They may eventually lose a game...we figure either the Connecticut men's team or the WNBA Connecticut Sun are the two most likely candidates to knock them off.

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-DePaul has a wealth of talent and can score from anywhere on the court. Sam Quigley and Keisha Hampton should be able to lead the Blue Demons to the runner up spot in the BIG EAST and....they did knock off #2 Stanford recently. UConn beware.

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-Georgetown has talent with Sugar Rodgers and Monica McNutt and will be a tough opponent for anyone who crosses their path in the BIG EAST. These Hoyas are a rough and tumble bunch...bring the first aid kit and team physician. Rutgers loss a wake up call.

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-Louisville is 2-2 against top 25 opponents this year and features a well balanced scoring attack led by freshman Shoni Schimmel. The Cards can be deadly in their zone presses and can score in bunches with the transition game. Try and zone them and they'll burn you from deep.

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Them that is pretty good:

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-Notre Dame returns talent from last year's team and led by Skylar Diggins...they can shut you down with pressure defense and tear you up outside. Wouldn't be surprised at all with a top four finish in the BIG EAST regular season. Muffet McGraw knows a thing or two about hoops.

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-St. John hasn't disappointed in the pre-BIG EAST schedule and returns a talented bunch of hoopsters that can light up the scoreboard. You won't win many rebounding wars against them and your defense better be clicking if you expect to beat them.

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-Syracuse plays the brutal possession by possesion ball that Quentin Hillsman teaches and it's paid dividends for them so far with an undefeated record. That'll change in the BIG EAST...but don't be shocked in the Orange pull off a few major upsets.

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-West Virginia is highly ranked so far under the tutelidge of Mike Carey and features one of the best players in the league in Liz Repella. The Mountaineers are well disciplined and won't beat themselves. They will whip up on quite a few BIG EAST opponents, though.

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Them that is so-so:

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-Rutgers is rebuilding under C.Viv Stringer but still has talent with April Sykes and company. They can throw scary defense on opponents and C.Viv is rarely out-coached. They did beat Georgetown.

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-Marquette returns three starters from last year and has gotten off to a strong start in pre-BIG EAST play. They don't get blown out and no one puts up big numbers on them.

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-Providence returns two starters from a team that made it to the WNIT quarterfinals last year. Mi-Khida Hankins are Symone Roberts are legit hoopsters.

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-USF has gained a couple of talented transfers in the Smith sisters and they've turned it around in Tampa. Beware BIG EAST teams that venture into the SunDome.

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Them that aren't so much:

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-Villanova will compete with anyone but the talent level there isn't quite enough to get them into the over .500 bunch in the BIG EAST. Harry Perretta begins his 34th. year there.

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-Pittsburgh does have four starters back from last year...four starters from a 16-15 team. Agnes will need a few miracles in the Peterson if they are to improve on that record.

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-Cincinnati has a young and bright coach in Janelle Elliott. It's a shame the Geno prodigy can't suit up for the under-manned Bearcats. They'll fight to stay out of the BIG EAST cellar.

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-Seton Hall is in Anne Donovan first year of coaching. She'll turn the program around in South Orange...we have no doubt...but it isn't going to happen this year.

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