Lacrosse Participates in Annual Media Day
January 30, 2020 | Women's Lacrosse
Head coach Scott Teeter, along with Brenna Shanahan and Caroline Blalock, addressed the media.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - University of Louisville lacrosse head coach Scott Teeter, along with senior midfielder Brenna Shanahan and junior midfielder Caroline Blalock, spoke to the media at the annual Spring Sports Media Day.
The Cardinals open the season on Sunday, Feb. 9 at Cincinnati. They open the home portion of their schedule on Saturday, Feb. 15 vs. No. 10 Denver.Â
Head Coach Scott Teeter
(Opening Statement)
"Season three, so we're extremely excited. We have 32 active players so we have depth at every position and it's exciting for us. The girls are working extremely hard and practices have been completely different since we don't have a depleted roster. We just can't wait to get started up in Cincinnati. We have 16 freshmen on our roster this year, which is half our roster. So, we are a little bit young, but they are talented. They are pushing our upperclassman to newer heights. So we just can't wait to get on the field."
(With that many freshmen, talk about the learning curve?)
"There is definitely a huge learning curve. There are days that I think we are really good and there are days where I don't think we're so good. We just have to slow things down in practice a little bit and make sure they are getting the fundamentals down. The basics down. Making sure we aren't moving too fast because if we move too fast with that many freshmen then we're going to have a lot of holes and a lot of gaps. The upperclassmen are doing a great job teaching them along the way and holding them to high expectations."
(On the depth and if it's better to just have more bodies out there during practices.)
"Yes, it's great to be able to do stuff full field. We're having intrasquad scrimmages now that we have two midfielder lines that are subs. It's nice that we can practice a lot longer and we can get our systems in and try to replicate what a game-like situation is."
(With Tessa Chad gone, who are some of the players that are going to do some of the things she did?)
"I think Tessa was a phenomenal player and a great goal scorer. I think replacing that many goals, it's got to be by committee. We have a lot of new faces and our upperclassmen, if they can expand by about five to 10 goals on the year. Our freshmen can log some valuable minutes because they are talented. Time will tell who is going to step up. There are players that are impressing us right now like Allegra Catalano and that gives us quite a tandem at X with Ally Hall, that we haven't had in the past. We're looking at Shayla Scanlan, an upperclassmen, to play that spot where Tessa left us. But, also two freshmen who are impressing us a little bit there are Izzy Holmes and Alexa Steffens. I think it will be committee-based. A little more balanced scoring compared to what we have had in the past."
(How many freshmen will help this year?)
"I think of the 16, we are looking at anywhere between seven to eight to compete for quite a bit of minutes. I eventually expect probably about 13 or 14 of the 16 will get their feet wet early and get some playing time and they will just keep growing. They will have to gain experience and get up to ACC quickness and level of play. When we come out of the gates, Cincinnati had their career year last year. They took a giant step and they didn't really graduate much and we have to be ready for that and then we have Denver for our home opener, which is a top 10 team. So, we are getting a test right away and our freshmen will be thrown right in there. I think maybe there will possibly be three or four freshman that will start for us."
(Are you healthy going into the season?)
"We have over 30 players at practice every day. There are a couple nagging things we are managing right now. Nia Scott is waiting for an MRI result, but other than that, we are pretty healthy, which is good to see for the first time."
(How do you get the right mix of new and older players?)
"We change things up every day. Some days we spread our leadership around, especially in our midfield lines. We try not to have all our upperclassmen on one line and our freshman on the other. We do seven-on-seven, which is a big component of our practice. Now that you have five lines in the midfield, it almost takes two to three times the time to get through it. So, while some players are doing that on one end, we have the assistant coaches working on skills and breaking down more of the systematic approach on the other. It's great to see."
(The ACC is probably the best lacrosse conference in Division I. Talk about the challenges and competitions there.)
"The ACC is number one. I think seven of the eight teams are ranked in the top 25. You look at our schedule right now and seven of our games are against top 10 preseason opponents. We hit the ground running and most of those are in the ACC. Boston College has been pretty dominant in the last couple of years, but graduated a lot and they have a great transfer in Duke's Charlotte North, who's one of the best attackers in the nation. I expect them to be right up there. UNC is always a powerhouse and they're always a Final Four team. A lot of people are picking that this could be their year. They're preseason number two. And then you throw Syracuse into the mix and Notre Dame and Virginia and Virginia Tech and Duke. They're all nationally-ranked teams. We have to be ready."
(Is there a mission statement as you prepare for the season?)
"We just want to keep getting better every single day. We want to only look ahead to our next opponent. This year will be a big growth year for us as a program. Our goal is to get to the NCAA Tournament. Everyone is focused, but we can't overlook one team. Our schedule is extremely tough. You have to have over a .500 record to be eligible for the tournament. It's taking every opponent one day at a time and just keep getting better. We're going to make some mistakes. We want to learn from our mistakes and from each other's mistakes and hopefully not make the same mistake twice. We want to keep growing and make sure we're playing our best lacrosse when it comes to the end of the season."
(How are you approaching draw controls this year?)
"Like assistant coach Kaylin Morisette said, 'she's all about the draw control', so we're working on it. It's probably more of a team unit that we're working on. We have a couple of different draw teams, so it's going to be units of three rather than just one person taking the draw like Kay (Morisette) did when she was here. It's putting the ball in a good spot to give us an advantage, but really working on the 50-50 balls and working as a team of three to gain possession."
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Senior midfielder Brenna Shanahan
(On being a captain and the learning curve of showing younger players how they do things here.)
"Yes for sure. There is a learning curve, but our upperclassmen are at that level where we have taken them all under our wings. We have these expectations for them and we know what they have to do to be with us. They are working together on their lines and just learning from us and watching us. Even the sophomores, it's a great group that is bringing them along."
(What Rachel Florek has meant to this team)
"I think Rachel has taken a huge step this season and I know her confidence has gone up and I think she has become a great leader for this team and I think that builds confidence within our defense. I think that is something we take pride in with this team. Every little play we make back there means we can make a play on offense. I think it starts with the goalie and that's Rachel. That's huge for us."
(You've been with Coach in two different settings now. Talk about the Teeter style, how it has been over the years and how you both like Louisville.)
"One thing I get asked a lot was how I liked my transfer process. I've had no regrets on that, which is huge. Just being with Teeter previously at Canisius and with Team Canada, I think I'm a good connection between players and Teeter. I have no regrets being here. The level has been bumped up a lot and I'm enjoying my experience and I'm hoping that this is our year."
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Junior midfielder Caroline Blalock
(How has the preseason been different with the new freshman and how have the practices been?)
"Actually this preseason has felt so long and I think everyone is just really excited to start playing. With the 16 freshmen, it is nice to see the fresh faces pushing you every day to compete. Before, we didn't have a complete roster and there weren't many subs. When you have to fight for a position, it's going to make the team better."
(What Rachel Florek has meant to this team)
"I always see her outside working extra and putting in the time. I have a lot of confidence in her."
Â
The Cardinals open the season on Sunday, Feb. 9 at Cincinnati. They open the home portion of their schedule on Saturday, Feb. 15 vs. No. 10 Denver.Â
Head Coach Scott Teeter
(Opening Statement)
"Season three, so we're extremely excited. We have 32 active players so we have depth at every position and it's exciting for us. The girls are working extremely hard and practices have been completely different since we don't have a depleted roster. We just can't wait to get started up in Cincinnati. We have 16 freshmen on our roster this year, which is half our roster. So, we are a little bit young, but they are talented. They are pushing our upperclassman to newer heights. So we just can't wait to get on the field."
(With that many freshmen, talk about the learning curve?)
"There is definitely a huge learning curve. There are days that I think we are really good and there are days where I don't think we're so good. We just have to slow things down in practice a little bit and make sure they are getting the fundamentals down. The basics down. Making sure we aren't moving too fast because if we move too fast with that many freshmen then we're going to have a lot of holes and a lot of gaps. The upperclassmen are doing a great job teaching them along the way and holding them to high expectations."
(On the depth and if it's better to just have more bodies out there during practices.)
"Yes, it's great to be able to do stuff full field. We're having intrasquad scrimmages now that we have two midfielder lines that are subs. It's nice that we can practice a lot longer and we can get our systems in and try to replicate what a game-like situation is."
(With Tessa Chad gone, who are some of the players that are going to do some of the things she did?)
"I think Tessa was a phenomenal player and a great goal scorer. I think replacing that many goals, it's got to be by committee. We have a lot of new faces and our upperclassmen, if they can expand by about five to 10 goals on the year. Our freshmen can log some valuable minutes because they are talented. Time will tell who is going to step up. There are players that are impressing us right now like Allegra Catalano and that gives us quite a tandem at X with Ally Hall, that we haven't had in the past. We're looking at Shayla Scanlan, an upperclassmen, to play that spot where Tessa left us. But, also two freshmen who are impressing us a little bit there are Izzy Holmes and Alexa Steffens. I think it will be committee-based. A little more balanced scoring compared to what we have had in the past."
(How many freshmen will help this year?)
"I think of the 16, we are looking at anywhere between seven to eight to compete for quite a bit of minutes. I eventually expect probably about 13 or 14 of the 16 will get their feet wet early and get some playing time and they will just keep growing. They will have to gain experience and get up to ACC quickness and level of play. When we come out of the gates, Cincinnati had their career year last year. They took a giant step and they didn't really graduate much and we have to be ready for that and then we have Denver for our home opener, which is a top 10 team. So, we are getting a test right away and our freshmen will be thrown right in there. I think maybe there will possibly be three or four freshman that will start for us."
(Are you healthy going into the season?)
"We have over 30 players at practice every day. There are a couple nagging things we are managing right now. Nia Scott is waiting for an MRI result, but other than that, we are pretty healthy, which is good to see for the first time."
(How do you get the right mix of new and older players?)
"We change things up every day. Some days we spread our leadership around, especially in our midfield lines. We try not to have all our upperclassmen on one line and our freshman on the other. We do seven-on-seven, which is a big component of our practice. Now that you have five lines in the midfield, it almost takes two to three times the time to get through it. So, while some players are doing that on one end, we have the assistant coaches working on skills and breaking down more of the systematic approach on the other. It's great to see."
(The ACC is probably the best lacrosse conference in Division I. Talk about the challenges and competitions there.)
"The ACC is number one. I think seven of the eight teams are ranked in the top 25. You look at our schedule right now and seven of our games are against top 10 preseason opponents. We hit the ground running and most of those are in the ACC. Boston College has been pretty dominant in the last couple of years, but graduated a lot and they have a great transfer in Duke's Charlotte North, who's one of the best attackers in the nation. I expect them to be right up there. UNC is always a powerhouse and they're always a Final Four team. A lot of people are picking that this could be their year. They're preseason number two. And then you throw Syracuse into the mix and Notre Dame and Virginia and Virginia Tech and Duke. They're all nationally-ranked teams. We have to be ready."
(Is there a mission statement as you prepare for the season?)
"We just want to keep getting better every single day. We want to only look ahead to our next opponent. This year will be a big growth year for us as a program. Our goal is to get to the NCAA Tournament. Everyone is focused, but we can't overlook one team. Our schedule is extremely tough. You have to have over a .500 record to be eligible for the tournament. It's taking every opponent one day at a time and just keep getting better. We're going to make some mistakes. We want to learn from our mistakes and from each other's mistakes and hopefully not make the same mistake twice. We want to keep growing and make sure we're playing our best lacrosse when it comes to the end of the season."
(How are you approaching draw controls this year?)
"Like assistant coach Kaylin Morisette said, 'she's all about the draw control', so we're working on it. It's probably more of a team unit that we're working on. We have a couple of different draw teams, so it's going to be units of three rather than just one person taking the draw like Kay (Morisette) did when she was here. It's putting the ball in a good spot to give us an advantage, but really working on the 50-50 balls and working as a team of three to gain possession."
Â
Senior midfielder Brenna Shanahan
(On being a captain and the learning curve of showing younger players how they do things here.)
"Yes for sure. There is a learning curve, but our upperclassmen are at that level where we have taken them all under our wings. We have these expectations for them and we know what they have to do to be with us. They are working together on their lines and just learning from us and watching us. Even the sophomores, it's a great group that is bringing them along."
(What Rachel Florek has meant to this team)
"I think Rachel has taken a huge step this season and I know her confidence has gone up and I think she has become a great leader for this team and I think that builds confidence within our defense. I think that is something we take pride in with this team. Every little play we make back there means we can make a play on offense. I think it starts with the goalie and that's Rachel. That's huge for us."
(You've been with Coach in two different settings now. Talk about the Teeter style, how it has been over the years and how you both like Louisville.)
"One thing I get asked a lot was how I liked my transfer process. I've had no regrets on that, which is huge. Just being with Teeter previously at Canisius and with Team Canada, I think I'm a good connection between players and Teeter. I have no regrets being here. The level has been bumped up a lot and I'm enjoying my experience and I'm hoping that this is our year."
Â
Junior midfielder Caroline Blalock
(How has the preseason been different with the new freshman and how have the practices been?)
"Actually this preseason has felt so long and I think everyone is just really excited to start playing. With the 16 freshmen, it is nice to see the fresh faces pushing you every day to compete. Before, we didn't have a complete roster and there weren't many subs. When you have to fight for a position, it's going to make the team better."
(What Rachel Florek has meant to this team)
"I always see her outside working extra and putting in the time. I have a lot of confidence in her."
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Players Mentioned
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/ Women's Lacrosse
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/ Women's Lacrosse
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/ Women's Lacrosse
GK
/ Women's Lacrosse
A
/ Women's Lacrosse
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/ Women's Lacrosse
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/ Women's Lacrosse
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