Lacrosse clobbers Canisius 13-3, Softball outslugs Minnesota

SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

- Early offense, dominating defense corrals Canisius 13-3 

-Softball with 21 hits in 16-8 trouncing of the Gophers

It was a "Golden" day for two Louisville women's sports teams. Lacrosse handled the Golden Griffins by ten and softball blasted the Golden Gophers by eight. Maybe they all went to Golden Corral after the wins...

Al Greener and the pep band were on hand.

A spectacular start for Louiville Lacrosse Sunday afternoon at the Lacrosse Stadium, jumping out to a 5-0 lead in the first 12 1/2 minutes of the first half and shutting down the Golden Griffins to just three goals in a 13-3 opening-day win in front of 300 fans who braved the 40 degree temperature.

After a nicely done rendition of the National Anthem by UofL red-shirt sophomore midfielder Amy Poteet, the teams got busy and the Cards were doing the majority of the work.

Kay Morissette with an impressive start to her career, the freshman scoring four unassisted goals. Louisville goalie Ashley Herbst collecting seven saves and the Cardinal defense limiting Canisius to just 10 shots on goal.

Freshman Erika Eipp scored first for the Cards with only two minutes gone from the clock and another freshman Cortnee Daly followed with the second UofL score with 23:48 left in the first half. Junior Nikki Boltja made it 3-0 Cards just 24 seconds later on a free position shot and the Cards leading scorer from last season took advantage of another penalty shot at 20:42 to put Kellie Young's squad ahead 4-0.

The Cards got a Morissette unassisted goal three minutes later and it wasn't until the 14:47 mark that Canisius hit the scoreboard for the first time. The UofL defense was styming the Golden Griffins attack and the offense was maintainin long stretches of possession.

Faye Brust collected another Cardinal goal near the net and Morissette tallied her second score of the first half as the clock ticked down to 13:02.

The Cards tenacious defense continued to turn the Griffins away and Katie Oliverio registered her first goal of the season with 7:29. When Boltja got her second net-finder of the game...Louisville led 9-1 with 5:33 remaining in the half. Morissette completed the first half hat trick with her third score 15 seconds before half and Louisville took a 10-1 lead into the YUM! Center locker room.

Six Cardinals had scored for Coach Young and Louisville had forced Canisuis into 12 turnovers, while just committing seven themselves. Louisville held a 17-10 shot advantage and Herbst and the defense allowed only five shots on goal.

Canisius switched goalies to start the second half but it didn't appear to be a wise move at first...because
Louisville got off to a speedy start when Oliverio scored on a fast break just 23 seconds into action. Two Canisius goals followed over the next seven minutes, but the Cards defense tightened up and did not allow another Golden Griffith score over the final 22:28.

Morissette notched her fourth score on an unassisted drive at the 15:59 mark to make it 12-3 and Colleen O'Malley closed out the game's scoring on a free position shot three minutes later for the final 13-3 score.

Louisville attempted 32 shots in scoring their 13 goals and held Canisius to 3 for 18 shooting. Morissette led Louisville with four goals on seven attempts, Boltja was three for nine and Oliverio two for three. Eipp, O'Malley, Brust and Daly all had one score each for the Cards.

Six of the 13 Cardinal goals came from the freshman class.

CARDINAL COUPLE (Paulie and Jeff McAdams) caught up with Coach Young after the contest and got these exclusive observations:

On the play of the freshmen:

"They really are a big impact and change for our program, coming in with their talent and what we call LAX IQ. They're fast, they've got great sticks and they're elevating the players around them.

On the defensive effort:

"It was multi-faceted. We stopped them 7-on-7, we stopped them when we were a player down (from penalties). We stopped them in three different sets that we run. They were very consistent in what they did. From top to bottom, I was very happy with our defensive play."

On Nikki Boltja:

"As I just said to her team-mates, we don't want to call out any one player but we go to Nikki a lot because she is literally out here every day. The reason she takes over a game is because she has done the work. She gets her bag of balls, she takes her shots and with as many saves that the Canisius goalies had today (14) you can bet Nikki will be back out here tomorrow taking twice as many shots. She's a fighter. She just wants to put the ball in the back of the net for her team-mates and they follow her lead."

And a battle well-fought today by Boltja and her teammates. Louisville Lacrosse returns to action Saturday with Ohio State visiting the stadium.

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Louisville softball finished their Vegas stay in booming fashion Sunday afternoon, out-slugging Minnesota 16-8.
The Cards had 21 hits and four home runs. Katie Keller went 3-4 with seven RBI's and two round-trippers and Taner Fowler 3-5 with four RBI's and a fence-clearer.

The Cards scored once in the top of the first when Whitney Arion singled home Alicja Wolny. The Cards narrowly missed a second run when Fowler was thrown out at the plate attempting to score.

Minnesota touched Cardinal starting pitcher Rachel LeCoq for four first-inning runs, the big blow a 2 run homer with two outs.

Louisville came back with the bats in the top of the second. A Katelyn Mann single, Maggie Ruckenbrod double and Jasmine Smisthson-Willett walk loaded the bases with no outs. A walk and fly out scored two runs and the Cards were within one. Taner Fowler followed with her first home run of the season... a three run blast to make it 6-4 Cards 

A Minnesota two-run homer with one out sent LeCoq to the dugout and Caralisa Connell took the circle. Carl got the Cards out of the jam and it was 6-6 after three innings.

Louisville took a 7-6 lead on a solo blast by Keller in the fourth and Connell held the Golden Gophers at bay in the bottom half of the inning.

UofL added four more runs in the top of the fifth on six hits...Keller highlighting the inning with a 2 RBI double. Louisville now led 11-6. Carl got the job done again on the mound, holding UM scoreless.

The Cards exploded for five runs in the top of the sixth...Katelyn Mann with a two-run shot and Katie Keller's three run "touch 'em all" had the Cards ahead 16-6. Carl gave up two runs in the bottom of the inning but held on to retire the side and get the win.

Le Coq pitched 1.2 innings and allowed four runs on four hits. Connell's relief effort was 4.1 innings of four run, five hit pitching.

So, the Cards leave Vegas with a 4-1 record. Pitching not quite where it needs to be yet, but the UofL bats have covered it in four out of the five games. Much as Pearsall intimated it might be. Once thing for certain, Louisville appears to be never out of any contest so far, if the hitters are "on". 21 hits is a new Cardinal game record.

Softball returns to action Friday with another three day, five game marathon in the Jacksonville (FL) Tournament. They'll face Stony Brook and Bethune-Cookman on the 15th., Ohio State and Jacksonville on Saturday and Stony Brook again on Sunday.
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Friday Cardinal Couple -- Lacrosse Interview with Kellie Young

CARDINAL COUPLE recently had the chance to interview head Louisville Lacrosse coach Kellie Young. We appreciate the chance to provide our readers this exclusive interview with coach and here it is in it's entirety:

CARDINAL COUPLE:  Your team is ranked tied for sixth in the preseason BIG EAST poll. Is this about what you expected?

COACH YOUNG:  It's what I expected but it's certainly not what we are. Being sixth in the BIG EAST is certainly below standard. That's where we were last year. We had a huge culture shift within the program and removed a number of players who weren't on board with who we are and where we want to go. It's a reflection of last year and not where or who be want to be this year. So, we take it now day by day and use that #6 ranking to show it's a huge understatement of what we're going to be. The opponents we face in the BIG EAST are monumental. And, that's an exciting thing. You have to be able to beat the best to become a champion. Syracuse played last year in the national championship game. They lost a close battle. They'll be moving to the ACC with us. Notre Dame historically is a powerhouse in Lacrosse and they're joining us in the ACC also. Georgetown...the same thing. I had coached at Georgetown years ago and had some championship teams up there. They may have not returned to that venue but they're still a very challenging opponent. Loyola, another top ten team, is a historic program out of Maryland, which is a hotbed for our sport. They have the pickings of whoever they want, just to leave high school and come next door to play in college. Other good teams are Rutgers and UConn and they gave us challenges last year.

CARDINAL COUPLE: When most people think of Louisville Lacrosse last year the name Nikki Boltja comes to mind. All-region last year and a preseason All-BIG EAST pick this year. Talk a little about her...

COACH YOUNG: Nikki is the definition of a work-horse. She truly is on the field, on her own, just about every day. My office overlooks the field, so I get to see whose out there and she is a constant. Whether it's shooting a bag of balls on her own, working on her dodges with the coaching staff, working on plays with her teammates...she really does do it all. She is a competitor. Her emotional drive to win is why she scores so many goals. But it's not about personal attainment with her. Not about how much she scores but about what helps this team. Her emotion, her passion for this game is what drives her every day. She is someone who shows up at practice every day emotionally, mentally and physically ready to go. And, she's a great kid. A great student-athlete.

CARDINAL COUPLE: Would you consider her the team leader of the squad?

COACH YOUNG: No, and that's the interesting thing. She is a leader by what she does but she is a very quiet kid. At least around the coaching staff. She's not very quiet when she goes back to housing. (Laughter) She doesn't need to speak, she's going to do it through her actions. Her teammates are inspired by how hard she goes. But she isn't really driving anyone else. Our leader is really Janave Dzikewich. She is our sixth year senior. She's had three ACL injuries but is now playing better than ever. We did have to petition to have her come back for the sixth year. We were granted that and we are just so thrilled we have her again. She is the main reason our culture has changed. Just raising the bar, expectations on and off the field. In the classroom. A vocal leader every game. She sees things so well on the defensive end. People just follow her and do what she tells them to do.

CARDINAL COUPLE: Katie Oliverio returns for her senior season after sitting out last year with an injury. Talk about what her return to the team means.

COACH YOUNG: She is in better shape now than when she hurt herself. She's part of our offensive attack, so she'll be attacking 95% of the time. She's fast! She'll also help us re-defend. What Katie brings is that she's also one of our leaders, one of our tri-captains. She's our emotional leader. Janae Dzikewich is the driver, Katie is the voice. She's so passionate about what she does, about returning. She's like a point-guard in basketball, seeing things that other people don't see. She can dodge from the top, feed from anywhere around the eight. I'm really impressed with how she's returned and recovered from such a major injury.

CARDINAL COUPLE: It looks like I'll need to brush up on some lacrosse terms before the season starts...

COACH YOUNG: (Laughter)

CARDINAL COUPLE: Discuss the eight new freshmen and one red-shirt freshmen. Are there any of them that will step in and have an immediate impact on the team?

COACH YOUNG: Absolutely. The first year class has been so important in helping change our culture, along with Janave. When you're building a program in the midwest, there's not a history or culture out here about the sport. This is the first class...from top to bottom...that has true lacrosse players in it. We've had a lot of good athletes in the past, but we were teaching them the game. This class knows the game. Kay Morrisette, from Canada, was the captain of the U19 World Cup team for Canada...a big, powerful player. You look at her and you know she's an athlete. She'll be taking the draw for us at the start of every game or goal. You just want to get out of her way. She's had a great influence on us in the fall practices and fans will notice her right away. Cortnee Daley is a high school All-American out of Philadelphia. She's a gritty, doesn't take 'no' for an answer, player who will chase you down. She has that "I'm going to grind this out" attitude, I'm going to win this game."
She has an arrogance out there, but she's a great kid.

You see our freshman out there every day, doing the work and if your a junior, you're thinking to yourself...I better step it up and do the work as well, because I don't want them taking my spot! We've got other freshmen beside Kay and Cortnee fighting for starting spots, too. We could have a potential of four freshmen starting for us.

CARDINAL COUPLE: Impressive! I'm guessing Morrisette is no relation to pop singer Alannis Morrisette?

COACH YOUNG: She is apparently! (Laughter) I have never asked her that, but they're second cousins or something. My director of operations knows more about that relationship than I do.

CARDINAL COUPLE: I guess we know what the pre-game and post-game recorded music will be this year...

COACH YOUNG: ( Laughter ) Exactly!

CARDINAL COUPLE: A wide range of geography location for the players on the roster this year, but none from Louisville. Talk about that and the talent level here on the high school.

COACH YOUNG: It's improving at a rapid pace here in Louisville. We've run a ton of camps, encourage club teams. One player has recently gone up to play Division I from here to Harvard. The players graduating now have a great work ethic and will have a big impact on DII and DIII lacrosse. They could probably play at DI schools, but will have an IMPACT at DII and DIII schools. We're starting to see some talent very possible for us to recruit here local from sophomores down to seventh and eight grade levels now. That wasn't there before.

CARDINAL COUPLE: Talk to us about the upgrade and competition level when you go to the ACC next season.

COACH YOUNG: It's pretty similar. A lot of our current opponents battle with UNC, Duke and UVA. The ACC might
be a slight step ahead. It's not dramatic. For us, it's moving from one great conference to another. Where we'll benefit it that a lot of the ACC teams are located in the hotbed for high school lacrosse. We can go to kids and tell them...you may not have been recruited by UNC, Duke or UVA, but you'll get a chance to play them, and your parents and friends may be only a few hours away from those games when we go there to play. It's a historic conference and they've been in existence since the start of D1 Lacrosse.

CARDINAL COUPLE: How important is the Louisville name, the Louisville brand when you're out on the recruiting trail?

COACH YOUNG: It's huge. When your trying to convince a family to send their daughter away from home, this far away from home...the brand does attract them and a lot of our marketing materials stress the successes of Louisville athletics. Final four appearances, Sugar Bowl. We tell them to watch our teams on TV, how they are excelling and our fantastic fan base at home games. The piece at the end that really seals the deal, though...is when you talk about Tom Jurich's vision. The humble and hungry philosophy of giving back for all you have received. We talk about the community service commitment that he installs in all of us. Parents are really inspired by that. They see their daughter is not just only going to be a Division I athlete, we want her to be a great student. She's going to give back to the community.

CARDINAL COUPLE: Give us a first-time fan primer of lacrosse.

COACH YOUNG: Think about basketball without the arena or hoop. Watch how we move the ball in transition. How we set plays. How we defend. How we score. We set picks for players. We drive from the top to score. We can run man-to-man defenses or zones. We press and try to force opponent's offenses into turnovers. Watch the power of the players on the field and listen to the leadership and help they're sharing with each other.

( We appreciate Coach Young's remarks and practices are open to the public. Louisville begins the season with three straight home games....Canisius on Sunday, Feb. 3rd., and Ohio State and Old Dominion on Saturday Feb. 9th and 16th. Join us out there! )